The last thing I remember was leaving the club after a terrible fight with my best friend Chloe. Now I’m standing in an empty corridor, alone, and everything is eerily quiet. There’s a door at the end of the hall, and my body moves toward it like it’s being pulled by something I don’t understand. I slip inside a dark, moonlit bedroom.
A man lies in the bed, half-covered by tangled sheets, his bare chest rising and falling gently in sleep. As my eyes adjust, I recognize him with a jolt of pure loathing. It’s my university professor. Dr.
Sax. The most conceited, demeaning, self-satisfied jerk I’ve ever met. No one has ever made me feel as small and insignificant as he did the day we met. We met on a cold but sunny winter morning.
I was walking into the main university building with Chloe, still annoyed from the holidays. “Did you have a nice time with your family? ” she asked. “I’m sure I would have, if I had one,” I replied dismissively.
“I’m sorry. Are you guys not close? ”
“Stop. I don’t feel sorry for myself, and neither should you.
The question is, why do you look so chipper? I thought you were spending your holidays cooped up with your boyfriend. ”
Chloe always made excuses for Nate, her so-called soulmate. She was convinced they were destined to be together, even though the guy treated her like property.
I couldn’t understand how the universe could pick someone like that for her. I was handed back my term paper and gasped. An F. “There must be some mistake,” I said.
“Maybe the teacher figured out you copied your paper from Ted,” Chloe suggested. “Please. Dr. Barnes is so old he forgets what he reads.
I’m going to give him a piece of my mind. ”
I ran off to Dr. Barnes’s office, ready to unleash my fury on the old fossil. I banged on the door and barged in, only to freeze in my tracks.
Instead of a receding hairline and a long white beard, I found myself staring at the light brown hair and sharp jawline of a man in his thirties I’d never seen before. “You’re not Dr. Barnes,” I stammered. “An astute observation.
He had to take sudden leave due to health issues. I’m Dr. Sax. I’ll be substituting for the remainder of the year.
”
He finally looked up from his papers, and his thunderous gray eyes locked onto mine. I forgot why I was there. “And you are? ” he asked, raising an expectant eyebrow.
“Emma Pierce. I’m here because there’s been a mistake with my last grade. ”
“Was there? ” Dr.
Sax sounded highly dubious. “Yes. Dr. Barnes must have made a mistake because—”
“You’re the student who cheated,” he interrupted.
“I didn’t cheat! ”
“Well, seeing how you handed in the exact same work as a Mr. Ted Davis, I’d say one of you definitely cheated, wouldn’t you? ”
I gaped like a fish.
He continued, “As of now, you’ve both got fails. However, should the person who copied come forward, I’d be willing to rectify the original paper’s grade. ”
There was only one thing left to do. “It was Ted.
Ted totally copied me. ”
Dr. Sax couldn’t have looked less impressed. “No, he didn’t.
You’re dismissed. ”
“Dismissed? What about my grade? This is going to significantly lower my GPA.
”
“There’s a rather easy way you could improve your grade,” he said, sinking back into his chair, a ghost of a smirk on his lips. I crossed my arms, my mind racing. “Wait. What do you mean by an easy way to improve my grade?
”
“I would think that’s rather obvious, don’t you? ”
The air between us grew heavy. His gaze was laden with implication. Surely he didn’t mean what I thought he meant.
He wouldn’t make a pass at me, would he? My breath caught in my throat. The idea of his lips crashing onto mine sent a shiver down my spine. Fine.
He was blackmailing me, but I wasn’t going to look too enthusiastic. “Fine,” I said, putting my bag down. “Where do you want me? ”
Dr.
Sax’s expression remained impassive, though his body tensed. “What? Where? What do you want?
”
I batted my eyelashes. “Or shall I just get down on my knees? ”
His eyes widened in disbelief, and he slightly recoiled. “I meant doing extra credit.
A chance to redo the assignment. ”
My heart sank into my stomach. I had gotten it wrong. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole, but I couldn’t let it show.
“Redo the assignment? I’m not about to redo something I already spent hours on. ”
“You’re too good for extra credit, yet you offer yourself up to any random stranger? ” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
I clenched my jaw. “Well, it would have been way less time-consuming. ”
“Get out of my office. ”
And that’s how we met.
In the months that followed, my grades improved, but our relationship didn’t. I was determined not to let that arrogant prick have the satisfaction of looking down on me again. He made a point of always getting my name wrong—Mildred, Rita, anybody—even though I knew he remembered exactly who I was. So why was I now in his bedroom in the middle of the night, watching him sleep?
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. It felt like there was a new, unspoken connection bridging the gap between us. How could someone so aggravating in the light of day evoke such a storm of warm emotions in me right now? I jolted at that thought, stepping back.
