Dedicated to reader, Jasmyn_Grier, who’s loved Natalie and Mack for a long time.
*****
I tipped my chin at Rig back in the car, then closed the door behind Natalie who’d stalked inside without even looking at him.
I turned slowly to watch her stiff back stomping across the floor and into the kitchen where she started slamming around. Making coffee or killing something, I wasn’t sure.
“Nat?”
The only response was the sharp clang of the coffee pot on the countertop.
I took a deep breath and followed her into the kitchen, stopping to lean on the breakfast bar, out of her way as she stalked back and forth from the pantry to the coffeemaker, th
~ RIG ~‘Mack?’‘Yeah?’‘You guys sleeping?’Mack snorted down the link. ‘Not even close.’‘Us, either.’We were both quiet for a second. What I was about to propose had seemed like such a good idea, but it was hitting me that Nat and Mack hadn’t had the time we’d had. I knew my idea was going to suck for them. But I also wondered if it was going to help all of us.‘I was just talki
~ CARA ~It all happened so fast, if I hadn’t had heightened senses I’m not even sure I would have seen it all.Natalie, twitching and nervous, went to give Charlie a hug.It seemed like Charlie’s eyes lit up and his nostrils flared in the same split second that Mack exploded, a vicious snarl tearing out of him that raised the hair on the back of my neck. Instinctively, I stopped, crouched, my claws suddenly there, but Rig just moved.He was a blur, a growl, a weighted shadow that moved faster than I could see—putting himself between Charlie and Mack, his back to Charlie and facing down Mack, who’d drawn up short when he met his Alpha—teeth bared and
SOUNDTRACK: “Masquerade” by Euphoria + Bolshiee.*****~ NATALIE ~Taking a shower was heavenly—even in a male’s bathroom that was a little more cramped than I was used to, and had a curtain instead of a door.Sharing the River House with Mack had been a treat—spacious and clean and quiet. This felt more… domesticated. Like it was real. Like he was mine.Washing my hair in the shower while he came in and out of the bathroom was a strange kind of comfort I hadn’t anticipated.There was still tension and nerves in me. Still fear wanting to claw its way to the surface. But I held it at bay. Helping Mack through that moment had helped me focus too, brought me ba
~ CARA ~I don’t know what time Rig came to bed because I fell asleep, and he obviously used that wolf stealth to sneak in with me without waking me up.But when his alarm went off so early the next morning that the sun hadn’t even finished coming up, I woke from a warm nest, curled up with Rig, and with Beans on the pillow above my head, to a jolt and a rush of adrenaline that raised all the hair on my arms and made my heart thunder in my ears.Rig groaned and rolled half-away, reaching for his phone, scrambling on the screen for a second until he got the alarm turned off, then let it drop the bed.The adrenaline didn’t stop pulsing through me, though. Even though I knew there was no immediate danger, I could feel the tension in Rig and… I just k
~ CARA ~I never even considered how it would feel to lose the link with Rig. I’d been out of his arms and out of his sight a few times since we completed the bond, but never out of range.When he drove away with Natalie in the jeep and twenty minutes later I was alone in my head it almost sent me into a panic.My scent must have changed, because I was sitting on the couch in the living room, intending to wait an hour before I went to see Meg since it was still so early, and I’d probably wake her up. But Charlie appeared suddenly out of the kitchen, frowning at me.“You okay?”It was embarrassing how intimately these wolves knew each other. Of course, I could scent his unease as well, so maybe we we
~ CARA ~I had never wished I could link with the other wolves more than in the moment when I walked out of that dorm with my head spinning, and my sweet friend back in her room still wiping tears off her face.I wanted to pick Charlie up by his scruff and shake him.And Rig too.What the hell were they doing? What had they agreed to without telling me?Why was Charlie treating Meg like she was repulsive?And why hadn’t Rig told me the night before?Charlie couldn’t come into the girl’s dorm, so he and I had arranged that when I was done with Meg I’d walk out the lower side door and into the trees whe
~ CARA ~I woke up, but even when I blinked I couldn’t see anything. Something soft but thick brushed my eyelashes.A blindfold? What?I inhaled, about to call for Rig—was this a game? If so, I could probably get behind it if he let me brush my teeth first—when the scent of the Night Walker hit the back of my throat, and everything that had happened came rushing back. I sat bolt-upright, then winced and grabbed my head, which was screaming with pain and spinning so badly I wondered if I might throw up."You'll want to give yourself some time before you move. You may have a concussion."The first thing that struck me was how warm the man's voice was, as if he was actually concerned for me.
~ CARA ~I could barely hear past the thunder of my pulse in my head.I couldn’t decide if he was crazy, or really onto something—Stephen had said he was a killing machine. That he could beat a wolf one-on-one. If that was true…I swallowed hard. “You want me to believe—”“I want you to think back and pay attention, Cara. I could have killed you, I chose not to. I could have killed any of those dogs that follow you around like puppies—which includes whichever of them has taken you—and I didn’t. If you are mated to the Alpha King’s son, he will kill you. Unless I kill him first. So… you’re here to make your c