Chapter 81
JESSICA
“Where is she?”
I wake up with my skin crawling.
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I’m soaked through. My shirt’s stuck to me, my thighs tacky, the heat still burning under my skin like I never left it. I can’t tell where my wolf ends and I begin, and that’s a whole new level of fucked.
Why?
Why is this still happening to me?
I sit up too fast, and the world tilts sideways. My legs tremble, slick, sticky, and my whole body throbs like I’m a fucking wound. My throat’s dry, my cheeks still wet. I must’ve cried in my sleep. God. I rake shaking hands through
my hair, hating the smell of me–bitter, slick, desperate.
This can’t be real.
This isn’t my life.
I didn’t ask for this.
With all my strength left, I gather myself to walk near the entrance only to find Riot and Grayson barking each other at the entrance. Riot is trying to get in while Grayson hold him off.
“You don’t want her!” Grayson snaps. His voice is raw, frantic, like he’s running out of air. “She chose me.”
My wolf writhes in my gut, pawing at me, whimpering Riot’s name. He’s so close and she’s still begging me to go to
him. She doesn’t care what this costs me. She doesn’t even care what Grayson would feel.
I can’t I can’t be in here–I can’t be in this skin–I can’t–I can’t–I can’t–control my wolf with Riot being this close.
My body tells me to move when both of them whip toward me. Quickly, Grayson locks the door like that’s going to stop what’s coming.
“I’m here,” Grayson says, reaching for me.
I shake my head before he can touch me. It hurts him–I see it. I feel it. And it hurts me too, even if I pretend it doesn’t. But it’s probably for the best/1 barely hold myself together last night. I let things happen I shouldn’t have.
Let him hold me.
Let myself want it,
Want him,
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And that’s not something you’re supposed to want–not when he isn’t your mate. It’s not just wrong. It’s betrayal. Of everything. And knowing Grayson… he’d do it again.
“Jess.”
I shake my head again, harder. “Don’t.”
He moves toward me like he’s about to try again–touch me, fix this–and I back up so fast I hit the wall behind me.
“We have to talk,” he says.
“No, we don’t.” My voice is barely a whisper. “We really don’t.”
“You think ignoring it makes it go away?”
“I’m trying to forget it happened.”
“Well, I’m not,” he snaps. “I’m not gonna pretend this is a fucking nightmare.”
“But it is, Grayson.” My voice cracks. “It is.”
His mouth opens like he’s going to argue, but nothing comes out.
And then-
BANG.
The door shudders on its hinges.
Again.
BANG.
Grayson flinches. I jump. My stomach drops to the floor.
“What the hell-” he starts, but we both know. We both know who that is.
A third, vicious slam and the door bursts inward, the frame cracking like it’s been clawed open by something feral.
Riot storms in and his eyes find me instantly making me freeze.
“Get away from her,” Riot growls.
Grayson throws his arm out, slams me back. My spine hits the wall. Hard. I suck in air, already choking on it. He plants himself in front of me–broad, braced, a fucking shield. I barely blink before Riot’s in his face.
“You touched her,” Riot spits, and then his hand’s in Grayson’s shirt–fist curled tight–and drives him back into the doorframe.
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The crack it makes–I flinch. A squeak rips out of my mouth before I can stop it. Embarrassing. Too human, Riot hears it. His head snaps toward me like a whip.
And that’s when I feel it–my wolf thrashing. She wants him. Still. Even with his voice snarling through her ribs like teeth.
“She was breaking,” Grayson grits out, pushing off the door, shoulder ramming Riot back.
“She’s not yours to fucking break for,” Riot growls. “She never was.”
They crash. Riot tackles him. Shoulders slam. The coffee table cracks in half. Grayson throws a punch. Riot doesn’t even wobble. He grabs Grayson’s arm mid–swing and wrenches it down so hard something pops.
Grayson grunts. Still doesn’t fall.
I press against the wall, breath coming too fast, too loud. My legs won’t move, but everything else inside me wants to run. My nails claw at the plaster. I can still feel Grayson’s mouth on me. I can still smell Riot on my skin.
“I can still smell her on you,” Riot snarls, then slams his fist into Grayson’s jaw. Bone cracks. Grayson stumbles but doesn’t fall.
“You think I don’t fucking know what you did?” Riot keeps coming, stalking, teeth bared like he’ll tear the truth out of Grayson’s throat. “You know what needs to be done!”
Grayson wipes blood from his mouth and spits. “I saved her.”
“You touched her.”
“She’s my fucking mate!”
“No, she’s mine!”
Grayson lunges first this time–rage shoving past reason–and slams Riot back against the wall, Riot barely flinches. He grins, blood painting his teeth, welcoming the pain.
“She chose me,” Grayson hisses, grabbing Riot by the collar. “She let me hold her. She came to me.”
Riot laughs, low and cruel. “She was in heat. She would’ve let anyone touch her. Doesn’t mean she wanted you.”
Grayson’s fist flies again, cracking against Riot’s ribs. Riot snarls and retaliates, slamming his forehead into Grayson’s face–blood sprays, a grunt of pain–and they both go down hard.
I scream but neither of them stop.
They’re animals now–rolling, tearing, fists and claws and teeth. The floor shudders beneath them. Furniture cracks. Riot’s knuckles split open on Grayson’s cheek. Grayson’s boot kicks into Riot’s gut, sends him skidding–but he’s back up, faster, hungrier.
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“STOP!” I scream, throat raw. “Stop it!”
They don’t hear me. Or maybe they don’t care.
This is a fucking mess. My mess. And I can’t fix it.
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I stagger back, bile rising in my throat. My palms hit the wall. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. My wolf’s screaming inside me but not for them–run, she says. Run.
And then–everything stops.
The air shifts–no, curdles. Goes dead still like the moment before lightning hits.
A presence slides into the room like smoke under the door. Cold. Ancient. Wrong.
Not Riot. Not Grayson.
Something colder. Older. Hungrier.
His boots are wet with blood from the hallway. His smile doesn’t reach his eyes. His eyes don’t have anything in them. “Jessica,” he says. “You’re making a mess.”
I don’t move.
I don’t breathe.
My wolf flattens in my chest, spine bowed, ears back.
Every instinct I have screams submission.
Riot stiffens, blood smeared down his neck, his chest heaving like he’s just remembered how to be afraid.
Grayson steps back. Just one step but it’s enough to say he’s afraid too because he’s here.
The Alpha.
And no one fucking breathes without his permission.
He tilts his head. Just a fraction. The gesture makes my stomach twist.
“She’s still in heat,” he says. Cold. Bored. “And this is what you’ve done with her?”
Riot flinches like he’s been hit.
Grayson doesn’t breathe.
The Alpha turns to his sons. “Two alphas. Raised to rule. Reduced to rutting animals over a girl who doesn’t even belong to either of you.”
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He doesn’t shout. He doesn’t need to.
“I should kill her for this,” he says simply. “But I’m a reasonable man.”
My pulse slams in my ears. Riot shifts, barely–but I see it. His jaw, tight. His feet, bracing. Like he might lunge again. Like he might lose it.
Grayson’s hand comes up. Subtle. Warning.
The Alpha’s eyes don’t move.
“I’m going to fix this,” he says, looking straight at me now. “You will not disgrace this pack again. And if you do-”
He smiles. But it never touches his eyes.
“-you’ll wish you had gone feral and died.”
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