The emotional and physical toll of Hayden’s transformation left him spent. The shackles still held his body in place but his head and neck hung limply above his chest. Georgia needed a minute too. She felt emotionally drained but her mind was also buzzing with the excitement of what she’d accomplished. Now that she’d disconnected from his mind, it was like normal life was turned back on. The psychic journey she’d embarked on felt like an adventure on autopilot. Now back on manual mode, she couldn’t account for exactly how she’d done it. Some innate instinct had been guiding her. She knew this because she’d known exactly what to do somehow. A part of her could still feel Hayden and the wolf’s feelings and emotions running through her. She felt strong feelings of warmth and affection for them both. The wolf was full of rage and she understood why it posed a danger. The need for it to violently lash out felt almost uncontrollable in its mind. Despite this, Georgia was still convinced of

Georgia’s life had devolved into a circus show. Her parents on one end, worrying for her safety since news of the second victim broke, but oblivious to the fact that she had more knowledge of it all than the police probably did. Her relationship with Hayden was the definition of ‘it’s complicated’. She still had her senior year to contend with at school. Wherever and whatever this other shifter was, he could find and kill Hayden at any time. If she happened to be with him at the time of an attack, her life would be in danger too. In the middle of all this, she still didn’t fully understand her psychic powers, the link to his mind, and what it all really meant. At times she felt like it was guiding her. What if it was simply guiding her to her own doom? What if her connection to Hayden put her parents, or Lisa, or Benny, her teachers, or other students at risk? These kinds of questions peppered her mind endlessly. Her instincts told her they couldn’t avoid the killer forever. Running

The rest of the weekend passed by in a depressing blur. Georgia spent the remainder of Saturday night desperately trying to connect to Hayden. She sensed the anger and rage in him as he drove away that night. She managed to keep it bay during the fight but knew as he left that it wouldn’t stay that way. Just as she was getting better at tapping into his mind, he was getting better at blocking her from it. He shut her out completely after that and she was forced to spend the entire night wondering if he was safe. Sleep evaded her completely until eventually, she heard the birds chirping and saw lines of sunlight creeping in through cracks in her curtains. That morning was a drag. She got through it on autopilot, a painful migraine shadowing her every move, and making her feel like the walking dead. Her parents were oblivious. Her mom kept going on about how great Hayden was. It irritated her since she was annoyed with him but played along to not arouse her parents’ suspicions that thi

The drive home was subdued. There seemed to be a silent understanding between them. The quietness acted like a reminder that their entire future together was now predicated on surviving a fight to the death that neither knew if they were ready for. It got to Georgia after a while and she tried to ease the underlying tension. She searched Hayden’s mind. Despite his promises to Abbi, he still kept most of it tightly closed. She searched for a way to calm his mind. She played around with the music, selecting love songs at first. Since they were facing an uncertain future as lovers, these only made the mood more depressing so she switched to more upbeat tracks. These made her feel better at least so she decided to speak first. “I feel terrible for Abbi. To think, all those years we just treated her like a crazy person.”He agreed and then opened up a little. “It must have been horrible keeping all that inside for so long. It’s a very lonely existence to bear. Before you came along, I ex

Once home again, despite all the fear raking through her mind, Georgia fell into a deep sleep that night. She thought of Abbi. Since their visit, she’d been able to sense her even though they were too far away to communicate. All she could sense was her overall energy and mood. Before falling asleep, the last thing she felt was that Abbi was anxious. She could also tell she wasn’t doing well. Her energy was more distant than ever and it felt like a signal that kept growing weaker. Georgia instinctively knew what this meant. She didn’t have much time left. Knowing how close to the end she was and how much she was suffering, Georgia couldn’t understand why she desperately clung on. She could sense that Abbi was refusing to let go for a reason. She just didn’t know what it was. When the morning arrived, Georgia’s mood was morose. She showered and changed, taking a lot more interest in herself during these activities than she normally would. It was an unnerving feeling knowing this could