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“I think he killed Vlad.”

  “Who?” I ask.

  “Sebastian. I think he killed him.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “There are so many backward rules in that village,” she says.

  She isn’t making any sense, and I don’t know how to decipher any of it. I want to ask questions. I want to probe her mind until I can put the pieces together myself. But she’s too shaken up and too scattered to tell me anything. Her mind is flooded with too much chaos, and my questions will only add to that.

  My fingers trace the ring on her finger.

  The jade ring I gave her on the plane.

  “Whatever I want?” Clarissa asks.

  Her head pans toward mine, and our eyes connect. Her hands are squeezing mine tightly. Hoping and praying for a positive answer.

  I nod my head, and she stands up from her chair, then pulls me to my feet. She’s strong. Very strong. She pulls me so hard I almost

  lose my balance. I stumble toward her and knock into her body, and it presses us against a wall.

  I see the panic rising in her eyes as I quickly step back. My eyes narrow as her head whips around. Sebastian’s howls die down to a low growl, and I can hear Penny singing to him. A horrible, terrible, off-key tune that makes even me want to cringe.

  “Take me away,” Clarissa says.

  I’m not sure I’ve heard her right.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Like Japan. And our adventure. Take me away, Toshi.”

  I feel a spark in my chest as I entwine our fingers together.

  “Make me forget like only you can.”

  I nod at her before I pull her from the room. We sneak past Penny and Sebastian, keeping our feet light as Penny continues to sing.

  We scurry down the hallway without a sound to our steps, and I burst us through the door before we descend down the stairwell.

  As fast as we can move, we scale the hotel levels. Counting the floors until we’re met with the ground level. I push us through the doors, and I can feel her behind me.

  Clarissa.

  With her soft hand and her desperate want to leave with me.

  We burst out onto the busy Russian streets, and the snow is falling all around us. I can feel Clarissa shivering, so I duck us into the first store we come to. I buy us coats and hats to wear on our journey, then I flag down a cab for us to take.

  I open the door for her, and she slides in, eagerly awaiting my descent beside her.

  The cab takes us away, the hotel receding into the rearview horizon. Clarissa settles next to my body and lays her head on my shoulder. Her right hand in entwined with my left, and I can feel her ring pressing against my skin. Reminding me of the beauty she brings to my world and the comfort I hope to bring to hers. I keep my eyes peeled along the landscape, looking for our first big adventure.

  And I see it as the small town breaks into a snow-covered field.

  “Pull over,” I say. “You can let us out here.”

  The cab driver gives me a weird look but obeys all the same.

  Clarissa’s head leans up, and she looks around at nothing but the

  blanket of snow around us. I pay the cab driver before the two of us get out, her hand still clinging to mine.

  “What are we doing?” she asks.

  “An adventure,” I say.

  I point toward the horizon at the small glow of a town off in the distance. I can hear singing and cheering. People laughing and bustling about. The cab drives off, and we start across the field, braving the knee-deep snow through the field and the woodlands. The closer we approach the louder the joyful noises become. Jokes are being told, and glasses are being broken as alcohol permeates our noses. Clarissa looks up at me with her sparkling eyes, and I stop. I turn toward her as the forest shelters our bodies from the falling snow, and I cup her cheek once again in my palm.

  Her eyes turn into a mystical blend of yellow and orange, and I can feel her entire body vibrating with her purrs. A soothing sound that sends sparks of electricity shooting through my chest.

  She’s opening herself up to me. Allowing me in. Giving me a chance to prove to her the joy and comfort I can bring to her world.

  I pull her close, my body vibrating with my own purrs. Our rhythm syncs and our heartbeats meld into one. I pick her up into my arms and hold her close, her eyes never leaving mine as I walk silently along the forest floor.

  I can feel her warmth nestling against my heart.

  And I can feel the rhythm of her cat-like nature falling into step with mine.

  Chapter 22

  ~ Sebastian

  “C ut it out,” I say with a growl.

  “Not until you calm down,” Penny says. “You’re injured. Badly.

