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The SUV door swung open before Kade even moved.
A guy stepped out. Tall, shaved head, leather jacket that looked like it cost more than my rent. His eyes locked on me and I felt it—that crawl up your spine when something decides you're prey.
"She's not going anywhere." Kade's voice came out flat. Not loud. Just final.
The guy smiled. Wrong kind of smile. "Blood bond's a clan matter, Locke. You know the rules."
"I know you don't have jurisdiction over humans."
"She stopped being just human the second you bit her."
My stomach dropped. I stepped back and my heel hit the curb. Kade's hand shot out and caught my elbow. The touch sent heat straight through my jacket, my shirt, into my skin. I jerked away.
"Don't," I said.
His hand stayed in the air for a second. Then he let it fall.
The bald guy's smile got wider. "She doesn't even want you. This should be easy."
"She doesn't have to want me." Kade's eyes didn't leave him. "Bond's already set. You take her, you're taking clan property. That what you want to explain to Theron?"
Clan property.
I felt the words land like a slap.
"Excuse me?" My voice came out louder than I meant. "I'm standing right here."
Kade didn't look at me. "Get in the car."
"No."
"Lena."
"I said no." I turned to the bald guy. "I don't know what this is, but I'm not anyone's property. I'm going home."
I started walking. Made it three steps before the world tilted.
Pain exploded in my neck. Not the ache from before. This was sharp, hot, like something was tearing through the bite mark from the inside. I gasped and my knees buckled.
Kade caught me before I hit the pavement.
His arms locked around me and the pain stopped. Just—gone. I sucked in air, my hands fisted in his shirt. He smelled like rain and something darker. Something that made my brain go quiet.
"Let go of me," I said. My voice shook.
"Can't." His breath was warm against my hair. "Not till the flare passes."
"Flare?"
"Bond reaction. Happens when you try to leave the radius."
I shoved at his chest. He didn't budge. "What radius?"
"About a hundred feet. For now."
For now.
I twisted in his grip and looked up at him. His jaw was tight, his eyes locked somewhere past my shoulder. He wasn't looking at me. He was holding me like I was made of broken glass and he was trying not to cut himself.
"How long?" I asked.
He finally looked down. His eyes were gray. Dark gray, like storm clouds right before the rain hits.
"Thirty days," he said.
The bald guy laughed. "Thirty days and she's locked. That's cold, Locke. Even for you."
Kade's grip tightened. "Drive away, Marcus."
"Or what?"
"Or I make you."
Marcus's smile dropped. He stared at Kade for a long moment. Then he got back in the SUV. The engine roared and the vehicle peeled out, tires screeching.
I waited till the sound faded. Then I pushed at Kade's chest again.
This time he let go.
I stumbled back and wrapped my arms around myself. The cold hit me all at once. My legs felt like rubber.
"Thirty days," I repeated. "Till what?"
"Till the full moon."
"And then?"
He didn't answer right away. He just looked at me, and I saw something flicker across his face. Regret, maybe. Or guilt.
"Then the bond locks," he said. "Permanent."
The word hit me like a fist.
Permanent.
I laughed. Couldn't help it. The sound came out harsh and too loud. "You're insane. I'm not—this isn't happening."
"You felt the flare."
"I don't care what I felt. I'm not spending the rest of my life tied to some guy I don't even know."
"You won't have a life if Theron's people find you alone."
"Then I'll call the cops."
"And tell them what? That werewolves are real and one of them bit you?"
I opened my mouth. Closed it.
He stepped closer. Not touching. Just close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes.
"You've got thirty days," he said quietly. "You want to break the bond, fine. I'll help you. But till then, you stay close. You don't go anywhere alone. You don't talk to anyone about this. And you sure as hell don't walk away from me in the middle of the street when there's a rival clan circling."
"I didn't ask for this."
"I know."
"Then why?" My voice cracked. I hated that. Hated the way my throat was closing up, the way my eyes were burning. "Why did you do this to me?"
