Bold & Beautiful by Christin Lovell

phone on my bed.
    I felt boxed in. I had so much on my mind, so much in my head. Above all, I couldn’t get over the fact that she was next door to my room and I couldn’t be with her. I couldn’t cuddle with her; I couldn’t do anything.
    Abruptly I heard her breathing change to short, shallow breaths. My heart raced, fear creeping through me. I dashed to her room and found her trembling on the bed. My wolf sliced my chest as dread dried my veins and dehydrated my tongue.
    I rubbed her arm and called her name, trying to wake her. “Aura. Aura. Aura, please wake up. Talk to me, please.”
    Her eyes shot open in alarm; her body continued to shake in tiny quivers. She must have heard the panic in my voice because she grabbed my hand and kissed the inside of my palm. “I’m alright, Jonas. I’m just cold.”
    I remembered that being on the symptoms list. Shit. I didn’t cover her up when I laid her down. It was hot outside. I usually slept without a blanket since my body temperature was slightly higher than normal regularly. I didn’t stop and think.
    I lifted her off the bed with one arm. She screeched, her eyes widened as she clung to me.
    I chuckled. “Werewolf strength, remember?”
    “You were serious about that,” she mused.
    I threw the covers back and set her down. I pulled the blankets up and around her shoulders. I moved closer so she could see me in the limited light from the hallway. “I would never lie to you, Aura.”
    She licked her lips, an innocent move that sent my wolf into a frenzy. That was a werewolf trait, something we did when we were ready to pounce on our prey, when we were thinking about how good they were going to taste.
    Screw it. I walked around to the other side of the bed and slid between the covers.
    “What are you doing, Jonas?” Her tone didn’t reveal much in the way of emotion.
    “I’m a naturally hot blooded werewolf who can warm you up quickly.”
    She worried her bottom lip, her facial features scrunching as she gazed in my general direction. “Jonas, I…” Her voice was tight; her body had stiffened. “I can’t… I mean you can’t…” She sighed. “This just won’t work. We’re from two different worlds, literally. And as great as you are, I’d rather have you as a permanent friend than a temporary boyfriend.”
    My body began to cramp as my wolf broke through my surface in a moment of crushed weakness.
    “Aura.” I balled my hands into fists and fought my wolf with every fiber of my being. I shot up out of the bed and put some distance between us.
    Chapter 26
    AURA
    “Jonas.” Concern. All I had was concern for him. He face was contorted like he was in pain.
    He backed towards the door. In the doorway, he gripped the frame, splintering the wood under his strength. He closed his eyes, lowering his head. His muscles were rolling and coiling but not changing, as if he was fighting the shift.
    His head shot up and his eyes, glowing a bright gold, sought me. He growled a low, menacing rumble from his gut. That’s when I knew he was struggling for control.
    I slid off the bed.
    “Aura, don’t!” His body shook, his veins bulging against his skin.
    I slowly started walking towards him.
    “Aura, stop!”
    I continued, never hesitating. There was one thing I was certain of: I wasn’t afraid of Jonas or his wolf.
    “He’ll bite you.” He was pleading with me.
    “Why?”
    “Because you’re our mate.” He cried out as I heard the first snap of bone. Even though his eyes were glowing, the single word he whispered was all Jonas’. “Run.”
    I shook my head. “No.”
    This whole time I feared Jonas as a temporary boyfriend, if at all, because I knew he would eventually find his mate. I’d been fighting my hope, fighting my body’s natural reaction to him, my body’s instinctual draw to him, because I feared it was one-sided. I would never be a werewolf. I would never truly fit into his world. But he’d proven to me in a short time what he was