  And though you’re healing quickly, it’s not quick enough. I’m worried.”

  “How caring of you,” I say.

  “The proper response is ‘thank you,’” she says.

  I lay on the bed as Penny dabs at my wounds. I know why I’m not healing fast enough, and I don’t like it. An alpha’s inflicted wounds take longer to heal. Vlad sank his claws into me, which

  means my skin was pierced by a Wolf more dominant than I am. Not something I enjoy admitting. It feels foreign to even think about. In my pack, had I not been cast out, I would’ve been the alpha. The leader. The warrior and the ultimate procreator. I would’ve taken any woman in the pack I wanted for myself and filled our growing numbers by the dozens.

  But being struck down by another alpha? That takes longer to come back from.

  Vlad was in worse shape, however. And sinking my saliva beneath his skin meant a much longer healing time for him. If a Wolf licks wounds, it binds the two together and heals the wounded quickly. But if saliva is intentionally injected underneath the skin, sometimes a Wolf can bleed out before they heal.

  It’s our best gift and our worst curse.

  I sniff the air, trying to get a whiff of Clarissa. But as time passes, her scent fades. Soon, I can’t smell her at all. I move from the bed as Penny tries to press me down, but I knock her out of my way.

  “Fine. Bleed out on the floor. See if I care,” she says.

  “Where’s Clarissa?” I ask. “And Toshi?”

  I sniff the air and notice a distinct lack of Toshi’s smell in the room. It’s too absent. Too hard to track.

  Camouflage.

  “Where the hell are they?” I ask.

  “How am I supposed to know? I’ve been taking care of you,” she says.

  “We need to go find them,” I say. “Clarissa’s in danger out there.”

  “If she’s with Toshi, what does it matter?” Penny asks. “Come lay back down. You’re still hurting.”

  “I need to go find Clarissa.”

  “You need to lay down.”

  “I need to not be taking orders from an opossum.”

  “I should’ve killed you when I had the chance.”

  “Like you could,” I say with a growl.

  I try calling out to Clarissa in my mind, but she’s nowhere to be found. I’m clutching my stomach as my body heals from the inside

  out. The only thing I can smell is Penny. With her trashcan scent and her ruddy taste in my mouth. I hate it. Being around her.

  Smelling the change in her attitude. There’s a reason some Primal species never interact. Like Dragons with Cats and Wolves with Opossums. They can’t stand the smell of one another. It’s too distracting to their senses.

  Penny’s too distracting to me, and I need to get rid of her.

  “Go get me something to drink.”

  “I’m not your slave,” she says.

  “You want to help me? Get me a drink,” I say.

  “Not until you ask nicely.”

  I growl at her, and she scurries, squealing as she runs. I’m done taking orders. I’m done listening to people and Primals bark at me. Being kicked out of my pack affords me one luxury, and that’s complete control of my surroundings.

  I
’m in no condition to go out in search of Clarissa, but Toshi better be ready when he gets back.

  I take the water Penny brings to me and slam myself down into a chair. Hiro comes slinking out of the kitchen from the other room, and I roll my eyes. Fucking Cat. I can hardly tell half the time when he’s there. Camouflaging his scent and creeping around with his light feet.

  And then there’s the admission Toshi says he made in Thailand. A phrase none of us have unpacked. I don’t trust him. Not as far as I can spit.

  Then again, I don’t trust Penny either.

  Yet here I am, sitting in a room with them. Smelling their scent and tolerating their presence and wondering why the fuck Clarissa isn’t answering me.

  “Where the hell are you?”

  Two hours pass before my wounds finally heal. I stand up from my chair and head for the door as Hiro dashes in front of me.

  Without a word, I grab his robe. Pulling him toward me with my teeth bared. No one is getting in my way. I can’t smell Clarissa or Toshi, and I know that Cat has done something with her. Has taken her somewhere to try and level the playing field. He was just as upset as I was over her and Theo’s interactions, and I am not going to let another Primal take advantage of Clarissa’s fragile emotional state.

  “Get out of my way,” I said with a growl.

