Amber's POV
His face falls. I want to lean over the marble counter and kiss him until his smile returns, but I don't. I need to stay behind my walls with him. I won't survive letting him in again. I just know it.
"You still smell like apple strudel to me," he whispers over his mug.
"That's weird. I don't smell strawberries around you anymore."
Liar, liar. Ass on fire, Vera growls.
My head drops lower over my mug. A headache is slowly building. I can feel my wolf's irritation. She is growing tired of my resistance to the mate bond. If I didn't trust her, I'd worry about her taking control and marking the man before me. Alex's laugh breaks through the air.
"What's so funny?"
"Well, apparently, you're lying. Vera told Zeke." He flashes a wide grin.
"I'm going to kill
