~ CARA ~
I sucked in a breath and raised one hand to fend the dog off. “Please, I’ll leave. I didn’t mean to—”
But the animal licked its lips and dropped its ears, even its hackles went down.
I blinked as it gave a tiny whine that reminded me of something, but there was no time to think as it dropped its head and tail and took a careful step toward me… submissive?
I stared as it glanced up at me, then back down and took another step, then another, licking its lips.
I didn’t move. Didn’t even breathe. But the dog just kept coming closer, still licking and making that whine again, until it stood at my side, then nudged its thick skull under my hand and went still.
<
~ RIG ~The following days were the most frustrating and most wonderful of my life so far.I had a mate. She was there and beautiful, and even knowing the danger, even vowing to myself every morning that I’d give her some space to breathe, I still found myself hunting her down at some point during the day, even if it was just to open a door, or give her a smile.She let me kiss her again, once… but the shadows of fear were back in her eyes.I wanted to do everything in my power to reassure her that I wasn’t playing games. But she turned down every offer of a date, claiming she was too busy with work and school. And besides, the pack and I were spending each night hunting for the Night Walker—though after our organized effort, it appeared the thin
~ RIG ~I stood in the middle of my room, arms folded, glaring, as Natalie greeted Charlie, then walked in like she owned the place.I closed the door—the only way to be certain our conversation wouldn’t be overheard. I’d had the room soundproofed before we moved in so I could have privacy—then turned to face her, my back to the door.“What?” I bit the word off.Natalie raised an eyebrow. “It’s nice to see you too.”“Cut with the crap, Natalie, why are you here?”“Your dad is getting suspicious,” she said promptly. “At the party this weekend we have to make it look like there’s something goin
~ CARA ~A few days later, I woke up feeling odd. In truth, I’d been feeling odd for days. Walking with Ralf the night before I’d finally recognized the feeling—why when I kissed Rig I didn’t freeze up the way I always had in the past.I’d been walking through the dark, my hand trailing on Ralf’s fur—because he still showed up every night to walk with me—and I’d realized I was just strolling. Enjoying the night. I didn’t feel afraid. Because I knew if anything happened, Ralf would take care of it.That had made me remember the thing Rig had said in the pet store that day.He’d been staring down at me, and for the first time I’d felt like I was seeing Rig Landon without the mask of flirty mischief. He
~ CARA ~My eyes flew wide in concern. Rig’s head was buried in my shoulder, his shoulders rising and falling quickly with his panting breaths that I could feel against my neck.“Do what?” I pleaded, trying to pull up his chin, still arching against him.Then, though he’d resisted my efforts to lift his head, he lifted it on his own, his eyes glinting, his chest still heaving.“Don’t make me be the one to remind you… your first time should be special... with someone special... right?” he said.It could have been bait. It could have been resentment. But there was none of that in his tone. His
~ CARA ~It was a great relief when Meg and I left the lab on Friday morning. My hands shook not because the blood tests had been too painful, but because I didn’t like thinking about what they might reveal. But then, Meg kept warning me that they might not reveal anything.“Because we don’t know what we’re looking for, I just did a full panel. Hormones and stuff. But I’ve also thrown in the DNA test, and I’m going to try and sneak in the genome sequencing when we do that assignment in a few weeks. Just… I’m not a doctor, Cara. I might not find anything abnormal at all.”Meg was being kind. I hadn’t meant to tell her, but as we were alone and my nerves increased, I’d ended up blurting a lot of it out. I didn’t tell my friend about the strange d
~ CARA ~“Do you have any dresses that are formal?”I stood in the doorway to Meg’s room, heart fluttering in panic.Meg gaped at me. “I have like one, but I don’t think it would fit you in the chest and besides, I don’t think peach is really your color.”I slumped. “You’re right. I didn’t think about that. Damn. I didn’t think about any of this. I’ve only got ninety minutes. I’m going to have to tell Mack I can’t go.”“Rig should have been the one to ask you, anyway,” Meg said, her forehead furrowed.“Wait—what?!”A
~ CARA ~“…so, I mean, imagine this: Rig is standing there, naked, with his mouth open, and his mom’s staring at him and he goes, “It’s not what it looks like, I swear.” And we’re all rolling.”The passenger seat of the car, I was laughing so hard my sides ached. “Stop. You have to stop. I’m going to cry and ruin my makeup,” I gasped.“You should. You don’t need all that crap on your face,” Mack said, his eyes bright and smile more relaxed than I’d ever seen it. He turned to wink at me before turning back to the road.Still giggling, I flipped the sun visor down and wiped my eyes carefully. &ldqu
~ RIG ~As the two females, glittering and giggling, left my table, both casting glances at me over their shoulders, I smiled tightly and waved, waiting until they’d passed behind one of the big pillars in the cathedral-style ballroom before sitting back in my chair and clawing a hand through my hair.Fuck I hated these things.White tablecloths, chandeliers, snooty human servants bringing drinks and serving at the food table, everyone dressed in their finest and trying to out-handsome, or out-beautiful each other… Wolf gatherings were so stuck up and… political.I was the Alpha King’s heir, which meant every eye was on me, all the time. But especially tonight. Tonight they all knew they were competing for my attention, and my father’s app