  I toss Hiro to the side as Penny grabs my ankle. She’s gnawing at me with her razor-sharp teeth, and I kick her off my leg. She goes squealing through the air and hits the wall before sliding down to the floor. I rip the door open and take another whiff of the air in the hallway before proceeding to the elevator.

  I can hear them calling after me, but it’s no use.

  I’m not coming back to this hotel room without Clarissa.

  I bound down the stairs and shove myself out into the cold Russian air. I hunch my back and tune my ears, and I can hear her giggling. Way off in the distance I can hear that beautiful sound falling from Clarissa’s lips.

  And Toshi.

  I can smell his putrid scent.

  I take off across the road, my nose shoved into the air. I’m on all fours, pumping as fast as my body will allow me to go. Down the road and out of town, until there’s nothing around me but fields blanketed with snow. I’m puffing and heaving for air as my claws dig into the ground, sending me faster down the side of the road with each stride I take.

  I stop in my tracks and rear up, allowing the wind to whip around my head. And the moment the smell hits my nose, my blood boils.

  I can smell Clarissa.

  And she reeks of Cat.

  I turn my head and look across a meadow as the sun sets below the horizon. The blackness of night is forcing the stars into the sky, and I see two people emerge from the woods. Tangled up in one another and dancing. I train my ears, and Clarissa’s giggle is louder. Sloppier. Filled with bad decisions and regret.

  She’s drunk.

  Toshi went and got Clarissa drunk.

  “I’m gonna kill you, you fucking Cat.”

  I see Clarissa’s head whip over toward me as I go running through the meadow. I can hear her screaming at me, but it doesn’t matter. Toshi knew what he was doing. He knew he was taking advantage of her. I run through the snow and leap into the air, watching as Clarissa steps in front of Toshi.

  Protecting him and reeking of his scent.

  I push her off to the side and sink my claws into his back. I toss Toshi over me and turn blindingly on my heels. I pounce on

  him, and he transforms. A massive black Cat stands from the snow, and the Wolf in me grins.

  Oh, this is going to be good.

  “Stop it! Right now!”

  I look over at Clarissa as Toshi pounces. His teeth go straight for my neck, but I’m quicker. I roll him over in the snow as Clarissa shouts at us. I pin him to the ground and swipe my claws over his face, tearing open his skin and spilling his blood onto the snow.

  It’s a beautiful scent, and I bask in it as victory floods my veins.

  “What is wrong with you two? Stop!”

  “You got her drunk,” I say.

  “At her request,” Toshi says with a hiss.

  “It doesn’t matter. You knew you were taking advantage of her.”

  “I was simply giving her what she asked.”

  “That doesn’t mean you weren’t taking advantage of her!”

  I leap into the air and crash down onto the Cat, burying him in the snow. I dodge the swiping of his paws as he rolls me over and I kick him off me. He goes crashing into the snow, and I stand up from the ground, my teeth bared and my throat growling.

  “He’s telling the truth,” Clarissa says. “I asked him to take me away. To make me forget. To help me be happy again.”

  “That doesn't mean what he did was right,” I say.

  “I asked him for it!”

  “Like you asked me?”

  I turn my eyes toward Clarissa, and I watch her face fall.

  “Like you asked me for more?”

  Toshi takes me to the ground and lays his teeth into my neck. I shake him off me, and I can feel myself bleeding. I swipe my claws out and dig them into his arm, wrenching him closer to me as I bring his face to mine. My saliva is dripping down my jowls.

  Coating the snow beneath me and freezing on impact. I shove Toshi into the snow, feeling him writhe and shake underneath me. I pin him to the ground, rendering him immobile as I open my mouth to chomp into his pathetic jugular I can see pulsing.

  Hear rushing.

  He stinks of fear.

  The pathetic little kitty.

  “You were the one who resisted.”

  I look over at Clarissa as tears well in her eyes.

  “You were the one who stopped.”

  “Because you were wounded and vulnerable. There is no honor in that. You were wounded and vulnerable tonight. Toshi speaks of honor but has none.”

