Chapter 16 · Three Nights

The brand won't stop burning.

I've got my hand pressed against my ribs, right where the blood moon sits under my shirt, and it's pulsing like a second heartbeat. Three nights. That's what Silas said. Three nights to go north or he comes here and it won't be quiet.

Cain's standing in the doorway. He didn't knock.

"You're not going alone," he says.

I don't look at him. I'm shoving clothes into a duffel bag I found under the bed, stuff I don't even like, because none of this was supposed to be permanent. "I'm not going at all."

"Lila."

"Don't." I yank the zipper. It catches on a sleeve. I yank harder. "Don't do the Alpha voice thing. I'm not your wolf."

"The bond says different."

That stops me. I turn around and he's closer than he should be, close enough that I can feel the pull humming between us, that awful gravitational thing that makes my wolf want to roll over and show her throat. I hate it. I hate that it works.

"The bond," I say slowly, "is something you did to me. Without asking. So maybe don't stand there and act like it gives you rights."