/1/122409/coverbig.jpg?v=986af5e0d135df2e512d172af15ca2d0&imageMogr2/format/webp)
oe
were wrapped a
r clawed at me from the inside out. I was drowning. The water was a frigid shock, se
n mess under the water. Bubbles escaped my lips, tiny pockets
trong jaw, dark hair floating like a halo in the murky water. But his eyes... they were a vortex of pain, fixed on
slate of panic. Thr
idn't listen
g, an instinct that wasn't my own. This new instinct told me that st
opped f
I allowed the last of the air to bubble out of my lungs, a fina
on of a second. The pressure o
only openin
led. My knee slammed upward, driving hard i
und muffled but the impact undeniable. His body c
ther elbow, guided by a precision I didn't know I possessed, jabbed sharply into the side of his
moment, then completely limp. He was a de
ay and shot tow
It felt like swallowing glass. I coughed violently, my body shaking as I expelled wat
nded by a dense, unfamiliar forest. The sky above was a grim, overcast gray. I was soaked to the sk
wave of memories c
en't my
ugly," "stupid." The constant sneers, the quiet bullying, the
earing that sweet, concerned expression, her fingertips gently stroking my hair as if soothing a disob
that your very existence is the greatest disgrace to the Stonefang Pack? No wolf nature, dull as a
low chuckle, c
from the same cloth-equally obtrusive. Don't worry, this tea won't make you suffe
her fingertip lightly scraping across my chee
n my gut, a fog descending over my mind, the sensation
ine. And a legacy left by my mother.A mental imprint. The fog that had clouded my mind for years-the dullness, the confusion that earned me the label "intellectually disabled"-w
now decompressing in my mind. From bone reduction to toxicology analysis, from trauma hemostasis to nerve blockade, every piece of knowledge was as clear as if I had prac
marred with ugly, discolored patches. The poiso
wly drifting towards a deeper part of the stream. He was
et-screamed at me. Leave. He's
all, just trie
ed killer. It was the face of someone in unbearable pain, someone who had lost control. I could almost feel a phantom
iced somet
lucked. A string I never even knew I possessed. I couldn't tear my gaze from his face-the wet black hair, the tightly
ing deeper. Something primal, instinctual, something that belonged to my werewolf bloodlin
m. He had just t
d in a way I couldn't understand. My pulse-which should have been too weak to even sustain life-began pounding violently. My palms
I could catch it-a deep, mingled fragrance of cedar and wildfire, and that fragrance res
awakened, roared inside me. Not a
t meant. But I knew
to sav
thick with frustration and exhaus
mn
abbed the collar of his expensive-looking shirt, and began dragging his hea
/1/122409/coverbig.jpg?v=986af5e0d135df2e512d172af15ca2d0&imageMogr2/format/webp)