Chapter 25
reston’s cold glare cut through the dim room as he stared down at Georgia curled beneath the quilt. His face was carved
from ice.
Damn her, he thought bitterly. She’s deliberately avoiding me.
He noticed her slight tremble.
Our mate is fragile. Instead of scaring her, you should be holding her close, Luca’s voice whispered in his mind.
“I didn’t scare her,” Preston snapped at the wolf’s gentle rebuke.
Georgia regretted hiding almost immediately. If Preston meant to punish her, no quilt or corner of the earth would keep her
safe.
Preston yanked the quilt away. His voice dropped, sharp and chilling. “You hid from me.”
“No!” Georgia protested quickly. “I didn’t, Mr. Hill.”
Lie, Preston thought.
She’s avoiding me.
But then, he caught sight of something–her throat.
“What happened to your throat?” he asked, puzzled.
“I was sick. It hurts,” Georgia whispered, eyes cast downward.
“Are you afraid of me?”
She said nothing.
Preston’s mood darkened inexplicably. He leaned forward, his arm braced on the mattress as he closed the distance, his presence looming over her.
He stretched out a hand, and Georgia instinctively recoiled.
“Don’t move,” he ordered, voice flat.
His fingers traced the scar on her forehead.
Cold seeped from his touch.
Preston rubbed the jagged mark softly. His lips pressed into a thin line. “What happened?”
Georgia looked up at him, a word flashing through her mind: hypocrite
How could he not know how she got the scar?
She swallowed the truth and said, “I tripped and hit my head.”
Thanks to you, she thought bitterly.
His hand drifted downward, fingers brushing her lips.
Georgia held still, lifting her chin with stiff defiance.
Preston’s thumb brushed over her lips, stirring a strange ache within him. They weren’t soft, but something about them ignited a desire he hadn’t expected.
His gaze shifted, darkening.
Without hesitation, he crushed his mouth to hers.
His kiss was harsh, demanding, all–consuming.
Georgia lacked the strength to resist, overwhelmed by the force of it.
Chapter 25
Three years earlier, she had rejected him. The bond between them hadn’t vanished, but with her wolf dormant, it was faint, fragile.
Yet Preston’s wolf howled awake at the kiss, restless and claiming. The sensation unsettled Preston deeply.
Caught in the fierce kiss, a sudden question sliced through his mind.
He wouldn’t let another man take what was his.

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