~ NATALIE ~I don’t even know what time it was when I finally dragged myself back to the house, except that it was broad daylight, and I’d been gone several hours. The sun had risen hours earlier and now the sky glowed. The trees were still draped in mist and fog, but it had a magical quality with the sunlight shining through it.I should have been inspired by that. I should have smiled and enjoyed the incredible view, the quiet, and the safety of this place.But I was hungry, tired, and utterly miserable.I’d tried to flee my feelings. Tried to run away from the pressure building in my chest. At some point in the dark, I’d gotten it into my head that if I ran out all my energy and exhausted my body I’d be able to ignore… well, everyth

If you like music while you read, try “Masquerade” by Euphoria + Bolshiee. It’s what I was listening to while writing this scene!*****~ NATALIE ~“I love you, Mack. I always have. I’ve… I’ve been so miserable without you—”Something broke in his eyes and his hands came up to my face as he took my mouth in a soul-searing kiss.I sucked in, gripping his wrists, as he devoured me—frantic, desperate—and everything in my body, my heart, broke open and sang.I couldn’t think, could barely breathe, as his lips pressed mine, his tongue seeking, demanding, insistent, and his body, his warmth pressed against me from knee to chest.

~ NATALIE ~I’d never felt so vulnerable, so exposed, and so ecstatic in my life.With every wash of joy and pleasure there was an equal wave of fear—and yet I just clung to him, pleading with my heart, and sometimes with my words, that he’d stay with me in it.Nothing had ever felt more right than having Mack in my arms, in my body, moving with me, whispering to me, his mouth on mine, his breath hot and fluttering on my skin, his eyes blazing and his heart… his heart.With a sob I flattened a hand against his chest as something within him blazed. The bond, twisting, unfurling, lassoing our hearts and drawing us together. I shook with the intensity of it, and th

 ~ RIG ~I was sitting on a stool in the kitchen, starving, and getting ready for a late dinner Cara had been cooking when I felt Mack’s claws scratching at my mind, a submissive request to link that surprised me. Usually, unless I was closed off, he just spoke into my head and expected me to shut him down if it was a problem.I looked at Cara, who caught the expression on my face and paused in rinsing the pasta she’d just taken off the stove.“What is it?” she asked.“Mack,” I said carefully.Her eyes widened a little, but she went back to the food, trusting me to fill her in. I could see the tension in her, though. We’d both been waiting, our nerves growing wit

~ NATALIE ~The guys covered ground quickly, both of them very obviously ready to get this done and get away from each other. It made me nervous how tense they were—how untrusting of each other. I knew it was just instincts, their wolves reacting to the new bonds and wanting to keep their mates to themselves.But we didn’t have time for this shit.Luckily, either Cara’s instincts didn’t lean that way, or she had more control, because she kept smiling at me, and she’d hugged me really enthusiastically when we walked in. I had glimmers of feeling uneasy when Mack got close to her, or stared at her too long. But he was so close, not letting go of my hand, still talking to me through the link, it was little more than a niggle.So, in the end, it