His Trouble Maker

Chapter 181

Chapter 181

JESSICA

“Have you been practicing?”

I curl my fingers into the collar of my shirt, tugging it up just enough to hide the crescent bruises Grayson left last night. Heat claws up my neck, prickling at every pulse, and I can feel Kade’s eyes on me.

“Mind your own business, Kade.”

Kade’s hand lands on the table with a soft thud, and I catch the faint shift in his gaze sliding toward the marks at the base of my throat. I stiffen, tugging the collar a fraction higher, letting my hair fall just enough to obscure the bruises. Every instinct in me screams to hide, yet a part of me burns with the challenge–the defiance I can’t seem to suppress.

After Grayson and I had our talk last night, he’s sure as hell punished me from slapping him. I’m glad I can barely walk for tonight’s ceremony.

Grayson snorts, low, amused, but there’s an edge to it, a warning tangled in his voice. “Brat,” he mutters. “Don’t piss Kade. He’s the one making sure tonight will be perfect.”

“Oh, I’m sure he won’t mess up,” I hiss… Beneath the smirk, beneath the snarl, my stomach tightens. Coil after coil of anticipation, dread, and something I refuse to name twists deep inside me. Years with Grayson have taught me this is the right path for us, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

Kade leans back, his arms crossed, eyes glinting. “Tonight, he wants the marking done right. No hesitation. You’re his… you understand what that means.”

I do understand. Too well.

“Yeah,” I murmur, barely loud enough for him. My stomach tightens again, harder this time, heat pooling low. “I know what

it means.”

Staring at the collar, Kade licks his lips and shakes his head. “Someone looks nervous.”

His tone should annoy me, and part of me wants to snap, but the truth curls around my ribs like a vice: I am. Fucking nervous. I am not supposed to feel this way. I am supposed to feel confident about finally having Grayson as my official mate–but I don’t. All I feel is this stupid, looping thought about messing it all up, about flinching, stumbling, betraying the bond before it’s even sealed.

I am not fragile. I am fierce. I am fired. And yet my stomach betrays me, twisting, fluttering, sinking, as if already bowing to what tonight will do to me.

Kade leans back, smirk playing on his lips. “You know, you could just admit it. Nervous. It’s okay. Makes it easier for him to… claim you.”

Claim me.

I’m having second thoughts about this? Because

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Chapter 181

spit, voice sharp, brittle.

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and amused, and pats my head before leaning in for a slurpy

reflexively, chest flush, jaw tight. “Don’t-“I hiss, trying to pull free, but my hands tremble. “Sorry. I

tight, the

it down like bitter medicine, if it means I can slip away for a few minutes, clear my head. Because looking at him knowing I’ll

can just… go? Tonight is coming, and I

out the words that hover on my tongue–the truth that danger seems to orbit, that trouble finds me whether I’m careful or not–but I press my lips together hard

okay? I’ll be back

a word, sprinting through the woods with my heart hammering so hard it feels like it might tear

seems silly how I acted out–but the thought of tonight, of the

overwhelming.

the familiar pull of adrenaline and nerves, twisting in my gut, making my breaths short, shallow, sharp. The woods blur around me, but my mind can’t stop running through every worst–case scenario, every flash of doubt, every shred of fear. And yet… somewhere beneath it all, there’s a spark of excitement, dangerous and illicit,

I can’t ignore.

when I reach the small clearing where Jack is waiting, up on a tree. “Finally decided to

up,” I snap, though the words come out

slightly, feeling the tense power in my legs–the muscle memory of being more than human. With a sharp push off the balls of my feet, I leap, heart slamming against

over the branch to watch me land. “Not bad,” he says, voice teasing,

here?” I snap, brushing imaginary dust from

a graceful, almost predatory ease. “I could ask you the same

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Chapter 181

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