Chapter <b>143 </b>
After walking for what felt like eternity but was probably only five minutes, I reached a <b>small </b>clearing bathed in moonlight. In the center stood Dominie, now in human form, his <b>back </b>to me. He was fully dressed in dark <b>jeans </b>and a button–down <b>shirt</b>, his shoulders rigid with tension.
“You came,” he said without turning around, his voice low and rough, sending a tremor through me.
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1 stopped at the edge of <b>the </b>clearing, suddenly uncertain. “Why are you <b>here</b>? My voice trembled slightly despite my effort to keep it <b>steady</b>..
<b>Dominic </b>turned slowly to face me. <b>The </b><b>moonlight </b>cast half his face in shadow, but I could see the intensity in his eyes, the tight set of his jaw. My body responded to <b>his </b>presence with immediate awareness–heightened breathing. <b>quickened </b>pulse, a warmth spreading through my core.
“I couldn’t continue like this,‘ he said finally.
My heart sank. Here it was–the end I’d been dreading. He’de to break things off in person, to <b>end </b>our arrangement. I twisted my fingers together nervously, trying to prepare myself for the blow.
“I understand,” I said quietly, struggling to keep my voice level. “The contract isplicated. If you want to dissolve it… I understand.”
Dominic’s brow furrowed, a sh of something like pain crossing his features. “You keep mentioning that damn contract. Is that all this is to you, Reba? A piece of paper?”
My chest tightened with emotion. “But… you’re the one who sent me <b>away</b>. I thought you were tired of me, wanted distance from me…
Dominic <b>took </b>a step closer, his movements careful, controlled. I could smell his scent now–cedar and something wilder, untamed. It made my head swim.
“I sent you here to protect you,
to give you a safe ce to recover.”
“Protect me?” The confusion in my voice <b>was </b>genuine.
“I smelled your fear,” he said, his voice dropping lower, more <b>primal</b>. “Dn threatened you at the hospital, and you didn’t even tell me. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, <b>the </b>veins in his forearms standing out. “Hurst put his hands on you, and you kept it from me.”
I looked down, guilt washing over me. “I didn’t want to <b>be </b>a burden to you. You <b>have </b>the whole pack to manage, Sterling Group, everything…
“A burden?” Dominic’s voice held a note of disbelief. He moved closer, and I could feel the heat radiating from his
9:09 Fri, Sep 26 B
body. “Reba, when you’re in danger, I can’t think. I can’t breathe. He ran a hand through his hair, a rare gesture of frustration. “I feel torn in two–half of me wants to wrap you in bubble wrap and lock you away somewhere safe, and the other half is terrified that if I hold on too tight, you’ll <b>run</b>.”
His honesty stunned me into silence. I’d
protect me in the only way he knew he so certain he was pulling away, when in reality, he’d been trying to
Hesitantly, I stepped closer to him. The moonlight caught in his hair, highlighting the tension in his features. Without thinking, I reached up to touch his neck, my fingers brushing against the mark I’d <b>left </b>there nights before. To my surprise, it hadn’t healed.
Dominic’s breath hitched at my touch. His eyes darkened, pupils dting. The muscle in his jaw twitched as he fought for control.
“I’m sorry I bit you,” I whispered, my finger tracing the outline of the mark. My own body responded to the contact, a deep pulse of <b>desire </b>awakening low in my belly.
Dominic wentpletely still under my touch, his breathing deepening. He closed his eyes briefly, his nostrils ring as if catching my scent. When he looked at me again, there was something primal in his gaze that made my knees weak.
“That night,” he began, his voice careful, measured, though I could hear the strain beneath, “you marked me, Reba. In werewolf culture, that has… significance<b>.</b>”
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