LOGINMaraThe howl came again, closer. The hunter turned toward the broken front windows, and I tightened both hands around the kennel door.“That,” I said, “would be my boyfriend.”Except the second the wolf came through the shattered entrance, I knew I was wrong. Not Kieran. Kieran was enormous, with black fur and gold eyes, and I knew his wolf now.This one was smaller, lean and fast, a blur of fur and teeth that launched across reception before the hunter had enough time to fully turn. He shouted, and the wolf hit him square in the chest, and they crashed into the reception desk. I stumbled backward.“What the fuck?”The hunter swung hard, and the wolf twisted away, fast, too fast. He reached for his gun.“No!”I grabbed the kennel door and shoved it aside enough to squeeze through. The hunter got the gun halfway free, and the wolf lunged, teeth closing around his forearm.He screamed, and the gun hit the floor, and I kicked it beneath the exam table. The hunter drove his fist into the
Mara“Come find me, asshole.” My voice sounded steadier than I felt.The hunter laughed somewhere near reception, and that pissed me off more than anything. He thought this was funny. He thought I was trapped.Maybe I was, but this was still my clinic. I knew every door, every hallway, every stupid cabinet Tessa complained about sticking. He didn’t.I backed into treatment and switched off my flashlight, and the darkness swallowed me. The footsteps stopped. Good.“You really want to do this the hard way?” he called.I moved quietly toward Exam Two. “Yes.”“That was not a question.”“Then stop asking stupid ones.”Silence, and then footsteps, closer. I slipped into the exam room and pulled the door mostly shut behind me, my heart hammering so loudly I was convinced he could hear it. Maybe he could. No. Human. Just human.Dangerous human, which was somehow worse. The footsteps passed the doorway, and I waited. Three seconds. Four. Then I shoved the door open hard, and it hit him squarel
MaraAt eight seventeen, Tessa texted me again.Still alive. Your gargoyle is being weird.I smiled despite myself.Define weird.Three dots appeared, then:He keeps checking the mirrors and told me not to come straight back.My smile disappeared. I looked toward the front windows, where two of Kieran’s guards stood beneath the parking lot lights. Another pair had been posted farther down the road after Kieran called. Four wolves, locked doors, my phone in my hand. I should have felt safe.I didn’t.Listen to him. Keep me updated.Tessa answered with a thumbs-up. I set my phone beside the computer and tried to finish updating patient notes, with tried being the important word.Every noise outside made me look up, and every passing car made my shoulders tighten. I hated it. I hated that they had done this to me.This was my clinic, my safe place. It was where I had stitched wounds, delivered puppies, euthanized beloved pets, laughed with Tessa, cried in the supply room, and accidentall
KieranThe cabin smelled like silver, bleach, and Cassian, and my wolf nearly tore through me.“He was here.”Colter crouched near the doorway. “Recently.”“How recently?”“Hours.”Not good enough. I stepped inside.The place was barely a cabin: one room, boarded windows, rotting floorboards, a single metal table shoved against the wall.There was blood on the floor, not much, but enough. Cassian’s scent was woven through it, and so was pain. I could smell that too, sharp and sour beneath the bleach.Rhett came in behind me and stopped. “Fuck.”Silver wire lay on the floor, cut, with blood dried along one end. It was exactly like the piece we had found near the creek. My fists clenched.“He was restrained here.”“Yes,” said Cyrus, entering behind us.That single word made me want to hit something.Garrick had moved toward the table. “Vale.” Something in his voice had changed, and I crossed the room to see why.Maps. Photographs. Notes. My territory, the town, the roads, the clinic. My
TessaTwenty five feet sounded reasonable in theory. In practice, twenty five feet was apparently close enough for me to know exactly where Alden was at all times.I hated that. Mostly because I liked it.I pushed the cart down the cleaning aisle and reached for another package of paper towels. Alden stopped behind me. Not twenty five feet. Maybe eighteen. I looked over my shoulder. He froze.“Twenty five.”He stepped back. I turned around before he could see me smile.This was ridiculous. He was ridiculous. Tall. Broad. Dark hair that looked like he had run his hands through it too many times. Eyes that followed me like I was the only thing in the room worth watching. And his voice.Jesus Christ. Low and smooth, like velvet poured over gravel. Every time he said my name, my stomach did something deeply inconvenient.That was the problem. I didn’t hate him looking at me. I liked it far too much. And that was exactly why I wanted him nowhere near me.I grabbed tissues. Hand soap. Antib
MaraBy seven thirty that evening, I had checked the front lock four times. I knew because Tessa counted.“That’s four.”“I know.”“Do you?”“Yes.”She looked at me over the top of the reception desk. “You sure?”I flipped her off. Tessa smiled.The clinic had been quiet since Kieran called earlier. Too quiet. He was still somewhere southeast of the territory with Cyrus, Garrick, Rhett, Colter, and enough wolves to invade a small country.They had found Cassian’s blood. Silver wire. Another vehicle. And absolutely no Cassian. So naturally, my brain had spent the last several hours imagining increasingly horrific possibilities.Healthy. Very healthy.I walked toward the front window. Alden was still outside. He sat on the hood of one of Ravenholt’s SUVs, arms folded, staring toward the street instead of the clinic. Tessa followed my gaze.“Oh my God.”“What?”“He’s still here!”“You knew he was.”“I hoped he would eventually develop a hobby.”“He might have hobbies.”“Standing outside







