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 to claw her

way,” I say–lower

has a door–you just have to look at

harder, twist the lock till it

twisting and I

If a she–wolf won’t be mated, it consumes her energy to the point of making her useless and that’s what

must be laughing at me. I’ve work so hard to be a warrior and she fucking reduced me into

“Jess-”

“Don’t,” 1 hissed.

Grayson stumbles back into the steel rack, metal clanging. I round on both of them now, wild–eyed, barely containing the shift lashing under my

snap, voice cracked and

pushes off the rack,

you want us to

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Chapter 82

jagged howl ripped from somewhere deep and

Riot’s are pitch–black. They

stops

“Back off.”

back off,” Grayson spits. “You caused

is so fucking

minutes, it was Riot who broke the ice. “The next full moon is in a

In a week?

find

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

but instinct and

Alpha knew

breathing like I’ve run a marathon through fire. My vision blurs. My wolf is scraping her

“We have days–if that. And I’m not

to your senses and volunteer to play monster for the Alpha’s

They both go still.

are you

snap. “We don’t follow the Alpha’s rules. We find a

You either reject the bond–or give

I say. “That’s his binary.

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

if we fake

shuts them both

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 he plans to drag

at me like I’ve sprouted

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Chapter 82

fake a

Something that doesn’t end

the full

one of us are you planning

My throat tightens.

Fuck.

gotten

like he’s already bracing for war. Riot, too

eyes I

Hunger.

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

I’m going to lose control. I can feel it- I’m unraveling, Grayson. My wolf’s pushing closer

closer. “Then let

turn toward him slowly.

the motions–just enough

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

“I don’t want to

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

didn’t ask for it, I didn’t chase it, but it’s there and

1 croak. My

They freeze,

long enough for me

cracks. “I can’t wait a week. I

The room tilts.

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Chapter 82

moves first. “Jess, don’t–don’t say that.

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