Chapter 2

The next morning, Mrs. Voss called us down for breakfast.

Adrian sat across from me at the table, eating with slow, elegant precision. Even the way he held his fork drew my attention to his long fingers.

I couldn't stop sneaking glances at him.

The strange restlessness from the night before was gone, but the closer I sat to him, the sharper my senses became.

I could smell cedar on his skin.

It wasn't soap or cologne. It was his natural scent—the signature only another werewolf should have been able to detect.

But that kind of heightened sense wasn't supposed to develop until after a wolf awakened.

Mine hadn't.

As if he felt me watching, Adrian looked up without warning and caught my eye. One dark brow lifted.

My pulse stumbled.

I looked away, but I could still feel his gaze on me. He didn't look away for a long time.

“My mom makes the best blueberry pancakes,” Chloe said. “Try them, Evelyn.”

I dragged my attention back to Mrs. Voss's warm smile.

I had always been good with parents. Within a few minutes, I had her laughing.

“Stay as long as you need,” she told me. “I want you to feel at home here.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Voss.”

I smiled, slowly reassuring myself.

Living in the same house as Adrian was terrifying, but there was no reason he would connect me to the woman who had dumped him online.

We had never exchanged photos or met face-to-face. I'd even lowered my voice on our calls so I would sound older.

I was worrying over nothing.

All I had to do was act normal.

The conversation at the table eventually shifted to Adrian.

From what I gathered, Mrs. Voss had recently introduced him to a young woman named Serena.

They'd seen each other a couple of times. Serena had awakened at sixteen, came from a respected family, and supposedly had a bloodline that paired well with Adrian's.

When his mother asked how things were going, he barely looked interested.

“I've met her twice. How much could I possibly know about her?”

Mrs. Voss rolled her eyes and set down her silverware.

“Serena is lovely. If you don't want her, what exactly are you looking for?”

Adrian continued eating.

“You're twenty-five,” she went on. “Your wolf is so restless you can barely keep him under control, and you still refuse to find a partner. Sometimes I think you're planning to stay single forever.”

Beside me, Chloe made a strangled sound. Her fork trembled as she fought not to laugh.

“There's a reason Adrian isn't looking, Mom.” She raised one hand solemnly. “He's had a difficult love life. The woman he's waiting for just likes playing hard to get.”

Mrs. Voss shot her a look.

I wanted to crawl under the table.

Unfortunately, the universe wasn't finished with me.

“Evelyn.”

The sound of my name in Adrian's cool voice startled me so badly I nearly dropped my fork.

It shouldn't have affected me. He had said one ordinary word.

Yet a shiver swept through my body, and something in that silent, empty place behind my ribs seemed to turn toward him.

Why did that keep happening?

Before I could make sense of it, his dark eyes settled on my face with unnerving focus.

“You look guilty.”

His voice remained perfectly calm.

“Did you do something you don’t want anyone finding out about?”

My mind went blank. I felt the color drain from my face.

Mrs. Voss came to my rescue.

“Adrian, Evelyn is a guest. Stop interrogating her.”

Chloe laughed.

“I only mentioned Evelyn's name once, and you remembered it?”

Everyone kept teasing him while I stared down at my plate.

I didn’t see Adrian's irises flash gold.

Or the way his hand tightened around his fork as he fought to force his wolf back under control.