Jacob had never felt more like a caged animal than he did in the Cullen’s house. The scent of vampires—rich, metallic, overpowering—clung to the air, making his nostrils flare and his muscles tense in disgust. But it wasn’t just the vampires that made his blood boil. It was them.

His imprint.

Her.

The one person in the room who he should have been adoring… the one person who, inexplicably, made him want to lay at their feet like some kind of love-struck puppy, even though they despised him just as much as he loathed vampires. The conflict inside him twisted his gut into knots, making him want to tear his own skin off. He wanted nothing more than to keep his distance, to retreat into the woods and shift back into the wolf who had no business with them at all.

But here he was. Stuck. In this suffocating, overly-refined house, surrounded by polished floors and cold, perfect faces. And her. Them.

He didn’t care about Bella’s birthday party. Not really. Bella was the least of his concerns tonight. But he couldn’t escape the way his imprint seemed to glide through the room, effortlessly drawing every eye, every smile, and making Jacob’s already burning frustration flare even higher.

His chest constricted as he resisted the impulse to go to her, to nuzzle her like some obedient mutt. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to press closer, to get a reaction—any reaction. But her gaze was cold, her body language stiff, as if every inch of her was just as furious with him as he was with himself.

So he stood in the corner, fists clenched, teeth grinding, trying not to let the constant whine in the back of his throat escape. This… this was what his life had become. His worst enemy had become the one person he needed more than anything.

And he couldn’t stand it.