Primal (The Prey Drive, #1)

by Kayleigh King

That’s twice now she’s called me by my title. Forget proper procedure and pack etiquette, I think I much prefer it when she called me Rennick.

Noa Alderwood doesn’t know it, but she just verbally claimed me as her mate—right in front of my betrothed. Fuck. Me.

She is my fated mate. My scent match. The one soul in existence designed to fit against mine in a way that no one else ever could. The one meant to balance, anchor, and complete me. And I have to reject her.

She is meant to be my destiny, my perfect match. She is my heart living and beating beyond the confines of my chest. And I have to break it. To break her.

For her I will be the monster. I will be the villain in our painfully short-lived love story, the one who walked away. The one who picked duty over our shared destiny.

The unshed tears pooling in her eyes—eyes too beautiful for this world, too achingly poignant—might as well be the ink I use to sign my own death sentence.

I feel like I’ve lost everything but the pounding heart in my chest, and if I’m being honest, I don’t know if I want to keep that. Not when it was meant to beat in sync with hers.

I vow, right here and now, that one day, hearing me say her name will be the thing that heals her, not breaks her.

“You can keep running, sweet one,” he said, voice low and steady, “but I’ll keep chasing. One day, you’ll believe that I’m not walking away from you. Not again.”