Chapter 168. Her Lingering Scent

Elizabeth's POV

My eyes flickered open to a shred of daylight cutting across the darkness, and I realized I was lying on someone’s chest. I propelled myself up in a panic, pressing trembling hands against the broad expanse of his torso to push myself away. The night’s horrors ricocheted through my mind—Kaden’s snarling face, the way he had overpowered me, the wet warmth of my own blood. My pulse thundered in my throat.

I blinked into the gloom, and there he lay, asleep: Kaden, the werewolf, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. Something inside me recoiled at the sight of him—his pink lips curved slightly in sleep, his features softened by repose. But no matter how harmless he looked now, I knew he remained a cold predator beneath that peaceful mask. A creature I would never trust, never love.

Gingerly, I slid off the bed, my legs shaking as waves of pain pulsed through my lower body. The aftereffects of his brutal assault throbbed in every nerve en