VIENNA“What else do you need?” Chase asks, setting a Gatorade and a bottle of water on the nightstand beside his bed. “You hungry at all? The fridge was just stocked, or I could run out and grab something.”I feel like I’m in the fucking twilight zone right now; like some alien body-snatched Chase Walker and is living in his skin. Nessa wasn’t thrilled with my decision to go home with Chase, but when faced with the choice of crashing on that futon mattress on her bedroom floor or Chase’s plush, king-sized bed, my aching body implored me to choose comfort. That, and this sweet, caring version of Chase is one I could get used to. Maybe he’s just taking advantage of my vulnerability, but I don’t have it in me to fight him right now.“You know what I’d really like?” I murmur, glancing at my reflection in the mirror above his dresser. I raise a hand to my temple, scraping dried blood from my skin with my fingernails. I feel gross, I look gross, and I’ve eyed that giant porcelain soaker tu

VIENNA The highs and lows of this week have given me some serious whiplash. Just days ago, I hit rock bottom, and now? I’m not sure I’ve ever been so happy. A lot of that has to do with Chase, and while it scares the shit out of me to let my walls down for him, I’m just going with it. I’m sick of holding myself back from the things I really want for fear that they won’t last. I keep silencing my anxiety, telling myself that good things really can happen if I just let go and let them. And after the hell I went through earlier this week, I deserve a little happy, damnit. I suppose that being swept away to Chase’s packhouse after the accident garnered a lot of attention, because when Nessa showed up to check on me the following day, all five Lunas stormed the packhouse with her. I’d already healed up except for a few minor aches and pains, but they fussed over me nonetheless- and going from feeling completely alone before the accident to being surrounded by so much support had me shame

VIENNAI have no idea what Chase has up his sleeve, but I can’t deny the little spark of excitement that comes with not knowing. As we roll out of Norbury and head toward Summervale, he starts fiddling with the stereo, muttering something about the specs of the sound system in the Jeep as he works to connect his Bluetooth to play music from his phone. We should talk, but I’ve got a feeling that our conversation will be a lot more productive after he’s cooled down and some of the alcohol works its way out of his system. Shifters can drink a hell of a lot more than humans without feeling the effects, but nobody’s sober after slamming a half a bottle of whiskey.He selects a song and presses play, the opening bars of Machine Gun Kelly’s ‘bloody valentine’ overtaking the silence in the cab of the Jeep. It’s not the upbeat, peppy version of the song- it’s the acoustic version with Travis Barker on drums. MGK’s gritty, melancholic voice comes out crisply through the speakers, the low hum of

CHASE As we get in the truck to leave the lodge, I’m fully expecting Vienna to unleash her wrath on me for wielding my Alpha command. In hindsight, it was a stupid move- the girl hates being told what to do- but I was so desperate to keep her safe in that moment that I just acted on instinct. As I start the truck and pull away from the lodge, I’m bracing myself for the fallout. I’m ready for it. But it doesn’t come. Instead, she turns up the volume on the radio and ignores me for the entire drive back to Norbury, which is somehow worse. Fighting, I can handle. It’s practically our love language. But the silent treatment? Fucking kill me. I park the truck in the driveway and before I can even cut the ignition, Vienna unclips her seatbelt and jumps out, tearing up the front walk. I quickly follow, my long strides eating up the distance quickly so that by the time she’s walking over the threshold into the packhouse, I’m right behind her, catching the door before she can slam it in my fa

VIENNAAs I leave my house with Chase, a lot of strange looks are cast in our direction.Brock looks at us like we’re nuts, and yeah, we basically are.Astrid peers at us with this smug little smile like she knows something that we don’t, which is basically par for the course with her.My mom’s eyes are glassy with tears and burning with scorn, but I don’t even lift my gaze to meet them as I confidently stride past her. She doesn’t fucking deserve my pain or my pity.When we walk outside, we’re greeted by more strange looks.Levi glances at us wistfully, looking a little butthurt like he always does when he sees us together lately. Must be a male ego thing since Chase won their little tug-of-war over me, but it was never really a competition in my eyes.Cal is grinning from ear to ear, probably delighting in the blood smeared on our faces. Sick fucker. Miles looks confused as hell, and Alec and Dare are sporting matching raised brows and curious expressions on their faces.Nessa appe