Until the snarls in my skull reminded me that whatever was wrong with my wolf was still wrong with my wolf. Accepting that Dan was correct that Amanda belonged to us all hasn't altered that.It helped me make my decision. It's not easy. But it's simpler.I promised myself that we'd deal with Darius and then I'd go before my wolf attacked Amanda for the third time and killed her. In the meanwhile, I'd continue to avoid her. It would be in everyone's best interests if I did.I went about my days and nights, trying not to think about her, avoiding Jade and Dan's attempts to draw me into any conversation involving her, and failing. Even when Amanda would sleep, allowing us the freedom to plan for Darius's attack, one look into Jade's amused grey eyes and Dan's perceptive hazel stare told me they knew I was still thinking about her.And then I saw her, clad in Jade's white t-shirt, skinny naked legs, her hair loose and a bit wavy over her shoulders, looking stunning. As lovely as she'd app
I wait, but the argument in Jade must have died down since he doesn't respond.Another transformation in Jade to lie at Amanda's feet.He'd have gone out there and done whatever the fuck he wanted before Amanda, regardless of what I said. But he's thinking about someone other than himself now. He's considering her.I push open the door. "Sam told her about Monica." If she approaches you with questions—" "I know what to say," Jade says. "We all know what to say."I nod and return inside."You haven't told her that the only reason I was able to save her was because you knocked Darius away." She could be more forgiving if she understood how important you were in her rescue.""She might," I concede.It's not as if I haven't contemplated it, just to dismiss it a split second later. She could perceive me differently. But she could assume I'm telling her she owes me anything for saving her life.That's not going to work to gain her forgiveness.I enter and proceed to the stairs. Halfway ther
I have no doubts about who they are. The dogs. I'm not going to inquire who Monica is. Or was."How did you get in here?" I inquire, moving back, my gaze darting behind him. Did he enter by the back door, or did he come around the side of the house?As he approaches, I recall that not all shifters are predators, and not all humans are safe."You should run while you can." He smiles at me, nearly as thin as the skeleton hand he extends towards me. "If you come with me now, then—""Angel, get inside."Jade was tucking me behind his back before I realized who he was.He's put on a pair of grey sweatpants, but that's all he's done. I look around to see whether the weird man is walking away, but Jade places a palm on my tummy and nudges me back. He never takes his gaze away from the skeleton figure. "Go.""Amanda."I startle and spin around. Dan. He blinks at me through half-lidded hazel eyes, and I know he couldn't have been awake for more than a few minutes, but he at least bothered to p
Dan would be aware.When her footfall receded away from the door, I turned to go wake him up. She's going farther into the garden, which is a bad idea."You'll think of something," I murmur to myself. "But she needs you now."I walk to her, not knowing what the fuck I'm going to say to soothe the shadows hiding in her thoughts, shadows that scared her away from me and Dan even though I know we provided her pleasure.We made her happy.She wouldn't have cuddled us so tightly after that.Then I notice it.A masculine voice that shouldn't be in this room. Garrett. Mona's elder brother, and the one who frequently shows up to accuse us of murdering his little sister.Fuck.I run. Push the entrance door open. They're just ahead. Amanda steps back, a biting edge of terror infusing her beautiful jasmine aroma. Garrett is approaching her, his achingly familiar blue eyes filled with a crazy, grief-stricken gaze.Whatever instinct Dan has must have awakened him because his amber and licorice sme
Perhaps he's simply passing the time until he has something definite on us. In any case, we need to keep a tight check on this officer in the future. I'm trying to sleep. "I have a feeling I'll need it." He takes a few steps up before coming to a standstill. "And next time Amanda wants to go for a wander in the garden, do us all a favour and go with her."I soften my tone. "I still say we should kill him."Do I envision myself severing the throat of a man with Mona's eyes?My wolf has no objections to it. However, the man recalls me carrying Mona's body in my arms. I recall her blood pouring through my trousers. I'll never forget her lifeless gaze.But if it must be done. It must be done, therefore I will do it."Leave Garrett to me," Finn whispers quietly, his voice barely audible."If you believe talking would make him go, you're mistaken. Every every year he—""She was his sister," Finn says as he climbs the stairs. "He's in mourning. He'll move on in time.""You didn't see him," I
Finn isn't picking through the filthy clothes, so it can't be him. If Dan does the cooking, it's most likely him. "Perhaps normal isn't the best word. Human." I move my hand to grasp the bottom of his shirt.When I feel the darkness drawing me beneath, touching Jade and Dan seems to help. It keeps me in the present moment. "He said I lived through things most humans wouldn't.""Like the bites," says Jade.I nod, my gaze still fixed on Jade's pristine white shirt. "Like the bites."Even if no one had commented on the state of my neck, they would have all noticed I had more of them. But Dan kissed them when he brought me to bed and didn't back down. Jade also touches them often. Light, lingering caresses, as when he touches the scar I cut into my left wrist with Felix's steak knife. As if he wants me to know he sees them and doesn't find them repulsive.I hesitate since there is so much about Darius and his pack that I haven't told them. "As well as the bridge." "I..." my voice trailed
In his tanned palm, the dull silver firearm with a black grip appears little. Aside from the machine gun, it's the only revolver I know the name of, and only because of the old cowboy movies Dad used to watch.Dan pokes his finger inside the silver projecting cylinder on the side. That's when I realise what he's been doing — or has been doing — all this time. Checking that each chamber has a bullet. If somebody walks through the door, he won't have to load or reload his weapon; he'll just take up a gun and shoot.Swallowing hard, things suddenly feel much more real than they were five seconds earlier."Finn and Jade know what they're doing down there," Dan says as he clicks the chamber back into place and returns the rifle to the table. "I know what I'm doing up here," he says, not picking up another weapon. "This attic extends the entire length of the house." All that's up here is dust and insulation, so there's lots of places to hide. We've got—""No.""Amanda, we're doing this—" he
"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
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