Page 110 of Bitten, Marked, Obsessed

My stomach twists. “They needme.”

“They think you can awaken it. Control it. Wield it.”

I swallow hard. “Can I?”

“I don’t know,” Edmund says. “But they’re betting everything that you can.”

Callum kneels beside me, voice low. “We have to move. They might double back.”

Edmund groans, trying to stand. “Cut the rope. I’ll walk.”

I slice through the bindings with one clawed swipe. As he rises, he stumbles but I catch him. He leans on me more than he should, and for once, I let him. Because he’s not just a drunk. Not just a liar. He’s myfather.And for the first time in years, we’re not hiding from each other.

“You should’ve told me sooner,” I whisper.

“I know.”

“You should’ve told Adora.”

“Iknow.”

“We’re in this now,” I say. “No more half-truths. No more disappearing.”

He looks at me then, full on, blood drying at his temple. “You’re not a little girl anymore.”

“No,” I say. “I’m not.”

Callum touches my back gently. Just his hand. Warm and steady.

“Let’s get him out of here,” he says.

But when I move to help, Edmund stops me.

“Kendall,” he says. “You know this is only going to get worse, right?”

“I do.”

“You ready to carry this?”

I meet his eyes.

And I say the truth I’ve been running from since the first time I felt the pull of the moon.

“I already am.”

44

CALLUM

We barely get Edmund through the bunker door before he slumps into the nearest chair like his bones gave up trying.

Kendall hovers near him, one hand resting lightly on his shoulder, her other twitching like she’s not sure whether to fight or comfort. Maybe both.

I’m still half-shifted, claws aching to stay out. My gut hasn’t stopped turning since the run back. Something’s coming. And it’s not a hunch anymore—it’s fact.

“What did they say to you?” I ask Edmund.

He lifts his eyes to me—sharp again now, though rimmed in exhaustion.

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