Page 10 of Make Me
“I was drawn to you,” I say, my tone low and steady. I take a small step forward despite the warning written in her eyes.
Her lips twitch, but not with amusement. More like suspicion. “Right. Becausethatisn’t creepy at all.”
My mouth almost curves. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t,” she says too quickly, defensive even. “You’re just…annoying.”
Fair enough.
Still, I hold my ground. “What’s your name?”
Her jaw tightens slightly. “You first.”
“Talon Thorne.” I lift my left hand, flashing the Fire and Fluorite house ring etched with the two fused sigils—flameand gemstone, crackling with a hint of static magic.
She scoffs, her stare hardening like a barrier snapping into place. “Of course you’re from Fire and Fluorite.”
The way she says it, laced with judgment, like I just confirmed her worst assumption, tells me plenty. She thinks I’m like the others from my house. Arrogant, aggressive, and power hungry. Maybe at one point I was, but I left those traits behind long before this night.
“And you are?” I ask, unwilling to let this moment end before it begins.
She hesitates, glancing sideways as if deciding between offering me a lie or attempting to vanish entirely. Her eyes flick toward the wall of illusions again—wolves running through snow are now replaced by a phoenix rising between flames.
Finally, she exhales and murmurs, “Kasha.”
Kasha. I taste the name in my mind. It fits. It feels like something I’ve always known but never said aloud.
My chest tightens with the pressure building just under my ribs. My wolf is howling now, pacing within me, pulling me toward her with a desperation built over decades. I should wait, should ease her into this and figure out what’s keeping her from feeling what I know.
But I’m not built for patience.
Not with her.
Not with this.
I want the truth. I want my mate.
“Well, Kasha…” My blood warms as I steal another inch between us, her scent striking me like lightning from a summer storm. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something you deserve to know. But first, I need you to promise me something.”
She tilts her head, chin lifting a fraction as doubt fills her gaze. “Ideserveto know, huh? What if I don’t want to?”
“Oh, you do.” I grin, letting my voice dip. “You just don’t realize it yet.”
Her posture stays guarded, but I feel the flicker. That tiny crack in her armor.
She’s not unaffected. She’s not unmoved.
She’s just…blocked. That has to be it.
I don’t know what’s keeping the bond from reaching her, but I can sense the emptiness in her, a void my wolf wants to fill. The longing inside her mirrors my own, even if she doesn’t know it.
And gods, if she lets me close enough, I’ll never let her feel hollow again.
“What do you want for this information?” Her question is heavy with mistrust just as her stare is, but none of that deters me.
“Only your promise that you won’t punch me or run when I say what needs to be said.”
That earns me a dry chuckle, her arms crossing beneath her chest in a move so casual it shouldn’t be distracting. Except it is. The motion pushes her curves upward, as if she knows exactly what she’s doing and is daring me to react.
