RAE I hadn’t slept for even a second. My anger vanished as soon as Vickie left, and I was left with a big hole in my heart because I’d ruined our friendship. I racked my brain all night to understand why I would want to hurt her, my only real friend. Rhys knocked on my door most of the night, demanding I let him in. I knew he could break my door down again like he had the night he found me covered in blood, but he hadn’t tried. I felt like he was holding back. Even his anger towards me had cooled down. A big part of me had wanted to let him in because, even after all that madness, my body craved his touch. I wanted something to dull my self-inflicted pain, but being with the cause of all the mess wouldn’t solve anything. So I ignored him all night and snuck out of my apartment like a thief the second the sun rose. Vickie didn’t come to find me in my usual place in the library. I waited until I was almost late for my exam, and my heart broke under the weight of my pain. I shattere
RAEVickie didn’t react to my revelation. Her gaze remained on me, unflinching, unforgiving. She was showing her Montgomery backbone.Vickie had steamrolled me enough times for me to know that I wouldn’t get out of this one so easily.“I haven’t been sleeping,” I revealed.Sitting across from her felt like an appointment with Doctor Whitman. There was the same wall between us that shouldn’t have been there with Vickie.“The nightmares?” she asked.Vickie had seen them herself when she’d slept over.“Not just that. I’ve been sleepwalking for months. I wake up naked in the middle of the park and I never know if I’ve done something…”Vickie’s eyes softened again as she brought her hand to her mouth.“Months? And you never told me?”“I didn’t want to worry you. You do so much for me already,” I said quietly, lowering my gaze.“So rather than just talk to me, you told me to ‘go back to my privileged life’?”There was steel in her voice. My sixth sense was buzzing with her disappointment, an
RHYSHow was she so good at evading me? One minute she was in her apartment, ignoring me, and the second something distracted me, Rae was gone.But I was a hunter. There was nowhere in this city that she could hide.Not like the rabid wolf that was still taunting me.The monster in my head growled at the reminder of our failure, but I pushed him to the back of my mind. That was no longer my priority, no matter what Tyson said. No matter who was coming.What consumed me was the black-haired wolf running around the city with no clue what she was. I’d wanted to deny what Vickie had told me, but the conversation I’d had with Rae when she saw the viral picture kept repeating in my head. She’d acted like she didn’t know who she had been looking at. I’d assumed it was another of her games, her lies.Amnesia? Was such a thing possible with wolves? If this was true, I envied her. I’d give anything to forget the last six years, but every minute of that torture ran through my head every day like
RAERhys had been at Bev’s all night. I couldn’t remember how many times I took food out to him. No, scratch that. I did. Four. I took four full dinners to his table, and he ate everything. He even had room for dessert. Where did he even put it all?I’d been hungrier myself throughout my shift, but I hadn’t put away anything close to what he’d had.I knew he was making sure I couldn’t avoid him again, but all I wanted was some space to process what had happened with Vickie. I couldn’t think when Rhys was close to me. It was like my body ruled everything and was determined to make me forget the unbelievable thing that had happened. After changing out of my work clothes, I splashed cold water over my heated face. I’d been like that all night. I looked at my face in the mirror above the sink and almost didn’t recognise myself. My cheeks were flushed and my eyes seemed brighter. But only hours ago Vickie said they had been gold. Glowing. On any other day, I would have asked her what sh
RHYSContrary to my belief, the rogue had been at the park that night, despite the cameras that were probably still hidden there, and the lack of a full moon.But I still went back to the cafe and waited for Rae. I hadn’t even dared to look for the body.Even the monster inside me had chosen our mate over a hunt. The scent of her arousal filled the cab of my truck; I couldn’t concentrate on anything else. I was the one playing with fire. I knew what touching her again would do to us, but I still followed her scent like a hungry puppy. The rabid rogue had also made it to our car park. I’d smelled it the second Rea had opened her door.And instead of going hunting, I followed Rae into the building. Only to catch the scent in the lobby. On the fucking hobo lying on the floor. Fuck. Why hadn’t I seen this coming?The scent was faint and quickly dissipating, and the lobby filled with the hobo’s unique, horrible scent. Either the rabid wolf had tripped over him the way Rae had almost don
RHYSShe was dripping. Her scent pulled me like a rope, and everything became hazy. I couldn’t remember how I ended up lying between her legs.Several toys fell to the floor, some of them still vibrating. I paid them no mind as I hooked her thighs over my shoulders and my lips sealed around her.My eyes fluttered closed, and I groaned as her sweet taste hit the back of my throat.She tasted even better than when I’d eaten her out in the campus bathroom. I knew why. I’d already stayed close to her for too long. I hadn’t realised until that moment how much I had missed that. Rae’s moans drowned any sounds I made as I pressed closer, plunging my tongue deep inside her. Like a starving man, I gripped her hips to hold her down as I feasted. My tongue gently swirled around her clit, and a loud, mewling sound left Rae’s lips as she arched her back and pressed me closer. Something inside me unravelled. My beast surged forward, lost in the heat Rae created in our blood. Her finger reached do
RAEI turned the key slowly, wincing when the click sounded too loud in the hallway. For a few agonising seconds, I held my breath.But the door behind me didn’t open. The man inside didn’t charge out, asking where I was going.I don’t know why I had expected that. The second Rhys had left his load inside me, he’d pulled out and tripped all over himself in his haste to run away.Had I been that bad? Too needy? Too slutty?As I tiptoed to the elevator, my cheeks coloured again. What the hell was wrong with me? I’d gone six years since I woke from my coma without sex, but suddenly I couldn’t control myself.I let out a breath of relief when the doors opened in the lobby. As much as I’d wanted Rhys to explain himself, or tell me what the hell was going on, I wasn’t in the right headspace to deal with him. And part of me didn’t want him to tell me last night had been a mistake. The second I walked out of our apartment building, I remembered Jack. I was such a terrible friend. Rhys had wo
RHYSI looked away from her curious eyes and put my foot on the gas. Kidnapping her had seemed like a great idea after finally regaining control of myself from the beast but, sitting next to her in the small space in my truck, I was conflicted. What the fuck was I doing? I was barely holding my shit together but the last thing both Rae and I needed was for things to fall apart. Without her memories, Rae was like a newborn pup. Innocent. And I was the monster hellbent on making her pay for something she didn’t remember doing. Thinking that way fucked me up even more, but it was more bearable compared to the other thoughts that had kept me awake all night.She wasn’t mine. I wouldn’t mark her. I wouldn’t. “Tell me what, Rhys?”My hands tightened around the wheel as I weaved through the traffic. I could drive for days until we got to Gilded Falls without giving in to my urges. I was a fucking Alpha of Alphas, an apex predator. Her sweet taste... The sounds she’d made last night... The