What was I even doing here? The last thing I remembered was convincing Chloe to come out dancing with me. Had we even gone? A light came on outside the bedroom, and I heard footsteps.
I dodged behind a curtain just as a tall, beautiful woman with long red hair burst into the room. “Harry, wake up. ”
Dr. Sax immediately sat up.
“Viv? What’s wrong? ”
“It’s Chloe. She needs help.
”
My blood ran cold. They couldn’t be talking about my Chloe, could they? I followed them out, peering from the top of the large wooden staircase. There, at the bottom, was Chloe, collapsed on her knees in tears.
Her boyfriend Nate stood beside her, an angry scowl on his face. “What happened? ” Dr. Sax asked, placing a hand on Chloe’s back.
“It’s her friend,” Nate muttered. “She got hit by a car on her way out of the club. ”
A vague impression of fear and distant yelling echoed in my mind. Hit by a car?
That couldn’t be true. I’d remember if I’d been in an accident. I got out of my hiding place and made my way downstairs. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but I obviously wasn’t in any accident.
As you can see, I’m right here, doing just fine. ”
Neither Nate nor Vivien even looked at me. They continued their conversation like I didn’t exist. I tried again, waving my hand in front of Nate’s face.
Nothing. When I grabbed his shoulder, my hand went right through him, like it was passing through air. I froze. Am I dreaming?
Vivien said, “Let’s go wait in the living room. ”
They moved toward me, and their bodies passed through mine like I was nothing more than a wisp of smoke. I couldn’t stay here. I needed to find someone—anyone—who could explain what was happening.
I ran out of the mansion and into the woods, but I couldn’t feel the cold ground beneath my feet. It felt like I was floating, untethered from the earth. Am I dead? Is this some sort of limbo?
Tears streamed down my face. I was more alone than I had ever been in my life. I decided to try to go back to my dorm. But each step I took was more draining than the last, like an invisible force was pushing me back.
Then, for a brief instant, there was a tug, and I felt like I was falling off a ledge. The forest dissolved, and I was back in Dr. Sax’s bedroom. He was awake this time, pinned down on his bed by a half-naked brunette.
A thousand thoughts crossed my mind at once. How did I get here? And who the hell was sucking on my professor’s tongue? The woman straddled his hips, her hand roaming over his bare chest.
I was drinking in every detail, feeling a desperate pang of jealousy. When his guest lowered her hand below his waist, and pleasure struck his features, it felt like a punch to the gut. Then, Dr. Sax’s head snapped up, and his eyes locked onto mine.
They widened in an expression I’d never seen before. “Emma? Oh my God. ”
He could see me.
He moved away from his lover so suddenly that she toppled onto the bed. “Chloe said you were in an accident. Was that some sort of joke? ”
“I don’t know, okay?
I can’t remember what happened. Chloe and I went out, but something went wrong, and suddenly I’m in your room. ”
His girlfriend was looking at him like he’d grown a second head. “Who are you talking to?
”
“Her,” he said, pointing at me. I crossed my arms. “I told you. She can’t see me.
”
Harry’s face decomposed from doubt to shock. After he finally convinced his lady friend to leave, he turned back to me. “I need a drink,” he groaned. “Oh, yippee for you.
Shall I make you a freaking margarita? ”
“Why would I want a margarita? They’re awful. ”
“Who cares, Dr.
Sax? I’m a ghost. I literally go through people, and you’re the only one who can help me. ”
“Me?
What am I supposed to do? ”
“I don’t know. You’re the one with the fancy degree. Figure it out.
”
“Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but you’re probably already dead. ”
It took a moment, but he agreed to help me in the morning. I roamed the halls of his enormous house for a while, discovering a man and a little girl in the kitchen, and a set of tombstones near the woods. One read: Cassandra Harrow—Beloved Sister, Wife, and Mother.
Below hers, another: Sebastian Sax. And underneath that, a small inscription in gold: True Mates. It was nothing I’d ever read on a tombstone, but I guessed every family had their own terminology. That night, I found myself lying on Harry’s bed, right next to his sleeping face.
He shifted in his sleep, and his hand landed right on top of mine. I felt the heat of his skin seep into mine. Our hands were in actual contact. “Dr.
Sax, wake up! ” I gasped. He slowly blinked awake, his gray eyes falling on me. For a moment, he gave me a surprisingly soft look.
Then: “What the hell are you doing in my bed? ”
“Look, we’re holding hands! ”
“Get out of my room. ”
The next day, Harry decided to go to the hospital to get information about my accident.
But every time I tried to touch him, my fingers dissolved around his. “I don’t think I can leave your house,” I explained. “Every time I do, I’m transported right back to your bedroom. ”
“You mean you can’t come with me?
