I wait for him to go on, but when I see the need in his hazel eyes, I can't help but feel the same way. "What?" I didn't desire?Though he returns to me with a blink, I can see he's still thinking about her.He wants her, and based on how I would see her observing him at the bar, she also wants him.Perhaps I can talk her into letting me observe."I told her that we used to share everything and that we were close."Expecting to impart Amanda burns hot and harsh in my stomach. "And her reply?"Dan gulps down so forcefully that I can see the movement in his throat. "Storytelling."I mirror him, angling my head back and crossing my arms across my chest. "However, you chose not to inform her about us, as she is too naive to have ever experienced the kind of relationship we desire."Not even that she could say she desired me. I believe this will be her first experience because of the purity in her eyes, however, perhaps some of that stems from whatever was done to her.For her, that will b
Heat rises in his eyes and his nostrils flare.I suppose there is more to this attraction than meets the eye."I was trying to be courteous," Dan murmurs, stealing my attention from Jade as he rubs his shoulder and wears a pained expression.Jade gives me a snort and then comes charging over to hop into the bed next to me. I tense up, hoping he doesn't kiss me while holding Dan there, but I also want him to do a lot more.Jade looks at me for a long moment, then turns to look at Dan. "You were correct."My gaze shifts from Jade to Dan and back again. "Approximately what?"Before I flash the room, the bedsheet slips down and I grab at it to pull it up.Dan leans against the wall across from me, still wearing the same white shirt and pants he must have been wearing for the past few days, unlike Jade, who has taken to making himself comfortable next to me in the queen-sized bed. I'm fairly certain he has a stain of blood on his shoulder from the time he carried me back to his flat after
DANMy gaze remains fixed on the plump whisky tumbler held by Jade. Shortly after Amanda departed, I assumed he was pursuing her when he got out of bed. I then went after him. Straight through the slit in the bathroom door, into the kitchen, and to the bottle of whisky Greg keeps in a cupboard.Jade leans against the kitchen counter and his hand tightens around the glass, but he doesn't knock back the liquid. "He's the alpha."I wait for more because I know Jade hasn't said everything."Alphas never part with anything that is rightfully theirs."Amanda.."He may not be," I cross my hands over my chest, almost reaching for the glass, because suddenly, the idea of a whisky in the morning sounds good, especially if there's a shifter as possessive as Finn out there looking for Amanda. Far too charming.Jade looks at me after another long moment, then sets the untouched glass down on the counter and pushes it away from him. "He had a pack, she said. He is the alpha.I remark, "It might be
AmandaDense. That's my sentiment. As if I were swallowing a mountain and plummeting to the ocean floor.A small voice murmurs in my thoughts, "But that's not what's happening, Amanda, even though you wouldn't mind if it did."Cool water lases my perspiration and makes me feel heavy.I had to leave this place. I had to leave, even if he punishes me for it.I stumble over the hem of my sweatpants, which are trying to trip me, as I feel my way out of the shower cubicle, blinded by my sopping hair.I can breathe a little easier now that I'm out of the constant chilly spray.Superior. Not flawless. but superior."Grab her." I hear Darius's voice, cold and uninterested, as my fingers are about to close the glass shower door. "From here, I can still smell their stench."Apparently occupied with a text message.And the smell, which must be Jade and Dan's, must be stuck to the sweatpants and hooded top I put on before I raced away from them—straight into the arms of a monster.However, my mon
Finn lurches to his feet, but his legs give way under him almost instantly.Not quite yet.Finn roars back up, this time full of pain. He remains up this time.Only a tiny bit more.He stumbles a little as he spins towards me. Not entirely stable.Fantastic.The next time I swing, the wooden chair leg explodes and chips fly into my eye, covering me in tiny flakes. But it gets the job done.Finn silently falls to the ground.We shifters have hard skulls like I mentioned. To put us down, you must perform the task correctly.Still, this is insufficient."You require aid?" It sounds like Dan is getting up and walking behind me.I reach down, pick up Finn, hurl him over my shoulder, and start for his office's stairs, barely stopping short of a jog.I've given us a little time. Not minutes, but seconds instead."No need," I snort, realizing that Finn is heavy for me.His breathing shifts as he approaches the top of the small stairway that leads to his office.A clawed-up back will seem like
However, Darius did not put me in his bed, carry me out of the shower, or wipe me off with a towel out of comfort. As I curl into myself and battle against the chills coursing through my body, comfort is the last thing from my mind.His smell fills this flat from corner to corner. None more so than the spot where he sleeps every night.And everything in this flat, including myself, including the blankets and the bed, belongs to him.I smell like leather and cedar right now, plus that intangible something else that would give you the impression that someone was wealthy without them having to utter a word. His linens are heavy withsmells that cling to me. Alongside the despised man I stand next to, there's a hateful stench.He runs his hand down the middle of my back and up my spine, brushing aside my long dark hair, still moist from my icy shower. Felix's whips left me with a lot of scars, so I'm not sure which one he's tracing, but I'm quite sure it's one."I should give you thanks f
