Under My Skin by Judith Graves

the churning emotions.
    Not mine.
    Not real.
    No wonder Paige obsessed over Wade. I’m sorry, I wasn’t going to fall for his smoke and mirrors. My eyes flew open as Wade’s right fist connected squarely with Alec’s nose. A spray of blood sprinkled the concrete as Alec staggered.
    Blood. Fresh. Tantalizing. Purely human. Damn, I’d gone from the frying pan directly to the source of the flame. My pulse drummed in my neck. The bad news? That wonderful aroma meant Alec was hurt.
    I looked away from the bloody concrete and tried to remember my hunter training, tried to focus on Alec’s injuries. No broken bones, just swelling where a clawlike scratch marked his cheek. He swiped a hand under his nose to clear the blood.
    A smile hovered on Wade’s lips. His eyes glowed. He was taunting Alec, flaunting his strength. With me too, because I couldn’t fight his influence and tune out the heady scent of blood at the same time.
    I told you the Delacroix were dangerous. Wade’s voice again, bold and confident. Only his lips weren’t moving. He didn’t even look in my direction as he and Alec stalked each other in a wary circle. Smashing my car, attacking me this way was stupid, Eryn. See how careless they are?
    My breath caught in my throat. Why was he mind-talking as if he knew every doubt I had about the Delacroix? Wade laughed aloud, and a ripple of fear crawled up my spine. And then it hit me.
    Lovely.
    Wade could not only enter my bedroom, he could tap into my thoughts. My body tensed as if to run. Pointless. No escape. Wade prowled in my mind like he owned me. My wolf roared in outrage. I couldn’t manage them both. Desperate to shut Wade out, my vamp-thrall, beast-wracked brain began regurgitating hunter-vampire rules of engagement. Christian symbols had power. The cross. The rose. Both red with blood. No. There was something else. Something my father told me. That’s it! I imagined a solid limestone wall and slammed it to the ground between us.
    An unbearable quiet settled over me. How singular and strange. I tamped down the surge of loneliness that begged me to stop fighting and let Wade in. To let him know the wolf, to understand me .
    Hadn’t I already learned my lesson? Though I wouldn’t rest until I saw my parents’ bodies with my own eyes—whether they were alive…or dead—even they had never understood me.
    So why did I expect it from a vamp witch? Or a small town hunter for that matter?
    Bitterness strengthened the mental wall between me and Wade as he and Alec circled each other. I’d broken his link, beaten the affect. Barely. I shivered. Why hadn’t I paid more attention when my father had bored me with a lecture on visualization techniques and how to use them?
    A shove from behind caught me off guard. I stumbled. Brit, and she was panting. The effort to get assistance quickly, without breaking into a run, had obviously tired her out. She was lucky she hadn’t gone all seizure-y and collapsed on the concrete. How in the world did she function as a hunter? Why would Alec let someone with such a disability join his crew? Sure, Brit was smart and a great cheerleader, but she’d mess up a hunt. It didn’t make sense.
    I held out a hand to steady her.
    “I brought reinforcements,” she yelled, although she was right beside me.
    I flinched and covered my ears as her words screamed through my head. What Brit lacked in speed, she made up for in volume. I’d been concentrating so hard on blocking Wade, I’d forgotten to regulate my hearing to human levels.
    Mr. Riggs and Matt shouldered past us and rushed into the middle of the fight. Mr. Riggs wedged himself in front of Wade as Matt grabbed Alec and whispered harshly into his ear as he pulled him away from Wade. I held my breath. Would Alec out Wade? Would Wade say screw you to the norm world and out himself? Right there in the Redgrave High parking lot?
    A sea of curious faces surrounded the fight. Elbows and shoulders collided as students jostled