Page 59 of When Death Whispers

He’s gaining.

I throw myself left, dodging behind a thick tree just as a massive body slams into the space where I had been.

A low rumbling chuckle curls through the trees.

Oh, fuck. I’msoin over my head.

I launch forward, cutting through the trees like I’ve lived here my whole life, dodging branches, leaping over twisted roots. My lungs scream. My thighs burn. Still—I run.

A howl slices the silence behind me. Wild. Joyous. Possessive.

And it lights a fire deep in my core.

He’s enjoying this.

So am I.

I feel him getting closer, his smoky, sulphur-like scent wrapping around me, his breath hot on my neck?—

A prickle at my spine—a warning.

I dodge right at the last second?—

A clawed hand swipes the air where I had just been. A feral growl rumbles behind me. I push faster, but I know it’s not enough. Something snaps around my ankle, yanking?—

I hit the ground hard, the impact rattling through me. The only thing I’m able to manage is flipping onto my back before a massive weight pins me down.

Rad looms over me, arms braced on either side of my head, his body trapping mine beneath him. His claws graze my skin, not cutting, but holding me there, reminding me I lost.

The forest is silent, except for our panting breaths.

I stare up at him, chest heaving.

His eyes are blazing, wild and possessive, his sharp teeth bared in something between a grin and a snarl.

“Caught you, little snow fox,” he purrs, voice thick with triumph.

A shudder races through me, not from fear, but from the heat of his body, from the pressure of his weight against me, from the fact that I wanted him to catch me all along.

I shouldn’t.

But I did.

Rad leans closer, his muzzle brushing against my ear, his breath hot and damp.

“Now…” he growls, “what shall I do with my prey?

23

It’sat this precise moment that I realize I’m naked. How did I not notice that before?

Where the hell are my clothes?

His scent surrounds me—smoke and heat, danger wrapped in seduction. I feel it everywhere, a slow, insidious warmth licking along my skin, curling deep in my core.

“I asked you a question, Parker. What shall I do with my prey?” he repeats. Dark amusement curls through each word. His frost-blue eyes gleam with predatory delight, drinking me in like I’m already his—like I always have been.

I bite my lip, hesitating. I should shove him away. I should fight. I should dosomething.

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