I climbed the ridge tower steps with a radio coil in one hand and my breath fogging the cold air.
The storm was two hours out, and the pack's warning radio had gone dead again.
I was halfway up when I smelled blood.
Evander sat against the tower door with his dark jacket soaked black at the side.
The Alpha's son, bleeding on the boards like any other man.
Evander: Don't touch me.
I knelt anyway and pulled his jacket open. The gash under his ribs was deep and still wet.
His hand shot out and closed around my wrist, hard enough to hurt.
Evander: I said don't.
Then his eyes opened and found mine, and the whole world went quiet.
His scent hit me low in the belly, warm and sharp, like smoke off a fire.
Every part of me knew him. My wolf-less body knew him anyway.
Evander: No.
He said it like a curse, but his grip on my wrist changed.
His thumb moved over my pulse, slow, and my skin came alive under it.
I should have pulled back. I had a radio to fix and a storm to beat.
Instead I leaned in close enough to feel the heat coming off his chest.
Nova: You're hurt bad. Let me look.
He didn't let me look. He pulled me down into his lap and set his mouth against my throat.
I felt his teeth drag there, and a sound came out of me that I had never made before.
Evander: Fuck. You smell like mine.
His hand slid up under my shirt, then lower, past my waistband, into my pants.
His fingers found my clit through the thin cloth and pressed, and my hips jerked against him.
Nova: Evander.
Evander: Say it again. Say my name while I touch your pussy.
I said it into his shoulder while I ground down on his hand like I had no pride left.
He worked me with rough, sure fingers, and I was wet enough to hear it.
Evander: That's it. Rub your clit on my hand. You're so fucking wet for me.
My legs shook and my breath broke apart. I was close, right at the edge, holding onto his jacket.
Then his hand went still.
He pulled out of my pants and set me off his lap like I was something he had to get rid of.
Evander: Get up.
Nova: What?
Boots hit the tower stairs below us, and Piet's voice came up through the boards.
Piet: Nova? Evander? You up there?
Evander stood, one hand pressed to his bleeding side, and did not look at me.
Evander: This didn't happen.
Nova: You can't say that. You felt it. You know what we are.
Evander: I know what you are. A mistake.
He said it in front of Piet, who had just reached the top step and gone still.
Evander: A wolf-less girl with a dead radio. Not my mate. Not ever.
Evander: Say one word about it and I'll have you off pack land by morning.
My face burned like he had hit me. My body was still aching from his hand.
Piet stared at the floor, and I saw him choose not to speak.
Piet: We should get him down to the hall.
I picked up my radio coil and walked past both of them.
Outside, the wind cut at my wet cheeks, and the bond pulled at my chest like a hook.
He had touched me like I was his, then made me small in front of my own brother.
I could still feel his fingers on me. That was the worst part.
The bond did not care that he had called me a mistake. It pulled anyway.