"His loyalty is crumbling. I saw it in his mind this evening. As for the mark... This is about punishment." She turned her head to look at his face, but he kept her in place firmly by her hips. She saw his derisive sneer from the corner of her eye. "Oh yes, I saw. He may not play with other people’s food, but he took a bite from my plate. No one. Touches. My plate." One of his hands was suddenly grabbing her jaw, his thumb rubbing her lower lip. "His servitude is of no use to me. I don’t plan to find out whether he bends to my will or not. Fact is, I don’t expect him to come out alive from his initiation."