Meadow

fire, a deep, primal burn that started in my belly and radiated outwards. I knew

He

ce our bonding, the instinct had been a dull, manageable ache. But

tensified tenfold, becoming thick an

nd, her voice raw with

ess, his cruelty. But the biological imperative was a force of

feet seeming to scorch the cool wooden floor. I made my way to the door of his study.

ainst the wood. "Ryker?" My voice was a

ould smell it, of course. The change in my pheromones was impossible to miss

ely swayed toward him, my last coherent tho

but as his mate. Begging him to complete the bond, to mark m

e twisted his lips. "Help you sat

The pain was a sharp counterpoint to the burning ache that consumed me. He could

but with a territorial aggression, provoked

my voice breaking. "Complete

"Mark you?" he spat, the words dripping with venom. "And let

backward, my shoulder hitting

pulled out a small, dark vial. He tossed it onto

dead. "Take it. Or lock yourself in the ba

o use them was to deny one's nature, to reject one's

face. The last ember of hope inside me flickere

The words were a

oser, looming over me. "Don't ever f

face. The final, echoing boom wa

ology fought against the chilling finality of his rejection. I looked at the vial,

in my soul, a cry of a creature

he only comfort my mate would offer me-a poison designe

er scent of suppression a pre