Chapter four

He was very handsome. But his eyes were extraordinary. Dark brown, almost black, and intelligent in a way that made me feel immediately exposed. Like he could see through my soul.

My wolf woke up, like someone had hit a switch.

"You must be Silas," I said.

He studied me for a long moment, before leaning closer.

I extended my hand, the way humans did. "Mrs. Rodriguez said we'd be co-teaching tonight?"

He looked at my hand like it might bite him.

Then, reluctantly, he took it.

The moment our palms touched, the world shattered.

I ripped my hand away and stumbled backward, gasping, barely managing to force my wolf down before I shifted right there in the middle of the community center. My vision blurred gold at the edges. My hands were shaking.

Silas had dropped his coffee cup. The moment our hands touched, his knees had buckled like someone had cut his strings. The cup hit the linoleum and exploded, hot coffee spreading in a dark bloom across the floor toward where children sat reading just a few feet away.

He fell to his knees, one hand pressed against his chest, his face sheet-white. His eyes were wide, pupils blown.

I could see it happening. Did I just awaken something in him?

And I'd just triggered his awakening with a single touch.

"Oh mine, let me help—" I mumbled.

"I've got it," Silas managed. His hands were shaking so badly he could barely grab the napkins.

Mrs. Rodriguez appeared with a mop and paper towels, and for the next two minutes I helped clean up the mess while trying desperately to understand what had just happened. My wolf was going absolutely feral inside my chest, clawing and howling and demanding I go back to him, touch him again, claim him.

No. No No No No No.

This wasn't possible. This wasn't allowed.

True Mate bonds didn't happen like this. They were supposed to be gradual, a pull that developed over weeks or months. Not a nuclear explosion on first contact. And they definitely, absolutely, under no circumstances were supposed to happen with HUMANS.

But my wolf was screaming MATE so loudly I could barely think.

"Once again, my name is Selene Matthew," I said when Mrs. Rodriguez left, trying to sound normal and probably failing. "Sorry, you looked... are you okay?"

Silas straightened up, and when he looked at me, there was something in his eyes that made my stomach drop. He looked at me like I was a ghost.

"Fine. Yeah. Sorry." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Silas Vane. I'm the regular Tuesday volunteer. Environmental science."

"Right. They mentioned." I was staring at him like an idiot. I forced myself to blink, to step back, to act like a normal person who hadn't just experienced a supernatural mating bond with someone who was supposed to be impossible.

"You're working on your PhD?"

His eyebrows rose slightly. "How did you—did Ms. Rodriguez tell you that?"

"She mentioned you were overqualified for volunteer work," I said, offering a small smile even though my entire body was screaming at me to get closer to him. "I assumed grad school. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're—" He stopped, looking annoyed with himself. "Environmental Sciences. Eighth year. Almost done."

"Eight years." Something in my chest ached. I recognized that exhaustion in his voice. "That's dedication."

He shrugged, defensive. "Hard to finish a dissertation when you're working three jobs."

I just nodded. "Fair point."

Because what else could I say? My family probably owns the company that's underpaying you? I'm worth three billion dollars and have never worked a day in my life?

The silence stretched between us. I could feel him watching me, could feel the weight of his attention like a physical thing. Could smell the coffee and exhaustion rolling off him.

"Should we—" I gestured toward the tutoring room where children's voices were getting progressively louder. "I think they're waiting for us."

"Right. Yeah." Silas moved toward the coffee machine again, and I noticed his hands were still shaking slightly. "Fair warning, these kids are brutal. They'll smell weakness and exploit it."

"Good thing I don't plan on showing any weakness." I smiled, and this time it was real. "I can handle twelve-year-olds."

I can handle twelve-year-olds. I can't handle whatever the hell this is between us. But I can handle children.

I walked past him toward the tutoring room, hyperaware of the space between us, the way my wolf was tracking his every movement. The way I could hear his heartbeat from six feet away.

The way mine matched it, beat for beat.

Mrs. Rodriguez appeared at the doorway, smiling with relief. "Everything okay here? We've got twelve kids waiting to learn about space."

"Perfect," I said brightly, brushing off my knees from where I'd knelt to help with the coffee. "Just a little accident. Won't happen again.

The next ninety minutes were the most exquisite torture of my life.

I sat on the floor with three younger girls, helping them build a model of the solar system with styrofoam balls and wire, and I couldn't stop tracking Silas across the room. Couldn't stop listening to his voice as he explained orbital mechanics to a group of kids who mostly wanted to know if aliens were real. Couldn't stop smelling him, noticing him, being aware of every single movement he made.

And he was doing the same thing. I caught him staring at me seven times. Seven times he looked away quickly, his jaw tight, like he was angry at himself for looking.

This was impossible. This was forbidden. This was going to get us both killed.

And my wolf had never been happier.

One of the girls, Lucia, tiny and shy with huge brown eyes, leaned against my shoulder as we painted Saturn's rings. "You smell pretty," she said quietly. "Like flowers."

I froze. "Thank you, sweetie."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No." The word came out too quickly.

"Why not? You're really pretty."

Because I was supposed to mate with someone who made my wolf try to claw her way out of my body. Because I'd just humiliated my family and ruined my life to avoid that fate. Because twenty minutes ago I'd touched a human man's hand and experienced a True Mate bond that wasn't supposed to exist.

"I'm waiting for the right person," I said softly.

Lucia considered this seriously. "My mom says the right person is someone who makes you feel safe."

Safe. I glanced across the room at Silas, who was currently watching me with an expression I couldn't read.

I didn't feel safe. I felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff, and the only question was whether I'd jump or be pushed.