KATHERINE POV
I woke up with a hand on my cheek.
At first, I thought it might be Kingsley. The soft pressure, the quiet in the air, the almost-gentle touch brushing along my skin.
But I didn’t feel the sparks.
No heat. No bond singing under my skin. No warmth curling in my chest.
Nope.
I just felt spider crawls.
Like legs dancing under my skin. Cold. Dry. Poisonous.
My eyes snapped open in a flash—and locked with his.
Jonas.
Jonas Hound.
Flesh. Blood. Breathing.
Smiling like he hadn’t been ripped out of my life and thrown into the pit of every nightmare I’d ever had.
My first mate.
The one who tried to kill me.
My body froze.
It took everything in me not to recoil, not to scream, not to break down in some sick, trembling collapse that would give him exactly what he wanted—f
