Chapter 143
After walking for what felt like eternity but was probably only five minutes, I reached a small clearing bathed in moonlight. In the center stood Dominie, now in human form, his back to me. He was fully dressed in dark jeans and a button–down shirt, his shoulders rigid with tension.
“You came,” he said without turning around, his voice low and rough, sending a tremor through me.
a
1 stopped at the edge of the clearing, suddenly uncertain. “Why are you here? My voice trembled slightly despite my effort to keep it steady..
Dominic turned slowly to face me. The moonlight cast half his face in shadow, but I could see the intensity in his eyes, the tight set of his jaw. My body responded to his presence with immediate awareness–heightened breathing. quickened pulse, a warmth spreading through my core.
“I couldn’t continue like this,‘ he said finally.
My heart sank. Here it was–the end I’d been dreading. He’d come to break things off in person, to end our arrangement. I twisted my fingers together nervously, trying to prepare myself for the blow.
“I understand,” I said quietly, struggling to keep my voice level. “The contract is complicated. If you want to dissolve it… I understand.”
Dominic’s brow furrowed, a flash of something like pain crossing his features. “You keep mentioning that damn contract. Is that all this is to you, Rebecca? A piece of paper?”
My chest tightened with emotion. “But… you’re the one who sent me away. I thought you were tired of me, wanted distance from me…
Dominic took a step closer, his movements careful, controlled. I could smell his scent now–cedar and something wilder, untamed. It made my head swim.
“I sent you here to protect you,
to give you a safe place to recover.”
“Protect me?” The confusion in my voice was genuine.
“I smelled your fear,” he said, his voice dropping lower, more primal. “Dylan threatened you at the hospital, and you didn’t even tell me. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, the veins in his forearms standing out. “Hurst put his hands on you, and you kept it from me.”
I looked down, guilt washing over me. “I didn’t want to be a burden to you. You have the whole pack to manage, Sterling Group, everything…
“A burden?” Dominic’s voice held a note of disbelief. He moved closer, and I could feel the heat radiating from his
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Chapter 143
body. “Rebecca, when you’re in danger, I can’t think. I can’t breathe. He ran a hand through his hair, a rare gesture of frustration. “I feel torn in two–half of me wants to wrap you in bubble wrap and lock you away somewhere safe, and the other half is terrified that if I hold on too tight, you’ll run.”
His honesty stunned me into silence. I’d
protect me in the only way he knew he so certain he was pulling away, when in reality, he’d been trying to
Hesitantly, I stepped closer to him. The moonlight caught in his hair, highlighting the tension in his features. Without thinking, I reached up to touch his neck, my fingers brushing against the mark I’d left there nights before. To my surprise, it hadn’t healed.
Dominic’s breath hitched at my touch. His eyes darkened, pupils dilating. The muscle in his jaw twitched as he fought for control.
“I’m sorry I bit you,” I whispered, my finger tracing the outline of the mark. My own body responded to the contact, a deep pulse of desire awakening low in my belly.
Dominic went completely still under my touch, his breathing deepening. He closed his eyes briefly, his nostrils flaring as if catching my scent. When he looked at me again, there was something primal in his gaze that made my knees weak.
“That night,” he began, his voice careful, measured, though I could hear the strain beneath, “you marked me, Rebecca. In werewolf culture, that has… significance.”
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