I push Mom's memories away. I remember her reading to me in bed and stroking my hair. the affection of her.Love weakens you, and Amanda, this is not the moment to be weak. Not when a predator is directly in front of you.I tighten my hands even more, lift my chin, and give him a straight-faced look. "You assigned Nathan a task. Did you not?We come together in the centre of the space, my rage piercing him with its heat and his icy stare.I considered seeing my father. Of fleeing the hospital, thinking that my return to the man was the worst thing that could have happened to me.What might I have discovered? A demolished flat full of rats? A brand-new family with tales of an isolated man's death?A man's body?Tears well up in my eyes, but they stay in place. What purpose would that serve?Suddenly, the memory of the cabin comes back. The last summer I spent with Mom and Dad was full of cookouts by a glittering lake on a disposable BBQ, the sun beating down on me, and Dad throwing me
Finn extends his arm towards the entrance."What's your destination?" I approach a little closer, my boots crunching under the devastation that spills from the main room into the foyer. We haven't yet discussed our plans for fixing and cleaning up.But we're going to need to come up with a solution shortly.next to Amanda. We will handle it when she returns.Bright midday light streams into the black and indigo blue room as Finn opens the entrance door.Abruptly, Jade appears, one hand holding the door's edge. He shuts it forcefully as if he didn't see that he almost took Finn's nose off with it.Clap."Where the fuck are you going?" growls Jade as the thud keeps repeating.I brace myself, waiting for the inevitable growl or fist or insane beast to erupt from Finn.But Finn just yanks the door open again, so this must be a stranger.Jade won't even allow him to open it this time. Too fast to follow, his other hand shoots out and firmly grasps Finn's wrist. He approaches Finn so closel
Also, if you bite Dan already and someone asks you to fill up the release paperwork at the door, well.I mumble, "We might not get him out of the hospital before he shifts.""Regular individuals don't just heal themselves; he'll start healing himself. Finn adds, turning away from me, "If we stay, we expose ourselves in addition to him.If there was one rule in Fight Club, it would be that no one should be aware that shifters exist. The government would eliminate them all if people were aware of them and what they were capable of.When Darius informed me that certain disparities are so great that people would turn against you if they understood what they were, I felt like he was exaggerating. There is nothing you could do or say that would ever lead them to believe you are anything other than a threat that has to be eliminated.Until I recalled my school days following Mom's death and my transformation into the girl with the drunken father. I changed and evolved. Something to be mocked
"They're far too violent for you," he explained. "Bed. "Let's go, squirt." He'd discovered me after I'd snuck down the stairs to peer through the bannisters at the TV."But the men take too long to fall down and sometimes they grab the wrong place on their front, so they can't be dead." I let out a sigh.As he carried me back up to bed, he chuckled. "Waiting too long to fall, huh?" How long have you been looking?"I denied ever seeing anything. He snorted at my obvious deception, kissed the top of my head, put me into bed, and then told me a tale."You sound like you might be smiling, angel," Jade adds, restoring my attention to the present."Well, I'm not," I tell myself. "You're just hearing things."He sighs once more, brings me in closer, and inhales. "Fuck, angel, I thought we'd lost you today."They should have discovered my body in the attic.Darius lost his cool over little matters such as the white wine at dinner not being cold enough. He'd lash out at one of his packmates fo
If this surgeon is still sniffing about Amanda once Dan is better, it will be the last thing he does."You're quiet," Finn remarks as we come to a halt in front of the vending machine, releasing my arm."Please tell me you're not working out how to kill the doctor and get away with it."I cast a casual glance at the machine. I'm not interested in crappy coffee or tea. My eyes widen when I see peppermint tea.Amanda could use one of them. Also, sleep. She appeared weary, with black bags under her eyes. Still lovely, but ready to go."I'm thinking," I say quietly.The second Amanda turns her back, she plans on tearing the good surgeon apart.Finn rummages in his pocket with his hand. "I repeat myself. Please don't tell me you're plotting the doctor's demise."I cast a peek across at him. He must have just realised that the only things we stopped to get before following the ambulance to the hospital were his clothing and vehicle keys. We weren't planning on getting cash for the vending m