” A pleased smile spread across his lips. “There’s something seriously wrong with this man. ”
I stayed behind and wandered into the dining room, where ten different people sat around a table for breakfast. Nate was there, along with Jake, the girl Max, and Vivien.
Chloe was noticeably absent. “Where’s Harry? ” Nate asked. “He won’t be joining us this morning,” Vivien said.
Jake asked, “What’s he up to anyway? It’s Sunday. He doesn’t have class. ”
“He’s gone into town to check on one of his students.
”
“Is she pretty? ” Jake asked, dropping a piece of bacon. “She’s Chloe’s friend. ”
“So that’s a yes,” Jake said.
“It’s all that bitch’s fault,” Nate suddenly banged the table. “I told Chloe not to get close to some human. ”
“Nate, that’s enough. ”
I was too confused to follow all of this.
Then, a familiar tug pulled at my core, and the dining room dissolved. I found myself in a parking lot, standing in front of a massive building. The sound of an ambulance in the distance told me it was the hospital. “What are you doing here?
” a familiar voice said. Harry walked over to me, looking aggravated. “It’s not my fault. I don’t decide where I go.
”
We walked into the hospital, and Harry made some inquiries. We were taken through a long deserted corridor into a small room with one bed. There, hooked onto different machines, was my own prone form. She had multiple fractures and a severe head injury.
I watched myself lie there, bruised and beaten. It was a literal out-of-body experience. “Do we know when she’s going to wake up? ” Harry asked, sounding grim.
“For now, it could be days, weeks. But she will wake up eventually, right? ”
“We don’t know that for sure. I’m sorry.
”
I didn’t want to hear this anymore. But I couldn’t seem to make myself move. “I’m sorry, Emma,” Harry’s sincere voice brought me back into focus. He looked worried, perhaps even a little sad for me.
“The doctors will know more in a couple of days. You can’t lose hope yet. ”
I let out a disheartened laugh. “Do they know what happened to me?
”
“Just that you were hit by a car. The driver’s been arrested. ”
Tears began to stream down my face. Harry made his way over to me, clearly uncomfortable.
“This isn’t over. We’ll figure something out. ”
I avoided his gaze. I haven’t cried since I was eight, when my mom left me alone on my birthday to go on a last-minute trip with her latest boyfriend.
“Would you like me to call someone for you? ” he asked. “Call someone? Why?
Who would you even call? ”
“Well, a family member, maybe? ”
“Call my mother? Haven’t spoken to her in years.
My father isn’t in the picture. ”
“What about an aunt or…”
“No, look. I don’t have a family. ”
I didn’t realize how alone I was until this moment.
“So I guess no one will miss me. ”
“That’s not true,” Harry protested. “I mean, I would… Chloe would miss you. But she won’t because we’re going to fix this.
”
“Chloe would miss a small ant,” I joked. There was a small silence. “I’d miss you,” Harry suddenly confessed. My breath hitched, and the tears flooded out.
Harry looked panicked, but without thinking, he moved to place a comforting hand on my shoulder. I felt it—warm and solid against my skin. “It’s happening again! ” I exclaimed through my tears.
Harry pulled me towards him and wrapped his arms around me. I felt alive again, flushed against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. We stayed like that for a while until his phone rang. “All right, Margaret, we have to go.
”
“We can’t leave! ” I protested. “The doctors are supposed to give you more information about me. ”
“Ever heard of phones?
Besides, something’s come up. I’m needed elsewhere. ”
“Well yes, actually. Surely my situation takes precedence over anything else going on in his life?
You’re the one who’s always arguing with me because you’re an insufferable prick. ”
“And you’re a selfish brat. ”
Our eyes met briefly, and my heart picked up. Instead of their usual gray, for a brief moment, I could have sworn Harry’s eyes turned gold.
A bright, dangerous gold. It was the night of the accident. I remembered now. Nate had cornered Chloe and me at the club.
He was angry, calling her awful names. When I pushed him off her, he grabbed my arm. His fingers had claws. His eyes turned that terrifying shade of gold.
His bones broke, and fur grew on his skin. I grabbed Chloe’s hand and pulled her behind me. “I’m calling the police,” I remembered rambling as we exited the club. But Chloe grabbed me, begging me not to.
“You didn’t see anything. You saw him, right? ” I asked her. “There was something wrong with him.
It’s like he was some kind of animal. ”
“I didn’t see anything,” she shook her head. She was going to defend him, even after what she’d seen. I was so shocked I took a step back.
Then Harry’s voice snapped me out of my trance. “Emma? ”
I looked at him, my heart pounding. “Nate.
Chloe. Harry. You’re all in on it, aren’t you? Harry, your eyes flashed gold, too.
