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

rib in my chest

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

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

the lock till it snaps

I’m twisting and twisting and I still feel

I’ve realized I’m becoming so weak. If a she–wolf won’t be mated, it consumes her energy to the point of making her useless and that’s what

hard to be a warrior and she fucking reduced

“Jess-”

“Don’t,” 1 hissed.

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

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

the rack, teeth

us to

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Chapter 82

scream it. A raw, jagged howl ripped

eyes are glowing now. Riot’s are pitch–black. They both look like they’re about to

and this time Riot stops him–arm across his chest, voice

“Back off.”

back off,” Grayson spits. “You caused

so

the ice. “The next full moon is

In a week?

to find a solution damn

ruin me. The shift will eat me alive. The

left but instinct

Alpha

the desk, breathing like I’ve run a marathon through fire. My vision blurs. My wolf is scraping her claws down my

I manage. “We have days–if that.

volunteer to play monster

They both go still.

you saying?” Riot

“We don’t follow the Alpha’s

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

say. “That’s

it’s the kind of heat I need–clarity laced with panic. My mind whirs.

if we

them both

serious,” I pant. “If the Alpha wants proof of a mating bond—then we give him one. Not the real thing. Not yet. Just enough to satisfy whatever inspection or ritual or twisted tradition

looks at me like I’ve

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Chapter 82

fake a mating bond?” Riot says

find a real way out. Something that doesn’t

the

which one of us

My throat tightens.

Fuck.

hadn’t gotten that

already bracing for

his eyes I know

Hunger.

fucking game,” Grayson says, low. “You can’t just toss a coin and fake a bond. It’s

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

closer. “Then let me do

toward him slowly.

fake it. Fine. I’ll do it. We go through the motions–just enough to convince the

mind?” Grayson roars, putting himself between us. “She’s

“I don’t want to touch her, I have

shoves him back a step, chest heaving. “You want this.

Riot bites. “I didn’t ask for it, I didn’t chase it,

My

They freeze,

for

can’t wait a week.

The room tilts.

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Chapter 82

“Jess, don’t–don’t say that.

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