Kane’s POV

The forest wrapped around me, hiding me from view, but it couldn’t quiet the battle raging inside my chest. Just twenty yards from the cabin, my legs buckled, and I crashed down to my knees in the wet earth that smelled of decay and the approaching winter. Every fiber of my being was screaming as the wolf inside me fought to break free, demanding to be with her.

“Mate”—it was a word that felt like a sentence I couldn’t escape.

“Shut up,” I growled at the voice that ...