Chapter 76

Lauren

My brain felt like it was being dragged through a meat grinder. Seriously. There was no other way to explain it. My senses were on high alert, and the world felt like it was about to collapse into itself.

I squinted at the bright sunlight filtering through the leaves above me and groaned, shoving my hands over my eyes. This wasn’t supposed to be my life. I had a list of things to do: grocery shopping, catching up with friends, work, maybe—okay, definitely—avoiding any talk of werewolves and magic pills.

But here I was, sitting on a park bench, feeling like I was going to combust from the inside out.

“Wow, you look like death.”

I grimaced as the voice cut through my overwhelmed brain. Liam. Because, as it turns out, sitting on a park bench while my senses were doing their best to destroy me was somehow hilarious to him.

I dragged my head up, and oh my god, the world was spinning. People in the distance sounded like they were standing right next to me. The soft hum of the city, the rustling of trees, the distant chirp of birds—all of it felt like it was screaming directly into my skull. And was that... was that a dog? A dog? Was that smell coming from a dog? Because it smelled like wet fur and something that I could only describe as "wet dog death."

I was spiraling, a but of drool even escaping my lips to my horror.

“Drooling over me? How cute.” Liam, sitting next to my, handed me a rag and I snatched it out of his hands, shoving it to my face.

“Shut up,” I growled, wiping my face, though I could feel the heat in my cheeks. He was absolutely laughing at my misery.

His chuckle echoed in my ears. Why was it so loud today?

When I tried to calm my breathing, I could taste the air. Like, I could taste it. It was too much. Too much, too soon. How was I supposed to handle this? How long was this going to last?

I leaned forward, my elbows on my knees, feeling like I was about to explode.

“Liam. Seriously. When will this stop?” I gritted out, a little desperate.

Liam’s face didn’t even change as he shrugged casually, l like I wasn’t about to have a full-out mental breakdown.

“It only gets worse from here,” he said, deadpan.

“What?!” I snarled, nearly throwing the rag back at him, but I realized I was holding it to my face like a lifeline.

His face remained annoyingly relaxed. “Yeah. This is just the beginning. You’re feeling the sensory overload now, but things are about to get real fun. The next part’s a real treat.”

I leaned in, narrowing my eyes at him, feeling a new wave of irritation on top of everything else. “What do you mean by that?”

Liam paused. He had that smirk on his face—the one that made me want to strangle him with a spoon. I was close to it, too. He looked at me for a long beat before shaking his head slowly, like he was savoring the tension.

“Not so fast, Lauren. If I told you, you’d probably panic,” he teased, leaning back on the bench, looking annoyingly comfortable while I was on the verge of losing it.

I snapped. “Liam! Don’t you dare—”

He raised two hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. Quit yelling and calm down. I’m just saying... you might get more sensitive to wolves around you.”

I blinked at him, processing the words. My brain was so fried that it took me a second to put it together.

“Wait—what?” I asked, my voice cracking as I tried to wrap my head around it. “You don’t mean—”

“Yeahhhh,” he drawled, giving me a sideways glance. “Do you, uh, own a vibrator?”

I nearly choked. “EW!”

Liam burst out laughing, and I felt my face turn even hotter. “I mean, you’ve got two kids. Don’t act like you’re some immature teen who doesn’t know how to handle herself.”

“I—you are the one acting like a kid!” I barked, throwing the rag at him finally. “Like I’d let some pill mess with my... libido! Ugh, gross. Not happening.”

Liam just shrugged, his grin still wide and completely infuriating. “I said the same thing when I was going through the phases. But it gets... rough.”

“Rough?” I repeated. “Please. Don’t act like I’m some hormonal mess. I have control.”

Liam’s eyes glinted mischievously. “I’m just saying, it’ll make everything way more intense.” He raised an eyebrow, a little too pleased with himself.

“Liam, I swear—”

Something flickered in my peripheral vision, and I froze.

A squirrel.

A squirrel. Right in front of us.

My whole body reacted before my brain could catch up. My eyes locked on the tiny creature, its fluffy tail flicking behind it like a tiny, furry metronome.

Liam groaned, sensing my shift in focus. “Lauren. No.”

“I have to catch it!” I growled, feeling the urge to pounce. No, this wasn’t just catching it. This was hunting.

“Lauren, no,” he said, his voice low, serious. He looked between me and the squirrel. “Don’t. There are people here. Families. You wanna be the crazy lady in the park who—”

But the squirrel darted off and, like a bolt of lightning, I was off the bench and running. My legs carried me faster than I’d ever run before, and Liam cursed under his breath, chasing after me.

“Lauren! I swear to— Lauren! Stop!”

The squirrel was fast. But I was faster.

I dashed around the park, weaving between trees, determined to catch it. I climbed up a tree like I was born for it, my limbs moving of their own accord, and Liam was right behind me, swearing like a sailor.

“Lauren! Get down!” he shouted, reaching up as I balanced on the branch, my fingers outstretched toward the squirrel, who seemed to have found an even higher branch to taunt me from.

“Come on!” I gritted my teeth. “Just a little further!”

And that’s when it happened.

I misjudged my footing and plummeted downward.

Liam’s reflexes were lightning fast. He reached out instinctively, grabbing my waist as I fell, his strong arms pulling me against him to break my descent. The world blurred in the split second as I crashed into him, the two of us tumbling toward the ground. We landed in a chaotic heap in the grass, limbs and branches tangled in an awkward, tangled mess.

My heart was racing, but it wasn’t just from the fall. As I lay there, stunned, I realized exactly where I was: sprawled across Liam. His solid chest was pressed against mine, my body half on top of him, my face just inches from his.

I could feel the heat radiating off of him, the steady thrum of his heartbeat beneath my palms. And all that would have been fine. And it was. But then there was his knee—his very hard knee—pressed firmly between my legs.

I froze.

The contact hit me like a jolt of electricity. My breath hitched, sharp and shallow, as the proximity between us sparked something primal. The world seemed to slow down, the frantic rush of adrenaline giving way to a strange, intoxicating stillness.

His grip tightened around my waist, his fingers digging into the fabric of my shirt. I could feel his chest rising and falling with each breath, his warmth seeping into me.

“Ow,” he groaned under me, opening his eyes. “Jeez, Lauren, did you really have to—”

The air between us seemed to crackle as he met my eyes, charged with something unspoken. I should have moved—I should have pulled away. But my body didn’t listen.

I couldn’t think, couldn’t focus on anything other than the way his eyes glinted, though there was a new intensity in them now.

The laughter that had been there moments ago was gone, replaced by something heavier. Just that look—half playful, half predatory—and the undeniable tension that hung in the air between us.

It was like I could feel every inch of him, the strength in his arms, the solid press of his knee, the way his lips parted slightly as he breathed. And then, right when I was about to do something I knew I would regret later, something primal and impulsive, a voice sliced through the moment like a bucket of cold water.

“So…” Alexander’s voice tore through the scene like a hot blade, his voice deadpan as always, “Is this a pack bonding thing, or should I come back later?”

I immediately pushed myself off Liam, my heart thundering in my chest. I could feel the heat in my cheeks and the buzz of nerves in my fingertips.

Liam’s grip on my waist loosened, but I was too shaken to even look at him properly. My mind was reeling, caught somewhere between annoyance, embarrassment, and the very real what the hell just happened? feeling.

Liam’s laugh followed me like a haunting echo, but I didn’t care. All I could think about was the way his body felt under mine, the way my heart raced. I was in serious trouble now.