“You just stood there while Nick called me a bog rat, and he said you were test driving my pussy, and he asked if you left any virgin holes, and I was literally puking in the grass, and you didn’t say anything.”

With every word, he tenses beside me, and the bond jangles, sharp and angry. The anger isn’t mine, and it’s not directed towards me.

“I don’t care that you didn’t claim me,” I lie, my voice hardly wobbling. “I don’t claim you, either. Fuck biology. Fuck Fate. But I wouldn’t let some asshole talk like that to anyone I know. No matter his rank. And if I was...