Are you… are you a werewolf? ”
We sat in silence as he drove. “Yes,” Harry said, his eyes fixed on the road. “So he’s a werewolf.
That’s cool. I’m fine with this. This isn’t weird. And what about Nate?
”
“Him too. Chloe also. Vivien. Just assume all the people you’ve seen around my home are wolves.
”
I snapped my mouth shut, stunned. So now I’m a ghost, and the only person who can see me is a werewolf. Then it all clicked. “I remembered my accident.
And who inadvertently caused it. It was Nate. He attacked us and began to transform in front of my eyes. ”
Harry gripped the wheel even tighter.
“That’s expressly forbidden. I knew something was wrong, but Chloe’s dead set on protecting him. ”
“I can’t believe her. It’s like he can do no wrong in her eyes.
Whatever he does, it’s always, ‘You don’t understand, Emma. Nate and I are soulmates. ’”
“I’m not defending her actions,” Harry said reluctantly, “but you must understand it’s difficult to go against a soulmate bond. Chloe must be torn apart.
”
Wait. “Are you telling me the whole soulmate thing is real? ”
“Finding one’s mate is quite rare, but once formed, the bond is considered sacred by our kind. ”
“How romantic.
So, the universe has essentially doomed Chloe with a psycho. This whole mate thing sounds like one big scam to me. Wait, do you have a soulmate? ” I regretted it immediately.
“I guess there’s very little chance I’ll ever meet them,” Harry replied dismissively. “We tend to choose our mates instead. ”
“If Nate attacked you, that gives me grounds to banish him from our pack,” Harry explained. “Something I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while.
”
“You could kick him out? ”
“I could, and I would. But since Chloe’s his mate, she’d be inclined to go with him. ”
I gasped.
“But if she’s on her own with him… Chloe would wither away. There has to be a way to break this bond. ”
“Chloe or Nate would have to reject the other as their mate. But rejecting one’s mate is incredibly painful for a wolf.
The rare ones who do rarely survive the separation. ”
We decided to go to the town to find Chloe. When we found her exiting a bookstore, she looked awful—pale and determined. “You’re too late,” she told Harry.
“I requested a meeting with her. ”
“Tell me you didn’t. ”
“What happened to Emma was my fault. I’ll fix it.
I don’t care what it takes. ”
“Not like this. It’s too dangerous, Chloe. You have no idea what you’re in for with that witch.
”
A witch? So now there were witches too. “If she can save Emma, I don’t care what it costs,” Chloe insisted. “And what if it costs Emma?
Witches don’t offer fair deals. You don’t know what the consequences will be, nor who will be paying them,” Harry argued. Then he said, “I could try speaking with the witch instead. I have something she’ll be interested in.
”
We agreed not to tell Chloe about my ghost situation, as she was already feeling so guilty. The next week passed in a blur. I tailed Harry everywhere, and I started to realize what being part of a pack entailed. His days were a blend of academia and pack leadership.
At home, he was always solving conflicts. “How do you make them obey like that? ” I asked once. “It’s because they’re wolves and I’m their Alpha.
If I ask them something, it’s in their nature to obey me. ”
“And what about that thing you do, when you rub your wrist on someone? ”
“It’s called scent marking. To us, scent is very important.
It can tell us a lot about another person. If someone’s very angry, their scent would reflect that anger. ”
“What do I smell like? ” I asked nervously.
A genuinely troubled look crossed his face. “You’ve lost your scent. Ever since you became a ghost, you don’t smell like anything. It’s like you’re not really there.
”
Then, about a week later, we finally heard from the witch. We went back to the bookstore in Grimwood, and a strange-looking man with vacant eyes led us to the back. We stepped behind a blue curtain and found ourselves in a wide, flowery field bathed in the warm glow of a sunset. A beautiful woman with strawberry-blonde hair sat at a table set for tea.
“You don’t look like a Chloe,” she said. “I have something for you. ” Harry handed over a small box. Whatever it contained, it made the witch frown.
“You’re Cassandra Harrow’s son. ”
The witch’s eyes snapped to where I was standing. “What would you like in exchange? Information?
About the spirit you have with you? ”
Then she said something that shocked me into silence. “It appears your spirit’s time is almost up. It looks like your spirit has been separated from its body for too long.
It’s withering away. Soon, it will be gone forever. ”
Could this be true? Was I going to disappear?
As my panic grew, I instinctively reached for Harry’s arm. “You’ll drain yourself out even quicker, manifesting like this,” the witch intoned. “Your soul isn’t meant to have a corporal form. When you manifest one, you’re essentially burning away your soul faster.
Like a burning candle. ”
“How do we get her soul back into her body? ”
“We’d have to figure out how it got away in the first place. ”
“She was in an accident,” Harry said.
