Page 134 of Chaos At Second Sight

“But look.” His free hand gestured around us, the other still cupping himself. As if I couldn’t see his bulge anyway. “Look where we are.”

I did. The stars stretched overhead. The lake gleamed silver. Pine trees swayed softly in the breeze. “It’s romantic.”

“It’s dirty! We have no blankets⁠—”

“Grass is comfy enough. Studies show outdoor sleeping improves concentration.”

“Oh, I’m very concentrated.” A bead of sweat dripped down his temple.

I arched my brow. His ears turned red and a curse slipped from under his breath. I took advantage of that distraction and hopped onto some rocks, gaining another few feet.

Logan backed away, one palm up. “Wait! You aren’t thinking clearly here.”

“I’ve never been more clear.”

“You’re obviously not yourself after the change⁠—”

“I feel fantastic!” I cut him off.

“You should be studying!” he boomed, jogging backward while facing me. “Reading a textbook, taking notes! Not rolling around in the bushes with me!” He waved both hands.

I stalked after him. “Stop running!”

“I’m not running!” He ran. “I’m just repositioning myself.”

I halted and rubbed my forehead. At this rate, we’d hike across half of Montana. “Can you just listen for a second?”

He glared at me from over his shoulder but stopped, wary, and crossed his imposing arms.

I exhaled. “Why don’t you want to mate?”

He sighed. “You know why.”

“I don’t! You’re being ridiculous.”

“Am I?” The words cracked out of him. “Did you forget about the past three weeks? What if I come up with more lycan shit? What if you get hurt again? I’m tired of damaging your life!”

“You forget I’m a lycan now too.”

“Yeah, another precious thing for me to worry about!”

I ignored that, mostly because a small part of me liked being precious to him.

“Stop apologizing for what you are!” I took another step closer, my hands raised. “You are a lycan, Logan. My lycan.”

His jaw tensed so much that I thought I heard a crack. It was his extended talons digging into the rock.

“Zelda. Died,” he growled, panting hard.

“Nobody died! I changed! Ruby’s an evolution of Zelda.”

“You aren’t a Pokémon!” He scoffed. “You should be mad at me! Not trying to chain yourself to me even more.”

My chin dropped, and for a moment, I studied the moss between us. “Don’t you want me?”

The distance immediately vanished. One large arm slid around my waist, long fingers tilting my chin up.

His eyes held mine. Bright. Earnest. A little broken.