Recognition slammed into me, stealing my breath.
The guy from the back of the lecture hall.I’d never gotten a clear look at his eyes. But it didn’t matter. I could have picked him out of any crowd. The weight of his stare was as familiar as my own name.
His eyes blazed like the leaves around us, the expression in the golden depths as pissed off as Coach Gannon after a fourth-quarter fumble.
“You idiot pup,” he snarled. Then he cocked his fist. Swung.
And the world went black.
Chapter
Four
JESSE
Caleb was finally regaining consciousness.
I watched from the chair next to the bed as he groaned and turned his head on the pillow. He was secure enough, his muscled arms stretched over his head and handcuffed to the bed frame. He was too tired and hungry to snap the metal.
For now, at least.
Jeans hugged his narrow hips and long, lean legs. His well-formed feet with high arches were tan against the white sheets. His chest was smooth—and ripped, I couldn’t help noticing. The hair under his arms was the same golden shade as the thick, tousled waves on his head. Broad pecs led to tight, ridged abs he’d clearly worked hard to achieve. He’d been no match for me in the forest, but he might be one day, assuming he lived long enough. Which, considering how I’d found him, was a scant prospect.
A frown formed in my mind as I studied him. Everything about him pointed to a nagging suspicion I didn’t want to acknowledge. Not just yet. Not until I absolutely had to. Because if I was right, I had a difficult decision to make.
And I probably should have already made it.
He groaned again, his eyelids fluttering. His lashes were long and thick. When he’d stared up at me in the forest, they’d framed blue eyes as pretty as a summer sky. His prettiness stopped with his stubborn jaw and started back up again with his lush, pouty mouth and the delicate spray of freckles across the bridge of his nose. With his golden-blond hair, classically handsome features, and muscular build, he looked like he’d stepped out of a Ralph Lauren ad.
Of course, Ralph Lauren models didn’t maul cyclists in public parks.
He opened his eyes. For a second, he frowned at the ceiling, clearly getting his bearings. Then he lifted his head and locked gazes with me. He went as still and wide-eyed as a deer on the wrong end of a hunting rifle.
“You’re awake,” I said.
He did another split-second of dumbfounded staring. Then he seemed to realize he was bound. He tried to jerk his arms down, only to come up short when the metal cuffs clanked against the bed frame’s spindles. He canted his head up, and his eyes went wider as he took in his manacled wrists.
“What thefuck?” he breathed, yanking hard at the cuffs. His skin sizzled, and a range of emotions passed over his face in rapid succession. Disbelief, pain, fear, denial, anger. He landed on fear as he met my gaze once more.
“That’ll keep happening,” I said, gesturing to his wrists. “The cuffs are steel, but they’re plated with pure silver.” I rested my ankle on the opposite knee and offered him a patient smile. “If they were solid silver, you’d be foaming at the mouth right now.”
“Who are you?” he demanded, his voice low and hoarse. “You don’t go to Hale Valley.”
“Correct, Caleb. I’m not a college student.” Although, I passed for one easily enough. Most people only saw what theywanted to see. Sometimes, life was easier when they thought I was a young, unassuming kid and nothing more.
Caleb’s eyes went wider. “How the fuck do you know my name?” He came alive, jerking wildly at the cuffs. His heart pounded in a wild rhythm. “Help!” he bellowed, the tendons in his throat straining.
“Settle down,” I said, my voice rippling as I let my wolf flow into it. Caleb froze, his chest heaving. “I won’t hurt you,” I added.
“The fuck you won’t!” He continued fighting the cuffs, the panic in his tone rising with his efforts. “Weird ass Dahmer motherfucker.”
“Caleb—”
“Fuck you!”
I let my beast rocket to the surface. I didn’t need to glance in the mirror in the nearby dresser to know my normally brown eyes had lightened to pale yellow. When I spoke again, my voice was an octave well below human range.
“My name is Jesse van der Meer.”
