23

Aislinn lay beside Darius, fighting the urge to sleep. He hadn’t been kidding about staying up. But finally, his breathing evened into a regular rhythm telling her he’d fallen asleep.

After everything they’d done that night, she felt guilty leaving him, as though she were betraying him. She didn’t know how bad he’d hurt if his mate left him but it must be bad. At the same time, she couldn’t stay. There were too many things stacked against them.

She slowly sat up, disentangling herself from him. He lay on his side and had had his arms and one leg wrapped around her. As she shifted, he rolled onto his back, one arm flung wide while the other rested on his bare abs.

How could she leave him? She didn’t know how this was supposed to work for humans who were werewolves’ mates. Was it normal for her to feel so attached to him? Was he right about the magic that bound him to her—did it also bind her to him? Because even though she knew she had to go, she couldn’t make herself leave the bed.

Sh