Werewolf Academy Year Three - Jayme Morse Page 0,46

my pack. And there was a reason for that.

Just like me and my other mates, he was an Ancient.

“You still haven’t told me your name,” I whispered.

His lips curved upwards, into a smile. “I’m not even sure which name you go by nowadays.”

“It’s Raven,” I murmured as I stared into those eyes… those sparkling emerald green eyes.

There was something about him that stood out to me. I thought about it for a long moment before realizing what, exactly, it was.

He was evil.

That was the first thought that came to mind. Even though he had rescued me once before, and again now, I somehow just knew that his intentions had never been good or pure.

There had been ulterior motives the first time he had rescued me. He had wanted to marry me to gain some sort of power, some sort of control.

And there were ulterior motives now, too. I just wasn’t entirely sure what they could have been.

What sort of monster had I let rescue me from Milos’s dungeon?

“Well, are you going to tell me your name?” I pressed him, growing sort of annoyed that he hadn’t told me it by now.

“I thought we could maybe start with a ‘thank you’ first.” His eyes pierced through mine.

“Thank you for rescuing me—not just this time, but last time, too,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure how genuine I was being.

On the one hand, I was so relieved to be out of Milos’s dungeon, once and for all. I was relieved that Iris hadn’t gotten the chance to kill me the way she wanted. But my gratitude stopped there.

Mostly, what I felt was fear. Fear of who this guy was, and why he had rescued me not just once but twice now. Fear of where he was taking me or what he could have wanted me. Fear of why he had saved me not just once but twice in my lifetime. Fear of the attraction I felt towards him.

I couldn’t tell what his intentions were. There was this air of mystery about him, and truthfully? I didn’t even have the slightest clue of whether he was good or bad.

“Don’t you wonder why I keep popping in your life to rescue you every time you manage to find yourself as the damsel in distress?” The guy asked me, the slightest hint of amusement swirling around in those gorgeous green eyes.

“Yes, actually, I am very curious about that,” I admitted with a nod. I waited for a long moment for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, I said, “Are you going to tell me the reason why you keep rescuing me, or are you going to leave me wondering?”

“Perhaps one day I will reveal the reason to you, but today is not that day. Some things are better left to mystery.”

I found myself rolling my eyes at him.

“I know. You hate mystery. I haven’t forgotten. My memory is surprisingly good.” He chuckled. “I’ve never seen someone look more beautiful when they roll their eyes, by the way.” He stared at me like I was the most interesting specimen he’d ever seen in his life.

“You are rather interesting,” he murmured.

“You can hear my thoughts?” I asked with eyebrows. I knew, for sure, that I hadn’t spoken those words out loud.

“You didn’t have to speak them out loud. We’re more connected than you realize, Raven.”

“How are we connected?”

He stared down at me for a long moment. It became clear to me then that he didn’t actually plan to answer my question.

And yet, I believed that he was right. We were connected; I wasn’t sure how, exactly, but I could just feel it.

This pull that I felt towards him, the fact that he could hear my thoughts… There was obviously something that connected us. I just wondered what it could have been.

The guy moved in closer to me then. His arms fell to my waist, and he pulled me closer to him—so close that I could feel his hot breath against my neck.

I knew that I should have taken a step back. I should have moved away. I should have done something.

But I didn’t. I didn’t want to.

“My name,” he whispered, staring down into my eyes, “is Kane.”

Kane.

That was the name of the former Alpha of the Darken pack. He had died from the virus that had killed off nearly the entire population of the Ancient werewolves, except for the Darken, me, Milos, and, apparently, Iris. At least, the Darken pack had thought Kane had died. That