Page 32 of Bitten, Marked, Obsessed

I don’t blink. “You know, don’t you?”

Her head jerks up. “What?”

“You know what I am. What she is. You’ve known this whole time.”

“Kendall—”

“It’s okay,” I cut in, even though it’snot. “You don’t have to say it. I just needed to see your face.”

Her throat bobs. “I need to run to the store. I’ll be back in an hour.”

She grabs her purse like it’s a lifeline and bolts before I can say anything else. The front door slams behind her, echoing too long in the empty space she leaves behind.

Yeah. That’s what I thought.

She’s afraid of me now.

Cool.

I exhale through my nose and text my dad that I’ll be early.

I don’t go see Adora.

Not because I don’t want to, but because I don’t knowwhatI’d say. “Hey, I know we share trauma now. Cool scars. You know what we don’t share? Dads. Wanna trauma bond?”

She wouldn’t talk last time. So what’s the point?

Maybe I’ll go tomorrow.

Maybe I won’t.

Dad’s already waiting in the underground by the time I get there. He hands me a heavy bag of gravel and makes me run the length of the tunnel—barefoot.

“Pain teaches,” he says when I hiss through clenched teeth.

“Pain also blisters,” I snap.

He grins like that’s the right answer.

We run drills until my arms shake. Then he starts talking about the moon.

“You feel it yet?” he asks, tossing me a knife.

“What?”

“The pull. The itch. It starts low, under the skin. Builds as the moon grows. I know we just had one, but you need to be aware. You’ll get used to it—but it’ll never stop. Full moons are the worst.”

I catch the knife, barely. “Because we shift?”

“Because wehaveto shift. There’s no controlling it, not at first. The body takes over. The mind fights to stay. That’s when we’re wildest. Bloodthirsty. Feral.”

My stomach turns. “Great.”

“You’ll learn control. Eventually. But even then—it hurts.”

I nod, not trusting my voice.

We spar for another hour. He doesn’t go easy, and I don’t ask him to. I need the burn. The bruises. Somethingrealto hold onto while the rest of me unravels with everything I am supposed to know. And everything I still don’t.

---