One Night

Chapter 72

Audrey & Edwin

Audrey’s POV

The warmth of Jake’s arms was surprisingly comforting, and soon, my tears subsided-or maybe it was just the cool night air that was clearing my head. Sniffling one last time, I wiped at my damp checks with the back of my hand and leaned back a

bit.

“Feeling better?” Jake asked, his hands still wrapped around my waist. I hadn’t realized how close our bodies were until now.

I nodded and forced a small smile. “Yeah,” I replied meekly. “Thank you for that.”

Jake’s lips tugged upwards at the corners. “No problem.”

There was a brief silence, and I tried to pull back a little bit more-although his arms around my waist were almost like iron. “I should probably find my friend and head home,” I said, trying once again to step back.

Jake’s grip tightened almost imperceptibly. His expression changed, his eyes darkening as they roamed over my body. The look in his eyes made me shiver, and not in a good way. “Or… you could come back to my hotel. I could make you feel event

better.”

I stiffened as alarm bells began going off in my head. The alley suddenly felt too narrow, too confining. “Oh, uh, that’s okay. really.” I stammered, pressing my hands into his chest to put some distance between us. “I appreciate the offer, but:

“Don’t be such a prude,” he interrupted, his voice growing husky He leaned in closer, his breath hot on my ear. The smell of alcohol was strong, making me nauseous. “I’ve heard human girls are.. different in bed. I could show you a good time.”

I tried to step back again, but his grip tightened further. His werewolf strength far outweighed my human strength, and 1 was beginning to feel helpless. My heart started racing, a thousand different possibilities flashing through my mind. This alley was empty, and perhaps no one would hear me if I called for help.

And perhaps that had been his plan all along.

Jake, I said no. Please let go.”

He didn’t seem to hear me, or maybe he just didn’t care. His eyes had a predatory gleam now, and he dipped his head to press a scorching kiss to the side of my neck. Tears instantly sprang to my eyes, and I began to squirm against his iron grip.

“You’ve probably only been with human men, right?” he growled into my ear. “Trust me, werewolf men are much bigger. 1 could make you feel so good tonight, baby.”

“No,” I said firmly, pushing against his chest with both hands. The panic was rising in my throat, and I felt like I might be sick. “Let me go. Now

But Jake was persistent, his arms tightening around my waist until I could hardly breathe. The kisses he was trailing along the column of my throat felt like hot pokers, like I was being branded by his lips.

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” he groaned into my car.

I’m not missing anything I squirmed against him, the tears now streaming down my cheeks once more. But again, it was no use; I was powerless. Utterly powerless. “Stop! I’m not interested.”

Somehow, I managed to wriggle away-but it was a futile effort, because the moment I put even a foot of space between us,

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Chapter 72

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he was lurching after me again. The brick wall of the building suddenly felt like knives against my skin as he roughly shoved me up against it, his hands wandering my thighs and arms.

“Come on, don’t be like that,” he said, grabbing my waist again and ignoring my desperate whimpers. His fingers dug into my skin like shards of glass. “I’m just trying to show you a good dine. Don’t you want to know what it feels like to be with a real man?”

1 jerked my head away when he tried to kiss me on the lips, feeling a rush of anger alongside the fear that was gripping me.

“I said no. Leave me alone. A real man would respect when a woman says no.”

Just as I was squirming away again, he leaned back a bit, caging the against the wall with both arms. His eyes were wild.

almost feral.

“One kiss,” he said, leaning in. “That’s all I’m asking for. Then you can decide if you want more.”

A dizzying mixture of fear and frustration bubbled up inside of me at that moment. As his lips neared mine, something snapped. It felt like a dam breaking inside of me, releasing a flood of energy I didn’t know I possessed.

And then.. I opened my mouth and screamed

The sound that came out was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was piercing, almost inhuman. It felt like it was coming from somewhere deep inside of me, a place I had never accessed before. The force of it surprised even me.

But… No. I had accessed this before. Just once, when I had screamed at Linda in the cafeteria.

Jake stumbled back, falling to his knees and clutching his ears. Blood trickled between his fingers, and his face contorted in pain. A pathetic whimper escaped his lips, but I didn’t linger to see what would happen next.

All I could do was turn and run.

Edwin’s POV

“Fine, I growled, taking the offered shot from Eliza and downing it in one gulp. I slammed the shot glass back on the bar and turned on my heel. “I’ll talk to her.”

“That’s my boy,” Eliza cooed. “Good luck-

Before she could finish or I could take more than three steps away, however, a sudden, piercing sound shot through the air.

A scream. But more guttural than a scream. No.. This was something supernatural, something that made even the DJ abruptly stop playing her music, and something that made everyone in the club freeze.

It was like time itself had stopped for a moment.

My wolf howled inside of me. “The Silver Star is near,” he growled.

But I recognized that scream, that voice: it was Audrey. She couldn’t be the Silver Star, because she was human. That much I knew. But whatever it was, she was in danger.

And she needed me

“Eddie, what’s going on?” Eliza asked, grabbing my arm. Her eyes were wide with concern and confusion.

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1 shook her off, my mind focused on one thing only as I took long strides toward the alley door. “I have to go. That’s Audrey.”

“Audrey? But how-

I didn’t linger to explain further. As I pushed through the stunned crowd, racing toward the exit, I could feel my eyes. glowing in my head. The last time they had glowed like this was when I had found Audrey locked in that closet. That was how I knew this was serious, although I didn’t pause to consider why the danger of a human girl made my wolf so full of primal fury.

Bursting outside, I was met with confusion and chaos. People were milling around, their voices low and confused. Somewhere at the center of the throng. I heard pained whimpers and groans. My first instinct was to assume that Audrey had gotten hurt.

“Move!” I growled, shoving through the crowd. At the center was where I saw him: the guy who had been comforting Audrey earlier. He was on his hands and knees now, blood trickling from his ears. His face was pale, his eyes unfocused.

“What happened?” I asked, shoving through the remaining throng and dropping to a crouch in front of him.

The guy shook his head, wincing at the movement. “I… I don’t know. There was this girl, and then… everything went fuzzy. My head… it hurts so much.”

There was no helping the small growl that rumbled in my chest. Grabbing the front of his shirt, I hissed, “This girl, where did she go? What did she look like?”

The kid looked up at me, his eyes struggling to focus. “Who are you? What girl? I… I can’t remember. Everything’s a blur.” Dammit, I muttered, releasing my grip on his shirt and standing. I scanned the area, searching for any sign of Audrey. My wolf was restless, urging me to find her, to protect her. “Silver Star,” he kept growling, his hackles raised in anticipation. But I knew he was mistaken-Audrey was a human. There was absolutely no way, no how, that she could be the Silver Star.

That was when I saw it-a small gold earring on the ground at the end of the alleyway. I bent down and picked it up, recognizing it immediately. It was the one I had seen Audrey wearing earlier. The delicate little gold hoop looked so out of place on the trash-littered ground.

Frowning. I clutched the earring tightly in my hand and scanned the quiet street.

Audrey was nowhere to be found.

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