Page 7 of Bound

Topher Greer hummed beneath my skin, an incandescent presence I felt even when I was asleep. I was careful, insanely careful to always keep him shut out, for my protection, but mostly for his. Quickly, I shut our connection down, but not before I caught the faintest flicker of something else. Something almost like concern.

Something had gone terribly wrong in the months since I’d bonded Topher to me, the rigid control I’d once been able, with great effort, to maintain, requiring constant, exhaustive vigilance. I’d lost weight. August and Cal had both noted the dark circles under my eyes. And I had no idea what to do. There was no one I could go to with this. If anyone outside my family knew what I could do, I’d be hunted. And after every other way I’d wronged Topher Greer, I couldn’t fail him in this last way, too.

“It’s my choice.” Shoving off the pavement, I tossed him the car keys. “And you’re driving.”

“Phoenix Richards is a dick.”

“He was my college roommate.”

“Your point being?” Topher shot a narrow look my way, flicking on the turn signal. He drove at exactly two speeds: red light and death wish, believed yield signs were there for decorative purposes, and whipped his Kia around curves like it was Lindley County’s ambulance, which incidentally I was pretty sure they only allowed him to drive because he looked unfairly hot in an EMT uniform. Not that I’d noticed. Really.

“That we don’t have a lot of friends in the North Austin pack at the moment.”

“Yeah. Pretty sure friends isn’t the angle he’s going for.”

“Whatever.”

We peeled out onto the interstate. My car screeched in terror, which of course, Werewolf Knievel completely ignored.

I growled. “Wreck Cedric and I will end you.”

“Who names their Priusafter a fang-head?”

“It’s Pattinson. Show some respect.”

“Who names their car, period?”

“Drive, wench.”

He bared his teeth at me, eyes glowing gold. “You nearly lost control back there.”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you?”

“This whole patronizing thing working for you? Because last time I checked, I wasn’t the one who showed up tonight with a mouthful of dismembered body parts.”

“Okay, for the record? It attacked me.”

“Uh huh.”

“Just saying, the whole Beowulf-eating-the-villagers thing went out of fashion several centuries ago. Something to keep in mind.” A beat. “And for the record, you’re not fine. You’re about the furthest thing from fine. It feels like I’m having my skin sandblasted off a millimeter at a time just being in the same car with you, you’re in so much pain. So for the love of all that is fanged and holy, stop with the bullshit before you hurt both of us.”

Which, okay. He had a point.

The bond changed colors from thunderstorm to black hole. I turned the music up, our usual tactic for making it to the next exit ramp without anyone losing an arm. The outskirts of Austin gradually turned from bland strip malls to miles of farmland, the moon a fierce crescent burning in a starry sky. I leaned against the window, feeling its power warm my blood. Beside me, Topher shifted uncomfortably, unable to keep still. Deep within my bones, my wolf stirred, agitated. I clamped a mental hold on him, forcing the beast back into the recesses of my mind. Our wolves were bonded, even if we weren’t. And every time that bond was allowed to open, even fractionally—

“Your brother doesn’t believe me.”

I cracked an eyelid. Topher was white knuckling the steering wheel, hazel eyes burning a fierce topaz, his wolf desperate to escape. The hair rose at the back of my neck, my wolf arching at his mental touch. I balled my hands into fists, feeling myself harden. It was an involuntary physical reaction. And wrong on so many levels.

“You’re imagining things.”

“You know you’re a shit liar, right?”

I sighed. “Brody’s a cop. It’s in his blood to question everything. He drives all of us crazy. Why do you think Major chews his own tail whenever he enters a room?”

“You think I don’t know he wants to turn me over to the Council?”