her

oor with me. The silence that fell between us was different now, no lon

chance. I ha

d in the quiet room. "Archer, abou

could I possibly explain a memory

is tone measured, careful. "And yet, an hour before, you screamed at the sight of me." His gray eye

course he had. He was an Alpha

ad. A lock of hair fell into my fac

sest I could g

ble things to me." I chose my words carefully, weaving the truth of my past into a narra

rriage as a way to humiliate you. By taking me, he thought he could break you."

n their depths. He was connecting my words to what he had just

, "and I saw you in the dark... I was still trapped in the dream. I

to his. "But when Jona

rything. In the nightmare, I had bee

d behind his eyes-the pieces falling into place. The frightened bride who had screamed at him in the dark and the woman who had driven J

to command. His fingers gently cuppe

a purely instinctual reacti

voice a low thrum that vibra

ut who had also refused to be a victim. And I saw something else, something I hadn't expected. He wasn't looking

edatory hunger in his gaze, only

My body, which had been coiled li

e word a profound rel

warm. His scent, cedar and storm, wrapped around me again, but

ht touch that sent a shiver down my spine. His gaze drop

tely, he began t

frantic rhythm against my ribs. I didn't close m

e a breath a

ing sound ripped throug

ent sha

pulled back, the spell broken. The communicator in the pocket

the device out. "Fitzpatrick,"

lpha! The northern border patrol was ambushed. Rogue

gone, replaced by the Alpha. His face became a mask of co

he said, the word

and stood up in one flui

y distant, focused on the battle to come. "Lock th

ble. But underneath it, I heard the echo of

ckward glance, leaving me on the floor with the