Page 29 of Primal

But then I feel ridiculous for even thinking such a thing, because why would a literal stalker go to the police about anything?

Yolanda grips her mug so hard her knuckles turn white. “Kiara, this is serious.”

“I know, I know,” I say impatiently, silently cursing myself for even getting myself into this mess. If I’d just called the police the first time I met Zyran, I wouldn’t be sitting here with the weight of his confession smothering me.

I look at my friend and feel my heart tug at the confused look on her face. “I know you’ve got to be feeling so many different emotions right now.”

She swallows and takes a sip of her tea. “There’s a part of me that feels like I should thank him for what he did,” she says quietly. “But the other part of me realizes the fucked up situation we’re in.”

I shake my head. “No. I got myself into this shit by letting my hormones override my common sense. You’re not involved. I’ll make sure your name never comes up.”

“You’re out of your fucking mind if you think I’m letting you go through this alone.”

I sigh. She’s always been strong-willed, and even now, after everything she went through last night, she still wants to protect me.

I put a hand on her arm and squeeze. “The only thing I want you to focus on is healing. That’s all that matters to me right now.”

“You’re my family, Kee—you matter to me.”

I lean over and grab her into a tight hug. “I love you so much, Yo. We’ll get through this together.”

CHAPTER 22

ZYRAN

Kiara Rivera.

I like the sound of that. She’s going to be my wife one day, whether she likes it or not.

Running a hand through my hair, I flick my pocket knife open and dig the tip of it into my abdomen until I draw blood. A hiss escapes through my teeth, but before I have a chance to stop myself, I’m already carving into my flesh.

I grab a washcloth from the basket on the sink and shove it in my mouth to avoid grinding my teeth together.

Fuck, this hurts.

But for Kiara, I’d walk through a field of broken glass if it meant an eternity with her.

I don’t stop until I’ve carved the last letter of her name into my chest. When I’m done, I take the washcloth out of my mouth, dip it under running water, and clean away all the blood.

I smile into the mirror at the sight of her name etched into my skin.

Kiara Rivera.

My butterfly.

She belongs to me. And I’m going to have her by any means necessary.

CHAPTER 23

KIARA

The days after the night at the club were a blur of never-ending police station visits and long nights spent on the couch eating our weight in junk food. Yolanda told them everything she was able to recall from that night.

It doesn’t matter, because the only other person who knows is Yo, and I’m going to keep it that way.

Convincing her to go to therapy was hard, but I pushed her to do it because she needed someone to talk to. I could tell there were things she was keeping from me, and that’s fine, but I didn’t want her to keep everything bottled up.

A part of me feels like a hypocrite, though, because I could probably benefit from some therapy myself, but whenever I think I have the mental energy to do it, I decide against it.

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