I woke to my phone vibrating like a demon trying to escape hell.
My brain felt wrapped in cotton. My shoulder throbbed where the Crawler had bitten through. The rest of me existed somewhere between "functional human" and "roadkill."
I grabbed my phone. Screen too bright. Eyes protesting.
10:21 PM.
Missed calls. Seven of them. All from Belle.
Then an eighth call came through.
I answered before my brain caught up.
"Hello?"
"I'm outside."
Belle's voice was quiet, too controlled.
"Outside where?"
"Your apartment. Didn't you say we could finish..." She paused. "You know."
Oh.
Oh.
The buff. The extraction. The promise I'd made at five in the morning when my body still worked and I hadn't killed my first alpha yet.
"Belle, I—"
"If you're going to say no, just say it." Her voice had gone flat. "I already walked across campus. Already stood outside your door for ten minutes trying to decide whether to knock."
I sat up. Every muscle complained.
"Give me thirty seconds."
