Page 49 of Caelum

Father Bryan had wanted me, and in a few months’ time, I would have been his wife. Brothers Joseph and Jacob had always smiled at me, their eyes traveling over my form in a way that made me feel dirty every time…

There was a certain look that appeared in a man’s eye that made me feel like no amount of hot water and soap would scrub me clean. But if Nestor, Stefan, and Eren looked at me that way, I hadn’t noticed it. I’d never felt unclean around them.

“Or are they sharing you already?” Samuel sneered. “I should have known that was all bullshit about the cult. The gossip that churns around this place is beyond a fucking joke.”

His anger surprised me. “Why are you so mad?” I argued. From what Nestor had told me about the boys they considered their enemies, Samuel was showing signs of being a Vampire. From my lessons, I’d learned they were pretty cold-natured beings. But now? He was white-hot, and I didn’t understand why.

“I’m mad because I hate liars.”

“I haven’t lied about anything,” I retorted, and the reason I was on this damn machine in the first place—the Were—stirred to life at the sudden surge in my emotions.

I was used to my skin feeling like it wanted to burst open. Used to the desperate sensation of wanting to run. Back at the compound, I’d had to contain myself. I couldn’t go running, and if I’d had stood around scratching at my skin like I had chickenpox, it would have been the opposite of blending in.

Ever since I’d come to Caelum, ever since I’d allowed myself some freedoms, the souls had been rebelling. Keeping them contained was harder than ever. It was like they were enjoying the small burst of liberty I’d granted them and they were intent on making me suffer for daring to imprison them in the first place.

The Were always brought out the need to stretch my legs, to be at one with nature. I’d never felt the desire to attack.

But now?

I felt the rage inside me where it had never been before, save for on days where the Hell Hound held sway.

“Leave her alone, Samuel,” Eren ground out.

I blinked, something in me calming at the sight of him.

“Free country, Eren,” Samuel spat. “I’m just working out.”

“No, you’re not. You’re upsetting Eve.”

“If she can’t handle some banter, then she’s?—”

“Then I’m what?” I snarled, the Were surging to the surface, coming so close that I felt my pores quivering from the need to shift.

I’d seen the pictures, read most of the books. I knew what that looked like now. I knew what would happen when I was of age and if my dominant soul was a Were.

Samuel narrowed his eyes at me. “Sensitive.”

The word he settled on wasn’t offensive, but that didn’t stop me from feeling insulted.

I dug my hands into the poles that moved back and forth with each push of my legs. There were silver plates of metal where I needed to put my hands so that my pulse could be measured. Nestor told me that the faster my heart beat, the worse shape I was in.

It hadn’t surprised me to learn that I was in terrible shape.

Except now, with the Were bubbling to the surface, I didn’t feel like I was in bad shape. I felt like…

I stopped abruptly.

The elliptical whirred at my sudden move.

Was this why Reed was pounding into the boy in the ring?

Was this why all the rings were full?

These feelings…it wasn’t like I could control them. They were there and they were at the forefront of my mind.

I turned my head and saw that Samuel had jumped off the machine and was walking off as though he hadn’t just stirred the beast inside me.

Before Eren could grab me, I leaped off the elliptical and ran after Samuel. He was only a few feet away, but I grabbed his shoulder and forcibly dragged him around.

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