APTER FORTY–FOUR

Killian’s POV

The second iher /ihand touched me, something irritating twisted

This wasn’t Liana’s touch.

Her touch didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel soft or familiar or anything close to what I craved. I turned to look at her, and that

was when it really hit me.

She looked nothing like Liana. Her makeup was caked on so thick it made her face look like a clown. Hershes were too long, and her lipstick was smeared slightly. What was I even thinking, mistaking her for my Liana? I was such a dumb fool

for that.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I growled, grabbing her wrist and pushing her off me so hard she stumbled back

a step.

She blinked in shock. “I thought-b” /b

b“/bbYou /bthought what? That I’d sleep with you?” I snapped, already stepping back, furious with

that close.

She opened her mouth to speak again, but I cut her off.

myself for

even letting her get

“Get outb!/bb” /b

Her face fell, as if she was trying to piece together what had gone wrong, but I didn’t care. I didn’t owe her anything.

I stepped forward, my re drilling through her like a bullet. “Don’t think I don’t know who sent you. That miserable excuse

of a woman must be out of her damn mind if she thought a cheap disgusting slut like you could seduce me.” I sneeredb. /b“Get

the fuck out. Now! Your existence alone makes my skin crawl.”

She covered her mouth with a sob and turned, rushing out of the room like the disgrace she was.

She had no idea what I’d been through. What I’d lost. The only person I ever wanted was out there, probably thinking I didn’t

love her. Probably hurting because I hadn’t shown her enough.

I felt disgusted. That slut had actually touched me. Touched the skin that belongs only to my Liana. I growled angrily as I headed straight for the bathroom to wash off the disgust crawling over my skin. My chest ached.

My Liana. Fuck.

I’m so fucking sorry.

It would always be you. It would only ever be you.

Liana’s POV

Something was wrong

I woke up sweating. Not the normal kind. It felt like my whole body was on fire. My skin was burning, my throat was dry, and every muscle in me ached like bI’d /bbeen hit by a truck. I tried to sit up but my limbs were weak, heavy. My heart bwas /bpounding way too fast

“Killian…” I whispered, then louder, “Killianb?/bb” /b

My voice came out cracked, desperate. My skin bfelt /btoo tight. There was a pressure inside meb, /bbdeep /band bangry/bb, /bblike /b

b1/3 /b

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something was crawling under my skin. I needed him. I needed him so badly it hurt.

I tried again to sit up but copsed back into the pillows, breathing heavily. My body wasn’t listening. I was burning up from the inside out, like fire was trapped under my skin and it wouldn’t go away.

“Killian,” I cried again. “Please… where are you?b” /b

I tossed the nket off me. My skin was slick with sweat. bMy /bhands wed at my sheets. I didn’t even know why I was like

this. all I knew was that I needed him. Badly.

3

The door opened and Mother rushed in. Her eyes widened the second she

b“/bOh my god… Liana!”

saw me.

I blinked at her. b“/bMom, I don’t feel good… I think I’m sick. It’s burning. I can’t..

my skin… it hurts

b” /b

She gasped and stepped closer. “Oh goddess. Oh goddess, no.”

“What?b” /bI tried to sit up again, but my head spun. “What’s happening to me?b” /b

My father came rushing in behind her, probably just getting back from dropping Ryan at school. The second he saw me,

froze.

b“/bWhat the hell-b?/bb” /b

“It’s started,” Mom whispered. “She’s burning. Andrew, she’s burning.”

“Why are you both shoutingb?/b” I rasped. My throat felt like sandpaper. My whole body trembled. bMy /bhands reached wing at the side of my neck where Killian had bitten me.

And then it happened.

I scratched the mark.

up,

And a bsound /bripped from me. A sound I didn’t recognize. Raw. Desperate. Animalistic. Like I was being ripped apart and begging for something I couldn’t exin.

“What’s happening to me?!” I shouted.

I was burning alive.

My body was begging. Aching. Starving.

“Bring me Killian!” I screamed. “Please! Bring me Killian!”

Mom and Dad exchanged a look. a terrified one. Their eyes said everything.

“She needs him,” Mom whispered, voice shaking. “We have to call him.”

“No!” Dad snapped “Never.”

I stared at them,pletely lost. “What the hell is going bon/bb?!/bb” /b

I tried to sit up again, but my legs copsed under me as soon as I swung them boff /bthe bed

he

“Bring me Killian!” bI /byelled again. My fingers found the shirt I worest night, the one with his scent and I clutched it to my chest. I pressed it to my face.

And moaned

Loudly

The sound shocked even me

Write

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Mom gasped. Dad looked like someone had stabbed him.

“I’m calling Killian,” Mom said, already reaching for her phone. “She doesn’t look like she can survive this. If Killian doesn’t

” /b

b“/bNo!” Dad roared, snatching the phone from her hand.

“Andrew!b” /b

“No! If she can get through this, she can get through anything else!”

1

b“/bYou’re out of your mind!” she shouted. “She’s in pain! She’s in heat! Don’t you see it? If this goes on–if he doesn’te–she

might turn into something else! You know that! You know it!”

They were yelling now, moving toward the hallway. But I heard everything.

I heard it all.

Dad dragged her out of the room and mmed the door, but their voices carried right through.

b“/bOne way or another you will have to tell her the truth!” she shouted.

“She mustn’t ever find out!” Dad growled.

mel

“She has to, Andrew! Liana’s not a child anymore, her true self is alreadying back. You can’t keep hiding it. Can’t byou /b

see? She’s been marked!”

“It’s the fault of that chivalrous son of yours. This is all his fault. He marked her. He made her his by force despite all my warnings. That–that son of yours!”

“Enough with all the mes now, andrew. That won’t help her now. She’s in heat. She’s in heat, Andrew! You have to call

Killianb. /bHe’s her mate!”