rey

. My refusal to break, to give her the satisfaction

d them, clutching the old book to her chest. Flor's lips curved into a malici

ut of my sight," she commanded, her voice bored and dismissiv

grabbing June by the hair and yanking her away from the bed.

ith her free hand, she ripped it from June's grasp. "A

ap was like a gunshot in the small cabin. It

h an angry red mark. A trickle of blood appeared at the corner of her mouth. But even the

inside m

re it. But this-this was different. This was an attack on an ally. An attack on a girl whose only crime was loyalty. My mind ra

ence that followed

ic, dying heap on the bed.

for the wreck of a body they saw before them. I snatched the ancient book from the floor

uths agape. Their brains couldn't proce

ertha stammered, her fac

ck and leveled a gaze as cold as

iet, but it cut through the air

sion of weakness fell away, replaced by an aura of pressure, of i

launt your victory in front of a lesser female. A primitive, biologic

her triumphant smir

u just confuse it with the chemical rush of a pheromonal response? Your entire world, your entire sense o

muscle, aggression, and territorial instinct. A magnificent specimen, I'm sure. But his brain? The pa

by a blotchy, furious red. "You're insane! Ka

l is a cocktail of oxytocin, vasopressin, and dopamine, triggered by proximity to a genetically compatible, high-status male. It's not an emotion.

ssed. That her victory was not one of love, but of opportunity. That

weetness shattered into a million pieces. The i

otten, her eyes wide with a terrifying, wo

Aubrey w

ntist ha

wit and her poise, was l

she lunged, her perfectly manicured nails morphing