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“Do you have any clothes I can borrow?” I asked. “I really don’t want to be wearing this for the next three days.”

Linda smirked and turned down a familiar street. “I’ll do you one better.”

My heart raced as she pulled into the driveway at my dad’s place. “Let’s pack your own stuff.”

Before I could even get out of the car Cam had rushed out and was opening it for me, almost ripping it off completely to get to me.He picked me up and held me tightly. “Baby, are you alright? Did they hurt you? Did they touch you?”

“Hey!” Linda barked. Her next words were loud and intentional, her eyes darting in the darkness. “I’m dropping Marlowe off so she can collect her things to bring back to the Sanctuary and look at that, it’s going to take her until eight a.m. tomorrow morning.” She then lowered her voice and spoke to my pack, now all gathered outside. “I’m sorry, it’s the best I can do without tipping off the Conclave.”

Elias nodded his thanks. “We really appreciate this.”

Linda patted me on the head. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, okay? Have fun tonight.”

Tears—real tears, this time—sprang to the corners of my eyes. “Thank you so much, for rescuing me from those assholes and…”

“Shh,” she said, smiling. “I already told you I’d protect you however I could. The police chief is shitting bricks, first over the Conclave co-opting most of the patrol officers and now me going against them, but it’ll work out. Right, boys?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Cam replied, his voice muffled as he buried his whole face in my neck.

Linda reached over and gave me a reassuring pat on the head before she got back in her car, leaving us alone for the night.

Cam carried me wordlessly inside, not allowing me to say one word to the rest of the pack before going straight for one of the bedrooms. He kicked the door closed behind him and laid me on the bed.

“I know I can’t have you all to myself tonight like I planned,” he said quietly, taking off his clothes. “But for now, you’re mine.”

I sat up and took off my dress, happy to have it off of me. I had bought it just for Cam, but now it stunk like the Conclave and all I wanted to do was burn it.

Once it was unceremoniously dumped on the floor, I reclined back on my elbows, tilting my head and biting my lip as I waited for him to finish taking off his suit.

His pupils dilated at the sight of me in my lacy bra and underwear, his chest rumbling as he ran his hands along my curves. I closed my eyes, reveling in the sound and vibration of it.

Nowthatwas a purr.

He took off my lingerie and sighed, wetting his lips. “You’re so beautiful it hurts, baby.”

Cam lowered his face until we kissed, and then he pushed meall the way back, his mouth moving down my body. My nipples hardened as his tongue circled them, sucking gently at the peaks while he kneaded my breasts in his large, calloused hands.

He was warm everywhere, and I melted into his touch, surrendering to every one of his heavy, measured strokes.

“Cam,” I sighed, my hips bucking slightly as a building need grew in my core. I erased the past few hours of this horrible night, and went back to the feeling of Cam’s body against mine on the dance floor, his sweat and alpha scent—cardamom and cedar—turning me on as he gyrated against me, his lingering fingertips skating across every inch of skin he could see.

The unspoken promises for a night full of passion, now cut short by the need to share my time.

I hated having to divide the remaining hours up into paltry offerings. My pack deserved more, and I wanted more, to be present and to enjoy every moment tonight.

But rage simmered beneath my skin. It didn’t make any sense to me that in this day and age, a grown, adult female couldn’t make her own decisions about who she wanted to spend her life with.

On the outside, shifters looked like modern humans, but on the inside, this society was so steeped in patriarchal bullshit that it was over a century behind where they should have been. Not that modern humanity was where they should be, either. Fuck, my mind was wandering when all I wanted to do was give Cam my full, undivided attention. I reached down and scratched his head, feeling an orgasm build just from his thorough work on my nipples. A question that had been weighing on my mind came to the forefront as he licked over his bond mark, sending bolts of pleasure-tinged lightning straight into every one of my nerve endings. “Wait!”

Cam stilled, his eyes lifting to mine as his tongue stuck out, prepared to taste my nipple again.

“I’m so sorry, I just… I need to ask you something.”

His tongue retreated and he sat up, chest slightly heaving. “What is it, babe?”

My vision blurred from unshed tears, and I closed my eyes, willing them not to spill. “You guys are winning this—there isn’t a doubt in my mind. But…”

Cam’s expression tightened, and his nostrils flared. “Babe, please…”