~ RIG ~It was a good thing I could trust my wolf-senses to keep us safe on the road, because for the first few miles, I wasn’t even aware of driving, I was so consumed with fury.I couldn’t believe Natalie had ambushed me—and with Cara there! I had been so close to shifting when she tried to make trouble with Cara I had scared myself. I couldn’t imagine what that must have done to Cara.Actually, I could. Cara sat in the passenger seat, stiff as a board, stinking of tension that spun in and out of fear. I’d really given her a scare when I reached out for the car—something I’d seen my mother and sister do countless times, because of my father. It made my guts twist even tighter seeing her do it because of me.I needed to explain. Needed to ease her mind. Needed to find our way back to the kissing. But I didn’t know how to start. And so we drove for ten minutes without a word, my hands flexing on the steering wheel as my rage gave way to frustration.In the end, Cara was the one to bre

~ CARA ~“I said… he’s not my boyfriend,” I ground out, hands on my hips.Natalie stood on the other side of the library desk looking just as coiffed and perfect as she had that afternoon, though her hair was swept up now, and there was a gorgeous, cashmere scarf wrapped around her long neck.My stomach was twisted like that scarf, but with a strange mix of frustration and jealousy. I had already been feeling sorry for myself that Rig was so obviously hung up on this girl. I couldn’t believe I’d kissed him—and I couldn’t believe how much I wanted to do it again. This guy was a walking red flag! I didn’t have time or energy to figure it out. Yet I couldn’t stop thinking about him.Work had been a welcome distraction. But then it had all come crashing back in when Natalie had shown up twenty minutes earlier and proved impossible to deflect. When I had to help another student, she’d simply waited, then started in again when they left.It was the first time I had prayed for my shift to be

~ CARA ~My hands kept shaking and I couldn’t make them stop. I was on the edge of tears, and I didn’t really understand why. Except that watching Rig with Natalie—even the furious Rig—had made it so very clear how well those two knew each other.Rig with Natalie was the same Rig who slouched around with his friends when there was no one else with them. He wasn’t trying. He wasn’t pretending. Even if he hated her, he knew her. He spoke with her like someone he could be himself with, and never fear losing. Unguarded.It was the way he’d started to talk to me that afternoon at the fairgrounds, before everything went to shit. That was when I’d realized Rig used arrogance and flirting like a shield. A wall he could hide behind.But earlier that day his wall had been down. I’d spent hours with the Rig who had nothing to prove and he was… fun. Sweet. Thoughtful. And funny as hell. Hot as hell, too. Unfortunately.And then I’d kissed him—shocked him. But when he came alive… the hunger in him

~ CARA ~I had walked into that room with Rig arguing with myself in my head. But when he’d kissed me, pinned me against the wall, and then—deliciously—picked me up and laid me on the table, I hadn’t been able to form a thought beyond “more.”I was lost in a haze of need, mindless with it. I’d never experienced such a wash of emotion and desire in my life. As Rig kissed his way down my neck, then my chest, I sucked in a ragged breath. Then he opened his mouth over my nipple and sucked and my entire body jolted.My hips bucked and I whimpered, aching. When he pulled back to watch me, the tiniest part of my head whispered that I should be self-conscious, that I should be embarrassed, or scared or… but all I could do was claw my fingers through his hair so those strands would fall over his eyes again, trail my hand down that cord on his neck that stood proud because he was fighting so hard to hold himself back. Stroke his shoulders because they were so broad and strong and I’d never felt

~ RIG ~There she is.If I had been in wolf-form my ears would have perked. Mack had sent the alert through the mindlink, and it was as if all the blood in my body rushed to my extremities.I’d caught Cara’s scent as we entered the building and hoped the others wouldn’t pay attention so I could disappear and hunt her down when we split up.I should have known Mack wasn’t going to give up that easily.A surge of protective rage made my breath come too fast, but I just turned with the others to follow Mack, prowling towards the cafeteria.We could all follow the scent, but a human couldn’t. So, as we entered the cafeteria, we had to make our progress through the large space look casual, greeting other friends and classmates as we went—and pretending not to notice the flirtations from the girls that wanted us to join their table.As we moved slowly closer, I watched Cara from the corner of my eye and my stomach got cold. Things hadn’t ended well the night before, but I’d smelled the desi