Page 26
“I’ll give you under a month.”
“Under? Why not a full month.”
“Don’t make me retract my offer, Beta.” She folded her arms and leaned her shoulder against a shelf.
I couldn’t help the chuckle that flew out of my mouth.
“Something funny?” she asked, anger immediately flaring in her eyes. And they said lycans had short fuses.
“You,” I said, “are so confusing. One moment I think you’ll eat me or kiss me, and the—”
“Kiss you!” She practically shrieked the words. Disgust painted her tone and wafted from her. It was truly pungent, and painfully genuine. But as I turned and stepped closer to her, she went rigid.
“Are you afraid of me?”
She scoffed. “Why the hells would I be afraid of you? Don’t forget I had you on your back and at my mercy just yesterday.”
“I have a feeling you’d like me on my back for other purposes, too.”
She turned as if to storm away. “In your dreams.”
I grabbed her arm and she reeled on me, fangs glistening, fire in her eyes. But I didn’t let go or recoil. I met her gaze with unflinching depth, noticing the golden flecks in her red irises again. Were those normal for a vampire? She tugged her arm away, but I held tightly so she only ended up closer.
Close enough for her nauseating fear to fill my nostrils. So much fear it burned. I released her arm. “The bite marks,” I murmured. “You were attacked, weren’t you?”
“That is none of your business.” Her voice trembled.
“It isn’t,” I agreed. “But you should know I would only bite in self-defense. As long as you don’t give me a reason to attack you, I won’t.”
“Your existence is a reason enough for me to attack you, Beta.”
She started to walk off, but I locked her in, my hands gripping either side of the bookshelf behind her. “Listen,” I said.
She inhaled sharply. I’d expected a fight, not compliance, but she stared up at me with impatient expectation.
“My name is Sylvan. Not Lycan. Not Beta. Sylvan.”
Her eyes flared with annoyance.
“Say my name.”
“Fuck off.” If looks could kill, I’d be dead, but the quiver in her chin was unmistakable.
“I don’t know what happened to you, but I’m not the lycan who gave you those scars. I’m not here to hurt you. I just want answers about this shitty disease that’s marred my kind. Surely you could understand that.”
We were close enough to share a breath. Close enough that I saw the brokenness flash across her face. “We all want answers.”
She shoved me away, and I didn’t resist. I ran my hand over my face as I stepped back. Her heels clopped against the floors as she walked back down the aisle. I expected her to sit and wait for me to browse the shelves, but when her footsteps ceased, her voice rang out from the distance.
“One book. And I don’t want to see your face around here again until you finish it.”
The door slammed, leaving me in the silence of the library. Leaving me to take not one, but two books.
15
BONDS ARE STRONGER
SYLVAN
