SHAMELESSLY MARKED

{"It's rare, what he is—but it doesn't make him all that different from any other shifter}

I lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling, my body still thrumming with the ghost of his touch. The air in my room was thick, but it wasn't the summer heat suffocating me, it was him. Ralph Rougarou. His scent still clung to my skin, a mixture of pine, earth, and something wild, something primal that made my instincts howl in protest at what I had done.

I pushed him away. I should have felt relief. Instead, I felt raw, gutted, like I had torn out something vital and left it bleeding on the mountain where we last stood. I turned onto my side, my fingers curling into the sheets. My bed felt colder than it had any right to be. Damn him. Damn this bond.

I could still hear his voice, low, steady, edged with something I had no business wanting. "We shall see about that General Tiger"