Page 39 of Piece You Saved

No. I would never…

But the snarl that pours out from the animal in my head isn’t me. Who knows what he might do?

I didn’t want this.I would never have chosen this.

Kade knows that. Just as Dariel does.

I never wanted a wolf, but they forced one on me, anyway.

Dariel crouches feet away, focusing his unblinking emerald eyes on me.

And in the silence, a low murmur of voices whispers up the stairs.

The male one is unfamiliar.

But the other. The female...

I cock my head to the door.

She’s speaking. Something about someone’s sister?

Saige. The woman is Saige. I can’t smell her from here, but I know her scent. Sweet peach. Spicy mint. I’ll always know her scent.

A memory sucks me into the past.

I’m in the attic with Saige. The solid weight of the heavy gun in my arms pulls at my shoulders. I’ll have to lower it and rest in a bit, but not yet. Not until this threat to Saige is over.

She’s laughing at something I said, and I’m smiling too because I made her laugh. I want to keep on putting smiles on her face to chase away the shadows darkening her eyes.

And then I remember the pain. An ocean of it explodes in my chest and rips me away from her.

I blink, and I’m back with Dariel in his room. My gaze returns to the door.

Saige is talking downstairs. She sounds okay, but I need to be sure. I need to know more.

I need my voice.

A flash of pain sears through my mind. I snarl. But it’s not me snarling.

It’s the wolf who shares my body.

Or am I sharing his?

Why the fuck is everything so inside out and wrong?

I hear her again. Saige. Something is wrong.

The wolf can’t get through the door, but it has a handle that a human hand can twist.

I need to know if Saige is okay, so I reach for Aden, the man, because I need words. And I need human hands to get to her.

A furious wolf’s snarl riots through my mind.

I shake my head, nearly deafened by his fury.

Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

“You’re in control, Aden,” Dariel says. “Not your wolf.You.If you want to be human, youwillbe human.”

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