Maisie

I woke up with a pounding headache and I glanced about the bedroom, brows furrowing as I tried to recall how I ended up back here.

I was in my pajamas, tucked into bed, and when I moved my wrist, it felt fine.

Had I dreamt up the entire thing?

My bedroom door creaked quietly and I watched Corazon try to sneak in with bowl of what smelled like broth. When she turned and found me staring, she jumped right out of her skin. "Don’t scare me like that, Mason!"

Ignoring her, I pushed the sheets back. "What happened?"

"Well, Master Quinlan brought you back—"

"And is he alright? What about Mercer? Soren? Jericho?"

She wouldn’t meet my gaze for some reason. "They’ve had worse days. They’ll be fine." She chewed the inside of her cheek. "Master Soren and Mercer had it worse, but they’re probably sleeping it off—"

My body was instantly moving.

"Mason, wait. You forgot your slippers—"

I just had to check that they were alright. The pang of worry and anxiety I felt in my chest... I just had to get rid of it. It was the least I owed them for nearly getting them killed anyway.

Excuses, Maisie. Excuses.

Okay, well. Maybe I had questions, too. Like what Kisten Hunt was talking about. And if Soren had any idea what he’d meant by handing me over with a trunk full of gold to Alpha Hayes. I mean, ’violet eyed freak’ seemed a little too specific, didn’t it?

Now that I’d slept off the effect of the drugs, my mind was whirling. Had Kisten Hunt simply been mad, spinning tales out of the common knowledge everyone knew about me, or was there a grain of truth there? And... me? A powerful hybrid?

Bah.

I think I would know if I had Lycan blood in me all these years.

I was halfway to the mansion when I realized I wasn’t allowed back here until working hours.

It was Tessa’s orders—I made a face at the thought—and while everything in me roiled at the thought of ’obeying’ that, I didn’t trust her not to do something more unhinged than the last time if she found me sneaking around the house past midnight.

I began walking back when a crazy idea sparked in my mind.

I shook my head, dismissing it as pure insanity. Even if I did manage to climb up that height onto the balcony without falling to my death, I wasn’t crazy enough to do that for a man.

Or men.

I started walking back. Stopped walking. Looked over my shoulder as something in my chest pulled at me.

Shit.

I ran around the house, cackling at my own stupidity. Yes, Maisie. Totally go climbing walls like a damned monkey for men who still won’t pick you.

My feet halted in the grass wet with morning dew outside Mercer’s window. My fingers twitched nervously as I tried to talk myself into why I had to do this.

He took a bullet for me. He stayed back to fight off those men so I could get away. He killed for me. I’m just being a good human being—good Lycan—transitioning Lycan—Ugh, shut up, Maisie.

I chewed on my bottom lip, nerves unraveling in my stomach as I measured the distance. It’s just like agility training. I can totally do this.

Shuffling a few steps backwards, I halted, exhaled, then took a running leap at the balcony railing outside Mercer’s bedroom.

I missed it by a few inches and plummeted to the ground with a silent scream. My buttocks hit the grass and I scowled, scratching my ass.

I tried again, taking even more steps back this time, before leaping again.

My left hand caught on to the edge of the railing and I hung from there like a freaking ninja, giggling softly at the achievement as I caught my breath.

I lifted my other hand to the window, adjusted my weight and began pulling myself up.

I had just managed to heft myself up to my torso when I heard a soft, feminine sigh.

My head jerked up. And I froze.

Mercer... was absolutely fine.

In fact, he was doing so well that he had Tessa pressed up against the ceiling to floor windows, her legs wrapped around his waist, fingers running through his silky hair as he pushed into her.

My mouth went dry and got filled with what tasted like an entire cup of bitterness. Add a sprinkle of lime juice to it.

Tessa moaned, her head dropping back against the glass as she moved with a flexibility that I knew I didn’t even come close to, her lithe body riding up and down his length.

I hated both of them. And I hated myself more for my skin buzzing to life as I watched her hands run over his chest.

As if sensing my stare, Mercer glanced up.

And I didn’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t the cold, bitter rage in his green eyes. He almost looked hateful as he slammed into her, over and over in specific, languid strokes.

My nipples tightened under my shirt the longer he stared at me, and without taking his eyes off me, he brushed her hair off her shoulder and sank his teeth into her neck.

Tessa cried out in a savage moan that went straight between my legs and startled by the bolt of lust mingled with something that felt like betrayal, my fingers slipped from the railing.

I fell with a startled yelp, and I scrambled under the awning when Tessa’s voice came from above, "Did hear that—oh..."

Her moans echoed louder now, as did the sound of her back pounding rhythmically against the glass, loud enough to cover the sound of my clumsy footsteps against the grass as I tried to find my way back to the cottage.

My lips quivered as I walked.

I mean, what exactly was I expecting?