JESSICA
“So, you broke up?”
I shoved the poultice harder into the gash on his side, just to hear him hiss again.
Good. Suffer.
“Fuck, Jess-”
<b>63 </b>
55 vouchers
“Hold still.” My fingers dug into his ribs, heat prickling under my nails. If I press hard enough maybe he’ll pass out. Maybe I can pretend he’s not real for five fucking minutes.
I’m still so pissed about Grayson. Well, about everything. I mean, how can he be so stupid with his logic? Sure, I feel hot about Riot but that’s just it. I can’t possibly like him or love him like how I love Grayson.
That man doesn’t know the depth of my love.
He thinks I’m confused. Thinks I’m wavering. Like I haven’t wed myself open every damn night choosing
him.
“Stop squirming,” I muttered, but my hand lingered too long against his skin, smearing the paste slower now, fingers stuttering over the edge of torn flesh. “Riot! I barely talk to them so I can patch you up, okay?”
“You’re so considerate.”
“You’re so annoying,” I muttered.
“So seriously. You and Grayson?”
He was baiting me. There are a lot of things to consider now that I’ve created a lot of problems. I should’ve not turned Theo into something that would’ve caused this but it’s over.
I should’ve left him to bleed out. I should’ve never let us end up alone, out here, half the pack pretending not to watch us from the shadows, Pierce and Grayson sitting stiff near the torches, and Riot under me, all wounded wolf and teeth–slick grin, dragging shit out of me.
“You didn’t answer my question.” He lifted his head, just enough to nce over at the firelight and then back up at me, eyes dark. “So. You broke up?”
“No.”
“You hesitated.”
“I’m still with him.”
“But you hesitated.”
<b>9:38 </b>Thu, Sep 4
I hated him. “Riot-”
His hand brushed mine and I know he’s doing it on purpose. “I can take care of you, you know?”
“You’re disgusting.”
“I mean it,” Riot rasped, fixing his clothes after I was done with him.
<b>63 </b>
55 vouchers
I sat on the log next to him because well, sitting here is sofortable than facing Grayson. “Stop flirting with me, Riot,” I said, brushing hair off my face, voice low. “You know it won’t work.”
He didn’t say anything right away, just shifted beside me, shoulder brushing mine. “You gonna go back?” he asked, quieter this time, still cocky, still alpha enough to bait me without growling, but there was heat behind it, slow and dangerous. ” I mean after this?”
My throat tightened.
“I love him,” I said, eyes fixed on a spot in the dirt that looked like a pawprint. “You know that?”
I could feel him watching me now – not looking, watching, the way Riot always does when he’s trying not to say something cruel.
“So?”
I blinked. “He waited for me,” I said. “Even after everything. That means something.”
“Sure it does,” Riot murmured. His hand came up, knuckles brushing a piece of hair off my cheek. Gentle, but not soft. Measured. Familiar. Possessive in the way only someone who’s tasted your worst can be. “He loves you.”
“Grayson said…” I close my eyes. “I’m confused.”
“Confused?” His eyes pinned me. “About what?”
You. You. You.
I swallow.
“You.”
“Me?” His eyes pinched me in, ck–gold, molten, hungry. “You’re confused about me?”
“Yes.”
Riot tipped his head, slow, dangerous, a predator savoring prey. Moonlight spilled over him, slicing <i>his </i>sharp jaw<i>, </i>the curve of his throat, the rise and fall of his chest.
Is Grayson right? Am I really confused about Riot and him?
“Little wolf, I think we’re past confusion.”
9:38 Thu, Sep 4
65 vouchers
I lifted my gaze, eyes flicking to his, sharp and feral, but my heart betrayed me–thudding too fast, too loud. The wolf inside me whispered truths I didn’t want to admit: he was dangerous, wrong, forbidden… and I wanted him anyway.
“You can’t have us both, Jess..” Riot whispered. “That’s just so wrong.”
“I-”
“He’s right.”
I froze, snapping my head behind us to see Grayson towering over us. I’m so in the moment, I didn’t feel <b>his </b>
presence.
“Grayson-”
“We have to talk,” he said without looking at me. “Join us, will you?”
Then …he walked away. Just like that.
Riot chuckled beside me, low and teasing, before his hands shot out and grabbed mine, dragging me around the fire. I froze mid–step, cheeks flushing as I felt the brush of our skin, the intentional press of his grip.
Pierce’s eyes flicked down, sharp, assessing, lingering on our intertwined hands longer than necessary. His throat cleared, a subtle, almost disapproving sound, and I could feel the heat crawling up my spine.
“Shy, little wolf?”
I swallowed, forcing my wolf to settle, and sank to the log, ws dragging against the wood. “What’s the n?” I spat the words, sharp and ragged.
Grayson’s gaze didn’t leave us. I shivered violently, knowing exactly what simmered in his eyes now: anger. betrayal and hate.
“So… you’re together?”
Pierce is the one who broke the silence.
“Yes.”
“No!”
—
Pierce shifted ufortably beside the fire. And Riot Riot just leaned back, legs spread, arms braced behind him like he owned the dirt we sat on.
“Rx,” Riot drawled, voice full of smoke and dare. “She’s just confused.”
Grayson’s gaze snapped to him.
“Is that what we’re calling it?”
“I don’t know,” Riot said, not flinching, not blinking. “She said she loved you. But her hands were all over me,
9:38 Thu, Sep <b>4 </b><ol><li>so. Mixed signals.” </li></ol>
<b>63 </b>
55 vouchers
“Fuck you, Riot,” I breathed, standing too fast, blood racing, everything shaking. “Don’t do this.”
“Oh, I’m not the one doing anything, little wolf,” he said, standing too, body brushing mine, full height and heat and dominance, on purpose, pressing the air out of my lungs. “You are.”
“Look, can we just continue with the n?”
Grayson’s fury still burned across from me. “Should we tell her?”
“Tell me what?<b>” </b>
Pierce shook his head slowly, like the n was already damned, like I was already ruined.
“Go ahead,” Riot said. “Tell her.”
“Shut up,” Grayson snapped.
Pierce mutters something from the dark, but Riot’sugh cuts over it – low, filthy, almost a growl. ” You think she can’t handle it? She’s tougher than you give her credit for. Right, Jess<b>?</b><b>” </b>
Grayson steps closer, eyes hungry. “Everyone is going for you now, Jess… your hybrids.”
宙