V:

nt of your desperation wouldn

he fine china with a screech that set my teeth on edge. The sound vibrated through my ja

xson," I whispered. My voic

he center of my hands, making the wood feel greasy. Beneath the table, my knees knocked together,

sses of ice, devoid of the warmth that usually characterized a mate's gaze. "That'

cologne-something that smelled like ozone and crushed pine needles. But beneath it all, my own body was betraying me. A s

d into my skin. It throbbed in time with my heartbeat, a heavy th

voice gaining a desperate edge

owl. "There is a mistake. There is a biological glitch that I am

his presence like a storm front moving in. As he passed me, the air shifted, dragging his scent across my senses. Dark chocolate an

instinctively, a magnet

as if I were made of glass and mist. His shoulder didn't ev

lder, his footsteps heavy and deliberate as he headed towar

was worse than his shouting. It was a vast, suffocating weight

urned, a sharp cramp of nausea twisting my gut. I wasn't a ghost. I was a wom

k on my neck. The skin was raised, a jagged pattern of

d to the empty room. "I won't

c. I needed a way out. I needed a life where his

s coming in short, jagged gasps. I pulled my laptop from the desk, my fingers fumbling

I had hidden in a fol

niversity - Ad

d weeks ago, in the dead of night, while Jaxson was out at the rink. It was

utton. My finger shook so hard I ha

lic

ness. I held my breath, the oxygen

s: Ac

against my chair, the plastic biting into my shoulder blades. I cou

ents in the floo

Skritch

A rhythmic, metallic rasp of steel against stone. It was a preda

: JA

soft. Or maybe the

g my gloved hands in a cascade of orange fire. The vibration traveled up my

't drown ou

twitch in my own chest. Every time she breathed out that sweet, cloying heat, my

I growled

ack, the fabric heavy and irritating. The mark on my own neck was a screaming red line of agony. It felt l

idn't see the way her eyes followed me, or

erse had chosen to tether me to. She was a weakness. A sof

ch. S

checking the edge. It w

ren't the quiet, hesitant shuffles of t

s a territorial roar that made my vision blur at the edges. She was planning somet

e skate onto the workbe

y senses dialed to a frequency that only she occupied. I could hear the

ectly to the hallway outside her bedroom. My movements

airs and paused. The door t

the window, her back to me. Her shoulders were squared, her hea

a piece of paper

ve me-felt like a spear through my lungs. The air in the hallway turne

she find a light that d

hroom, the sound of the shower start

d into h

ud of lilies and that honeyed heat that made my head swim. I walked

ked i

e. We are please

heart didn't just beat; it exploded against my ribs. The fire

, that heartbeat, and that infuriating defiance a

erge; they tore through

ces. I only felt the primal, agonizing need

V:

d, but I didn't care. I scrubbed at my arms, at my neck, tr

acceptance letter was a ticket. A key to

ered into the steam.

k, white towel. My skin was tingling, the heat of the shower fina

y eyes were bright, the gold in them sparkling with a

bedroom, the carpet so

the name slipping out

arged, like the moments before a lightning strike. The smel

ed at

ained from my face so fast the

ter was

n't a lett

blade or torn by hands. The edges were shredded, tattered by something sharp and irregular. There

ke the work

m. I picked up a piece of the paper. It was the corner with

, my back hitti

His chest was heaving, his jersey torn at the shoulders. His eyes weren't b

ing anywhere,

uttural, terrifying vibration that seeme

They were stained red, the tips of his fi

asked, his voice dropping to a whis

lun

ed my throat, his claws grazing the sensitive skin of my mate-mark. He sl

as no longer a pulse.

point of my neck. I felt his hot breath, the sce

" he growled into my ski

error, despite the pain, I felt the reversal. I felt the

n who was

e ice he played on. "But not because I'm yours, Jaxson.

the monster vanished, replaced by

wnstairs slammed open, and

problem! The test

aws digging slightly

results?"

back at me, a secret burning in his eyes that

mi," he whispered. "And the kind that mean I