  “Then stop for me.”

  Her eyes are pleading with me as Toshi shoves me off him.

  “Stop fighting for me.”

  She has a hold on me. Her eyes are widening and not letting me go. I can feel my veins settling in my skin, rushing with something I’ve never felt before. Clarissa’s eyes are getting wider, and I can feel myself falling under her spell.

  The kind of spell Penny tried to cast on me in Hawaii.

  Only this time, I don’t want to fight it.

  My body slowly morphs back to human, and I can see Toshi doing the same. We’re standing the snow-covered field, shivering.

  Naked. Vulnerable. Clarissa still smells like Toshi, and at the back of my mind, my anger is clawing. My want to kill Toshi is stronger than ever.

  But Clarissa’s hold on me is immeasurable.

  Unprecedented.

  Intoxicating.

  “She was safe with me.”

  I turn my head toward Toshi, breaking the trance Clarissa has me under.

  “Until you came along, she was safe with me,” Toshi says. “Let that sink in.”

  I watch Toshi pick up his tattered clothes and attempt to cover his bleeding body before he moves to Clarissa. The snow is falling around us, and I watch as she slips her arm around his waist. Carrying his bruised and battered body alongside her.

  Clarissa looks back at me, her eyes falling back to their normal

  size before her head falls to his shoulder as Toshi’s blood drips from his wounds. They might not have mated, but they bonded. When Cats bond, their rhythms sync. Their heartbeats and their footsteps and the vibrating of their bones when they purr at one another.

  I can see it written all over them as they walk away from me.

  Leaving me naked in the cold, bleeding from my fresh wounds, pulsing for a bond I created with Clarissa I’d never be able to fulfill.

  Chapter 23

  ~ Clarissa

  Iset Toshi down on the bed, and Penny tries to tend to his wounds, but I wave her off. My anger is off the charts. I can feel my veins rolling underneath my skin. I’m tired of th
e antics of these two. Of them constantly being at one another’s throats.

  “What happened?” Penny asks. “The Cat finally kill the beast?”

  “No,” I say. “But I’m tired of them fighting.”

  “I don’t blame you. I think we’re all tired of it,” Hiro says.

  “Why am I not healing?” Toshi asks.

  “Sebastian probably laid into you with his saliva-soaked teeth.

  It’ll take a while. You have to rest,” Penny says.

  “Isn’t there anything to help?” Toshi asks.

  “You don’t want to hurt, stop fighting,” I say.

  “He’s the one that attacked first!”

  “But you didn’t have to play into his hand!”

  My nostrils flare, and I can feel my eyes flipping between colors. I am done with the two of them. They are supposed to be helping me, and we’re getting nowhere. Sebastian can’t stop fighting and keep his protectiveness at bay when it’s not needed, and Toshi can’t stop his constant outpouring of feelings. Yes, I bonded with Toshi. Yes, I told him to take me away so I could forget. But that didn’t mean Toshi had to fight Sebastian, and that didn’t mean Sebastian had to wound Toshi.

  “Clarissa?”

  Hiro’s voice penetrates my thoughts as my gaze turns to him.

  “Where’s Sebastian?”

  “I don’t know, and I don’t care. I’m on a mission, and I’m not going to let you guys slaughter one another over me,” I say.

  “We aren’t—”

  I shoot Toshi a look, and he immediately backs down.

  “I need to get him wrapped up. He’s going to bleed out,” Penny says.

  “Fine,” I say. “Do what you need to do.”

  She starts scurrying around and gathering items as Toshi lays back on the bed. He’s injured badly, but I’m too focused. Their fighting is what causes me stress. Their fighting is what got Kyle hurt when he was still alive.

  Kyle.

  The breath leaves my lungs as tears rise in my eyes.

  Toshi threw Sebastian against him. Like a rag doll. I know Toshi has the strength to overcome Sebastian when he wants to. I look over at Penny tending to his wounds as the blood in my veins settles down.

  He held himself back during the fight.

  “We have to go to the Council,” Hiro says.