Second paragraph of third chapter:

The youth stumbled a few paces as he walked backward, still trying to slow her down. He should have known better. She was the wife of a clan elder, and in his absence—temporary absence—she wielded his authority outside the keep.

I picked this up at Novacon in 2013, I think as a freebie. It’s the second volume in a series of novels based on a game I haven’t played, and while I admired the author’s efforts to make a human/alien dynamic that worked, most of it sailed over my head. You can get it here.

Next book on the 2013 pile is another freebie I picked up at the same time, Prophet of Bones by Ted Kosmatka.