Page 34 of Never Submit

“He wanted you to dowhat?” Mathis growls.

“Start talking,” Torin grunts, the imperious quality of his baritone achingly familiar. “It will make things easier for you.”

He’s staring at me with heat in his eyes but he’s not trying to touch me. To greet me.

I’m too tired for his wishy-washy bullshit right now.

“I’m, ah…” I trail off. This is harder than I’d thought. “I…shifted. On the mountain. And when those crazy wolves tried to capture me, I shifted again.”

I turn and catch Noble’s molten gaze, holding it until the thrumming of my heartbeat goes steady once again.

“What do you mean, you shifted?” Mathis keeps his voice easy, but I see a tremor pass through him and it unnerves me. “What are you talking about?”

WhatamI talking about?

A stiff winter breeze rocks through the skeletal limbs of the trees hanging over the road. I don’t feel the bottom of my feet anymore. I don’t feel much of anything, really.

“I mean I grew white fur and claws. My body started to change and my senses were much sharper than usual,” I explain. Poorly.

Now I glance over Mathis’s shoulder at Torin. He’s working hard to shutter his gaze, but he’s worried, too. Confused. Maybe even a little scared.

Of me? That’s ridiculous.

So what is he scared of, then?

A cold mask falls over Torin’s features, and instead of trying to figure him out, I focus on Mathis.On the richness of his brown eyes, the strength in his fingers. He’s rubbing his thumbs in small circles and his heat penetrates through me.

“Where’s Dax?” Mathis asks. He’s woodsy-earthy, his familiar scent seeping into me and wrapping around my heart. It shouldn’t feel this good to see him.

“He’s tracing my path back up to Andras and his hideout.” I nibble my lower lip. “He said he can do it.”

Noble is silent, watching us, close enough for me to reach out and touch if I want. But he’s the one who reaches for me and skims his fingers along my torso.

“There’s this, too,” he tells the others.

Mathis flicks his gaze down to my stomach, and I follow it. “How–”

The black lines of the tattoo stand out starkly against my white skin. “I…I don’t know. It just showed up.”

I didn’t even notice it until Dax stripped me, fucked me, gave me what I needed.

The dregs of adrenaline are still in my system, and I start to shake.

“Did she have that before?” Torin asks. But not to me. To Mathis.

I want to tell Torin to askmeabout my own body, but suddenly, forming words takes way too much effort. I’m weak and tired, my knees shaking, and my attention split in too many directions.

“No, she didn’t. Did Andras do something to you? Did he mark you this way?” Mathis squeezes my biceps to keep me focused.

My tongue darts out to wet my lips. “He didn’t.”

“Does it have anything to do with the Moonstone?” Mathis snaps his fingers in front of my face. “Ren? Stay withme.”

“Can’t you see she’s been through enough? Ask your questions later.” Noble steps up and gently pries me away from Mathis, wrapping me in the comfort of his embrace. “We’ve got to get her back home, Torin. She’s got no fucking shoes on, for god’s sake.”

“The Moonstone is the most important thing,” Torin reminds him.

“Her safety is, too,” Noble argues.

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