Page 62 of The Fated Hunter Wolf

Goddess, I wanted more of him.

Shit.

I told myself to move, to slip away before I lost my nerve. When I shifted my weight, his grip tightened. A low growl vibrated through his chest.

“Going somewhere?” His voice was rough with sleep, but alert.

“I thought you were out cold.”

“I was. But you trying to leave woke me up.”

His breath tickled the back of my neck, and my wolf responded with a slow stretch, a low purr of contentment I didn’t want to feel.

“Logan needs you back,” I said.

“That wasn’t what I asked.”

I turned to face him and immediately regretted it. From this close, I could see every golden fleck in his eyes, smell the pine on his skin, still tangled with the smoke of the fire, my scent on his lips. It called to something deep inside me, a raw and primal place.

“The bond is stronger,” I said, keeping my voice flat. “I’d thought that last night would heal the separation pain we were feeling. Instead, the bond is evolving.”

His thumb brushed my cheek, a gentle, thoughtless touch that hit like a blade.

“And you don’t like that,” he said.

“It should terrify you,” I said, while I thought,I will not be bonded to him.

“It doesn’t.”

I’ve seen what’s in his soul, no matter what my wolf and the stars think. There has to be a way to undo this.

“Look, this bond is not good for you, especially with the council coming,” I said, reaching for my clothes. “You’re smart enough to realize that if they sense the bond, controlling one of us gives them power over both of us. They called this council meeting while you’d disappeared. It hasn’t escaped them that Orion would only be weaker if you’re feral in the forest. Imagine if you do get to the meeting. And you’re bonded. Look at us—this bond is not a superpower. We’re a wreck. Showing up there, especially together, would put a target right on our heads.”

We’re not going together, I said to myself as a wake-up call.Stop talking about together. This has to end.

I didn’t say what was rumbling inside me, somewhere between my wolf and an old call. A voice declaring I shouldn’t be separated from him.

He watched me dress in silence. “You think the Council will come after us?”

“They’ve already called the meeting,” I said. “If Orion shows up fractured, they’ll exploit that. If you show up bonded to someone like me?” I shook my head. “This isn’t a bond, it’s a liability.”

“You didn’t seem to mind the liability last night.”

My spine stiffened. He wasn’t wrong.

“That was supposed to put it all to rest,” I snapped.

“Was it?”

I looked up. “It was about not knowing if we’d live through the night if we didn’t. That’s all. The bond was demanding, and you’d left with the rejection unfinished. And I’ll remind you that you were vampire food until I showed up, and I didn’t know if you’d walk away from that.”

He smiled, slow and wolfish. “So when you pulled yourself against me, when you came on my face and screamed out my name, that was just a side effect of not knowing?”

Heat flashed up my neck, and I stood up to hide it. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

He wasn’t teasing anymore. He pushed up on one elbow and studied me, eyes narrowing. “You really think you can separate what happened last night from this…” He gestured between us. “From this thing inside us?”

“I have to.” My voice cracked. “Because if I don’t…”