The illusions of a temporary reprieve shattered at exactly 6:00 AM on Monday morning. The frozen, hollow silence that had enveloped Avery’s campus dorm room for the last four days was violently breached by a singular, vibrations-only text from the encrypted network.
Target has checked back into the west campus residential sector. Resume absolute physical surveillance immediately.
Avery closed her eyes, letting her head fall back against the cold drywall. Her heart kicked into a heavy, jagged rhythm, a chaotic mixture of intense dread and an embarrassing, feral relief that she aggressively tried to choke out of existence. Her inner wolf stretched behind her ribs, lifting its heavy head and letting out a low, satisfied purr. The mate bond, which had spent the last ninety-six hours starving
