Julian's car hadn't been gone ten minutes when the pain hit. A sharp, sudden stab at the base of my neck where his faded rejection mark still lingered. I gasped, fingers flying to the spot.
"What the hell?" I whispered, stumbling to my bathroom mirror.
My reflection looked back at me, pale and drawn. The mark had always been there since the rejection—a faint, silvery reminder of what we once had. But now it was angry red, pulsing beneath my fingers where he had bitten me earlier.
I collapsed onto the edge of my bathtub, breathing hard. The pain was intense but bearable, like the ghost of a migraine threatening to take hold. Probably just stress. Between Julian's twisted ultimatum and my strange new job with Adrian, my body was paying the price.
My phone buzzed on the counter. Chloe.
*Just checking you're alive. Haven't heard from you since the interview. Did daddy Alpha hire you?*
I sighed, typing back with shaking fingers.
