His Trouble Maker

Chapter 82

JESSICA

“NO.”

“I said no,” I snapped, lower now–shaking, wild–eyed, barely holding my skin on. “Don’t you fucking dare, Grayson.”

He’s fucking insane.

They both are.

There’s no way I’m letting this happen. No fucking way.

The Alpha wants them to fight–Riot and Grayson–and the winner takes me.

Takes me.As a mate. As a Luna.

That’s the condition before anyone leaves this cabin.

My hands grip the edge of the desk so tight my knuckles burn white. I won’t look at either of them. Won’t give this madness oxygen.

Grayson’s lounging against the steel rack, arms crossed, eyes sharp. “This was your fucking plan,” he says, snapping his head toward Riot. “You set this up.”

Riot doesn’t move. He’s halfway to me–still, tense–but I feel him like heat. Pressure. A pull that cuts deeper than

blood.

His wolf wants me.

Mine wants him back.

But I won’t let him do this.

“She’s my fucking mate,” Riot growls. “Not yours, asshole,”

I don’t look at either of them.

If I look, I’ll lunge.

If I lunge, I shift—and if I shift, someone’s not walking out of here.

My breath’s ragged. Chest heaving, Claws prickling beneath my fingertips like they’re begging to tear skin. I’m overheating. Spiking. My wolf is pacing, snarling, throwing herself at the walls of me–fight, take, bite, own.

My breath’s ragged. I’m trying to calm it. I’m trying. Trying to think.

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The Alpha said what he said. Either they fight, or none of us leave this fucking cabin. I don’t even know if that was a

threat or a joke or-

“She’s my mate,” Riot says suddenly, rough. “She’s mine.”

Across the room, Grayson laughs–short, mean. “You gonna fuck her right here then? Drag her to the floor and

mark her like an animal?”

A tear–a rip–like my ribs have been kicked out from the inside. My breath punches out of me, and I scream.

“SHUT UP!”

“Shut the fuck up!”

They blink. Just for a second.

“Let me make this real fucking clear,” I snap, pointing now–at Riot, then at Grayson. “If either of you touches the

other, I swear to god I’ll lose my shit so hard the Alpha will wish he never got involved. You hear me?”

Neither of them speaks.

I can still feel the shift crawling under my skin. My muscles are twitching. My wolf is pacing like she wants to break

my chest to claw

be another way,” I say–lower now, breathless. “There has

say there’s always a solution. Every problem has a door–you just have to look at it from the

try harder, twist the

and twisting and I still feel

becoming so weak. If a she–wolf won’t be mated, it consumes her energy to

hard to be a warrior and she fucking reduced me into

“Jess-”

“Don’t,” 1 hissed.

And I shove him. Hard. Grayson stumbles back into the steel rack, metal clanging. I round on both of them now, wild–eyed, barely containing the shift

one is touching me!” I snap, voice cracked and feral. “Not you.

the rack,

the hell do you want us

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Chapter 82

raw, jagged howl ripped from somewhere

now. Riot’s are pitch–black. They both look

time Riot stops him–arm across his chest, voice a low,

“Back off.”

off,” Grayson spits.

so fucking

the ice. “The

In a week?

too soon to find a solution

then, it’ll ruin me. The shift will eat me alive. The heat, the burn–it’ll

left but instinct and

Alpha

run a marathon through fire. My vision blurs. My wolf is scraping her claws

manage. “We have days–if that. And I’m not sitting in this fucking

volunteer to play monster for the Alpha’s little

They both go still.

you

saying we cheat,” I snap. “We don’t follow the Alpha’s

“There is no third option. You either reject the bond–or give in to

“That’s

I’m burning up, but it’s the kind of heat I need–clarity laced with panic. My

if we

shuts them both

real thing. Not

frowns. Riot looks at me like

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Chapter 82

a mating

way out. Something that doesn’t end in a death match or me

on the

one of us are

My throat tightens.

Fuck.

gotten that

of them–Grayson, jaw locked like he’s already bracing for war. Riot, too still, too

in his eyes I

Hunger.

a coin and fake a bond. It’s blood. It’s

don’t do something, I’m going to lose control. I can feel it- I’m unraveling, Grayson. My wolf’s pushing closer every

“Then let

toward him

go through the motions–just enough to convince the

your fucking mind?” Grayson roars, putting himself between us. “She’s mine. You don’t get to touch her. You don’t get to say

“I don’t want to

Grayson shoves him back a step, chest heaving.

“I didn’t ask for it, I didn’t chase it, but

croak. My voice

They freeze,

long enough for me to

can’t-“My voice cracks. “I can’t wait

The room tilts.

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Chapter 82

say