Her logical mind, the part of her that was all raw, wounded fury, had no plans to give into the pull that had rearranged her hormones and stolen her good sense. She’d done it once and suffered the consequences.
Camille gripped the edge of the table to steady herself — and keep herselfawayfrom Viktor — straightened her shoulders, and hoarsely demanded, “What part of me trying to get away from you as fast as possible told you tofollowme? Get out!”
“I wouldn’t have if you didn’t look like you were ready to shatter into a thousand pieces,” he shot back. “Did you really think I was going to let you run off after all that without even checking to make sure you were okay?”
Camille let out a distinctly elvish hiss. “I’m fine. Now getout.”
Viktor’s eyes went from human to coyote. In the dark, his pupils suddenly expanded and glowed with the vivid green of a predator’s vision.
With a flick of his wrist, the door shut with a resoundingbang.
“Cam,”he tried again, moving a step closer.
She took a hasty step to the left. Viktor stilled and raised his hands in a placating gesture, but his eyes were still coyote bright and fixed on her with a hungry look she knew too well.
“You didn’t have to run. I just want to talk to you. I’m not going to attack you or something.” He sucked in a small, shuddering breath. “You know that. You know me. You can sheath your claws for a second.”
A base, animalistic part of her almost wished he would lunge for her. Then she would really have a reason to flex her claws a little. “I don’tknow you,Alpha Hamilton.That sort of thing tends to happen when you haven’t spoken to someone in twenty years. What could youpossiblyhave to say to me now?”
Why would he bother seeking her out now, after so long? He had been very clear about what he wanted from her twenty years ago, after all. Humiliatingly,heartbreakinglyclear.
Was itpitythat drove him?
Gods, she wanted it to be anything but that. Even morbid curiosity would be better than pity.
Viktor took another step. The necessary gap between their bodies shrank. “I need to know that you’re okay. You look exhausted, Cam, and it’s not like you to lose your temper in front of everyone like that.” His expression pinched with concern. “What’s this about your mom being sick?”
She stiffened. “That’sprivate.”
Viktor’s eyes slid over her features, searching for something. “Cam, do you need help? I know you think your mother and your brother are your responsibility, but you don’t have to deal with everything alone. Tell me what you need and I’ll give it to you.” He swallowed. “I know it’s been a long time and that we’re not— Iknow,but I’m here for you, Cam.”
Rage snapped a tight band around her chest and squeezed the air out of her.
He didn’t know anything, didn’t even really care about her, and yet he thought he could corner her?Gentleher? He wasn’t her confidant. He wasn’t anything to her.
She owed him no explanation. He didn’t get to see her grief, nor her pain. He didn’t get to know that she felt like she was half a step away from crumbling under the weight of her grief, that she knew she was losing her mother more and more each day, and that as soon as Marian passed, her brother would jump at the chance to live his life.
He would go, her mother would join their father in Grim’s domain, and she would be left alone to ache for a man who hadn’t bothered to speak to her intwenty fucking years.
She let him see her softness once, when she was young and stupid. He would not get the chance again.
Camille lifted her lip in a snarl and darted away from the table. She dove around him as he stepped instinctively out of her swiping range, heading for the door he guarded. She might have made it, too, if he didn’t have shifter reflexes.
“Oh, no you don’t!”
Viktor’s arm slid around her waist and hauled her clear off her feet. She kicked, but only managed to send her heels flying in two different directions.
Under her gloves, Camille felt her claws sink back into her fingertips, each one bursting with a flare of pleasure-pain.Uselessagainst him.
Luckily she still had her claw-caps on — andtheywere diamond-tipped.
She yowled a protest as he wrestled her away from the door. He was saying something, his voice pitched to soothe, but she did everything in her power to block him out as she clawed at the arm around her waist. The fabric of his sleeve shredded immediately, but the moment her keen nose picked up the burst of coppery blood in the air, she froze.
Bile climbed up her throat as every muscle locked.Can’t hurt him. Can never hurt him. Gods, I’vehurthim!
The beast that lived in the heart of every elf wanted to bite and challenge its mate, but it never, ever injured. Fighting was a courtship game they played; a test to see who could come out on top and if they knew how to temper their strength. To know that she’d truly hurt him, even when he deserved it, made her stomach curdle.
“Shh, shh,” he purred against the shell of her ear. “You’re okay, Cam. Everything’s okay. I’m here. Everything’s going to be okay. You’ve just gotta tell me how to help you, sweetheart.” One big hand stroked her short black hair back from her sweaty forehead. Only then did she realize that she had been letting out a high, keening note of apology.
