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My features harden, even as tears threaten to break me again. “I’veseen it. Mates are real, and you…you took my chance of ever finding mine.”
His eyes go unreadable again—a mask, like I’m staring into foggy glass. He turns his hand to take my arm, and his other hand comes to my hip, pulling me in.
“A bite like this needs to be tended to,” he says. “I don’t want you to keep bleeding. I don’t want you in pain.”
“Why do you even care?” I demand.
“BecauseI can feel it,” he says. “I placed my mark on you. I can feel everything you feel now, and it…it hurts.”
I want to demand an apology, to keep screaming at him—but it’s hard for me to tell if I’m actually angry at him or if I’m just frustrated with this whole situation and he’s the closest thing to take my rage out on.
I deflate.
Because having him close makes the bite feel better…and my instincts kick into gear when he’s so close and half-dressed.
I tilt my head, revealing the bite mark as I avert my eyes.
“Fine,” I say. “Do whatever you want.”
Javi takes a step closer, until his body heat warms me in the chill of the room. The hurricane winds and rain pound on the roof, mingling with the sound of his breathing as I try to control my own. He ducks his head and a single exhale puffs against the bite mark, but it doesn’t hurt. It soothes me.
I close my eyes, trying to concentrate on keeping my instincts in check when all I want is to bare my throat and drop my clothes for him.
His lips touch my neck a moment later, the hand that caught my wrist moving over my scalp to brush back my wet hair. I can’t hold back the sigh that rushes past my lips at his kiss, and when his tongue laps against the bite, I whine at the pleasure that flows through me, at the way my body tenses and pulses.
He stays there, kissing, licking, soothing. The pain of the bite fades, replaced by a warm, tingling sensation tinged with desire. Another soft sound of pleasure comes unbidden from my chest, my omega instincts telling me that I should let him do more, that I want his kiss, his bite, his knot…
He pulls away.
“Better?” he asks.
And I remember that he didn’t want this. That he doesn’t wantme. That he just feels guilty.
“Better,” I nod.
He pulls away. “We should get some sleep,” he says. “I’ll stay up and keep watch—you need rest.”
I look around, finding with dismay that I have nothing to wear. “They didn’t even bring me clothes,” I whisper.
Javi frowns. “Don’t worry,” he says. “I won’t touch you.”
That should set me at ease…so why does it feel like a slap in the face?
“Okay,” I say. “Goodnight.”
CHAPTER TEN
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JAVI
I’ve never felt anything quite like when Peaches told me I wasn’t her mate.
From the moment I met her—from the moment the wolfsbane wore off and I scented her—I knew there was some connection between us. And biting her, tasting her skin, her blood, only made that connection more concrete.
If mates are real—and the jury’s still out on that one—then she’s mine. Even if they aren’t real, there’s some wolf magic happening here that I have no control over.
I know I have to protect her, even if it means the end of me. It’s the reason I felt called to the hunt when she was in danger, why I put everything on the line and got myself imprisoned on this dystopian island.
