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I searched through them quickly, knowing Kade could wake at any moment. When I reached the bottom of the stack, I paused. My report wasn’t there. Neither were any from the previous trials. I sighed, trying to contain my disappointment.Cara’s report isn’t here.
Turning my attention back to the drawer, I noticed a silky black piece of cardboard that had been left on the bottom, the border edged with intricate golden swirls. Carefully, I pulled it out, lifting the paper closer to my face so I could make out the small writing in white.
You are cordially invited to attend the Week of Orash…I read the words in my mind. There were specific dates, which meant nothing to me, as they didn’t coincide with the way we’d counted the days back on the island, and the mention of a location.
Kade shifted behind me, and I hastily placed the papers back in the drawer, arranging them how I’d found them, and closed the drawer as quietly as I could. All the while, I couldn’t stop thinking about how fucked up the whole situation was. They weren’t just turning the people from my island into monsters. They expected us to just accept it and become part of their world.
My stomach churned, and my thoughts turned to Cara. She was only sixteen when she’d been taken and forced to go through this.And it’s all my fault.My hands shook. I knew something was happening to me. The monsters had told me I would change into something, more than once, but I didn’t really care about that. I was here for Cara.
As my guilt crushed me, my anger rose. Fury was the only thing that kept me going. It was my fault she’d been taken early, but if it weren’t for these monsters, there wouldn’t be an offering at all. Without them, Cara and I would still be on the island, happily living our lives.
I gripped the letter opener in my hand and stalked toward the bed. Toward the monster who was still sleeping, his breathing steady as if he was in a deep slumber. Toward the monster who had reports of the newly turned in his drawer. The one who’d nearly killed me by letting his wolf sink his teeth into my thigh. A small part of my brain tried to remind me he’d also saved my life, but I wasn’t thinking about that. All I was picturing was Cara’s thin frame as she was led into the mouth of Procus back on the island.
In his sleep, Kade had rolled further into the middle of the bed, but he still rested on his back with his arms up near his head. I crawled onto the bed and lifted my leg over him, straddling him without letting my weight rest on him.
I held the letter opener before me, the tool hovering in the air, poised above his neck. The steel of the letter opener was thin and flimsy and didn’t at all have the weight of a dagger, but it still rested perfectly in my palm.
I glared at the sleeping monster.He’s been a part of it. I couldn’t be sure he’d had a part in Cara’s fate here, but he certainly did with the villagers who’d been chosen alongside me. I’d been a fool. It was only now that I realized I’d started to trust them. I’d started to think of them as more than the monsters they were.Fucking idiot.
Kade’s face was relaxed, the lines smoothed on his forehead. Damn it, he appeared so human. So handsome. Not at all like the beast I’d run from in the cavern.You can do this, Raine. He’s not human. Just a monster.My hand trembled. The magic that bound us was still pulling me toward him. Telling me he was safe. That I should get close to him. Repelling me against killing him.
Fuck.I fought against the feelings and drove the letter opener down, aiming the tip of the object at the male’s jugular. Before the steel could push into the flesh of his neck, Kade’s eyes snapped open, and his hand flew up to clutch my wrist, suspending the letter opener just above his skin. Anger flared in his gaze, but he didn’t react.
I pushed against him, trying to drive the letter opener down, but his grip was like iron. His hand tightened on my wrist and moved my arm the side so the letter opener was no longer above his neck. Gritting my teeth, I tried to shuffle my body backward, away from him, but the monster’s other huge hand gripped my ass, holding me in place above him.
The pain on my wrist became strong enough that my eyes began to water. Reluctantly, I opened my hand, releasing the letter opener. It landed with a soft thud on the bed beside Kade.Fucker.
The pair of us stared at each other, his glowing golden gaze searing into mine. I stayed still, hardly daring to breathe. I knew I’d done it now. This wasdefinitelya death sentence. But then again, they thought they couldn’t kill me, right?
But Kade didn’t snap my neck or throw me across the room. I squirmed as he continued to hold me tight, not giving me an inch to move. The longer I was stuck there, the more I became increasingly aware of my position.
I’d thought it was a great idea at the time, but now here I was, perched above him like some forlorn lover. Worse, the longer I stayed there staring at those golden eyes, the more the pull I had toward him cut through my anger, the magic clouding my thoughts, my feelings.
I swallowed as Kade’s other hand gripped my ass more firmly, like he was trying to dig his fingers into the leather. Where his rounded ears had been, they were now pointed, as if his wolf was trying to break through. I had the distinct thought that I was like a rabbit who had walked into a predator’s line of sight, but I squashed the thought quickly. I wasn’t a fucking rabbit. Kade’s intense gaze trailed from my face to where I was seated on him, and his frown deepened.
I tried not to think about it. Tried not to think about the way that golden gaze made me feel. Like I was completely exposed but completely safe at the same time.Ha! Safe.The word made me want to laugh out loud, but I couldn’t deny the feeling.
Somehow, Iknewthat even though I’d just tried to kill him, this monster, this male, wouldn’t kill me. The hardness of his body between my thighs felt too right, and my body responded.
I hated him. Hatedthem.But my body disagreed. It wanted them, and the pull toward him was getting too strong. But I couldn’t. I couldnotdo this.I fucking hate them.
“Let me go,” I snarled.
In a swift movement, the male flipped me off him and slammed my back onto the bed, and then he was on me, one hand pinning my wrists above my head.
“Asshole,” I hissed.
His head dipped, his nose trailing along the side of my face. The huge male breathed in deeply and puffed out, his breath warming my face.
Did he just fucking smell me?“Did you just—?”
“What did you do to us, human?” he growled, cutting me off. His mouth trailed closer to my ear again. “And why is my wolf urging me to fuck you when he should want to rip your head off?”
I opened my mouth to speak but then closed it again. Wetness pooled between my thighs.He wants to fuck me?Well, technically he’d said hiswolfwanted to, but they were the same person, right?
When I didn’t answer, he lifted his leg and rubbed his thigh against my core. “Funny that you try to kill me but at the same time, your panties are soaked.”
“I do—”