“When someone is stuck between life and death, their soul tends to linger around their body. But hers hasn’t. Instead, it attached itself to you. You’re a wolf.
You should know a thing or two about why souls connect. ”
Her words sank in. I watched Harry’s face decompose from shock into a grim expression. “Your soul will go back to its body once it is healed,” the witch said.
“If it heals soon, that is. ”
As we left, I was too stunned to speak. Harry, however, kept his eyes set ahead and drove home in total silence. By evening, I’d convinced myself things weren’t so bad.
The witch said my soul would go back to my body once it healed. So why was Harry taking the news so hard? He avoided me for the rest of the day. Every time I tried to get his attention, he was suddenly busy, his gaze stubbornly fixed on anything but me.
I was pretty sure he was avoiding me. I gave up staying by his side and decided to hide away in a corner of the house, overcome with anger and confusion. Then, a strong pull overcame me. It felt like Harry was calling for me without using words.
I resisted it, but an hour later, I gave in. I remembered how distraught he felt. I hurried to the living room, where I found him mid-conversation with Vivien. He was sprawled in an old leather chair, a glass of something alcoholic in hand.
Vivien was whispering to him, and her hand was resting on his knee. I hid in a corner to listen, betting on Harry being too intoxicated to notice. “Are you sure? ” Vivien was saying.
“Maybe you understood wrong. ”
“Nope. I’m sure. ”
“Well then… surely finding one’s soulmate is something to be happy about.
”
I frowned. What was she talking about? Harry tensed. “Why would I be happy about having Emma as a soulmate?
It’s a disaster. ”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Am I Harry’s soulmate? My tears began to stream down my face.
My entire being felt drenched in ice. “So this Emma, she’s been around this whole time? Is she here now? ” Vivien asked.
“No. She’s upset with me. Probably for the best. ”
I fled from my hiding spot, too distraught to care if I got seen.
He didn’t want me. No one ever did. The next day, I stayed stubbornly hidden in a corner of Chloe’s room, praying the bond wouldn’t drag me to Harry’s side. I managed to hold off the pull until he was entering his morning lecture.
I headed to the back of his class, hiding behind a group of students. “Damn, what’s wrong with Dr. Sax? He looks rough,” one of them said.
“He looks hungover. More like miserable. You’d think someone died. ”
He began his lecture without his usual enthusiasm.
I sneaked a glance at him and had to admit he did look pretty distraught. Then I noticed Chloe tensing in her seat. She was looking at her phone with a worried expression. She practically jumped out of her seat and hurried toward the exit, where none other than Nate was waiting, a furious expression on his face.
He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her after him. Without thinking, I got up to run after them. But I stopped dead in my tracks when I noticed the entire room had gone silent. I slowly turned around.
Harry was watching me with a dumbfounded expression, and the entire class was looking at him. “Well, don’t stop on my account,” I sneered defensively, resuming my exit with my head held high. I ran out into the hall and followed the sound of Chloe and Nate’s angry voices into a bathroom. “I told you not to go in today.
Why is it so hard for you to understand? ” Nate was sneering. “I told you, I need space. Please let go, Nate.
You’re hurting me. ”
“Space? What for? You’re my mate, Chloe.
The only thing you should need is me. ”
I scoffed. This guy was insufferable. “You heard Emma.
This isn’t something I can just ignore. ”
“Ever since meeting her, you’ve been treating me like crap. She’s a bad influence on you. It’s a good thing that car managed to hit her.
”
Chloe slapped him across the cheek. Nate didn’t hesitate. He slapped her right back with all his strength, making Chloe fall to the ground. I screamed as he raised his arm again.
Without a thought, I jumped onto his back, holding back his arm with all my strength as I bit violently into his ear. “Leave Chloe alone! ”
A confused Nate tried to wiggle out of my grasp, and I hit the ground with a grunt. I saw Chloe’s horrified expression as she whispered, “Emma?
”
She could see me. I reached for her hand, but then a strong hand encircled my throat, and I was lifted off the ground. Nate held me up, his features twisted in anger. “You!
” he seethed. He squeezed my neck with intent, trying to choke me. I might not need to breathe, but it hurt like hell. And I recalled the witch’s warning against manifesting.
I could hear Chloe screaming from far away, and then the bathroom door opened. Harry’s furious expression appeared. Our eyes met, his widening in fear. Nate abruptly let go of me, and I fell like a limp doll.
I vaguely heard Nate stuttering an apology as Harry grabbed him by the collar and threw him across the room against a sink. Harry knelt by my side, holding my face in his hands. “Emma, stop manifesting. ”
He looked frantic.
His hands felt scorching hot against my skin, and that’s when I realized how cold I was. I could barely move my fingers. “Go away,” I gasped. “I don’t need you.