I examine him again, unsure if I should believe that smile—or him. "That you were a decent guy in spite of it."He laughs from the bottom of his heart, throwing his head back. All unaffected and... genuine. It makes me want to laugh along with him just to see how it feels. "I will most definitely need to have words with Olivia."I cock my head, forgetting about the desire to scream for Jade to return. "Words? Is that a polite way of saying—""No euphemism." He wriggles his fingers again as if requesting permission.After a little moment, I nod once, and he takes a step forward.He's so near that the tip of my nose brushes against his chest as my knees kiss his thighs. I can't help but inhale his aroma.He smells better than I'd imagine a surgeon to smell just after surgery. Clean, with a woodsy note that might nearly be cologne."While one or two doctors in this hospital have married nurses, I have no plans for the lovely Olivia," he adds as he begins his inspection.How on earth did
"Despite its miraculous abilities, the heart is a delicate thing." There's a reason we have ribs to defend ourselves." He lowers his voice and frowns. "I know what injured your guy and brought him here. He was fortunate to have survived."Most individuals would not survive a wolf attack, in my opinion.Harley pauses for a beat as if waiting for an explanation. Nobody offers one.When he doesn't receive one, he keeps going. "With all of the damage we discovered in surgery, his recovery will be a long process, and there will be complications." I'm here to go over some of the upcoming events in the following days, weeks, and months."My fingers tighten in Jade's sweatpants as all my anxiety returns. "Months?""His heart stopped on the operating table, Jane." He stops and looks at her. "Twice."My mouth is parched. "However, you were able to save him?"Harley gives a single nod. "We have a great team in this hospital.""What complications can we anticipate?" Jade asks, less hostilely than
"Dan had died. Exactly like me. "I think the door hit us." I blink, and I'm back in the attic, watching Dan scramble for the rifle as a wolf rushes at him. "I thought I was going to watch Darius rip out his throat like—" I swallow my words.Nathan did the same thing to Simon Trevor.Simon was one of those rare treasures that a girl couldn't believe existed. A truly kind person. Someone who refused to assist me because he desired something in return. But he did it because he could. He did exactly that. And he paid with his life.I try again, clearing my throat. "I believe he wanted to make Dan suffer as much as he wanted to make me suffer." He cut Dan's breast open before leaping out the upstairs window."But not before he murmured the eight words into my ear that will haunt me for the rest of my life."You belong to no one but me, Amanda."Finn gives a blink. "He didn't take you."My head shakes. "Like I said, he likes to punish people."Finn cocks his head, his gaze narrowing. "You k
We tripped over each other to follow as they rushed him out of the attic, the house, and finally into a flashing ambulance waiting outside.“Sorry, no room,” they said when we moved to follow.None of us dared argue. Not when Dan’s heart could stop again any second.So we let the bland-faced EMTs who’d shocked Dan’s heart into beating call out a hasty direction for the hospital, slam the door shut, and then they were just…gone.A hand closes high on my right arm.I startle, whipping my head that way."Angel?” Jade’s gray eyes search my face as I search his.Dan once said he looked like a brawler, and he does. I study him, taking my time. Shaved dark hair. Intent gray eyes which dare you to look away first. A nose with a tiny bump on the slope from a break that didn’t heal right. His raw strength makes me feel stronger in a way that shouldn’t make sense, yet it does.“He’s a fighter. Like you. Like all of us. He will survive this.”I wish I could believe you.“Darius is a killer.” I an
On my left, there is some movement.With a snarl, I spin around, swiping my claw at a wolf with a piercing blue gaze who hisses in agony and bounds back, the copper tang of his blood strong in the air.Behind.I'm not sure if that was my warning or my wolf's.It makes no difference.We've already whirled around to confront the danger.The door behind me means I'm not in danger of injuring anybody who matters anything to me, so I stop battling my wolf the way I've been doing for years and start fighting with him.And our adversaries perish one by one beneath our jaws and claws.It makes no difference that others are rushing into the room, assaulting in pairs, one at a moment.It makes no difference if they pierce my flesh with their fangs or cut open my back with their claws.All that matters is that they perish.The floor is slippery with my adversary's and my own blood, but the pain is a distant second—or is it third?—to the wrath erupting within me.Then it's only me, my breathing r
"What makes breathing so important?" I inquire, disregarding the aching in my left arm. It's only been a minute, yet I'm already trying to stay up."You could have lined up the most perfect shot in the world, but what if you get excited and your breathing changes?"I thought for a moment, but I didn't have a response for him. "No."He takes two deep, leisurely breaths. But his third breath is a bit faster, and the cannon slips to the left by about half an inch. "Did you notice that?"I nod. "Breathing made you move.""Move it just enough to throw off your shot." With a body shot, you can get away with it, but with a headshot, you can miss it entirely. "Calm and control will save the day here.""Are you not angry?" I inquire, intrigued by this aspect of Dan. I had no clue he knew how to shoot, much alone be so enthusiastic about it."There is a time for rage." Isn't it when you have a pistol in your hand?" He softly presses down on my finger. "This is exactly how it should feel. Breath