Tessa.
I don’t look at her.Not directly.I’ve perfected the art of pretending indifference, of moving through this routine like it means nothing.Same booth in the back corner.Same view of the entire café, the front door, the kitchen entrance, every window.Same newspaper I’ll pretend to read while cataloguing every threat, every exit, every sound.
Every breath she takes.
“Morning,” she calls out, and I hear the slight rasp in her voice that means she’s been up since four-thirty, preparing for the day.There’s the clink of ceramic against the counter as she reaches for a mug without waiting for my order.
Black coffee.No sugar.No cream.She knows.
I give her a nod, nothing more, and settle into the booth, unfolding the newspaper with deliberate slowness.My eyes scan the headlines, but I’m not reading.I’m listening.The steady rhythm of her heartbeat.The soft pad of her feet as she crosses the café.The whisper of fabric against skin as she moves.
She sets the mug down in front of me, and for just a second, her fingers brush against mine.
Heat.Electric and immediate.
I keep my face neutral, my eyes on the paper, but every nerve in my body lights up at that brief contact.It’s always been like this, has been for two years.This exquisite torture of being close to her, breathing in her scent, feeling the warmth of her presence, and knowing I can never have her.
Don’t touch her.
Don’t feed from her.
Don’t claim her.
These are the rules I set for myself.The only thing keeping me civilized.
“Thanks,” I say, my voice rough.
She moves away, and I force myself to take a drink, letting the bitter liquid ground me.The café is quiet this early, just me and Tessa and the soft hum of the espresso machine.Through the window, the sky is still dark, snow falling in lazy spirals under the streetlights.
I can feel her watching me sometimes.Quick glances when she thinks I’m not paying attention.Tessa is curious about me, maybe even attracted, though she’d never admit it.Not after what she saw.
Six months ago.
The memory surfaces unbidden, sharp and clear.
I was roaming the woods when Scout found me.His words tumbled over themselves as he explained Ranger had lost control in front of humans.But not any human, Tessa.There are rules we don’t break, and one of them is we do not reveal ourselves to them.
While Scout flickered back to the compound, I ran, faster than I’ve ever run before.Tessa’s scent drew me to the hut where she was being held, just as Scout was escorting Kyler outside.
“Did you touch her?”I growled, grabbing him by the back of his cut and hauling him off his feet.
“No!”
I slammed Kyler against the hut’s wall hard enough to hear something inside him crack.“You don’t touch her,” I snarled, my voice barely human.“You don’t eventhinkabout her.She’s off-limits.”
“Why?”he gasped, struggling against my grip.“She’s just a human.She smells so—”
I tightened my hold on his throat, cutting off his words.“Because I said so.Because Blade said so.Because if you touch her, I will rip your fucking heart out and feed it to you while you’re still conscious enough to feel it.”
The scent of his fear was immediate, sharp and acrid.Good.He needed to be afraid.
“Understood?”
Kyler nodded frantically, and I released him, letting him slide down the wall.
I entered the hut, and Tessa screamed.Seeing Ranger change made her think we were all werewolves.The smell of her fear was sharp and bitter, almost suffocating.The woman who would flirt with me every morning now saw a monster, just not the right monster.
She sat there, back straight, chin raised in defiance, and her first words to me were, “You’re here,” in a voice that dripped with contempt.