”
“I don’t think that’s true. ”
I couldn’t see anything anymore. All I felt was the cold and the heavy weight on my chest. Death didn’t sound so bad right about now.
When I regained consciousness, I was pleasantly warm. I felt long fingers running through my hair and a strong chest under my cheek. I was being held in someone’s arms. I sighed happily.
My chin was delicately lifted, and I met a soft gray gaze. “You’re awake,” Harry said, sighing in relief. He grazed my cheek with his thumb. “Where are we?
” I asked. We were in a bedroom that vaguely resembled his, but there was a chimney hosting a burning fire. And we were touching. “I’m not sure where we are,” Harry replied, pulling me tight against him, burying his nose into my hair.
“But I think we can touch because this entire place isn’t real. ”
“What do you mean it isn’t real? Are we in a dream? ”
“You were fading away earlier.
We have a mental connection now that you’re a… that we’re bonded. I tried holding on to your mind, and we ended up here. ”
I looked at him, and I wanted to kiss him. I caught his chin between my fingers and pressed my lips to his.
Harry immediately deepened the kiss, pulling me flush against him. He lifted me up, carrying us over to the bed with my legs still wrapped around his hips. More overwhelming than my growing desire was the sudden influx of Harry’s yearning thoughts filling my mind like they were my own. He wanted me.
He’d been craving for me since he’d met me. A surge of possessiveness threatened to consume me. I could hear his voice inside my head, calling me his over and over again. Tears stung my eyes.
This wasn’t real. The real Harry would never feel this way. He immediately pulled away. “Did I hurt you?
”
“I wish it was real,” I confessed once my sobs had quieted. “Trust me, so do I. ”
“I heard you the other night. You told Vivien I was your soulmate.
You said it was a disaster. ”
Harry’s expression crumbled. “That’s not what I meant. I should have realized you were there.
I’m sorry. ”
He pulled me into a crushing hug. “Why wouldn’t I want you? You’re perfect.
”
“Stop it,” I said, looking away. He brought my hands to his lips with a near-worshipful expression. “My perfect, beautiful mate. ”
“That’s not what you sounded like when you were drunk.
”
He had the decency to look embarrassed. “Emma, what I said wasn’t for lack of love. ”
Love. I was about to ask another question when something flashed before my eyes.
A bright artificial light dangling from a ceiling. “Looks like our time’s running out,” Harry said with a frown. “What do you mean? ”
“You were fading away earlier.
You and I have a mental connection. I tried holding on to your mind, and we ended up here. ”
The next thing I knew, I was lying on the bathroom floor back at the university, with Harry watching over me, his pale face sagging in relief. “She’s waking up,” he told Chloe, who was beside him looking frightened.
“Ask her how she feels. ”
“Chloe! ” I squealed in delight. “Tell her I’ve got so much to tell her!
”
“She says she’s been having a splendid time in my company,” Harry told Chloe with a slight smirk. “I didn’t say that,” I snapped. “She didn’t say that,” Chloe added. I noticed Chloe had a bruise under her left eye, and it reminded me of why we were here.
“Where’s Nate? ”
“I’ve kicked him out of the pack,” Harry said, giving Chloe a look. “But what about Chloe? You said she’d go with him since they’re mates?
”
“I did it, Emma,” Chloe said suddenly, squaring her shoulders. “I rejected Nate as my mate. Our bond is broken. ”
A lot happened in the next couple of days.
While I seemed to be out of danger, Chloe’s mood quickly deteriorated from brave conviction to an alarming hollowness that worried everyone. We heard back from my doctors, who confessed that while my surgery went perfectly, the fact that I hadn’t yet regained consciousness was troubling. I felt it in my gut. I should have woken up by now.
Sometimes I would feel a strange sense of awareness, hearing the beeping of the machines hooked to my body and smelling the hospital soap. It felt like I was about to open my eyes. But then I would feel a tug, and I would end up by Harry’s side. It was like there was a thread constantly pulling me towards him, refusing to let me go.
The witch’s warning echoed in my mind. She’d implied I would wake up if our bond didn’t set. But what if it had? What if it was precisely what was preventing me from waking up?
Harry looked at me with a resigned expression. “I think you’re right. There’s no other explanation. ”
“I think you should try rejecting the bond,” I said without thinking.
Harry stayed silent for a while. Then, “All right. I’ll do it. ”
I was stunned speechless.
He didn’t want me. He wanted me gone. “You’ll be fine, right? ” I asked, feeling stupid.
“Because you’re going to reject me, like Chloe did Nate. So you’ll be fine. ”
“Of course. ”
“Besides, we’ve only been bonded for two minutes, and it’s not like it’s something you wanted.
