JESSICA POV
The word—mates—hung in the library’s quiet air, a bomb that had already gone off and left my world in smoking pieces. My mind reeled. Sebastian’s mate? Is that the pull? The reason he looks at me like he wants to eat me alive?
Cassian looked just as stunned as I felt, his cool composure shattered by his own confession. He took a sharp step back, putting cold, empty space between us where his burning hands had just been.
Then his shock hardened into something else. Something colder, sharper. He’s locking it down. He’s going to pretend he never said it.
Before I could form a single question, he spoke, his voice a low, flat blade. "We haven't accepted you."
I snorted, the sound shaky and high-pitched even to my own ears. I clutched at my anger, the only shield I had left. "In
