MasukMIAI was standing in a field I’d never seen before. Tall grass brushed against my bare legs, the blades soft and cool. Moonlight painted everything silver, making the whole place look like something out of a fairytale.“Mia.” I turned sharply at the sound of my name. Looking for where the sound was coming from.“Mia.” I heard it again.The voice made my chest ache in a way I hadn’t felt in years. I spun around, my breath catching when I noticed the person standing a few feet away. Unlike the last time I saw her in that dream. She was much closer. No barriers keeping me from her.She looked younger than I remembered. Her face was fuller, healthier.“Mom?” My voice cracked, my eyes burned with tears.She smiled at me though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Her lips wobbled and her shoulders seemed to drop. The glow on her face was starting to fade, and she was beginning to look a little grey.No. What's happening?! Stop it!!I screamed but no words came out. I think I only said the word
MIAWe barely made it through the door before Xavier’s mouth was on mine. I heard the door lclick shut but didn’t bother to check how he did it. His hands were already gripping my waist, pulling me against him. I made a sound in the back of my throat, my fingers already working at his shirt.“Mia.” His voice was rough. “We should—”I kissed him harder, cutting off whatever he was going to say. I had a need burnin inside of me and I felt if he didn’t touch me, I might just combust. The last thing I wanted to think about right now was how weak and useless I was feeling.Soemthing was finally making me feel good. That was all I wanted to focus on.He walked me backward toward the bedroom. His actions were more cotrolled.I pulled back and looked at him in the eyes. His glowing orbs bore into mine. Have i menetioned how sexy he looked when turned on.“I’m not made of glass, Xavier.” the words came out a little breathy.“I know.” His hands slid under my shirt, warm against my skin, causing
XAVIERFalcon’s words wouldn’t stop playing in my head hours later. I stood alone in the hallway after she left, my fists clenched so tight my nails were cutting crescents into my palms. Blood would probably follow soon. My wolf was thrashing inside me, clawing at my ribs like he could tear through and get out.The image kept coming. My father standing over Mia while she is chained. Him and Gabriel recording her screams for their fucking research.I was going to kill him. If he dared touch a hair on her head.My phone buzzed in my pocket.Dad: Dinner tonight. 7pm. Bring Mia.The screen blurred. I blinked hard, forced my vision to clear so I could read it again to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.Research facility.The word slipped into my subconscious.I couldn’t tell her. She was already barely holding it together, struggling to accept that she couldn’t even walk across campus without help. Finding out my father and hers wanted to turn her into his personal science project would bre
XAVIEREvery time I closed my eyes, I pictured my father sitting across from Mia and asking her questions.‘For research purposes.’What the fuck did that mean?I’d been trying not to be paranoid. Trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was calculating, sure. Strategic, yes. But he was still my father and I knew him well enough he didn’t do things just like that.Showing up at the library the second I left was already suspicious enough. Because he made sure I wasn't there for a reason.Mia shifted against me in her sleep. Her hand resting over my heart.I looked down at her then the bracelet on her wrist and I had a crazy thought.What if it wasn’t protecting her?What if my father and Gabriel had given her that thing for a completely different reason?My phone buzzed on the nightstand. I frowned when I saw my father’s name on the screen. I felt a bit better when I saw it was just a mandatory pack meeting. Nothing out of the ordinary except he never called mandatory meetings t
MIAI lasted maybe forty-five minutes before exhaustion hit me like a freight train. The words on my screen started blurring. My head felt too heavy for my neck. “Mia.” Xavier’s voice seemed far away. “Hey. You okay?”I blinked, forcing myself back to the present. My head was drooping toward the keyboard.“Tired,” I mumbled, not sure if he heard what I actually said.“It’s fine. Come here.” He pulled my chair closer and guided my head to his shoulder. “Rest for a bit.”“We’re in public—”“So?” His arm came around me. “Close your eyes.”I meant to argue. But his shoulder was warm and solid and my eyes were already drifting shut.An incessant buzzing woke moments later.“Sorry,” he muttered to me, answering it. “Yeah?… Now?… I’m with Mia… Falcon, I can’t just—” He sighed. “Fine. I'll see you in twenty.”He hung up, looking torn.“Go,” I said, sitting up slowly. “I’ll be okay for twenty minutes.”I didn’t want to be the reason he ignored his responsibilities. I already felt enough like
MIAI don’t know why I thought I would feel better when I got used to the bracelet. Thinking the weakness was a bit exaggerated. But it’s been four days and I still feel like shit.Not like I was sick or anything. I was just… hollow. Yeah, that was the right word. It was like someone had scooped out my insides and left me running on fumes.I sat on the edge of Xavier’s bed in his apartment, staring at my shoes. It seemed like such a simple thing but the thought of bending down to put them on made me want to cry.We’d moved back to campus two days ago. Everyone thought it would be best if we didn’t let everything that was going on pause our lives. Xavier was more than happy for us to be living together… I guess, now.A lot of my clothes were moved here and I wasn't even thinking of my dorm anymore. And I have to say, I kind of liked living with him.“Just ask him,” I muttered to myself. “Stop being stubborn.”Xavier walked out of the bathroom, toweling his hair. He paused when his eyes