”
Harry looked away. “I,” he began, his tone blank. “I reject you, Emma, as my mate. ”
I felt the familiar tug pulling at my core.
The last thing I saw was Harry’s pained gaze before the room dissolved into darkness. Then, I heard the sound of machines picking up. I felt an impossible weight settling on me. “She’s waking up.
”
My eyes snapped open onto the hospital ceiling, and I gasped for air for the first time in weeks. I spent the next month in the hospital, recovering. Chloe came to see me almost every day, but Harry didn’t. Every part of me ached.
My body healed slowly, but my heart grew more confused and angry with each passing day. I got that he didn’t want to be with me, and I got that rejecting the bond was difficult for him. But didn’t I deserve at least a visit? A quick call?
I would have taken a text or even a simple like on my Instagram post. I got nothing. Chloe mentioned in passing that Harry didn’t much like the idea of humans hanging around the pack because he deemed it too dangerous for them. A werewolf bite was supposedly fatal to humans.
Then, one day, Chloe didn’t show up. She didn’t answer her phone. My text messages went unanswered. I knew something was wrong.
I had to get out of here. As I was trying to figure out how to escape the hospital, my door burst open to reveal a small wolf with pitch-black fur. Its eyes met mine, and I instantly knew this was Max, one of the kids from Harry’s pack. “Hello, Max.
”
She transformed back into a ten-year-old girl as soon as the door shut. She was looking at me critically. “So you’re Emma. I thought you’d be prettier.
”
“Well, excuse me, I was in a car accident. ”
“Whatever. We need to get out of here. It’s about Nate.
He’s gone crazy. He says he’s going to kill everyone because he loves Chloe. ”
“Harry will stop him,” I said reassuringly. Max shook her head.
“Harry can’t stop Nate. He’s sleeping. Harry is sick. It’s because of the bond.
Chloe lied to you. Harry is Chloe’s Alpha. He told her to lie. ”
My distress suddenly turned into white-hot anger.
That lying, controlling jerk. How dare he try to nobly hide his suffering from me? “I’m going to kill him,” I shrieked, getting out of bed and falling on the floor. “That was sad,” Max said with a small frown.
We had no way to get me out of the hospital and past Nate when I could barely walk. “I’ve got it,” Max interrupted my thoughts. She grabbed my wrist and raised it towards her mouth. “What are you doing?
”
“Turning you, of course. ”
“But I thought humans rarely survived the bite. ”
“Yeah, but you will, though. Because you’re Harry’s mate.
”
It hits me that I had become the only person who could save an entire pack of people, including the love of my life, from a crazy werewolf. And all I had was a ten-year-old to help me. I was probably going to die. “Do it,” I said, giving the girl my arm.
“Will it hurt? ” I asked in a small voice. “Like a bitch,” she replied, and then her teeth sank into my skin. I was thrown into a world of pain unlike anything I’d ever experienced.
When I opened my eyes, everything was different. I was bombarded by overwhelming sounds and smells. There was no more pain in my body. And instead of feet, I had paws.
I had turned into a wolf. Max led me out of the hospital, and we ran through the forest with a speed I’d never known. When we reached the house, she showed me a small shack where I could shift back into a human. The pain of shifting back was horrible, but it was nothing compared to the sudden sense of loneliness that surged within me.
It felt like a punch to the stomach. “It’s because of your broken bond,” Max said. “Now that you’re a wolf too, you can feel it. Harry’s been feeling like this for months.
”
Being away from him hurt every single inch of my body. I had a single-minded need to be near him. “I’ll create a distraction downstairs while you climb up inside his room,” Max decided. I climbed the side of the house, my new strength making it easier than it should have been.
I burst into Harry’s bedroom and was immediately enveloped in his scent, an intoxicating woodsy smell that short-circuited my rational thoughts. But beneath it, I could detect the sterile tang of sickness. Harry lay motionless in his bed, pale and pained. I hurried to his side and grabbed his hand, sobbing.
“Wake up, please wake up, Harry. ”
But he wouldn’t. A desperate thought crossed my mind: I was utterly powerless. Then, a sharp pain that wasn’t mine mixed with heartbreaking loneliness poured into my skin.
I opened my eyes, and I was in the same dream-like space where Harry and I had shared our first kiss. Harry was awake, looking dazed. “You’ve got to rekindle our bond,” I implored. “No, Emma.
I can’t risk your life. ”
“Harry, please. If you don’t, you’ll die. ”
“I’d rather it be me than you,” he said with a soft smile.
I threw my arms around him. “You don’t have to worry anymore. Max turned me. I’ll be safe.
”
But I could feel his fear, his guilt, his fierce determination to protect me. I held on to the guilt, and suddenly, our surroundings shifted. We were in another bedroom, staring at a blonde woman lying in a bed. She looked sick, pale, and thin.
