Page 105 of The Secret Mate Society

The threat hung in the air like a blade over my neck.Trevor, Patrick, everyone I cared about would pay for my mistakes.

"I understand," I managed.

The wind picked up again, swirling leaves and debris around the hooded figures.When it died down, they were gone, vanished as if they'd never been there at all.I was alone in the alley once more, my heart pounding and my mind racing.

I pulled out my phone and immediately called Trevor.

"The Council found me," I said as soon as he answered.

"Shit.Are you okay?"

"For now.They're giving me a chance to fix this."I started moving again, my feet carrying me deeper into the industrial district."But we need to find Ethan fast.Where are you?"

“At the waterfront.”Trevor’s voice went quiet.“And Calder… we… we found a body.”

I felt my heart turn over, terror welling up inside me.

“And Ethan’s clothes.”

Chapter44

Ethan

Cold was all I felt at first.That and a soreness in my wrists.For a moment I thought I might be dead, but then I realized dead people probably didn’t need wrists or feel them for that matter.So somehow, despite the rogue werewolf attacking me, I was still alive.It… It didn’t seem possible.

Slowly I tried to force my eyes open.At first, just the act of trying seemed to exhaust me.But the more I tried, the more I swore I could see a soft orange light somewhere nearby.And there was warmth too, which I was desperate for.

With effort that felt monumental, I managed to pry my eyelids apart.The orange glow sharpened into focus.It was a space heater, humming quietly a few feet away.Its coils burned bright, throwing dancing shadows across wooden walls.

Wooden walls I recognized.

My stomach dropped.This was Marcus Greer's barn.The farmer I’d interviewed before he was killed.I'd been here before, during the initial investigation, chatting with him about his mutilated cows.

I tried to sit up and immediately discovered why my wrists hurt.Rope.Thick, rough rope binding them behind my back to what felt like a support beam.I yanked instinctively, and pain shot through my shoulders.The beam didn't budge.

"Shit," I whispered, my voice cracking.My throat felt like sandpaper.

That's when I realized I was completely naked.Every inch of my skin was exposed to the frigid air, save for the small sphere of warmth the heater provided.I could see my breath misting in front of me, and when I looked down at myself, goosebumps covered my chest and legs.

My heart hammered as fragmented memories crashed back.The alley.The rogue werewolf.Those yellow eyes boring into mine before?—

Before what?I couldn't remember the actual attack.Just the eyes, the growl, and then...nothing.Blackness.

But I was alive.Tied, frozen and terrified, but alive.

Why?

“Look who’s finally decided to join the land of the living,” a voice said from somewhere behind me.

I craned my neck, trying to get a better look, but the beam held me in place.What little I could glimpse was nothing but darkness and straw bales.However, that didn’t stop the cold wave of fear that washed over me.The only person that could be in the barn with me now was the rogue werewolf.And that voice, itdefinitelywasn’t Calder’s.Both Jake and I had been wrong.Calder might’ve been a werewolf, but he wasn’t the monster chasing me, tormenting me.

But who could it be?

Footsteps crunched through the straw, deliberate and unhurried.My pulse hammered in my ears as a figure emerged from the shadows, stepping into the heater's orange glow.

Jake Harrison.

The breath left my lungs in a rush."You're...you're dead."