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Cade’s expression had changed, the calm control replaced by something darker, more primal. His eyes flashed silver—a sign his wolf was close to the surface—as he stared down at me.

“What’s wrong with me?” he repeated. “What’s wrong with me is that my mate ran away four years ago, leaving a hole in our pack and our lives that nothing could fill. What’s wrong with me is that we’ve spent those four years watching you from a distance, making sure you were safe while respecting your need for independence, even though it tore us apart inside. What’s wrong with me is that now, when you’re in real danger, you’re fighting us every step of the way instead of trusting that we know what’s best.”

“What’s best for who?” I challenged, sitting up straighter. “For you? For your pack? Because it sure as hell doesn’t seem like what’s best for me!”

“We’re trying to protect you!” Logan growled, moving to stand beside Cade at the foot of the bed. His eyes were flashing amber now, his control clearly slipping as well.

“From what?” I shouted, frustration boiling over. “You keep saying that, but you won’t tell me what this mysterious danger is! How am I supposed to trust you when you won’t tell me anything?”

“Because we’re your mates,” Cade said, as if that explained everything. “Because everything we do—everything we’ve ever done—has been to keep you safe.”

“Safe,” I repeated, the word bitter on my tongue. “That’s what this has always been about, isn’t it? Poor little Finn, too weak to take care of himself. Too fragile to make his own choices. Too precious to be allowed any real freedom.”

“That’s not fair,” Logan growled, his eyes fully amber now.

“Isn’t it?” I shot back. “You’ve been treating me like a child since the day I came to live with you. Nothing’s changed. I’m still just your responsibility, your duty, your burden to bear.”

The words tasted like poison, but I couldn’t stop them. Four years of repressed hurt and anger were bubbling to the surface, unstoppable now that the dam had broken.

“Is that what you think?” Cade asked. “That you’re a burden to us?”

“I know what I heard that night,” I said, my voice cracking despite my best efforts. “Duty. Obligation. Fate’s sick joke. I was never what you wanted, just what you got stuck with because of some cosmic prank.”

Something shifted in Cade’s expression—shock, then understanding, then a flash of such raw anger that I instinctively pressed myself further against the headboard.

“You think we don’t want you?” he asked, his voice a low rumble that sent shivers down my spine. “You think we’re doing all this out of obligation?”

“What else am I supposed to think?” I demanded, hating the tremor in my voice. “You’ve never given me any reason to believe otherwise!”

That was it—the final straw that broke Cade’s legendary control. With a growl that was more wolf than human, he lunged forward, his hands gripping my arms as he hauled me up against his chest.

“No reason?” he snarled, his face inches from mine. “No reason except the fact that we’ve loved you since the moment you came into our lives? That we’ve respected your choices even when they tore us apart? That we’ve watched over you from a distance because we couldn’t bear the thought of you being unprotected?” His mouth crashed down on mine, hot and demanding and punishing all at once. This wasn’t the controlled kiss from the beach or the careful seduction from four years ago.This was raw, primal claiming—his tongue forcing my lips apart, invading my mouth with possessive hunger, teeth nipping at my lower lip with barely leashed aggression.

I should have been terrified. Instead, something deep inside me—something I’d spent four years trying to suppress—roared to life, responding to his dominance with a submission that was as instinctive as it was infuriating. My body remembered this, remembered them, in ways my mind had tried desperately to forget.

I fought against it, against him, my hands pushing at his chest even as my tongue betrayed me, sliding against his in a dance my body hadn’t forgotten. The mate bond flared between us, hot and insistent, burning away my resistance like tissue paper in a flame.

No. I wouldn’t let this happen again. Wouldn’t let biology override my will, wouldn’t let fate dictate my choices.

With a surge of defiance, I bit down on his lower lip—hard enough to taste blood, hard enough to make him jerk back in surprise.

“Get off me,” I hissed, shoving at his chest again. “I’m not your toy to manhandle whenever you feel like it!”

For a moment, I thought he might back off. Then his eyes flashed fully silver, his wolf clearly in control now.

“You want to see manhandling?” he growled, and he had me pinned to the bed, his body a cage of hard muscle above mine. “You want to see what happens when you push an alpha too far? When you run from your mates for four years, leaving them to suffer while you play human in Seattle?”

He captured my wrists in one hand, pinning them above my head while his other hand gripped my jaw, forcing me to meet his gaze.

“You think we don’t want you?” he demanded, his voice rough with emotion. “You think this is just duty? Obligation?”

His mouth claimed mine again, harder this time, more desperate. I tried to turn my head away, but his grip on my jaw was unrelenting. The kiss was a conquest, a punishment, a declaration all at once—his tongue plunging deep, claiming every inch of my mouth, leaving me gasping for air when he finally pulled back.

“Get off me, you barbaric alpha!” I gasped, struggling against his iron grip. “This is assault! This is?—”

“This is what happens when you push us too far,” he growled, his free hand moving to the hem of my t-shirt. With a single violent motion, he tore the fabric down the middle, exposing my chest to the cool air of the room.

Not stopping there, his hand moved to my jeans, unbuttoning them with savage efficiency before yanking them down my legs. My shoes came off in the same brutal movement, caught in the denim as he pulled everything away. He tore my underwear down next, the fabric ripping under his impatient hands. In seconds, I was completely naked except for my socks and the tattered remains of my t-shirt hanging from my shoulders. Exposed. Vulnerable.