My breath gets caught in my chest the moment I see James at the edge of the secluded street where he’s asking me to meet him. “Did you bring me here to murder me?” I ask, looking around. There is a disturbing lack of cars, or people, or lit windows, despite this being a residential neighborhood. James’ eyes go wide for a minute, and I want to laugh at how horrified he looks, but then the joke sinks in and he laughs. I guess I’m not the only one who was nervous about tonight. “No. There’s a really good Mexican restaurant nearby that I wanted to take you to nearby,” he says, nodding to twinkling lights that I can barely make out through the thick cluster of trees next to us.“A restaurant in the middle of nowhere?” I ask.“Just trust me,” he says, and the smile that was starting to pull my lips up falls.Trust him. Can he really expect me to do that, after all the shit he’s pulled with me? After the way his pack acts towards wolves like me? His alpha attacked me in public not

I’m still giddy from James’ kiss and the success of our date when I open the door to the house half an hour later. When I walk into the living room, I breathe a sigh of relief because there’s no evidence Ben is home. Most of the lights are off, as is the TV, and I can’t even smell him. But when I walk up the stairs to go to my room, Ben pops out from behind the wall at the top of the stairs, and I scream. “Ben! What the hell!” I say, a hand on my chest to steady my heart, which feels like it’s going to jump right out of my ribcage. “Why were you hiding? Were you trying to scare me to death on purpose?”I’m expecting him to laugh and say yes, because he used to pull pranks like this all the time when we were kids. He’d sneak up on me when I wasn’t looking and laugh his head off when I shouted in surprise.He’s not laughing now. He’s glaring at me, looking more intimidating than I’ve ever seen him.“Ben? Are you going to answer me?”“Are you going to tell me where you actually

“Ben called me on Saturday night,” Sharon says a few days after my date with James while we’re getting coffee after our shifts at the diner. “Yeah, sorry about that,” I say sheepishly.“I’m happy to cover for you, but next time give me a little warning, okay? I’m not good at lying on the fly.”“Hopefully you won’t have to cover for me again.”“Did you and Ben finally have that talk?” she asks, misinterpreting my words. “I’m so proud of you, Izzy. I know it can’t have been easy but—”I hold up my hand. “We didn’t. I wanted to, but when I got home on Saturday, he told me I’m not allowed out of the house for anything other than work, getting gas or food.”“Where does he think you are right now?” Sharon asks. “At work. I told him I was working til three,” I say. “Yikes. Sounds like he’s really going overboard on the whole big-brother protectiveness instinct.” “It’s more than that,” I start, the knot in my chest tightening because I don’t want to talk about this with anyone, bu

“Sit down,” Ryan says, and I obey him, not just because he’s my alpha, but because I’m too tired to resist. I haven’t slept since my disastrous second date with Isabel.Ryan takes a seat across from me at his desk and stares into my eyes.“You look like shit.”“Thanks. I know.”“Are you having trouble sleeping?” he asks.“Yeah. Just a lot on my mind,” I shrug. “I know the feeling. These rogues have been driving me crazy. I can’t function knowing they’re nearby. It’s like I can feel them watching me,” he says with a shiver. I want to tell him to stop exaggerating, stop making up imaginary threats to our way of life, but I don’t have the guts. It’s a problem I’m struggling with in all areas of my life right now. “I wouldn’t worry too much. Our patrols are going like clockwork, and there haven’t been any new alerts for a few days.” “But the ones the other day were bad. Three rogues. That’s what the guards say they saw. Prowling around our property boundary like this land is

“How was work?” Ben asks when I get home. He’s stationed on the couch, ostensibly playing video games, but I know he’s really waiting for me. Ever since his decree last week about staying home, he’s coincidentally been in the living room whenever I get back from my shift, or from being out. He must have had to switch his work hours around to do this, which shows his commitment.“Fine,” I say, going into the kitchen.“Want anything hot to drink? I’m gonna make myself a cup of tea,” I holler over my shoulder as I fill up the kettle.“I’ll do that for you,” he says, rushing into the kitchen and taking the kettle right out of my hands. This is another one of his new habits: he now tries to wait on me, hand and foot. I think he’d follow me around all day if he could. I feel like I’m a prisoner. “Ben, I’m perfectly capable of making myself a cup of tea. I think you’re taking this whole protection thing a little far,” I say.“You work hard, Bel. I’m just trying to help you out.”