Fane

ll standing in the narrow hallway outside the restroom, Rona's hand a hot brand on my arm. Her words hung in the

ge from my water glass with the pad of his thumb. The gesture was so tender, so focused

. Not cowed. Frozen. A predator can be very still before it strikes. And a pr

pered, her face pa

walk back to that table, sit down across from him, and pretend I hadn't

ould be a disaster-a screaming beacon of fear. Cold water. I twisted the rusted tap and splashed my face, the shock of it a welcome sting. I did it again, bre

s still there, but it was deeper now. A glint be

ling disconnected from my body. I focused on the sound of my own flat-footed

nd. His eyes, a deep, stormy grey, scanned me from my damp hairline to my sc

e a little rough. "Just

he gave me a subtle, worried glance, a frantic flicker of her eyes that T

r's pup from training. It was so good to see you, Elara." She gave my shoulder a quick, desperate sque

was j

. He wasn't going to kiss me. He was... assessing. His nostrils flared, just once. The scent of pine

y sternum down to my toes. It wasn't an accusation. It was a diagnosis. "Did she upset

e, a calculated gesture. "No, it's not her. It's... the headache. And I saw Zhiwen Lee outside when we came in. He was with his new mate

me now radiated outwards as a palpable wave of aggression directe

I needed to get out of there. "Can we j

r our untouched coffees with a bill he dropped on the table without looking and guided me ou

the town's dusty outskirts. The air inside was thick with his scent and my unspok

terious task Theron had 'found' for me, tending a garden for a reclusive benefactor. A ben

e hem of my sl

my h

work at the estate." I took a bre

ft, but it was like the difference between a forest after a rain and the same fores

oice was dan

rful, unknown male." I chose my words carefully, framing it to appeal to h

go white. A low, guttural sound, barely audible, rumbled in

hing on gravel as he pulled it to an abrupt stop on the side of the

cern was gone. The tenderness was gone. There was only a chill

erfectly formal, with a precise, clipped cadence that sent a bol

my gaze, his face a blank mask. "But that is no

couldn't yet name, but it felt like the floor of the world had just dropped away. I was trapped. Utterly and completely trapped. Th

*

er. Theron's grip was so tight his knuckles were bone-white, his breathing a low growl in the otherwi

ournal of T

de it, my clever little mate, blaming headaches and old

ilt for her. She wants to leave my protection, my provision. S

e Moonpetals. I wrote the letters. I built that garden for her. A b