Page 69 of Bitten, Marked, Obsessed

“Well, it’s not like I told everyone at school what I was.”

Kendall watches us like she’s trying to read a language she doesn’t understand.

“I’m not here for drama,” Adora says.

“Didn’t think you were.”

“I’m not here for you, either. Not like that.”

I nod. “Understood.”

She looks at Kendall, then back at me. “She said you could help.”

“I can try.”

Adora tilts her head. “You helped her. I figured you’re either crazy, brave, or hiding something.”

“It’s usually a mix,” I admit.

Something in her expression shifts—too subtle to name, but I see it. Recognition? A flicker of memory?

Then it happens.

She reaches out without warning. Picks up a small, moss-covered stone off the ground and turns it over in her palm. Her fingers flex, and I feel it.

A ripple. Not magic. Not wolf. Not just shifter…. There’s something more at play here.

But not just that. Something... familiar. The pattern of it. The resonance. It’sfamilial.Like blood calling to blood.

Suddenly, I’m back in the Hollow, fifteen years ago, watching Mathis lose his mind after a fight with a woman I didn’t recognize. Yelling about betrayal, about bloodlines, about weakness. About a child that should’ve never been kept from him. All I knew was the woman wasn't a shifter… and wasn't human either… she was somethingmore.

No name. No details. And when I asked, he shut me down immediately letting me know to never bring it up again. I didn’t push. I was already starting to lose faith in my father then. His sleeping around with other women had happened long before my mother had passed.

But the way Adora holds herself? The way that energy rolls off her? It matcheshis. The way he shifts too quickly, breathes too slow. The control in her movements. The subtle hum beneath her skin.

Shit.

Adora might be Mathis’s daughter. She might be my sister.

And she doesn’t know.

I mask the realization fast. Bury it beneath the same neutral mask I’ve had to wear since I could walk.

“You feel that?” she asks, narrowing her eyes at me.

“Yeah,” I say carefully.

“What is it?”

I pause.

“I don’t know,” I lie. “But I’ll help you figure it out.”

Kendall exhales beside me like she’s been holding her breath since Adora arrived.

“Can you train me?” Adora asks. “Like you did with her? Or at least help me figure out what the hell is going on with me?”

I nod. “If you trust me.”

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