MOONBOUND: THE HUMAN HEART

p for the res

. Its sl*t throat. The way its blood had spread across my

finally crept through my

ets wer

. No fur

lded neatly over a mattress that showed no

for a long t

imagin

I hadn't imagined the scream that had torn from my th

had be

cleaned up

wanted me to qu

as laid out

hat fell just above the knee. Knee-high boots made of soft l

No expl

t it

s. When I moved, I could feel something shift against my skin-r

as imagining

pup had been

th ice-blue eyes

as losing

was worse than

ouder. Mo

food across the aisle at each other. The ceiling was painted with a mural

seat at the end of the farthest tabl

man doing at

opped black hair and a nose ring was starin

tudent,"

She leaned closer, sniffed.

have an

urned back to her friends. They whispe

d at my

at I didn't recognize. It smelled good

The alphas

rough grass. Heads turned. Conversations stopped.

oked

ng through the cente

ey owned the place

that same empty smile, his green eyes sweeping across the room like he was cataloging e

ond one

ght. He wasn't as tall as Lukas, but he moved with a quiet grace that made him seem larger tha

n't lo

ed like he didn't

ay, showing a t-shirt underneath with a band logo I didn't recognize. His hands were shoved i

he fo

urth w

one with ice-blue eyes and

s jaw was set, his hands clenched at his sides, his whol

ched the center of t

aised h

m went

effort. "As you all know, the trials begin next week. Four alpha

dents pounded the ta

d one was still looking at me. The bored one had

ooking a

looked

alpha found me

memorize the path, when he fell into step

're

. Just like Lu

respond. "Kai Wilder. I'm sorry

alking. "Yo

d with gold, like sunlight through autumn leaves. And his face-his face was kind. Genuinely

or someone like you..." He trailed off, searching f

," I repeated. "

an al

harder than

my boots. "I'm us

"I think you've been alone for so long you'

ow what to

wer. He just nodded once,

r a full minute,

Wi

school who hadn't looked

red me in t

me, whisper about me, throw things at me. But the moment I walked through

at empty, beautiful s

m f

easy, like a wolf circling prey. "Because from where I'm standing, yo

t made a

d something darker underneath. "Then why are you hiding in the library instead of eat

"That's none o

a. You should be afraid. But you should also know-" He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind

ke

ciall

e was something real underneath it.

in the stacks with my heart pounding an

ne in the

g a knife with a whetstone. The blade caught the

ok up when I

Thorne,"

ns. You can re

nked.

"I don't care who you are or why you're here. I don't care about your problems, your fee

to sharpeni

aiting for something else. A

th

nally. "I'll stay

oo

ed to

d E

oked

d, the coldness cracked, and I saw something

"That wasn't a threat. That was a prom

is knife, and walked aw

the time I made it ba

on today had been a battle-against whispers, against

wanted

the bottom of the s

ko

s arms crossed, his ice-blue eyes fixed on m

again,"

spond. Just

ver than I felt. "If you're going to thr

mov

front of me, so close I could feel the heat radiating off his body, could see the ti

fr

aned

inha

red against my skin. His nose brushed my throat,

are

ent," he

r. Lower. Like the words were being

it smell s

art s

. Confused. Hungry. The same look I'd seen in the wolf at my wind

you're talking ab

ia

her, his hands opening and closing at his sid

s head, jaw clenching.

don'

k I have

racked on t

rned and w

he distance, his shoulders rigid, his hands shoved into his

until the shado

th my hand pressed to my throat wh

sc

t smell so

have an

old me I was go

't going t