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“You have not completed the bond.”

The wolf rises so quickly in Hewit’s eyes that even Karloff takes notice. I feel it too. Want. Deep and immediate. My pulse jumps.

Hewit looks at me sharply. He knows.

Karloff sees the exchange and nods. “I have studied transformed physiology for years. You are sitting beside a woman your magic recognizes as a mate while actively suppressing the claiming behavior associated with that recognition.” He looks at me. “And Nora is responding.”

Hewit’s voice turns rough. “Leave her out of it.”

“I cannot. She is half of the bond.” Karloff moves back to the table and picks up his notebook. “Tell me something, Nora. When Hewit wants to bite you, are you frightened?”

Hewit’s grip tightens instantly.

I look at him. “No.”

“Do you want him to?”

The question lands hard. I could dodge. Probably should. Instead, I tell the truth. “Sometimes.”

Hewit’s eyes darken.

Karloff nods as if I’ve confirmed a hypothesis. “Hmm.”

“That’s it?” Hewit snaps. “Hmm?”

“Yes. Very informative.”

I ignore him and keep looking at Karloff. “What happens if he does?”

Karloff’s expression changes. The scientist remains, but the excitement fades to carefulness. “That is where certainty ends.”

Hewit’s entire body tenses beside me.

Karloff sets the notebook down. “Take Scarlett, for example. Her case is unusual.”

Hewit frowns. “Because Reid bit her?”

“No.” Karloff shakes his head. “Because Scarlett was unusual before Reid bit her.”

I lean forward. “What do you mean?”

“She carried magic already before Reid ever put his teeth into her.”

Hewit’s voice drops. “But the bite changed her.”

“It appears to have triggered the change.”

“That’s the same thing.”

“No, it is not.” Karloff becomes animated again, both hands moving now. “If I strike a match and ignite dry tinder, the match provides the spark, but the tinder must already be capable of burning. Reid’s bite was the spark, but Scarlett’s magic was already there.”

I smile. “That’s actually a good analogy.”

Hewit looks unconvinced.

“Scarlett was dying,” Karloff continues. “Reid’s bite created an intense magical event at the same time her dormant magic was under extreme stress. The transformation may have been the result of those forces colliding.”

“May have been,” Hewit says. “So you don’t know for sure.”