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“How did the masters teach you to separate those parts of yourself?” I took a step closer, wanting to be part of the conversation, even if it wasn’t my theory we were exploring. I hadn’t endorsed it with my full heart, but with only one other idea, an extreme one, I was willing to give it a try.
She seemed to be thinking, her face tilted up to the sun, her eyes closed. “They taught me to build a leash, then a cage.” She squinted as she lowered her face. “It took months of conditioning, years of constant practice. Obviously, I’m still trying to master it.”
“Because it’s against your natural state,” Levi said. “Does she ever come out in your dreams?”
“No.”
“But your wolf does.” Johnny blurted then held his hand up. “Sorry… I shouldn’t kiss and tell.”
I grumbled, a possessive urge to put my hands on Charlie, claim her as mine, making me take a step forward.
Charlie blushed again, turning toward Johnny. “You remember?”
“Yeah.” Johnny rubbed his neck. “Maybe shoulda said something earlier. Didn’t want to spook you.”
Charlie turned away from him, her gaze lingering on me for a moment, her brow furrowed, before turning back to Levi.
“Yes, in my most recent dreams, I realized that my wolf and I are one. And—” She hesitated, bit her lip in a super sexy way. “When I was running with the pack in the forest, it clicked that I was one with my wolf then, too. I think that’s why I was so set on trying the mind-meld thing then. I felt amped up, overconfident. It was foolish.” A quick dart of her eyes to me summed up her lingering guilt. “Working together has only ever caused problems for me when my wolf is involved.”
I nodded. She wasn’t yet forgiven, but I was willing to listen.
“No, I get it. Your wolf side is full of curiosity and very animalistic. That side of you would seek to reform what’s been shattered,” Levi said in his usual rational way.
“And you think you can help me do the same with my beast?” Her expression softened. “Without a bite?”
“I think we can help you stabilize your beast side. I think she’ll recognize what we’re doing and work with us,” I said. “But you have to let us in…for real.”
“All of us, at the same time. You have to take ownership of your mind and call us in like you tried to do with the pack,” Levi added, his eyes saying something different to Charlie.
It made me pause long enough to miss the first part of Johnny’s words. She and Levi… There’s something more there.
“…and you have to get rid of the leash and the cage,” Johnny said, like it was no big deal.
Piece. Of. Cake.
She shuddered. Shook her head. “I’m not ready.”
I wanted to rail against that. She had never been more ready. She needed to step up, take over, be in control of her own power. And yeah, that was coming from my sudden raging urge to dig into what she and Levi had already done together. Obviously they’d been spending time alone while I’d sulked over what she’d done to the pack.
“Those masters hobbled you on purpose,” Levi said, echoing my earlier thoughts and pulling me out of my head long enough to get back into the game. “They made you fearful of your own self because they were scared.”
“You’re able to work with your wolf side, so there’s no logical reason why you can’t do the same with your beast,” Johnny offered. “You just need to stop being so scared.”
They were taking the tender approach. Coaxing her with softness. Talking her into it.
“You want me to make friends with my beast self?” Her tone dripped sarcasm. “Why do I feel like I’m stepping into some after school special?”
“We want you to stop being such a damn coward and step up, Charlie.” I closed in on her, looming once again. She didn’t back away and looked up at me, her eyes hard, lips pulled tight, jaw clenched. “You’re weak when you shouldn’t be. You’re a product of what those outdated, backward masters wanted. It’s not what your father wanted for you. It’s not what we want for you.”
“And who are you? My Prince Charming?” It was meant to hurt me, her voice full of razors. “Come to save me from myself?”
I let my lips curl, fangs poking, my intention clear. “I’ll do whatever it takes, even if it means saving you from yourself.”
Chapter Eight
Charlie
Fangs like Kane’s, large and protruding, practically pulsing with the intention to mark me, were only visible like this in his human form when he desired to give a mating bite. It was the only time a male could partially shift.
