Page 35 of Bitten, Marked, Obsessed

I shrug. “Take what you can get.”

She walks a slow circle, stretching her arms. Then, after a moment: “You ever date a human?”

The question catches me off guard. “No.”

She nods, quiet. “I am.”

I don’t move. Don’t speak.

But something snarls low in my chest, dark andugly. It’s not rational. Not even emotional. Just instinct, scraping against bone.

Mine, the beast says.

Shut up, I tell it.

“What’s his name?” I ask. Calm. Even. Like it isn’t jealousy burning inside my bones.

“A guy named Stefan. We’ve been dating for a couple of years or so.”

Figures.

She watches me, curious now. “That a problem?”

I shake my head. “Not my business.”

“Feels like it is, though.”

I don’t answer that because she’s not wrong.

And that’s the problem.

“Just be careful is all, especially around the full moon. If you can trust him to not turn you into PEACE, then you should be fine,” I force myself to say.

Kendall says nothing, but bites her lip. Can she trust him? I don’t ask though and thankfully she doesn't push it further.

Instead, she leans against the tunnel wall, the light catching the curve of her jaw.

“They hate me,” she says suddenly. Voice low. “Your pack. Your people. Even the ones who don’t know me. They hate what I am.”

I look at her. “Yeah.”

She flinches. Just a little.

“You wanna know why?” I ask.

She nods.

I step closer. Not too close. Just enough.

“Because you’re Bolvi. And Bolvi bloodlines don’t die easy, even though they were supposed to in the Fallow War. They don’t kneel. They don’t bind to pack structures like the rest of us. Your people were made to be wild. Pure instinct. No hierarchy. No alpha to follow. And for shifters? That’s terrifying.”

She swallows. “You think I’m dangerous.”

“I think theydo,” I correct.

“But not you.”

I don’t answer right away. “You scare me,” I say finally. “But not because of what you are. Because of what youmightbe.”

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