Serena“Fuck,” I mutter as I trip over a tree root protruding from the earth, coming down hard on a knee. I catch my upper body with both hands, skinning my palms as they slide across the hard-packed dirt of the forest floor. I’m tired and sweaty and exhausted, tears of frustration springing to my eyes as I struggle back to my feet. I’ve been out here for hours, trying my damndest to figure out where Reid and I first ran into each other the other night. Trying to retrace my steps, though at this point that exercise seems pretty fucking useless.It doesn’t help that I don’t know this terrain at all. I tried my best to study the map of the six-pack territory in Reid’s office last night, but I didn’t want to linger in there too long and risk getting caught- and it’s a lot different looking at something on paper than it is actually trying to navigate it on foot. The territory borders are fairly

SERENA The moment his lips descended on mine, I was a goner.Damn him. Damn him and those ice blue eyes that seem have a way of staring straight through to my soul, threatening to steal my secrets.Damn the way his smile makes my heart stutter in my chest and his touch makes my skin smolder beneath his capable hands.Damn those soft lips and that demanding tongue that skillfully moved against my own and robbed me of every last ounce of resolve.Damn him for ruining me for all other men, because I know I can’t have him, and as long as I live nobody else will ever begin to compare to Reid Raines.  I bring a hand up to my lips as I lay on my bed, tracing my fingers over them while my eyes slide closed and my mind drifts back to that moment between us in the forest- the moment when we both finally succumbed to the pull of the mate bond. In the days since it snapped in, we&rsquo

REID What the hell is this girl doing to me? I’ve never struggled so much to remain calm and composed. Nobody has ever pushed my buttons like Serena does, and I’m starting to think she knows exactly what she’s doing; that it’s a game to her and she enjoys getting a rise out of me. It’s the subtle things that give her away- her sly glances, her little smirks. The way her eyes betray her as both a sinner and a saint. The ridiculous thing is that as much as it drives me crazy, the way she challenges me like nobody else does also turns me the fuck on. There’s something about her fire that I can’t get enough of, something about the way she pushes me to the brink of losing my shit that gets my dick hard. That’s sick, right? But as I glance over at her in the passenger seat, her head lolling sideways to gaze in my direction, her blue eyes lock with mine and I know that while Serena may not have been what I expected, she’s exactly who I was waiting

REID “What kind of bug?” I ask, gripping the steering wheel as I drive down the forest road that connects the six-pack territories, on my way to the complex to pick up Serena.“It’s a fucking virus or something, I don’t know. IT has been on it since they found it this morning,” Gray replies, and I can hear the irritation in his voice as it comes through the speakers of my car. “They’re still working on it, but what they have figured out is that it was specifically designed to corrupt certain types of programs. They say it was aimed to take down our border security.”“And?” I bark, flexing my fingers around the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white.“And it’s a good thing that we’ve got some smart fuckers on our IT unit, because whatever server the virus was planted on is separate from the one that houses our security system. I gu

REID   The sound of screams wakes me from a dead sleep. I should be used to it by now- it’s a nightly occurrence with Serena sleeping in the room next door. I’m not, though, and each night of sitting by and doing nothing to intervene or comfort her is worse than the last. My wolf whines and paces, desperate to get to our mate and console her. If only I could fight her demons for her, find some way to rid her of the nightmares for good. Laying here and doing nothing while she suffers is excruciating, even moreso tonight than usual. Maybe it’s because we just fucked. Probably not the smartest move, given the state of everything, but it’s not like I set out after her with the intention to strip her naked on the lawn and give her the business. I can’t say I have any regrets, though, because that sex was fucking next level. I don’t know if it’s her or the bond or the chemistry between us that was always bound to combust, but just thi