TATEI WOKE WITH my throat dry and a bladder ready to burst. First thing I did was shove my glasses on, squinting through the dim strip of light bleeding from under the bathroom door. I barely had time to think before my body dragged me upright.I pushed the door open and froze.Enzo. Shirtless. Blood smeared down his side and across the cold tile. He glared at me, jaw tight, a pair of tweezers gripped in his hand and my stomach lurched hard enough to make bile climb my throat.“Don’t just fucking stand there. Get out.” His voice was a low snarl and I took a step back out of instinct then stopped when he winced, pushing the metal back into his own flesh.“Jesus,” I breathed. My skin prickled, the sound of it turning my insides. I should’ve left. He wasn’t my business. He could snap me in half with one wrong move, but… my feet didn’t listen.“You need a hospital,” I said, already moving in. I knelt before him, my hand brushing hot skin slick with sweat and blood. He stiffened.His hair
ENZOAMELIA WAS STILL fixing her dress when I poured the whiskey. Cheap silk, red. Her perfume clung to the air like it was trying too hard. She’d been loud, all nails and fake moans, and I’d let her. It was supposed to take the edge off.It didn’t.“You’ve never called for me twice, Enzo,” she said, adjusting her dress.I glanced at her with a sigh. “Don’t make it sound like an honor.”She chuckled, the kind of fake sweet that belonged in cheap bars, and left, stilettos clicking down the hall. I stayed in the chair, glass in hand, shirt hanging open. My head should’ve been clear. It wasn’t.That damn kid’s face kept bleeding through, uninvited. The look in his eyes when I’d had him by the throat. I told myself it was because he needed breaking in, that I was just making sure he remembered his place. But the truth? He’d been under my skin for days, and that wasn’t good.The door swung open without a knock.Of course it was Eli.He leaned on the frame like he owned the place, curls bou
TATEI COULDN’T SLEEP. Not just because my head had been pounding for days like someone was drilling inside my skull, but because of… them.I didn’t want to get up. Didn’t want to see him. But when my bladder felt like it was about to rip itself open, I cursed under my breath, felt around the bed, and shoved my glasses on with a dry groan.I cracked the door but he wasn’t there. Didn’t know why. I should’ve been glad, right? But something inside me clenched tight, like a fist squeezing my guts raw.I shook my head, stared at my grim reflection in the mirror, and just as I reached for the brush, the door on the other side cracked open. My eyes caught Enzo’s bare chest, then his cold and vacant gaze not even looking at me before I slide my gaze to the open door and into the empty bed.Relief hit me like a punch to the gut. I fucking felt relieved because at least there was no one else in the room. I snapped my head back to the mirror, scowled hard enough to taste the bitterness.He mov
TATETHE MORNING LIGHT sliced through the blinds, landing right across my face like it was trying to drag me out of a sleep. My skull pounded with every heartbeat, the kind of headache that made you want to bury your head under a pillow and stay there. I shoved my glasses on before I even sat up, rubbing the grit from my eyes.It was the same routine as always—drag myself up, take a piss, brush my teeth, take a bath, wait for whatever meal they decided to throw at me.I cracked the bathroom door open and stopped cold.Enzo was there.Shirtless. Razor in hand. The slow scrape of steel against his jaw was the only sound in the room. He didn’t look at me, didn’t have to, just standing there was enough to make my chest tighten like I’d swallowed glass.My body locked up, my breath hitched, and I hated how loud it sounded. Instinct told me to shut the door and walk away, but instead I stepped in, eyes fixed on the toothbrush I’d left in the corner I’d claim days ago. My fingers reached for
ENZOI DIDN’T SAY a word when I got back to the house.My boots tracked ash across the marble. Smoke clung to me like it had soaked through the skin and settled in the bones. The guards didn’t look at me. They knew better.I went upstairs. Straight to my room.My head pounded. Fists still twitched like I hadn’t killed enough men to make the ache stop.I didn’t stop until I hit the bathroom. I didn’t bother flipping on the lights, just twisted the shower handle and stepped under the spray as steam clawed at the mirror.Clothes dropped one piece at a time. Everything stinking of gasoline, ash, and blood.I scrubbed harder. Palms red. Water hotter than necessary. Like if I could peel off enough layers, I’d reach something untouched. Something that hadn’t watched two men burn. Something that didn’t want to rip Johnny’s throat out with my teeth.I shut the water off, stepped out, and toweled down roughly. The marble floor was cold, biting against my bare feet but fuck, I didn’t feel it.My
ENZOI WAS HALFWAY to Eli’s room when I smelled it.Sharp. Slick. Recent. Not his alone.Someone else was in there with him.For a second, I didn’t move. Just stood at the end of the hallway, jaw tight, fingers flexing. The walls of this house weren’t thin, but I could hear it anyway—soft panting, skin against skin, the creak of the fucking bed.I didn’t need to guess.My pulse ticked once, hard.I’d told them. Every single one of them. Stay away from Eli.Especially when he was in heat.Especially when he wasn't thinking straight.I shoved the door open with enough force to slam it against the wall.The room was thick with the scent of sweat and sex. Eli was sprawled on his back, sheets tangled beneath him, skin flushed with the kind of dazed, out-of-control pleasure he only got when his wolf took the wheel. His eyes fluttered toward me. Unfocused. His body still trying to chase the high.Benny looked over his shoulder, still inside him, wide-eyed and stupid.There was a moment—half