Page 33 of Primal

Awhite, waffle-knit Henleystretches across his broad shoulders and clings to every defined muscle. The soft fabric does nothing to hide the strength underneath. Hisworn, faded jeanshang low on his narrow hips, effortless in a way that shouldn’t make my heartbeat trip the way it does. His dark hair is exactly as I remember—longer on top, tousled in that effortless, infuriating way, while the sides are clipped short, neat. And that beard—short, well-kept, the same deep brown as his hair—only sharpens the angles of his face, making him lookeven more unfairly handsome. The four silver scars that start at the end of his right eyebrow and slice backward into his hairline, past his ear, only add to his dominant allure.

But it’s hisgunmetal eyesthat undo me the most because they’re already on me and even through the windshield,I can feel them. The intensity cuts through the glass, making me turn into a piece of unmovable stone in my driver’s seat.

It’s Seren’s unbashful low whistle that effectively cuts through my Rennick-induced trance. “Damn,” she whispers. “If he wasn’t yours and I hadn’t sworn off men for life, I would be humping that man’s leg like a Pound Puppy.”

“Seren.”

“What?” She shrugs, completely undeterred. “I’m just saying, I get why you claimed his fine Alpha ass within minutes of knowing him. Now that I’ve seen him myself, I actually think he’s lucky he made it through that first encounter without you sinking your teeth in his neck like a needy, feral gremlin.”

“Seren,” I repeat, this time with enough edge to snap my best friend out of her blatant lust fest for my ma—Rennick.

“Yes, Noa?”

“Read the room.”

Her little, upturned nose wrinkles. “Right.” She at least has the decency to look ashamed of herself.

With a slow and steady exhale, a last-ditch effort to summon up a modicum of composure, I turn off the engine and step out of the car. The cool, late afternoon air does little to soothe the heat crawling up my spine.

Seren follows without hesitation, moving in step with me as the Craddock Pack Alpha and her witch lover join us, standing like silent guards at my back. Lowri and Amara may be nothing alike in appearance, but together, theyradiatean unshakable presence—one of power, one of protection.

Amara, with her blunt-cut midnight hair and equally dark eyes, reminds me of a raven personified. Sharp and refined, she exudes the quiet power of someone who could strip you bare with a glance. She has angular features and a cool, calculated presence. The black cashmere shawl that is an ever-present fashion staple for the witch is draped around her narrow shoulders and chest, and for reasons I can’t explain, the garment only adds to her intensity. Lowri, with her flamelike hair, stands several inches taller than her partner and isa force in her own right. For countless reasons, these two women not only have my respect, but also my loyalty. Not to mention my trust.

Neither of them says a word, but they don’t have to. Their presence alone is a silent show of support. The last thing I’m expecting from this impromptu meeting is a physical altercation, but I know both of these women are prepared for anything and I’ll be safe with them at my side.

All four of us walk as one.

We cross the clearing with measured steps, my heartbeat thudding painfully in my ears as we approach wherehestands. Rennick doesn’t move, doesn’t flinch, his stance statuesque as he watches me with thosegray eyesthat have haunted me for days—years, if my resurfacing memories are correct.

The man I met five days ago, though cautious, had looked at me with such open curiosity and interest that I’d feltnakedbeneath his gaze more than once. But now, as I look back at him, goosebumps rise along my heated skin from the sheer coldness in his expression. There is no warmth, norecognition,no trace of the man who once studied me like I was something worth understanding.

Rennick is glacial.

Sensing this change in him, my wolf, trapped within the confines of her cage, is drowning in grief, a sorrow I haven’t felt this deeply since my mother died. She’s already mourningsomething that hasn’t yet been taken from us, as if she knows the loss is inevitable.

Ten feet away, my companions stop, lingering just far enough back to let me face theFallamhain Alphaalone.

Feeling like I’m walking straight to my execution, I drop my chin, focusing on the way my boots crunch through the dry grass beneath me. Each step feels harder than the last, dread pressing down on my shoulders like a weight I can’t shake.

A foot away from him, I count to ten, steadying myself before slowly lifting my head to meet hisarctic, unreadable gazehead-on.

The moment our eyes lock, my stomach plummets.

I watch as thecolor drains from his face, his expression shifting in a way that makes my breath catch because for one fleeting second, his façade slips, and I see the truth before he slams his mask back into place.

Chapter 14

Rennick

Itold myself it wasn’t real.

Convinced myself that the woman who haunted my dreams, the one who whispered my name with an intimate familiarity, who begged me to remember her, whose eyes burned into my soul, was nothing more than a cruel trick of my subconscious. A longing for something that didn’t exist. It wasn’t supposed to be her. It was supposed to be some meaningless trick of the mind. A product of the stress brought on by my new role as pack Alpha, or guilt for what I had to do to earn the title.

But now the ethereal entity from my dreams stands before me. Whole. All of her perfect features clear as day, no longer distorted in the white mist I’ve grown accustomed to. Every soft curve and elegant angle of her face is displayed for me. Staring up at me with those same impossibly familiar eyes—the left a solid golden brown while the right is flawlessly split down the middle, one half brown and the other half ice blue. The vulnerability within them makes something inside mefracture.

There’s no escaping the truth. Not anymore.

The woman who’s haunted my dreams and the one who’s wreaked havoc on my soul since I came face to face with her again after nearly eight years is one and the same.

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