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“Loren…” He fought to keep his voice steady. “You need to listen to me. Wait—”
She took off, clearing his body in one long leap before darting for the woods.
Bill lunged to his feet, wincing as his shoulders stung, unintentionally scratched by her claws. Fear for her easily overrode any pain. “Loren!”
Already, she had disappeared beneath the trees with a quickness that took his breath away.
“What’s going on?” Micha and Naomi rushed onto the porch behind him, but he only paused to shed his jeans before taking off.
He invoked the shift mid-step and hit the ground on all fours, growling in the back of his throat. Loren’s scentpulled at him like a tether, leading him blindly through the woods, past the stream, and beyond.
Rather than chase her down, he kept his distance, giving her space to run freely. It was a risky decision. She could have gone anywhere—and a frightened, newly-shifted wolf was erratic at best and unpredictable at worst.
Either way, she didn’t stay a beast for long.
He could sense the exact moment she shifted back into human form, near the boundary of his property. From yards away, he heard her startled gasp. After that, she just ran on foot, hurt, alone, and naked. His heart throbbed for her—at the same time, he increased his pace. If she made it into town, Bill knew that it would have taken all the skill of an Alpha to convince that many mortals to forget what they had seen.
In the end, her eventual destination didn’t surprise him one bit.
With one last surge, he pulled free of the forest and entered the small, neglected backyard of a decrepit brown house. The location made for twisted, poetic irony—wolves were always drawn home.
Even if that place happened to be hell.
Heedless of any mortals who might have been strolling down the street a few yards away, he shifted and mounted the porch steps before his toes had even finished forming from paws.
“Loren?”
She said nothing, but he didn’t need verbal confirmation of her presence. He could hear her heart pounding in a manic rhythm even from there. Regardless, he didn’t relax until he finally caught sight of her crouched form through a gap in the back door.
She sat slumped against the base of a counter, face turned away from him. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, dark hair pooling on the floor. The sight triggered an unwelcome flash ofdéjà vu—he’d only seen her this upset once before.
The night Fred Connors attacked her and set everything after into motion.
“Loren.” Cautiously, he entered the kitchen, but she didn’t react as the rotted floorboards creaked beneath his weight. Even so, he kept his distance, hovering near the threshold.
“I should have warned you,” he said gently. “What I did would leave you emotionally raw. You might be more prone to anger and fear. It’s a normal reaction.”
“Leave me alone.”
Her toneless whisper affected him like nothing else. Her fear, confusion, and pain were likeknives, driving deep into the pit of his stomach—drowning out that tiny voice in his head that proclaimed everything he’d done had been for her sake.
This was about way more than a misunderstanding. Still, for someone who had just phased for the first time, she seemed to be holding up well enough. At least she wasn’t curled in a ball, cursing like Naomi had been.
“We need to talk,” he went on softly. “I’m not sending you away, I swear.”
“Oh, really?” Her voice came muffled. “Dropped the ‘three days deadline,’ have you?”
“You have the right to be upset,” he admitted, gripping the screen door just to keep from reaching for her. “About a lot more than this misunderstanding. At least, let me explain.”
Her head jerked up, and Bill sucked in a breath as those large hazel eyes stared from over the mountains of her knees.
“You want me gone. What more is there?”
Bill recognized her tone all too well.That wasn’t the average talk of a scorned teenage girl. That was the lycan speaking. The lycan who valued trust and safety and loyalty above all else. The lycan who was inherently pissed at the deception of her mate.
Even if she didn’t understand the depth of it.
“I’m not sending you anywhere,” he said, stepping fully into the narrow kitchen. “I’m goingwithyou. If you want something to be angry for, though, I can give you a few reasons.”
