“What happens then?” Rowen demands.
Her voice cracks when she answers. “Tobias will lose himself completely.”
I can’t breathe. I’m suddenly freezing, though sweat slicks the back of my neck. That tugging I felt in the darkroom, the first time I heard the whispers—it had been his voice. The pull beneath my ribs when Rip spoke in my head—my gods.
I thought it was my bloodline. Thought I was losing my mind, like my mother.
Was it really him all along? Through the Shadow Bond? And now this…
I press a hand to my neck. The energy thrums there, like something… alive.
A whisper, oily and smug comes through.See? I own you.
I get to my feet, snarling before I can stop it. “Get out of my head, asshole! You don’t own me!”
Rowen’s beside me in an instant, his hand on my face, grounding me. But the world’s gone off-kilter. My pulse hammers in my ears.
Rip’s voice slinks through my mind, cruel and familiar.Eventually you’ll come to me, Tobias. Just wait.
“Stop it!” I shout, half rising. “Shut up, shut up, shut up—”
Rowen catches my arms, holding me steady. “Toby. Look at me. He’s not here. You’re safe.”
Safe. Right. How am I safe when the thing living in my mark isn’t miles away—it’s inside me?
My stomach lurches. I shove away from him and stumble to the kitchen, barely making it to the sink before I throw up. Acid burns my throat, tears sting my eyes. Voices blur behind me.
My hands shake as I grip the sink. “If he controls me, if I hurt someone—”
“You won’t,” Rowen says, but his voice trembles too.
I stare down at the drain, breathing hard. My reflection in the metal is warped, the edges of my face twisting with each breath. I can almost see Rip’s grin there, faint in the dirty water.
You can’t fight me forever.
I slam my palm against the counter and pull on that other part of me—the part he can’t touch. Rip forgets who I am,whatI am. I’m a half-blood. I’m stronger than a human.
And I’m bound to a wolf.
I grit my teeth at Rip’s face. “Watch me.”
The steady low growl of engines outside pulls me back to reality.
Red glances through the window, then gets to his feet. “They’re here.”
Rowen offers me a drink of water, then pulls me in for a long, tight hug. I can feel his dread, his anxiety.But also his courage.I lean into that. Hard. I’m going to need it in the days to come.
“I love you,” I whisper. “Please. Whatever happens, don’t doubt that.”
He kisses my head.
A few moments later, a tall man with dark graying hair fills the doorway like a storm—quiet, charged, and dangerous.
Rowen steps forward, his spine straightening. “William, it’s good to see you.”
The taller man greets Rowen with a firm handshake. “Same.” William’s voice is deep, but calm. His gaze shifts to me, sees our joined hands, and he smiles. “When you said someone was marked, I didn’t realize you meant claimed.”
Rowen laughs, pulling me closer. “This is my fated mate, Tobias. Toby, meet William Hollister. He’s a longtime family friend from Spokane.”
