Chapter 84
Camila POV
“You’re not an alien.”
“Oh, thank God.” I breathed out sarcastically.
“But you are something,” he added throwing me off
I blinked. “That’s less comforting.”
The door shut behind us with a soft click, and suddenly it was just me, Ethan, and about a thousand questions. I needed answers to.
He turned to face me, serious now. Like… serious serious.
“When someone gets mated to a werewolf,” he began, “there’s a bond that forms. It’s not just emotional or mental–it’s physical too. Your scent changes.”
I raised a brow. “My scent?”
He nodded. “Werewolves can smell the bond. It’s like a… marker. A tag. You start smelling like us.”
1 stared at him. “Like… wet dog?”
He frowned and completely ignored my question, he continued. “Wolves can tell when someone’s been. claimed. When the bond’s there.”
I
“Okay.” I said slowly, heart thudding. “So you’re saying… because of you, I now smell like a damn wolf?”
“To other wolves? Yeah.”
- up.
I sat down on the edge of the teacher’s desk because my legs weren’t exactly in the mood to keep holding me
“Awesome, I muttered. “Just what every girl dreams of. Werewolf perfume.”
Ethan gave me a look, but didn’t smile. “It’s not a joke, Camila. That scent it makes you trackable.”
“Trackable by who?” I swallowed.
He hesitated. Then: “The ASD.”
“Is that a band or-?”
“Agency for Supernatural Defense,” he continued. “They work with the government to… monitor supernatural beings. But mostly, they hunt werewolves.”
Chapter 84
I blinked. “Wait. Like… kill werewolves?”
He nodded grimly. “They call it ‘containment.‘ But yeah. It’s basically elimination.”
My mouth went dry. “You’re serious.”
He nodded.
“So you’re telling me,” I said, slowly standing again, “that because of this… this bond between us, I now smell like wolf bait and there’s a whole freaking agency out there that might want me dead?”
“Not just the ASD, Ethan breathed out. “Other wolves too. Rogue packs, people looking to exploit or use bonded humans. It paints a target on your back.” he turned to meet my gaze. “That’s why I haven’t left your side. I’ve been trying to keep you safe since the second that bond formed.”
1 felt dizzy. Like the room was tilting just slightly, but constantly.
“But… Liam couldn’t scent you,” I whispered. “He didn’t know you were the wolf,”
Ethan’s mouth pulled into a tight line. “Because I can hide my scent.”
“You can what now?”
He shrugged. “It’s a gift. Not many of us have it.”
So, what I’m I suppose to do!
I stared at him, reeling. “So you can go around undetected. Meanwhile, I’m walking around smelling like a
goddamn wolf magnet?”
“That’s why I didn’t tell you before. I didn’t want to scare you. But now that Liam knows…”
He didn’t finish the sentence.
He didn’t have to.
My mind was already spinning out of control, filling in the blanks. “What if the ASD already knows?” I whispered.
“They would have moved by now,” he said. “They don’t wait around.”
“Comforting.”
He stepped forward, hands gentle on my arms. “Camila. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I slapped his hands away. “I didn’t ask for this, I whispered,
“I know.”
I didn’t choose this bond.”
Chapter 84
He hasitated for a bit. “I didn’t either.”
I took a shaky breath, running my hands through my hair. “So…, what now?”
“Come back home with me, Camila.”
I paused to stare at him.
Home?
Did he seriously just refer to that mansion as my home?
I wasn’t even sure I had a definition for that word anymore, but whatever it was it sure as hell didn’t look like
that mansion.
But I didn’t argue.
Instead, I did something even worse.
I followed him.
Down the hallway, past the rows of lockers that now felt like relics from a lifetime ago, and through the back doors of the school that slammed shut behind us with a dull clang that echoed too loud in the quiet.
Outside, twilight had already taken over. That soft, strange hour where the light turns silver and everything starts to look like a dream you’re just barely hanging onto. The wind rolled in low and cold, tugging at the hem of my hoodie, threading icy fingers through my hair.
I kept pace anyway, even though my chest felt like it was trying to cave in. Like if I breathed too deep, I would shatter into a thousand pieces and blow away with the leaves scraping along the asphalt.
The silence between us stretched thin. Not awkward–heavy.
Like there were a thousand things we wanted to say but were too afraid to hear the answers to.
I was terrified but I didn’t know what scared me more–that I was now marked in a way I couldn’t see, or that I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted the mark gone.
God.
What
the hell was wrong
ng with me?
“You’re quiet,” Ethan finally said, his voice low.
I’m trying not to scream,” I replied, just as low. “Thought that might be rude.”
He didn’t say anything for a beat. Then, softly, “I didn’t want this for you.”
“Well, I drawled, staring down at my feet, “here we are.”
3/4
Chapter 84
We didn’t talk on the ride up the driveway. The closer we got to the mansion, the heavier everything felt. Not like dread, exactly–more like standing on the edge of a really high cliff and not knowing if you’re about to fall or fly. My stomach was doing backflips either way.
Most of my stuff was still at Aunt Anya’s, but that didn’t seem to matter. Apparently, I was moving back into the mansion whether I was ready or not.
The moment we pulled up, I could feel it. That weird buzzing under my skin. Like the house itself knew I was back. Like the walls were watching.
Ethan parked without a word. I opened the door before he could offer, mostly because if I didn’t move, I’d
probably stay frozen in the car fores
The mansion looked exactly the same as the last time I was here and I appreciated it for that. The front door creaked when Ethan opened it, and 1 stepped inside, half–expecting the usual silence.
But instead-
“Camila…”
My head snapped toward the voice.
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