Chapter 17
Chapter
Seventeen
ETHAN
Shifters need time to learn how to manage their emotions and aggression, which is why we’re never left alone once we reach the time around our first shift. Puberty and magic do not mix well. Left to our own devices, a single shifter can wreak complete and total havoc in a town.
Even after we get through puberty and become an adult—a viable and responsible member of a Pack inside a Keep, keeping your emotions in check is always an exercise in mental fortitude.
Moira wasn’t telling me everything. I felt the knowledge deep in my bones.
But the little she was telling me sent rage bubbling through my bloodstream.
The urge to rip and tear and shred pumped within me, Moira’s shaky, hesitant voice strengthening my urges until her words were drowned out with the rage of my wolf.
The woman—her mother—had to die. She’d hurt Moira. Over and over and over again, then forced her into a transformation she never wanted so she could hurt her even more. Claws slid from my fingers. Light from my eyes sent a golden wash over the room.
Cool fingers touched my cheeks. “Ethan.”
A warm body pressed into me, Moira’s skin against mine.
“Ethan. Come back to me.”
Her gentle voice and her skin against mine made me want so badly for something I didn’t deserve. Not after her—
She stroked her fingers down my jaw, her dark hair sliding against my neck. “Ethan,” she whispered once more.
My hands cupped her face. Moira went still, her wide, almost black eyes locked onto mine. Her heart pounded, and I smelled the blood rushing through her veins.
“She hurt you.” I barely recognized my voice.
Moira swallowed. “Yes.”
“So many times.”
Tears swam in her eyes. “It’s been over for many years. I’ve lived entire lifetimes since then.”
“Running from her but never entirely free.”
Moira didn’t respond, but we both knew the answer. I ran a hand down the smooth skin of her neck and picked up a handful of hair, allowing the silky strands to glide through my fingers. “Are you going to kill her?”
Moira closed her eyes, tilting her face into my palm. “Not sure I can.”
I snorted, finally beginning to come back to myself. She was in my lap facing me, her knees on either side of my hips. We were far closer than we’d ever been before.
Moira realized it at the same time I did. She drew back, mumbling an apology.
I put my hands around her hips. “Moira.”
She went still. “I didn’t think. I’m sorry.”
Moira’s eyes were downcast and her body had gone stiff.
“You think I don’t want you, but I can assure you nothing is further from the truth.”
I gently pressed her hips down, so she’d make full contact with me.
Her mouth opened in a slight “oh” of surprise when she felt exactly what her presence was doing. Heat turned her cheeks pink. The scent of her desire filled the air.
My hands slid up her back. I leaned forward, so close her breath brushed against my skin.
“Don’t do this and walk away. I don’t think I can bear it.”
I captured her lips with my own.