Page 122 of The Werewolf’s Wrong Mate

“This is not a joke.”

“No.” Her voice softened by one degree. “It’s worse than that.”

I crouched in front of her chair but I kept my hands on my knees. She looked down at them.

“You’re angry,” she said.

“Yes.”

“At me?”

“No.”

“At them?”

“Yes.”

“At yourself?”

Always but I didn’t say that. The bond said enough though. Her face changed. There was the bleed again. Not pain. Not desire. Something quieter, more dangerous because it asked for sympathy neither of us knew what to do with.

She looked away first. “I need to know how the hunt works.”

“No.”

Her eyes came back to mine.

I corrected myself before she could speak. “Not no. Not now. You need food. Then rest. Then I tell you.”

She studied me for a long second. “You caught that fast.”

“I am learning.”

Her mouth parted slightly and the bond warmed. This time, the warmth was not only mine. I knew it. She knew I knew. Then her gaze dropped to my mouth for less than a breath.

Less than a heartbeat, but long enough that my body went tight.

Cassie’s cheeks flushed harder, and her eyes snapped back to mine.

“I’m injured,” she said.

“I know.”

“You bit me.”

“I know.”

“I might be feeling your feelings.”

“Yes.”

“You might be feeling mine.”

“Yes.”

“So whatever that was, we are ignoring it.”

I should have agreed. Immediately. I should have given her the clean answer.