Page 47 of Brutal Mate

“I'm here,” he continued to whisper, holding her close to him, his fingers gripping her wrists like a warm and tender vice. “Nothing can harm you. No harm will come to you while I'm here. Just be still. Breathe. Relax.”

If she'd had full use of her faculties, Miley might have screamed at him that it was next to impossible to relax with everything going on inside her body. But she couldn't even open her mouth any further than it already was, and she had no idea how to speak with a mouth full of hideous, grotesquely shaped fangs.

So instead, she closed her eyes.

“Listen to my voice,” Kane continued gently. “I'm here. Just relax. Feel my body. Feel the earth beneath your bare feet. Feel the breeze on your skin. Feel my touch on your flesh. Listen to the sound of your heart beating.”

Miley listened intently to his voice, allowing it to lull her into a sense of safety and security that she had never experienced before.

And, somehow, she turned in Kane's arms. Her palms rested on his chest, and she gazed up at him, blinking her eyes open slowly. Her head was foggy, her eyelids heavy, but when she smiled softly up at him, she realized her fangs were gone.

Maybe she had imagined them entirely. One glance at her hands told her the claws were gone too, as was the pain.

All she felt throughout her entire body now was a dull ache and a sense of desire at Kane's closeness.

“H…how?” she breathed out, barely able to speak.

Kane smiled gently and stroked her hair back behind her ear. “Contrary to common belief, werewolves can shift at will, though the full moon makes things a little trickier to hold off.”

Miley blinked at him, astonished. She had to be dreaming again. None of this was possible. She pinched the skin on the back of her hand to try and wake herself.

“I thought I was dreaming the first time, too,” Kane said softly, pulling her close. He kissed the tip of her nose. “I wish I could tell you that you were, but you aren't.”

It was only when he wiped a tear from her cheek with the ball of his thumb that she realized she was still crying.

“I'm sorry, Miley.”

Miley blinked up at him again. Furrowing her brow, she asked, “What do you have to be sorry for?”

“If I had gotten to you sooner, this wouldn't be happening to you right now,” Kane sighed. He closed his eyes as if he couldn't bear to meet her gaze. Miley's chest tightened. She was about to speak when he added, “If you hadn't been bitten, you might have been able to stay here with your grandma.”

Miley's heart sank.

“Why can't I still? Why can't we?” she asked. It felt odd to suggest that he should stay too, but she had seen how happy her grandmother had been to have a man around the house. Already things were beginning to shape up.

Kane opened his eyes and looked at her without blinking. “You are a bitten wolf, Miley. The most dangerous kind of wolf.”

Miley's insides fluttered. She had never been described as dangerous before. She almost laughed at how her father, who had only ever called her weak and insignificant, might react to hearing such a thing.

“Then maybe it's better I'm all the way out here?” Miley suggested. Instinctively, she pressed closer to him. “With you.”

Kane stiffened against her, and she was surprised when he leaned down and kissed her. He pressed his forehead against hers as he spoke. “As much as I wish it were that simple. We have to go back to Nightstar. It's not safe for you to transition out here alone.”

“I’m not alone. I have you.”

“It's hard to explain,” Kane said. He pulled back to meet her gaze again. “If you don't have a pack around you when you transition, the likelihood is, for women especially, that it will be a death sentence.”

Shocked beyond belief, Miley pulled away. “What are you saying?” she exclaimed. “Are you telling me I…I'm going to die?”

Kane's shoulders squared and his lips pursed into a hard line. For a second, he stared at her hard. Then, finally, he admitted, “If we don't return to Nightstar, you could die or worse.”

“Worse?” Miley gulped. What the hell could possibly be worse than dying?

Kane nodded. “If you aren't surrounded by other wolves, if you aren't fully accepted by a pack, you might become a feral.”

Whatever the hell that was, it didn't sound fun at all. “Wha…what is a feral?”

Kane closed his eyes. A pained expression crossed his face, and Miley almost told him not to answer. If he looked that bad just thinking about it, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

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