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My breath shudders in, and I’m certain I’ve ruined my underwear.
Every instinct begs me to pull Axe to me. To drag my nails across his back and rid him of the weight of his shirt. To plant my lips on his like they’re meant to bloom there.
Axe doesn’t move. He doesn’t advance, but he also doesn’t pull away.
He’s leaving it up to me.
A shiver wracks my spine as the realization makes me want to taste him all the more.
“I’ll tell you what,” I whisper against him. “You help me with something, and I’ll make sure you get the upper hand in… whatever this is between me and the four of you.”
He pulls away, eyes locked on mine. “You would turn this into a bargaining tool,” he huffs out, but the crinkles around his eyes say he’s not at all bothered. “Fine. What do you need help with?”
“First, let’s be clear. What exactly is this the four of us are doing?”
“You’re falling for us, Dove. It’s part of being a demoness. You’ll always be pulled to the strongest, most dominant of your kind.”
“Right, and I guess it doesn’t matter that you four are the only male demons in the whole school, huh?”
Axe laughs. A hearty, full sound that’s far too loud for the library. I can’t help but remember what I thought demons were before I met him.
Soulless black eyes, twisted morals, and power hungry, I never would have imagined a demon’s laugh could sound so…
Sincere.
“Aside from the headmaster and Karloff, that is, right?”
I don’t bother answering.
“See, this is what you don’t understand yet, Dove. You’re ours. We knew it the second you pierced the ward at our meeting. A cute little trick, by the way, blaming it on the cat.”
Is he talking about Chonk blinking me to them on my first day?
“It’s been a century since the four arms of the Syndicate were united by a strong demoness mate.”
“I’m sorry, I’m lost. What are we talking about here?”
“You’re our mate, Dove. And we’ll do whatever it takes to keep you here.”
Chapter Thirteen
The mortals of Earth will pack-bond with anything. Be wary of loose tongues and too much shared time, lest you fall into their pack.
- From Realm to Realm: The Creature Encyclopedia
“You know,I can smell him on you, right?” Austin says as he heaves himself into the chair that Axe was in not so long ago.
“I do know. And do you know it’s considered rude to point out smells your stupid wolf nose picks out? Smells I can’t do a thing about. The polite thing to do is ignore it.”
Austin gives me a toothy grin. “Sure, it’s polite, but I gotta give you a hard time where I can, right? Gotta keep up the big brother, little sister thing we’ve got going.”
“Ha! If anything, I’m the big brother and you’re the little sister.”
He frowns. “Don’t you mean?—”
“I said what I meant.”
Austin’s frown pulls into a grimace when he can’t think of a retort, so I go back to my tablet.
