Clementine I stirred in my sleep. The first thing I noticed was the underwire of my bra digging uncomfortably into my breast, and I knew I had made the mistake of falling asleep with my bra on. The second thing I noticed was tiny butterfly kisses over my shoulder and down my arm. The soft scratches of facial hair gave me goosebumps as the light kisses continued, soft and sensual. I stifled a moan at how good it felt. The third thing I noticed was a heavy weight draped around me and a large hard object against my ass. I shifted slightly and rolled onto my back to find the warmest brown eyes looking down at me before soft lips enveloped mine. “Morning, beautiful,” Liam murmured, giving me another quick kiss. “Hi,” I said, feeling my cheeks heat under his gaze. His fingers reached out and stroked my cheekbone before they moved from my face, then gripped hard onto my hip, tilting me forward and rolling me until I was facing him. The bedsheet barely covered his morning erection. I let

Clementine I hadn’t gone very far, maybe twenty metres ahead of him. I stepped onto a well-worn trail and stopped to get my bearings. I heard Liam’s frantic heartbeat as he quickly caught up to me. It was beating incredibly fast. “Clementine, please! I’m sorry.” I spun around, facing him. His eyes were wide, and his cheeks were flushed. “I can explain! Well, I can try to. All werewolves have instincts buried so deep that even the most mature and calm wolf will crumble under the weight of instinct. All wolves struggle with it, Circe included. The instinct to mark someone you are…fond of is one of those overprotective instincts. You’re the first she-wolf who has woken that possessive side in me. It’s been awake since our first kiss or maybe even before that. Suddenly, all I could think about was marking you. When Lincoln said you were free game, my animal instinct took over. It’s a drive to protect, to make it clear that you are not a toy and are very much taken. My human side knew it

Clementine I panicked when Circe told me she needed to run. Cold fear rippled through me, which was then replaced by a burning tingle throughout my nervous system. She told me to stay calm and find Liam, that I would be less nervous with him around. After the next hard spasm of pain, I succumbed to her suggestion, ripped the Band-Aid off the stupid mark on my collarbone, changed my clothes, and slipped out of my window to find him. The idea of seeing him was making me a little giddy with nervous excitement. Although I had messaged him, I hadn’t physically seen Liam for two days. I had spent my time practising punches with Sophie. I found that punching was a good way of releasing my stress, but talking to Sophie was even better, and there was a lot to talk about. When I told her about how I had received my mark, she groaned into her hands and shook her head exasperatedly. But she had also laughed when she saw my attempt to hide it, telling me that although the Band-Aid was masking the

Clementine The night of the full moon was approaching, and I was feeling the overwhelming pull of the wolf instincts I’d been told about. I understood why wolves started to go a little crazy leading up to the full moon. Circe was jittery as the moon phase closed in, and she wasn’t helping my nerves. Over the last few days, she had been snarky and grumpy, slamming a wall between us every time she had a temper tantrum. Liam was trying his hardest to fight his marking instinct out of respect for me, catching himself a few times before his teeth grazed my neck again when we’d get hot and heavy. He told me he understood and would wait for me to be ready, but the closer we got to the full moon, the more difficult his instincts became to fight. So, between Lucian and Circe, I had two grumpy wolves on my hands. When Circe’s wall was down, and she saw Liam’s anguish, she would try to reason with me. When that didn’t work, she would snarl, and suddenly I was overcome with a wolf instinct I h

Clementine When we woke in the morning, I had mind-linked my brother and father, asking them to come to the pack house. I was surprised to discover I was able to open a link to both, like a three-way phone call. Their pattern scents had merged into one, and the connection bridge was wider than usual. “Most wolves can mind-link up to ten people at once. The stronger your wolf, the more minds you can access in a single attempt,” Liam explained, trailing gentle kisses down my neck and over my bare shoulder as he ran his hands over the material of my summer dress. “I don’t think I like you in clothes,” he added, his playfulness tickling down our bond. “Well, tough! I’m not parading around your house naked in front of your parents.” He grinned wickedly before he pulled me toward the alpha’s office. It was larger than I thought it would be. A massive mahogany desk was situated toward the end of the room. One entire wall contained bookshelves; there was a black leather couch, and a coupl