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
TATEI WOKE UP soft.That should’ve been a good thing, right?Soft bed. Clean sheets. Air that didn’t stink like mildew and piss. But I blinked up at the white ceiling and felt... wrong. Like the world had tipped sideways and hadn’t told me.“What the hell,” I muttered under my breath.For a second, I didn’t move. My brain was still stitching itself back together, memories dragging like rusted chains. There’d been shouting. Enzo. Eli. That look in Enzo’s eyes that was cold enough to freeze bone, cruel enough to make someone disappear.My skin itched.I sat up too fast. The sheet slipped down my chest. There was no cuffs, no restraints. Just me, breathing too hard in a room that looked... normal.But it wasn’t.It never is.The floor was carpeted. Thick, clean, like it belonged in a guesthouse or a fancy hotel. Curtains drawn tight. A dresser in the corner. No peeling paint, no dried bloodstains on the wall.I swung my legs off the bed and touched down like the floor might give out. It
ENZOTHEY BOTH SAW me the moment the door opened.Eli froze like he’d been caught mid-sin, the smell of his heat fogging up every inch of that room. Sweat stuck to his curls, pupils wide and blown. He was straddling Tate like he couldn’t breathe without him, like instinct had eaten every rational thought in his head.And Tate—fuck. Pinned beneath him, wrists red, shirt half-torn, still fighting like something cornered. His eyes snapped to mine. Wild. Furious.That smell hit me.Familiar. Sweet. Wrong.Heat.“Just once,” Eli whispered, not even seeing me. “Just once and it’ll stop.”His fingers trembled against Tate’s skin. Breathing ragged. Mind gone. I stepped in quietly.Tate noticed.Eli didn’t.Not until I said, “Touch him again and I’ll break your fucking hands.”Eli jerked back like he’d been shot. “Enzo—” His voice cracked, full of heat and panic. “I didn’t—I wasn’t gonna—”Tate didn’t move. Just lay there, breathing hard, his mouth a firm line, like if he said anything, it’d c
TATE“YOU’RE BACK,” I muttered, not bothering to look up.The door clicked shut behind him, same way it had the last time, but this time… the air felt tighter. Off.“Stay the fuck away from me,” I added, dragging my sleeve across my mouth and shifting back on the bed. “Unless you’re here to get me out, don’t bother pretending you give a shit.”Eli didn’t answer.His footsteps padded across the floor, slower than usual, less cocky, more… deliberate. I looked up.He stood a few feet away, lips parted, sweat shining at his temple. His pupils were blown, too wide for the light and he kept licking his bottom lip like it was dry, like he couldn’t stop tasting something only he could feel.“What the hell is wrong with you?”He smiled, but it wasn’t the usual grin. It was lazy. Glazed. Feral, in a way that sent a cold slither down my spine.“I missed you,” Eli said. His voice was too soft. Too smooth. “You didn’t miss me?”“No.” My answer came sharp, cutting through the air. “I didn’t.”I sto