Page 65 of A Clash of Moonlight

She held his gaze, kept her shoulders back and her chin lifted. Her wolf paced and snarled and demanded to be let free. Nora allowed her to hunt for weaknesses.

“Clear the bar,” Jared said.

Laila and a few other vampires began moving. They said a few words to the couples and small groups who remained absorbed in their activities, then they escorted them toward the door. There were no complaints, just compliance. This kind of influence could only be achieved by Aged vampires and strong alpha werewolves. Even though Jared hadn’t moved, it was his power that allowed his people to empty the place, his will that usurped all others’.

“Am I supposed to be impressed?” Nora asked when they were alone.

“I am not.” He swept his gaze down to her boots, then back up, emphasizing his point.

Bastard.

“You were impressed enough to misjudge the dawn.”

He shrugged. “I needed something from you. Now I have it.”

“The DefenSec info?” Skepticism saturated her words.

He chuckled, another mannerism that was foreign and wrong on him. He leaned toward her and lowered his voice. “Your scream.”

A sharp inhalation iced her lungs. Words had never hurt her before. She wanted to lash out, to shift, to lock her jaws around his throat.

“My command applied to you as well. Leave my bar. I am finished with you.”

She stayed so very still. If she moved, if she breathed too fast, or spoke, she’d lose control. She refused to give him that satisfaction. She would not let him wound her.

It took a concentrated effort to shut down her instincts, to become as emotionless as Jared appeared to be. “No.”

“No? Nora.” His voice filled with condescension. “Do I need to make the situation clearer? You are nothing but a check box. I had never been with a naturally born werewolf before. Now I have.”

Her hands fisted at her sides. “Try harder.”

“You bore me.”

When she stepped toward him, it was like she had crossed a wide chasm. He was within reach and he… He stiffened.

“You told me you become a monster when you drink Arcuro’s blood.”

“I have always been a monster.”

“Not with me.”

“You were too infatuated to see it.”

Another step. This time she was in the warm embrace of his aura, and something flashed through his eyes. It was so brief it was almost impossible to identify, but she was a werewolf. He couldn’t erase his scent as thoroughly as he could his expression. “If you were a monster, you would take my blood and body before you discarded me.”

“I already—”

“Why do you smell like fear?”

His jaw clenched. “I do not know how to make this clearer. You are nothing to me.”

His voice hitched on his last words. He actually retreated.

“Prove it.” Nora stalked him. “Fuck me like you don’t care.”

If he touched her, he would break.

He could not break, so he clung tight to the shell of the monster encasing him, patching its cracks, thickening its skin. He turned his back on the werewolf and decided he must have a drink. Something to hold in his hand. Something to swallow down so the monster did not think about drinking her blood.