<b>Chapter </b><b>77 </b>


    GRAYSON


    “Grayson, what-”


    “Shut up,” I snarl, smashing my face into the crook of her, missing her scent.


    I’ve been thinking too much. Watching too much. And then Riot touched her.


    I could’ve killed him right there.


    But I didn’t.


    Not yet.


    I still don’t fucking know why that bastard is messing with me.


    Jessica moves, like she thinks she can slip away.


    美气38%當


    I don’t even think. I grab her, twist us hard, and throw her down onto the bed. The mattress groans under the weight. She bounces once, then stills.


    I’m over her in a second, staring down.


    “You don’t get to run,” I growl. “Not tonight.”


    Her eyes are wide. Scared. Maybe furious. I can’t tell anymore.


    I want to rip the whole fucking world in half and make her watch. Fuck. Seeing Jessica like this makes my cock twitch. I strip off my shirt with one hand, yanking it over my head like it’s choking me. My skin’s slick with sweat, heat rolling off me in waves. I’m running too hot.


    “You smell like him,” I mutter, voice low and shaking with restraint. “Do you have any idea what that does to me?”


    She opens her mouth to speak, but I’m already moving. My body slots between her thighs, not fully touching–but close enough that she feels the threat of it.


    “Grayson, stop-”


    “No.” I curl a hand into the sheets near her ribs, the other gripping her thigh too tight. “You let him get too close. You let him see what’s mine.”


    Her nails rake down my chest in a desperate push. “You asshole-”


    My wolf is so close to the surface can barely think straight, I told myself I’d wait. That I’d be good. Let her choose. But Riot touched her. And now I want to ruin something just to feel her shake. Maybe that makes me a monster. I don’t care anymore.


    13:31 Thu, 21 Aug A<b>· </b>


    Chapter <i>77 </i>


    38%


    I only told her I will let her go because I know she needed the time to think before her birthday. But hell, if letting her go means seeing her with that bastard then I’m done being a saint.


    Jessica tries to kick. I snatch her ankle mid–air, jerking it back so fast her hips twist with it.


    “My little brat,” i smirk, watching her snarl. ” Really Jess? Do you think training with him will suddenly make you


    strong?”


    “Damn you Grayson!” She’s panting now. Hair a mess across the pillow. Lips parted, eyes sharp and hating. “This is


    stupid!”


    What stupid is you, Jessica.


    Goddess, I’m so d she can’t read what’s crawling behind my eyes. Because if she did, she’d know the only reason I’m here–grinding my teeth, holding on–is to remind her. Once she knew I was hers–her mate–she had


    no choice but to take me back.


    But look at where that’s gotten me.


    “Stop fighting,” I murmur, voice low, every word amand. “This is who you are. My brat, my mate. <i>You </i>belong to


    me.”


    She growls–half rage, half panic–struggling until her cheek smashes into the mattress. I think Jessica knew what


    would happen when I said I’m going to im her tonight but it’s still a surprise hearing her…whimper?


    Fuck.


    She’s in heat.


    Since fucking when?


    My wolf snaps alert inside me, ws dragging, muscles tightening. It’s like she’s screaming to be taken, to be


    marked, to be imed.


    I shift, sliding a palm low, fingers brushing the slick warmth gathering there. Jessica’s breath stutters, ragged and


    uneven, caught between surprise and need.


    Why the hell hasn’t she called for me?


    Her body trembles under my touch, hips jerking with a wild, desperate pulse that screams she’s drowning in this


    heat alone.


    She’s been burning–hungry, raw–and I wasn’t here.


    “<i>You </i>should’vee to me,” I growl against her skin, voice thick with usation and need. “Why the fuck didn’t you?”


    Her eyes sh, wild and ashamed, and I’ll be damned seeing fear in those loving eyes.


    13 31 Thu, 21 Aug


    DA


    .38% &


    “What did you do, Jessica?”


    She blinks tears out of her eyes, and I already fucking know it. Quickly, I jerk her leg tighter, forcing her calf against my ribs, chest pressing hers t into the mattress.


    “No lies,” I rasp, jaw locked. “Tell me.”


    Her shoulders shake.


    “I’m sorry…I’m sorry..”


    “You what?” I spit, grabbing a fistful of her hair and yanking her head back just enough so our eyes lock. Her face is bruised with shame and wet with tears–half of me wants to crush her, the other half wants to cradle her until her sobs stop. But I keep breathing shallow, forcing myself to hold onto the fury so I don’t rip her apart for admitting it.


    “You weren’t there,” she chokes out, tears slipping down her cheeks. “I–I didn’t know what else <i>to </i>do. I saw you with Aria too so I thought-”


    She fucking saw me.


    So, that’s fucking why.


    I still cannot believe I let Aria fool me. That night she got my wolf confused. But that’s it. I will never fucking touch her again. After that encounter, I tracked down a healer, talked it through, made damn sure I wasn’t losing my mind.


    Aria’s just familiar. That’s what she said. My wolf knows her scent because I used to sleep with her. Nothing more.


    “I’ve never touched her, Jess.”


    “W–What?”


    I lean in, mouth hovering just over her lips. “Whatever you saw that night, nothing happened to us.”


    “But-”


    “But you’re right, baby.” Anger crashes in waves–rage at Riot for touching her, fury at her for letting him, and an aching, twisted heartbreak because none of that would happen if I was just there. “I’m not there for you.”


    I am here now though. And I will not let that happen again.


    It’s been a long year–twelve brutal months–waiting for Jess to shift into her wolf, waiting for her to finally cross that threshold so we could be together as we were meant to be.


    A long, painful year of imagining our life side by side, of wanting nothing more than to knot inside her, to meld my heat with hers, but knowing I had to hold back until she was ready


    She’s close. So fucking close.


    D


    13:31 Thu, 21 Aug A


    38%


    11


    My fingers dig into her waist, guiding her to me, and I brush a thumb along her swollen lower lip. “Did you…do it?”


    I had to pause and gulp because if Jessica says yes, I will probably not forgive myself.


    Her eyes fluttered. “What?”


    “You…and Riot. Did you fucking do it?”


    “Of course not!”


    Thank the fucking Moon goddess!


    I close my eyes. My body rxes. Atlest, that didn’t happen. Jessica looks like she’s offended by my question and I


    let her get away from me. She’s not going anywhere. I know that now.


    “You’re really an asshole!” She shouted, pulling the nket to cover her body. I want tough at her. I don’t think


    the cover will do good to everything that I have in my mind for her.


    That can wait.


    I crawl to the edge of bed, yanking her feet so I can still touch her. “Don’t think that nket can shield you from me,” I tease, curling my fingers around her ankle again and dragging her foot down so her leg stretches over my


    thigh.


    “Stop it.”


    “Why not?”


    “I’m not fucking you tonight.”


    Fucking.


    When will she ever learn?


    I don’t think it’s fucking though. I think it’s called mate loving. I won’t fucking her tonight too. Because after the night of full moon, I will be fucking her every damn night.


    AD


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