Terror unlike anything I ever felt exploded through me. This was happening. This was actually happening. The boy I loved was about to force a claiming bite, was about to mark me against my will, was about to–
No!
Some survival instinct I didn’t know I had kicked in. I stopped trying to push him away and instead drove my knee up as hard as I could.
He grunted, his grip loosening just enough.
I wrenched my wrist free and ran.
“ISLA!”
His roar chased me as I sprinted across the garden, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst. I could hear him behind me, could hear the heavy thud of his footsteps, could hear–
A hand caught the back of my sweater.
I was yanked backward, stumbling, and then I was on the ground with Jaxon looming over me, his face twisted into something I
