Page 46 of Brutal Mate

“Don't touch me.”

She bit her lip when he removed his hand, feeling disappointed and guilty. She had liked his touch more than she cared to admit.

“Miley, I am only here to help you,” Kane said.

“You can help me by leaving me alone. If you miss Nightstar so much, you go home and leave me be.”

“We both know I can't do that, especially not now,” Kane said, and he touched her again, this time squeezing her shoulder.

Damn. It felt about as good as it was infuriating.

In an instant, Miley rolled off the bed and stormed across the room. “Fine. If you won't leave, I will!”

Feet bare, wearing nothing but her oversized t-shirt that she slept in, she raced from the farmhouse. Practically pouncing over Moses on the porch, the poor dog barely had time to register what had happened before she hit the dusty ground of the yard and set off at a run.

Her legs carried her faster than they ever had before. They felt strong, powerful, more than human. The energy pulsing through her entire body was no longer just her own. She felt something else inside her, something growing larger and stronger still. And with every footfall, she felt it getting bigger.

It wasn't until she reached the end of the orchard and the open field beyond that she finally stopped dead in her tracks.

The memory of her dream returned to her as she instinctively turned her face up towards the sky.

Shit! It was still dark. Riding high in the sky was a huge, silver sphere that called to her. The night was silent save for the bugs chirping in the long grass, but still, the moon called to her, tugging at her soul to step into its silver light.

Though her head told her not to, though she remembered all too well the pain of her dream, though she was absolutely freaking terrified, she could not stop her feet from carrying her into the field.

More than that, she could not stop her fingers from gripping the hem of her oversized t-shirt to yank it up over her head and toss it aside.

The moonlight felt amazing on her skin. It wasn't at all like her dream. Yes, there were pinpricks, but they were warm and tingly and relaxing. The moon was welcoming her, calling her, healing her.

She closed her eyes, opened her arms with her chest toward the sky, and breathed in the warm night air.

That's when the pain began. It was almost unnoticeable at first. But when she did notice it, her panic began.

No! No! She screamed in her mind at first, then aloud, she screamed, “No! Please! No!”

It began in her fingertips and her toes. Searing, ripping pain as if something sharp was trying to protrude through her skin. Then every bone started to ache, and she knew the sound of bone cracking would begin.

The taste of blood, metallic in her mouth, made her open her lips only to realize her gums were hurting just as badly as her fingers. Her tongue stroked her lips, and she winced as she caught sharp, pointed fangs.

“Fuck! No!” she cried, her fingertips rushing to her mouth.

There were indeed fangs where there should have been short, normal human teeth.

And when she brushed her lip, her fingertips came away red with blood. Somehow, she had bitten herself.

That wasn't the most worrying part. The worrying part was the huge black claws that protruded from her nailbeds and the thick red fur that had begun to sprout up around her shortening fingers.

“No, no! This can't be happening!” she screamed at the moon.

Her stomach twisted then, and her ribcage buckled painfully. She screamed so loudly that a flock of startled birds fluttered up from the long grass and the nearby trees.

And just as she thought her legs would no longer hold her, she felt the warm body that pressed against her back, the arms that wrapped around her from behind and pinned her arms to her chest.

“Hush,” the voice was terribly soft and tender in her ear. “Hush now. Relax. I've got you.”

Miley trembled uncontrollably. She couldn't have fought Kane off even if she had wanted to.

All she could do was lean back against him and feel the tears that ran down her cheeks.

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