RAEHow could I fall for that? Why had I let him touch me?I couldn’t stop scrubbing my skin. Rhys’ touch had branded me, and I could still feel him between my legs. My body still hummed and was overheated. Whatever he had done had awoken something terrifying in me. The anger was still there, but so was the hunger. I’d truly lost my mind.But I’d be damned if I let him touch me again.How could he just walk out like that? How could he look at me as if I was disgusting after he’d done that to me?His words flittered over and over in my mind. I was nothing, and he wanted me to remember that. My chest squeezed even when I knew his hatred was irrational. He was the one who’d rolled up into my life and knocked everything sideways. I stopped scrubbing when I realised my skin was raw and bleeding. It matched the handprints Rhys had left on my wrists and thigh. My neck was marked, too. Again, my core clenched. After all these years with my head straight, why had it turned like that? He wasn’

RHYSAfter following Rae all morning, I assumed they were ditching classes to return home. My fucking mistake. I hadn’t slept all weekend and was close to smashing the whole place up. I’d gone hunting every night on the other side of town, but letting the beast run free had done nothing to settle my nerves. Especially with my prey playing cat and mouse.But that wasn’t even close to being my biggest issue.My body was burning up. I shouldn’t have touched Rae. Sex had strengthened our bond the first time; I should have known what it would do to me. Why had I let my anger push me that far? The beast had gloated all weekend, but I wanted to forget how that woman made me feel.Her scent, the softness of her skin, the little breathy moans she made when I hit the spot. Everything was imprinted in my head. Cold showers weren’t working anymore, and jerking off only brought relief for a few minutes. I was fucked. The only thing that would help now was if I took her back immediately. Why woul

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

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

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