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I blink and he’s there. Looming over me with fangs bared and eyes so dark they’re black with the promise of death. Horrified, I watch as his canines elongate and sharpen into lethal points.

Something shoots between us. An awareness that lasts less than a second but cracks through the air like electricity. I can feel it on my skin—an echo of recognition. The certainty that my bones know this male.

Daxen.

I have no idea if he felt it too but it’s too late. It’s already gone, smothered by the weight of his rage.

My fight or flight instincts finally kick in and I scramble back until I slam into the wall. A terror-filled keening cry explodes between us. I try to move further away, but I can’t. There’s nowhere to go. Nowhere to escape.

There’s no safe place to hide. There will never, ever be a safe place to hide.

I gag on his rage. His scentless pheromones fill the room like smoke, making it impossible to breathe. My hands fly to my chest, my lungs. My vision blurs, black spots dancing around the edges.

Daxen gives up contending his fury. It explodes from him in a thunderous roar. The feral, primal sound might as well be a death-blow.

My limbs lock up completely. There’s no moving, no breathing. There’s only fear. Terror. The overwhelming rage that’s so real I can see it dancing like dust motes through the air. My body coils tight, but I can’t feel anything.

There is only him. Only Daxen and fear.

His hand whips back in a blur of motion. I’d flinch, but I still can’t move. I can only observe through eyes blurred by tears that won’t fall and brace for the strike I know is coming.

Except… it doesn’t.

Instead, his hand stills near his head, fingers curled like the claws of beast poised to strike.

To kill.

I see my future with perfect clarity. Like I’m watching outside my body, unable to feel anything. I don’t know if I’m alive or dead, or something else entirely.

Time slows to a crawl, but the gift of more time is wasted on me. I know what’s coming, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

I’m about to die. Daxen’s going to rip out my throat, and I’m going to die.

My eyes flutter shut.

This is it, then. This is the end.

My body deflates. My muscles uncoil and go lax.

Any moment, claws will rip through skin and muscle, tear into flesh, sever my arteries, and end my life.

I want Caelan. I want to see him one last time. I want to feel his arms around me for one more second.

But wishing and hoping has never brought me anything but pain, and there’s no fighting a monster salivating for my death.

I know that.

I can feel something wet on my cheek and warm breath against my skin. Then—nothing.

My eyes flutter open.

I must be in shock because nothing makes sense. Moments ago, Daxen was right in front of me but now, he’s across the room, snarling and cursing. Three sets of arms struggle, fighting to hold him back.

His gaze crashes into mine. “I will fucking kill you, Omega! Do you understand me? You are dead!”

He’s raging, screaming, fighting to break away from the males who, I think, may have just saved my life.

Through my haze of confusion, I recognize Silas. He’s planted in front of Daxen, shoving him toward the door. He mutters something too low to hear over the ringing in my ears. Whatever it is just enrages him further.