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CHAPTER ONE

God, this was going to absolutely suck ass In her opinion, the only thing shittier than breaking things off with a guy you cared for was knowing that said guy wouldn’t give a measly fuck Which hy Havana Ra by text e wasn’t considered distasteful

If Tate Devereaux wasn’t both her landlord and amorals and done this fro along the street that led to the cozy little cul-de-sac where he lived She would give him the courtesy of a face-to-face talk, and she would pretend not to be upset when all he did was shrug and tell her to enjoy the rest of her day

This really shouldn’t be so hard Casual relationships were supposed to be simple, fun, and easy to walk away from But she’d found that they could be the messiest of all relationships It was just far too easy for lines to get blurred and hearts to get bruised There were just so many dos and don’ts that she found it hard to keep up And the golden rule? Do not get attached

Well, she broke the fucker, didn’t she?

Generally, she wasn’t afraid to break rules It was sort of fun But this particular rule was not made to be broken

If she thought there was a chance the fling could evolve into so ca the words that Tate exchanged with his brother, she kneas time to cut her losses and walk away

Maybe it was better that Tate wouldn’t care It meant she didn’t have to worry that he’d evict her out of spite The apartment she shared with one of her closest friends wasn’t anything special, but it was pure gold for lone shifters like Havana Living in a coave her an element of protection

It was only six o that Tate replaced his father as Alpha, but he’d already earned a reputation as a led with his kind anyway

The full-blooded animals of his kind were referred to as Pallas’ cats, but shifters stuck with “pallas cats” These feline shifters were ive a rat’s ass” vibe If someone pissed theely tear into their prey with a de pallas cats were, pound for pound, one of the strongest breeds of shifter, they could do a whole lot of daer than a housecat when in their weirdly cute animal form In sum, they were crazy

Havana’s kind weren’t exactly beings of pure light either Devil shifters were bigger than the full-blooded anio solidified their spot in the archives of terror with their notoriously bad te shrieks, absolute fearlessness, and habit of feasting on the dead In her opinion, they were simply too awesome not to exist

Shifter society wasn’t terribly fond of Havana’s kind, so she’d knohen she made inquiries about the vacant apartment that there was a chance she’d be turned away But Tate hadn’t even coht up in their immediate sexual chemistry that had fairly crackled in the air That day, he’d watched her closely as he gave her a tour of the apartment, a carnal promise in his eyes that made her skin prickle

Snaring the attention of such a powerful Alpha had been soo, which had taken a pounding when she learned that her on-and-off-bed-buddy was now in a serious relationship Dieter had flitted in and out of her world like a directionless butterfly for a year She’d hoped there’d come a day when he’d be ready to commit But when that day did come, Havana hadn’t been the woman he’d committed to

When Tate made his move and was very clear that all he wanted was casual sex—no obligations, no romance, no expectations, no eood to her Generally, she didn’t get involved with Alphas She’d known too many who abused their power, bullied those they were supposed to protect, and sought to control people through fear … much like her old Alpha Which hy she’d researched Tate before applying to rent the apartment

She’d learned that he wasn’t one of those assholes as drunk on power or who exercised control in a do fro his Beta to oversee matters Tate was all up in the pride’s business—a constant, visible, active presence that wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and stood between his pride and the world like a shield So her wariness of Alphas hadn’t held her back fro his offer