~ CARA ~Rig stood just a couple paces back, gaping at me. But I could feel him pulling away from me from the inside and it was terrifying me. I hadn't been drinking! Had I?I shoved the thought away and reached up behind my neck to grab the little closures at the back of the collar, unclipping them as I literally begged him to believe me. “I want to do this, Rig. I swear. I want you. Please.”I dropped the top and Rig's eyes dropped with it. The flames that had already been burning in his gaze roared to a bonfire. Then the world went mad.Silent, black lightning crackled through the room and hi

~ RIG ~“It’s between Natalie and me,” Mack muttered, picking up a little twig from the dirt and snapping the end of it off, over and over again, his jaw tight and eyes narrowed. “But just, take my word for it… I get it. That drive. That burn in your guts. I get it. And trust me, it’s not a fun war to fight. So if you need backup, just let me know.”It was humbling to hear him offer himself that way, especially after—“So, you did this alone. None of us knew—”“I think Charlie suspected a long time ago, but I dodged it when he talked around it, and he never asked me outright. Plus, you know what he’s like.”I nodded. Charlie wouldn’t

~ CARA ~I stood there in Rig’s shower, water rushing over me, surrounded in steam that smelled like him, and shivered. Not from cold, but from fear.If I was in love with Rig Landon, why didn’t I trust him? No one had ever made me feel safe the way he did—whether he was himself or in Ralf’s body, it didn’t matter. When he was close, I felt like there was a shield between me and the world. Even last night when he’d been so tense and aggressive, I’d never felt afraid of him.I’d feared being apart from him. It had been so hard in the car with Natalie between us. I’d just wanted to be in his arms.Those weeks after I saw him kiss her,

~ RIG ~My pulse thumped in my ears as Cara’s eyes flew wide and her mouth dropped open. She froze and suddenly every fear, every last nerve, screamed at me.Was she going to say no?“What? Rig… how? Your dad… the pack—”I gripped her, pleading with her to see that I was telling her the truth. “I don’t ever want you to question if I’m really here, Cara. Not once. I see it in you every day—I smell it on you. You’re afraid. Afraid I’m leaving or that I have eyes for anyone else. You’re afraid that I’m… I don’t know… still a man-whore? That kills me. You’re everything to me now. I swear it. I want to bite something every time you doubt me because I’m over her

~ RIG ~I took a deep breath and prayed, then lied to my father through my teeth.“I’m thinking… I’m thinking I tell him that you want me to establish the pack before the matebond. That he’s going to be my second, and not to tell the others, because they all want it too. Not to tell Charlie, because he’ll be mad. I’ll tell him I’m going to spring it on the others that we’ll do the vows when we get back from our trip. He won’t want to submit to me, Dad. But he won’t want me out of his sight either. So if he’s planning to challenge me, he’s going to solidify his support while we’re gone. Charlie will sniff it out. If he does, I’ll kill Mack and his little human… whatever she is while we’re gone. We come back and no one has to think about it again.”