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When my back hits the trunk, the bark scrapes through the fabric of my shirt. Then he presses his body against mine, and heat sparks from somewhere inside me, my knees knocking together, a haziness webbing through the inside of my mind, a ghost of a whisper telling me this is okay. That I should be kissing Jules.
Okay, this is okay.
Is it?
I grab his shoulders as confliction dances inside me, an internal tug of war.
Would he be kissing you if he knew the truth?
Should you be kissing him when he’s the same kind of creature who ruined you to begin with?
You’re broken.
He won’t want you.
You don’t want him.
You’re broken.
Broken.
Broken.
I wrench back, the back of my head smacking against the tree.
Jules’ eyes fly open, the violet flashing wildly inside his pupils. “What’s wrong?” he chokes out, his fingernails clawing at the bark of the tree as he breathes profusely.
“I just … I don’t …” I suck back the tears threatening to come out. I feel ashamed for almost crying. Ashamed for kissing him. Ashamed for wanting to kiss him. “I’m just not ready for this.” I motion between the two of us. “Not when I just learned that I’m a werewolf. There’s so much to take in.”
He nods, his eyes flickering like little fireflies. “I get it.” He pushes away and turns his back toward me. “Can you do me a favor? Can you hike down the trail until you find Shade, then wait there for me? He won’t be that far away.”
“Are you okay?” I reach out and touch his shoulder.
Tension steams off him as he steps away from me. “I’m fine … Just go find Shade, okay?”
Is he mad at me because I stopped the kiss?
Anger and humiliation simmer under my skin. “Yeah, okay, fine.” I turn and hurry up the path with my hands balled at my sides
By the time I find Shade, I’m beyond embarrassed, resting somewhere between enraged and confused as fuck.
“Where’s Jules?” Shade asks, straightening from the tree he was leaning against.
“Back down the path, having a fit.” I stop in front of him. “Where are Legend and Rune?”
He hitches his thumb over his shoulder. “They headed farther down the path toward the pit.” He searches my eyes. “What is Jules having a fit over?”
“I don’t know.” Lukewarm heat flushes across my face as the kiss replays through my mind. No, that was more than a kiss. Way, way more intense than just lips brushing against each other.
“I think you do,” he nudges. “So, fess up. What’d you do?”
“I didn’t do anything,” I snap. “Well, anything he should be pissed off about, if he was a good guy, that is.” I guess he’s not, though. I don’t know why I’m surprised—he’s a werewolf, after all—but I am mad. Jules seemed so different from those guys in the alleyway. Then I saw the same uncontrollable anger as I did in them.
Shade’s brow meticulously arches. “What’d you do?”
“I already told you.Nothing.”
“Obviously, you did something. Why else are your cheeks cherry red right now?”
