Chapter 11 · Don't Trust the Wolf

I didn't wait until morning.

The second Kade walked back into the apartment, I was on him. He barely got the door shut before I shoved the phone in his face, Mom's voice still looping in my head.

"What's the full-moon altar?"

He went still. That wolf-still thing he did when he was deciding how much to lie.

"Lena—"

"Don't." I stepped back, putting the kitchen counter between us. "Don't do that thing where you say my name like it's supposed to calm me down. What is it?"

His jaw tightened. "It's not something you need to worry about."

"My mom's last words were don't let you take me there. So yeah, I'm worried."

"She didn't understand—"

"Then make me understand." My voice cracked. I hated that. Hated that he could hear it. "You bit me. You bonded me. You won't tell me why. Now there's some altar my dead mom warned me about, and you look like you just got caught."

Kade ran a hand through his hair. He looked tired. Actually tired, not the fake human-tired he usually performed. "The altar is where the bond completes. Full moon. If we're both there, it locks."

"Locks."

"Permanently.