Page 31 of Ranger's Justice

I chuckle. “Yeah, at least they got that part right. But you can only get pregnant if I’ve claimed you completely.”

She is quiet and then nods. “That was…”

I wait. I shouldn’t care what she says next, but I do.

She shakes her head slightly, lips pressing together. I can see the battle raging inside her. She wants to brush this off, play it cool like she always does, pretend that what just happened between us was just another bad decision in a string of reckless choices.

But this wasn’t just sex. And we both damn well know it.

I run my fingers down her arm, watching the way her breath hitches. “Say it,” I murmur, voice rougher than I intend.

Cassidy exhales sharply, turning her head toward the ceiling. “That was a mistake.”

Something dark rolls through me. Not anger, not frustration—something deeper. Something territorial. My wolf doesn’t like that answer. Hell, neither do I.

I grip her chin, forcing her to look at me. “Try again.”

She stiffens, but she doesn’t pull away. That’s the thing about Cassidy—it seems like she never backs down. Even when she’s standing at the edge of something she doesn’t understand.

“I don’t do this,” she mutters, more to herself than to me. “I don’t… connect.”

That word makes my gut tighten.

Neither do I.

I should tell her that, should lay it out clear and simple. This was nothing. Just bodies colliding, instincts taking over. But that would be a lie, and Cassidy seems to be a human lie detector.

Instead, I let my fingers slide down her throat, over her pulse point, lingering there just long enough for her to know that I feel it. That I know what this is, even if she doesn’t want to admit it.

“You’re not running from this,” I say, my voice quiet but firm.

Her eyes snap to mine, sharp and dangerous. “I’m not running from anything.”

I let out a low, humorless chuckle. “Then why do you look like you just saw a ghost?”

Cassidy’s jaw tightens, but she doesn’t answer. She doesn’t have to. I know what she’s thinking, what she’s feeling, because it’s the same thing clawing at me.

This shouldn’t feel like more. But it does.

I roll onto my back, dragging a hand over my face, trying to keep a leash on the wolf that’s still pacing inside me. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not like this. Not with her.

“You’re overthinking,” I say, my voice gruff.

Cassidy lets out a laugh, short and sharp. “Overthinking? I just had sex with a man who turns into a goddamn wolf. I think I’m allowed to overthink a little.”

I glance at her, taking in the way she’s staring at the ceiling like she’s waiting for it to cave in. “You’re handling that part better than I expected.”

Her fingers tighten around the sheet. “Am I?”

I watch her for a long moment, letting the silence stretch between us. There’s something about her in this moment, something fragile beneath all that fire. I shouldn’t want to protect her. Shouldn’t want to claim her the way every instinct inside me is demanding.

But I do, and that’s a problem.

I push up onto my elbow, brushing my fingers along her jaw. She turns to look at me, and for a second, I see it—something softer, something unguarded.

“You don’t get to play this off,” I tell her. “Not with me.”

She swallows. “I don’t play games.”

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