He looked at me for a long time. His face was unreadable.
"Because you were dying," he said finally. "And I couldn't let that happen."
The words hung in the air between us.
I wanted to scream at him. Wanted to run. But my legs wouldn't move and my neck was throbbing again, a dull ache that pulsed in time with my heartbeat.
"I need to sit down," I said.
He nodded. Gestured to his car. "Come on. I'll take you somewhere safe."
"I want to go home."
"Your apartment's not safe. Not anymore."
"Why not?"
"Because Marcus just saw you. Which means Theron knows where you live by now."
I pressed my hand to my forehead. This was too much. Too fast. Yesterday I was worrying about my shift at the café and whether I'd remembered to pay my electric bill. Now I was standing on a dark street talking about werewolves and blood bonds and staying alive.
"I have a friend," I said. "I can stay with her."
"No." His voice went hard. "You bring this to a friend, you put her in the line of fire. You want that?"
I thought of Jess. Her bright laugh, her terrible taste in reality TV, the way she always had my back even when I was being stupid.
No. I didn't want that.
"Fine," I said. "Where, then?"
Kade pulled out his phone, tapped something. "I've got a place. Warded. They can't track you there."
"How comforting."
He almost smiled. Almost. "You're taking this better than most."
"I'm not taking this at all. I'm just too tired to argue."
He opened the passenger door. "Get in."
I hesitated. Every instinct I had was screaming at me not to get in a car with a guy I barely knew. A guy who'd bitten me and tied me to him with some kind of supernatural leash.
But the alternative was standing here on the street, alone, while people like Marcus drove around looking for me.
I got in.
Kade closed the door and walked around to the driver's side. The interior smelled like leather and something faintly metallic. Blood, maybe. I tried not to think about it.
He started the engine and pulled out onto the street. Neither of us spoke.
I stared out the window and watched the city slide past. The lights blurred together. My neck ached. My whole body felt heavy, like I'd been awake for days.
"You said you'd help me break it," I said finally.
He glanced over. "Yeah."
"How?"
"There are ways. Old rituals. Most of them are dangerous."
"More dangerous than being stuck with you forever?"
His jaw tightened. "Yeah. Actually."
I turned to look at him. His profile was sharp in the glow of the dashboard. He looked tense. Like he was holding something back.
"What aren't you telling me?" I asked.
He didn't answer.
"Kade."
"Drop it, Lena."
"No. You dragged me into this. You don't get to keep secrets."
"I get to keep whatever I want if it keeps you alive."
His voice was hard enough to cut. I bit my lip and looked away.
We drove in silence for another few minutes. Then my phone buzzed.
I pulled it out. The screen lit up with a text.
Ryan: Hey. I know it's late. Can we talk?
My chest tightened. Ryan. My ex. The guy who'd dumped me three months ago because he "needed space." The guy who'd spent the last week texting me like nothing had happened.
I started typing a reply. Then I stopped.
The bite mark on my neck was burning again. Not painful. Just—hot. I reached up and touched it.
My fingers came away wet.
Blood.
I stared at my hand. The blood was dark, almost black in the dim light. And it wasn't dripping. It was moving.
Sliding across my palm in thin lines, forming shapes. Letters.
An address.
Ryan's address.
"Kade," I said. My voice came out strangled.
He looked over. Saw my hand. His eyes went wide.
"Pull over," I said.
"What—"
"Pull over!"
He swerved to the curb and slammed on the brakes. I shoved the door open and stumbled out onto the sidewalk. My stomach heaved but nothing came up.
Kade was beside me in a second. He grabbed my wrist, turned my hand over. The blood was still spelling out the address, letter by letter.
"What is this?" I whispered.
He stared at the blood. His face had gone pale.
"It's a trace mark," he said quietly. "Someone tied to you is in danger."
I looked up at him. My heart was pounding so hard I could barely breathe.
"Ryan," I said. "That's Ryan's place."