She had Harry’s eyes. “Is this your mom? ”
A voice echoed in my mind: “She lost a lot of strength delivering the child, and her health never fully recovered. It’s not just a physical matter, for a mother to be kept away from her child like that.
”
“Her mind is just as broken as her body. It’s given up. ”
I experienced Harry’s guilt upon hearing those words as intensely as if it were my own. When he’d been just a child.
“Harry, it wasn’t your fault,” I told him, taking his face into my hands. “You didn’t kill your mother. What killed her was being away from you. Just like it would kill me to lose you.
”
I poured all my fear and need into our bond. How much I loved him, how I couldn’t lose him. Hesitation, hope, and then something akin to adoration flowed across his features. “Do it,” I insisted.
“Do it now, Harry. I’m afraid I’m too late. ”
I felt myself being torn away as his next words echoed from further and further away. Then, something clicked into place.
I blinked awake in his bedroom, the press of his body underneath mine. A dual consciousness was awakening within me. Harry’s very soul bloomed against mine. His eyes fluttered open, dazed, before settling on me.
“You’re awake,” I sighed tearfully. In one swift movement, Harry toppled me onto his bed, pinning my arms above my head. His eyes had turned gold. He was angry.
“Who turned you? ” he growled, sounding absolutely murderous. “Who cares! Max did, and you’re going to thank her.
We don’t have time for this. You have to go stop Nate. He wants to kill you. ”
But Harry wasn’t listening.
He was nuzzling my neck, running his wrists along my body, his scent enveloping me. His possessiveness overwhelmed everything else. I realized my fingers had begun to transform, nails raking across his back with a metallic tinge of blood. “I’m sorry,” I exclaimed.
“You’re sorry for hurting me? You should never have accepted the turn, Emma. You could have died. ”
“Says the guy who was practically catatonic when I arrived.
Now, come on. We have to go. ”
In the dining room, Nate was pacing like a caged animal, demanding Harry come out so he could challenge him for Alpha. “Well, all right then,” a voice interrupted.
“Shall we? ”
Harry was leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, face impassive. His presence descended upon the room, and everyone instinctively felt it. Nate paled.
“If you’re not going to fight me, then leave,” Harry said. Nate looked ready to run, but then a small figure appeared by Harry’s side. Emma. She was dressed in black, and there was no trace of injury left on her body, save for a deep purple mark on her neck.
“Who’s that? ” Jake whispered. I ignored him. I was too focused on the way Emma moved, the way she stood.
She was different now. “Emma! ” I exclaimed. Then Nate lunged for her.
He seized her by the neck, pulling her against him. “Chloe! ” he said, giving me a desperate glance. “Rekindle our bond now, or I’ll—”
Emma violently elbowed him in the stomach.
“Are you serious? ” She grabbed him by the back of the head and punched him again. “Emma,” Harry protested half-heartedly. “We agreed.
No physical violence. ”
“Yeah, well, I lied. You know, kind of like when you said you were going to be fine after breaking our bond but then you almost died. ”
Emma sat on Nate’s back, pressing his face to the ground.
“That hurts,” he complained. “You know what else hurts? Getting hit by a car that wasn’t my fault. Chloe, tell her!
”
“Let him go, Emma,” I said pleadingly. “He’ll leave us alone. Right, Nate? ”
He gave me a pained look before begrudgingly nodding.
Emma sighed, moving away but keeping her foot on his head. “Anyone else want to get a punch in before he goes? ” Jake raised his hand immediately, followed by Max, and eventually, Vivien. “Seriously, who is that girl?
” Jake asked Harry. “She’s my mate,” he replied fondly. Two months later, I woke up screaming from a nightmare where Harry was lying cold and lifeless. He was beside me, alive, comforting me.
I was plagued with nightmares ever since we’d reunited. I couldn’t stand to be apart from Harry for more than ten minutes. We spent most of our time together, in a perpetual state of undress, holding each other, afraid to let go. I thought of Chloe, whose bravery I now understood better than ever.
She had managed to break her own bond and survive. I didn’t know how she’d done it. I didn’t think I could have. I fell asleep next to the man I loved, hoping we’d be safe from now on.
But Chloe’s struggles with Nate were only beginning. An hour later, Chloe’s car pulled up in front of a small manor built on large grounds at the very center of the city. “Are you ready? ” Cromwell asked, extending his hand to help her out of the car.
Chloe hesitated. Was she crazy for doing this? But there was no other choice. This deal was the only solution she could think of to cheat death.
If she didn’t take it, Nate would kill her within the year. “Yes,” she murmured, taking Cromwell’s hand. The vampire pulled a dark cloak over her head.
“Then let’s go meet your future husband,” he said, guiding her towards the house.
