Everything.

The word hangs in the air between us like a loaded gun. I stare at this impossibly beautiful, terrifying man who just broke into my motel room and told me I'm his, and all I can think is how his voice makes my skin feel like it's on fire.

What the hell is wrong with me?

"You're completely out of your mind," I whisper, but my voice wavers. The lamp trembles in my grip.

He takes another step forward, and I notice how he moves so fast. "Put the lamp down, Raven. You're going to hurt yourself."

"Good! Maybe that'll keep you away from me!"

Something flickers across his face. Amusement? "You think a table lamp is going to protect you from me?"

I swing it at his head with everything I've got.

He catches my wrist mid-swing like I'm moving through molasses. His grip is iron, unbreakable, and he doesn't even seem to be trying.

"Let go of me!" I struggle against his hold, panic flooding my system.

"I can't do that."

"Like hell you can't!" I bring my knee up toward his groin, but he sidesteps easily, still holding my wrist. With his free hand, he plucks the lamp from my grip like taking candy from a baby.

"You saw me kill someone," he says calmly, as if I'm not fighting him with everything I have. "That makes you a liability."

"I won't tell anyone! I swear, I won't—"

"No. You won't, because you'll be dead."

The casual way he says it makes my blood freeze. This isn't some romantic kidnapping scenario. This is an execution.

I slam my free hand into his chest, putting all my weight behind it. It's like hitting a brick wall. He doesn't even stumble.

"Please," I gasp, still struggling. "I didn't see anything. I don't know anything."

"You saw me shift. Saw me kill with claws and fangs." He tilts his head, studying me like I'm a particularly interesting insect. "You know exactly what I am."

"I know you're insane! That's what I know!"

"Am I?" In one fluid motion, he spins me around and pins me against the wall, my arm twisted behind my back. His body presses against mine, trapping me completely. "Then explain why you can smell my scent. Why your heart is racing from more than just fear?"

I can smell him. Something woodsy and dark that makes my head spin. But I'll die before I admit it.

"Get off me!"

"Explain why every instinct in your body is screaming at you to either run or submit."

"I am trying to run, you psychopath!"

His laugh is low, dark. "No, little wolf. You're trying to fight. There's a difference."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Why? It's what you are."

I throw my head back, trying to catch him in the face. He dodges easily, and his grip tightens on my wrist.

"I'm human!" I snarl. "Completely, one hundred percent human!"

"Are you?" His breath is warm against my ear. "Then explain this."

He releases my wrist and steps back. Before I can move, before I can think, something inside me... shifts. The world suddenly becomes sharper, brighter. I can hear his heartbeat, smell the leather of his jacket, sense the tension coiled in his muscles.

And my eyes... God, my eyes feel different. Like they're glowing.

"What did you do to me?" I whisper, spinning to face him.

"Nothing. That was all you."

I went back toward the bathroom, catching sight of myself in the mirror above the dresser. My reflection stops me cold.

My eyes are silver. Bright, metallic silver, like moonlight on water.

"That's not possible," I breathe.

"Isn't it?"

I touch my face with shaking fingers. "This isn't real. This is some kind of drug, or hallucination, or—"

"The scent hit you the moment I walked in that door," he says quietly. "Your pupils dilated. Your breathing changed. Your body recognized what I was before your mind did."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Doesn't it?" He moves closer, and I should step away, should run, but I can't seem to make my legs work. "You've felt different your whole life, haven't you? Like you didn't quite fit. Like you were waiting for something you couldn't name."

The words hit too close to home. "That's just... that's normal. Everyone feels like that sometimes."

"Everyone doesn't have eyes that glow silver in the dark."

I look back at the mirror. My eyes are still that impossible metallic color, and they are definitely glowing.

"What's happening to me?"

"You're waking up."

"To what?"

"To what you really are."

I shake my head violently. "No. No, this is crazy. This is all crazy."

"Yes," he agrees. "It is."

"I want you to leave. Right now. Just... go away and pretend this never happened."

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because you're a witness. And because..." He hesitates, something vulnerable flickering across his features. "Because you're mine."

"I don't belong to anyone!"

"You're right. You don't belong to anyone." His voice drops lower, rougher. "But you're still mine."

The possessiveness in his tone makes something hot and dangerous unfurl in my stomach. I hate how my body responds to it.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Nothing about this makes sense. But that doesn't make it less real."

I edge toward the door, keeping my eyes on him. "Look, I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but—"

"This isn't a game, Raven. Games have winners. This... this only has survivors."

My hand finds the door handle. Locked. Of course.

"Let me go," I say, trying to keep my voice steady. "I won't tell anyone what I saw. I'll disappear. You'll never see me again."

"You can't disappear from me. Not anymore."

"Watch me."

I yank on the door handle, throwing my whole body weight into it. The lock gives way with a sharp crack, the metal actually bending under the force.

We both stare at the broken door handle.

"That's not normal," I whisper.

"No. It's not."

I don't wait around for explanations. I bolt through the door and into the night, running faster than I've ever run in my life. Behind me, I hear his low laughter.

"Run, little wolf," he calls out. "But you can't run from what you are."

I don't look back.

The parking lot is empty except for his truck and my beat-up Honda. I dive into my car, fumbling with the keys. My hands are shaking so badly I can barely get the key in the ignition.