Page 82 of Bitten, Marked, Obsessed

She looks… different.

Not in the way someone looks after a haircut or new clothes. No—this is something under her skin. Her body’s leaner than mine, but not in that delicate way it used to be. She’s all taut muscle and coiled tension now. Her ashy blonde hair, usually straight and neat, hangs in windswept strands, half-matted, like she’s been running through forests or storms and didn’t bother to stop. Her hazel eyes, once soft and warm, flicker with flecks of gold when the sunlight hits them just right.

But there’s no warmth in them now. Just sharpness.

Something wild.

She doesn’t meet my gaze for long, but when she does—it’s like staring into a reflection warped by fire. Familiar, but not.

I swallow hard and try to push down the tightness crawling up my chest.

I know that look. It’s the same one I’ve seen in animals backed into a corner. Not afraid. Not angry. Something worse.

Free.

Untethered.

Broken in a way that makes it easier to fight than to feel.

And when she moves, it’s not with that dancer’s grace I used to envy. Now, every step is predatory. Her joints move smoother, like the bones inside her are no longer human. Like her body doesn’t second-guess itself anymore. I remember her stumbling in gym class once, nearly eating shit over a jump rope. She laughed so hard she cried.

This version of her doesn’t laugh.

When she drops her bag and starts stretching, I catch the way her fingers twitch, like she’s itching to unleash something. Her limbs extend farther, her balance shifts lower, more animal than athlete. Her back is straighter, but her shoulders never fully relax.

There’s a charge to her.

A pulse I can’t match.

“So, can I assume we all have the same knowledge now?” Callum asks as I try to pull my eyes away from what I think is my sister.

“About our bloodlines?” I question, wanting to not assume anything.

“Yes. Adora told me what she overheard and I think you two would benefit from training together, especially given the recent events and how much more… compromised the situation for you both may be.”

Adora steps forward. “I told him mom isn’t human but won’t tell us what she is. He already suspected as much given the heightened intensity of our… state.”

“We all need to be ready, you two most of all. Since Adora won’t see Edmund, this is the only way. Especially since I can help with the shifter aspect and especially the combat.” Callum sounds more like a man of war, the one I met in the tunnel for our first session. He means business and now isn’t the time to question him. About Adora, his father, or anything. It’s a time to train.

“You sure you’re ready?” I ask.

Her grin slices across her face. It’s too sharp. All teeth and confidence she didn’t earn the slow way.

“Are you?”

And there it is.

The edge.

I used to tease her about being too soft, too trusting. But now? I don’t recognize the girl in front of me. There’s something burning behind her eyes. Something darker than anything Edmund or our mother ever warned us about.

I don’t think Adora’s scared.

But I am.

When Callum calls for rounds, Adora lunges.

No hesitation. No warm-up. Just motion and impact. Her first punch is fast—too fast. I barely dodge, and the heat in her knuckles grazes my cheek like she’s burning from the inside out.

---