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She paddled in place and glared at hirowled back, unable to hold a civil tongue whenever he stood near

“Come out at once!”

He turned his head toward the woods

Had he smelled the human? Her heart rate quickened She swam back to her clothes, determined to draw his attention away from the boy

Then she spied Devlyn, watching, half hidden in the shadows of the forest, as if he and the pack leader were h her that Devlynafter a human Three years older than she, he still vied for his place within the pack A strap of leather tied back his coffee-colored, shoulder-length hair, and she fought the urge to set it free, to soften his harsh look His equally dark brown eyes glowered at her, while his sturdy jaw clenched

He stepped closer, notaway his prey She raised a brow This time, he seemed to have Volan’s permission to draw close

She growled “Stay away” Wading out of the water, she distracted Volan froht have disappeared into them Devlyn, too, eyed her with far too much interest

She hurried to slip into her clothes, irritated to have the wrong audience Still, the way Devlyn closed in on her, only keeping a few feet from her until she was dressed, while Volan reh her

Volan never allowed et close to her when she was naked, and normally she wouldn’t have permitted it either So ere they up to? She left her wet hair loose, then Volan nodded

As soon as he signaled to Devlyn, her heart skipped a beat, but she didn’t react quickly enough Devlyn surged forward and grabbed her wrist In the saed in the direction of the woods where the young man had disappeared

“Volan!” she screamed

He intended to murder the boy Only she had really killed him, as surely as if she’d ripped out his throat herself Wanting to save hio!”

He gripped her wrist tighter and hurried her toward their village

“He didn’t do anything!”

Devlyn glared at her, his eyes unforgiving, blacker than she’d ever seen theer she couldn’t understand

“Please,” she pleaded, trying to soften his heart

She tried to break free, and he wrenched her back to his side “You’re a fool, Bella”

“I won’t be Volan’s mate!”

For an instant, Devlyn’s grasp on her arain “You have no choice And after what you’ve done here, he won’t wait any longer”

Was there regret in his voice? God, how she wanted him to save her from Volan to be her mate

A howl sounded in the distance, and she sank to her knees Volan hadreat pleasure

Devlyn yanked her froround and hurried her on their way

“You won’t ever leave the pack, Devlyn You’ll always be nothing but a follower!” She hadn’t er she harbored simmered red-hot, like molten lava beneath the surface “Why can’t you run with me? Why can’t you take me for your own somewhere far from here?”

He glared at her “They’reyou don’t comprehend, apparently”

“I — I thought you felt so for me”

Devlyn pulled her to a stop and grabbed her shoulders “It can never be between us! Volan would hunt us down, both of us What kind of a life would that be? He’d kill our offspring, too Is that what you want? Maybe if I’d been older, stronger, but noon’t wait to have you” He shook his head “Dammit, Bella, as far as the human was concerned, he wouldn’t have wanted you! Can’t you see that? If he’d seen you changed, he would have been repulsed If he could have discovered a way, he’d have killed you” He held her tightly, staring into her eyes with a er “You knohat I want from you”

He was hard and s him to mount her Her breath came quickly as she desired his attentions, but feared them, too Feared theht hiry, so filled with venom — so sexually alive