جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 5

ZARA || FIVE YEARS AGO || The first pair of bright yellow eyes appears between the pines while I'm shoving barbecue chips into my mouth to stifle the rage burning through my chest. It's too low for a deer and too still for a dog. I tug one headphone off and lean over the gutter until a second shape peels itself out of the dark and sits on its haunches, like it's waiting for permission. Wolves don't come this close to Greyhaven. Everyone said that the last time I saw one. Liars, all of them. Something taps the bottom of my sneaker. I shriek and jerk around. My heel slips. Chips scatter across the roof, and before I can slide towards the gutter, a hand clamps around my ankle. “What the fuck?!” I hiss. Ramsey is leaning out of my bedroom window, one arm hooked over the sill and the other wrapped firmly around my ankle. His eyebrows rise. Right. He hates it when I swear. “Would you rather I let you fall?" “I'd rather you didn’t sneak up on me while I'm sitting on a roof!" Hi

ZARA One second, I’m staring at Ramsey’s claws, trying to convince myself grief has finally killed my brain. The next, wood splinters above us.Something grey crashes onto the stairs.I scream.It isn’t a man. Not entirely. Long arms, massive torso, grey fur and a face shaped too much like a wolf. Blood covers one side of its head. It launches itself down the stairs.Ramsey moves so fast my eyes barely follow.His hand closes around its throat mid-lunge, and he slams it into the wall hard enough to crack the plaster.Holy shit.“Who sent you?”The creature claws at his arm but Ramsey doesn’t even flinch.“Outside,” Rourke orders behind me.I jerk away when he grabs me. “Imani is upstairs!”“No, she isn’t.”“How the fuck do you know?”“I can smell her.”I stare at him. There are moments in life when you realize your problems have exceeded your current vocabulary. This is one of them.“You can what?”A growl jerks my attention back.The creature breaks free and charges again. Ram

RAMSEY “Did you know?" Zara asks. I already know exactly what she means. Five years later, and she is still this easy to read. "You weren't subtle." Her lips part. "You're lying." "You stared at my mouth every time I spoke." Colour floods her cheeks, and my cock twitches. "I did not." "You did. Constantly. Like you were wondering how I'd taste if you ever got the chance." "I was eighteen!" "Which is exactly why I kept my hands to myself and pretended not to notice." That finally shuts her up. The amusement drains out of me just as quickly. I put the cigarette out and lean back in the chair, letting the silence settle between us while I look at the woman who used to be strictly off-limits. Five years ago, she had been eighteen, furious at the world, and completely convinced she understood what she wanted. I had been married to her mother. It had been my responsibility to understand the difference, even when she looked at me like she wanted to climb into my lap a