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“You said you could control it,” I added. “You’re injured, and you need to heal. You can’t finish the Transcendent like this, Wolf. You look like shit.”

“Thank you for that detailed description of my appearance, Huntress.” The familiar flirt in his voice was gone, replaced by a wall of painful restraint.

I crawled over to him, touching his shoulder from behind. “You need this,” I whispered. “You want this.”

He glanced at me over his shoulder. “This isn’t about what I want.”

“Look at me.”

Wolf didn’t move.

“I said look.”

A few torturous seconds went by, and I thought he was going to ignore me entirely. Wolf was rigid and restrained, very different from the casual confidence he usually held himself with. Eventually, though, he turned around, sitting on the wet forest ground in front of me.

“I don’t like vampyres,” I explained. Wolf snorted, and I found great relief in knowing his personality wasn’t entirely gone. “So I need you to know I’m not taking this decision lightly.”

“I can’t do that to you, Huntyr. I won’t.”

I smiled at him gently. “I don’t think you have much of a choice. You’re not leaving me here alone to hope you’ll find someone else to drink from. You’ll take what you need, and it’ll be over. I’m not sure how much more of your hunger I can feel.”

A wave of shame interrupted the hunger funneling through our bond.

“Stop that.” I held out my wrist. “Just get it over with, okay? Drink it.”

Wolf tried to turn his face away, but I sat up on my knees and placed a hand on his face.

“Feel what I feel,” I whispered. “Feel how much I want this, too.”

“You only want this because you can feel my hunger.”

I picked up his own hand and put it on my chest, just over my heart. I searched his blue eyes and the light that simmered within; I begged for him to see the meaning behind the words as I said them. “Feelhow much I want this.”

I lifted the dam that held the ocean of emotions I held back. I thought of the way Wolf kissed me in the study, the way my entire body surrendered to his touch when his lips landed on my neck. I thought of the way he fought with me like I was strong, not some fragile girl who needed protecting. I pictured his finger scattering across my cheek as he tucked away loose strands ofmy hair. His powerful arms as he carried my bleeding body through the hallway.

Wolf filled an ache in my chest that I never thought would leave.

I didn’t feel indifferent to him. I fuckinghatedhow much he made me feel.

Wolf sucked in a breath, eyes fluttering. “Huntress,” he muttered. Just when I thought I had shared too much, had sent too many truths through our bond, Wolf’s free hand wrapped around my waist, pulling me flush against him on our knees.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. His lips came close to mine. They nearly touched as we froze between breaths.

I didn’t just feel his body against me. I felt the heat and desire and longing that he felt.

“You’re a vampyre,” I breathed.

He nodded. “Yes.”

“I don’t trust you.”

The lightning in his pupils simmered once more. “And I’ll spend the rest of my days trying to change that, Huntress.”

Hells, it was impossible to hold back any longer.

“Are you going to kiss me?” I whispered. “Or are we going to keep torturing each other for the sake of our pride?”

Wolf smiled. “Careful.” And then his lips were on mine.