Page 45 of Brutal Mate

Naked. She was utterly naked. Save for her red curls that fell like waves over her shoulders, she was entirely exposed.

Dropping to her knees, her legs too weak to hold her, she buried her hands in the leaf mulch. How she had gotten into the clearing in the orchard, she did not know, but in that moment all that mattered was getting out of the moonlight. She would have clawed her way into the earth just to escape if she could.

And yet, all she could do was crouch there, feeling as if her skin were being torn from her bones.

That's when the next phase came. One even more painful than the first. Her bones start to shift and creak and break, snapping so loudly she could hear the blood-curdling sound in her ears.

Her surroundings disappeared all around her as she was overwhelmed by darkness and pain. And soon she lay on the ground, utterly exhausted. Time seemed to have passed and entirely stood still all at once, and all she could do was listen, try to hear the beating of her heart that told her she was still alive.

And that's when she heard the footsteps.

“Miley,” the voice was soft and gentle at first. “Miley…”

The growling kicked in. The sound of bones breaking erupted again, and she prepared herself for pain, but it never came.

Panicking, she managed to sit up.

“Miley!” the voice was little more than a growl now, and Miley screamed when she saw Kane in the shadow of one of the apple trees.

His face was twisted and gruesome, half-man and half-wolf. When he reached out for her, his fingers were no longer fingers but long, black claws that threatened to slash her throat.

He bared his teeth at her, but they were no longer teeth. They were long, shining white fangs, dripping blood that soaked into the fur growing thick upon his tattooed chest.

Miley scrambled to her feet and ran. She ran faster than she ever had before, but it was not enough.

The wolf that Kane had become was much faster. It was gruesome, grotesque, giant. It pounced and knocked her to the ground, pinning her face down so that the leaf mulch muffled her screams.

“Miley! Miley! Wake up!”

The hands shaking her by the shoulders were not sharp like the wolf’s claws had been. They were warm and inviting, their grip tight as if panicked.

And when she blinked open her eyes, she realized she was laid on her back in her bed, not on her front in the orchard.

Above her head was the oddly familiar ceiling of her grandmother's guestroom. The only light was that of the hallway, shining through the open door, and it illuminated Kane as he leaned over her, clutching hold of her shoulders as if he were trying to pin her to the bed.

“What the hell are you doing?” Miley bit at him, trying to fight him off, but he refused to let her go. Hell, he was strong, stronger than anticipated. “Get off me!”

“Not until you calm down and quit screaming,” Kane protested, his grip squeezing her as if he meant to reassure her. “You might lose control.”

“Lose control?” Miley demanded. “How could I lose control when I've never had any to begin with?”

She spat the words at him, and as if they had struck him physically, he recoiled, releasing her shoulders.

“You were having a nightmare,” he grumbled, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. “A side effect of the bite.”

“Oh, great, just what I need!” Miley growled, throwing her arms up in exasperation. She cringed at the sound of her own voice. It sounded far more animalistic than she had intended.

“Miley,” Kane said gently. He removed one hand from his pocket and laid it on her leg. “I know you don't want to hear this, but we have to go back to Nightstar.”

“Feel free,” Miley hissed. Like a child, she rolled over onto her side, turning her back to him. “I'm not going anywhere.”

“Miley, the nightmares have begun. They'll only get worse,” Kane said. “You need to be amongst your own people.”

Miley's entire body shivered with horror. She gripped a decorative pillow and clutched it tight to her chest.

“I am with my own people,” she pointed out. “My grandma is asleep just down the hall.”

“That isn't what I meant, and you know it,” Kane replied. He stroked his hand up her back as if he were attempting to comfort her, but she shrugged him off.

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