The cold night air was doing my heated skin some good. I had spent the rest of the evening by Maddox's side, shaking hands and meeting people. He’d made a toast to me, and all the guests had cheered and hollered with delight.

I was their new favorite attraction—the poor little human who could never go home again.

I was still flustered from trying to act like I cared when, in fact, all I wanted was to go home.

To my old bed. My old life.

But that was gone forever. A lone tear crept down, and I angrily brushed it away. I hugged myself, partly because I was cold, and continued staring at the pool before me. It was enormous, easily covering the area of two Olympic pools. The Rainers did everything bigger—it wasn’t just reserved for Texans.

"Need some company?" The deep voice from earlier came from my left. I glanced up. Oak had his blue jacket slung over his forearm, revealing a light blue shirt that looked like it was about to burst at the seams. The man was ripped.

"According to Jax, I should avoid all Rainer men at all costs, so please, take a seat."

He laughed out loud. "Good thing Jax Skylar doesn’t scare me. Almost looks like he’s already claimed you."

He sat down, draping the jacket over my shoulders without asking. I welcomed the warmth and the crisp, winter-night scent of his cologne.

Seeing my confusion, he added, "Claimed, marked, mated—all that jazz." He raised an eyebrow at me. "You really don’t know? Don’t humans have protocols?"

I thought it over. "I think you mean marriage…?"

"No, not marriage. More like finding your... mate. Lover, you know. The person you’re with. The one you sleep with."

I nearly spit out my drink at his bluntness. "Is that how things work here? You find a mate?"

"Well, yeah. We can have several, but that’s the gist of it."

"Oh, several... That’s a nice little arrangement you Rainers have going here."

He smiled at me, and I nearly melted. He was that good-looking.

"It’s usually the female who has several, actually. Since we’re a male-dominated species, for every female, there are on average five males."

I raised an eyebrow. "Interesting..."

He observed me, amused, so I quickly added, "Not that I’m... you know. That’s for Rainers, not for me."

"Well, it is primarily for you, I would think, given that you—"

Two hands abruptly pulled the jacket from my shoulders, and someone grabbed me roughly. I was lifted into the air, yelping in surprise.

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For the second time tonight, I was done with this.

“What the hell! Let me go!” It was Kai.

Oak moved into view, his voice bored as he said, "Welkin, let her go. She clearly doesn’t like it."

Kai flipped him off and continued. I saw Oak start to move, only to be halted by his white-haired brother. So much for my rescuer.

"Kai, stop it!" I protested, but he kept moving, charging toward my room. He kicked the door open, much to my dismay, and then slammed it shut, locking it.

He tossed me onto the bed with no further ceremony, then pocketed the key. In the front of his pants, the bastard.

He crossed his arms and frowned down at me. "Three weeks!" he growled. I had never seen him so angry.

"You ignored me for three weeks!" He practically shouted the last word, his face so red he looked ready to pop a vein.

I scowled at him. "Well, you lied to me!"

"I saved your goddamn life, baby!"

"Jax would have gotten me, Kai!"

"Jax would have—fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" He punched the wall so hard that a painting fell. He was breathing heavily, face against the wall, fist still raised.

I moved closer and coaxed him to sit on the bench by the windowsill. I was still angry but didn’t want him to hurt himself.

I grabbed a cloth from my vanity to staunch the bleeding on his knuckles.

He hissed as I applied it, not bothering with small talk.

"A sister, Kai… you have a sister! You’re a goddamn prince, Paramore, whatever—of Terra! Who the hell are you?" My voice was starting to crack, and this was the final straw of the night, tipping me over the edge. "You were with me every single day for the last year, Kai! Every single day we shared, cried, spent together! I trusted you with everything! I confided in you—things I’d never told anyone, not even Jax! You know everything about me! You bastard! You should have told me! I loved you! You were my best friend!"

I hadn’t realized I was shouting, or that I was standing.

He sat there with his bleeding knuckles, his dimples, his big blue eyes beginning to water as he stared at me, dumbfounded. I was breathing hard, chest heaving as I fought not to start bawling. My fists were clenched. I wanted to hit him so badly.

"You loved me, baby?" He smirked in that goofy way of his. "Funny, 'cause… guess what? I love you too. From the very first day I laid eyes on that cute face, I’ve loved you. And you’re my bestie too!" He winked. "Pinky swear."

That did it. I crumpled to the floor, sobbing. I cried for everything I’d lost, for finally letting my anger out on Kai, for him taking me away when I should have died on Earth with the rest of them. For everything.

I felt him pull me into his arms on the floor, whispering sweet nothings in my ear. I cried into his shirt, in his neck, all the way to my bed.

He stayed there, holding me as I cried, kissing the top of my head and rubbing my back. I didn’t think I would sleep, anticipating the Dark Stalker finding me.

I woke up, my eyes swollen from crying. Not wanting to open them fully, I pretended to still be asleep. I was still resting on Kai’s chest. He was playing with my hair, obviously up for a while, kissing my head occasionally.

"You’re just the cutest little snorer…" he whispered. That got my eyes open in a heartbeat. I looked up at him, blinking.

"I don’t snore."

He laughed, kissing my nose and lips softly. "Babe… you make these little noises. It’s adorable." He brushed a stray hair from my face, looking devastatingly handsome first thing in the morning.

"Careful, Kai… I’m still not over all the lies. Staying here doesn’t fix everything."

I dropped my head back onto his chest, my hand wandering over his torso, contradicting my words.

I felt him smile. I needed a bit more sleep still.

"Babe… hate to say this, but we have to get up… I’d love to stay here all day with you, believe me, I would… But we have to get to the college." I protested by climbing onto him and gripping him tightly. "No… please… No…"

"Baby… you don’t want to climb on me right now." I immediately realized why. He had a massive erection.

I laughed at that.

"Yeah, that’s a conundrum. I’m taking a shower. I suggest you do too."

He raised his eyebrows.

"After I’m done, of course." I kissed his lips and hopped out of bed.

For the first time in weeks, I felt a little better.