Chapter 1
Haven
I’m supposed to want the nice guy.
The one with a steady job and gentle hands and a future that doesn’t include running from the law or burying bodies in the woods.
Maybe I wanted that…once.
Or maybe I just wanted to want it.
That’s what you’re supposed to do when you crawl out of the wreckage of a childhood like mine. You’re supposed to crave safety. Normalcy. A love that doesn’t leave bruises.
But cravings can’t be controlled.
They controlyou.
Gentle hands have never made me wet.
Safety has never made my pulse race.
A nice guy could never compete with a childhood where I slept with one eye open.
No wonder I’ve fallen for a boy with rage in his blood, and a man with cruelty in his eyes.
I’m not asking for sympathy.
This dangerous fairy tale I find myself in isn’t something I juststumbledinto.
I’m not lost.
I’m not looking for a way out.
I walked into these dark, deep woods knowing exactly what I’d find lurking in the shadows.
Monsters.
There’s a part of me that comes alive when monsters catch my scent and give chase…especially when they mistake me for prey.
This brutal, hungry part of me has been asleep for much too long.
But it’s awake now.
Awake…and fucking starving.
Chapter 2
Haven
“Turn around,” I demand, tugging Kai’s hoodie sleeve. “We can still run.”
He flicks sandy hair from his eyes, batting my hand away. “We’re five minutes out, Heavenly. You really wanna have this fight again?”
“Yes.” I press my forehead to the window. “I want to have it until you turn this fucking car around.”
The drive down to the coast took hours. Coming back? Five minutes. Like the universe couldn’t wait to drag us home. Already the beach feels like a dream—warm and golden and fading fast.
I could have stayed there forever.
