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“We’re still processing a lot of evidence from the murder scene, but I’ve gotten two more reports from other small shifter packs across the country about pack members going missing or being killed off by hunters.”
I clenched my fist and refrained from slamming it down on my desk as anger raged beneath my skin.
“The hunters are getting more aggressive and better at hunting us down,” Clawson continued. “It’s getting worse out there, and I don’t know if Hill’s death is part of that or a separate, isolated incident. We don’t have enough to work with at the moment.”
I stomped over to the window and looked across to the town square and all its citizens, shifter and human alike. This place was meant to be a safe haven. That’s what I’d sacrificed everything for, and it wasn’t coming together as I hoped.
Clawson interrupted my thoughts. “I’m assuming these are the packs that have declined to join us here?”
Those scattered packs would help reinforce Blackwood Creek and create the sanctuary I’d dreamed up with my uncle. If we had more of a military-style force, we could better defend ourselves against the hunters. After some time, we could go on the offensive when needed instead of sitting around, waiting for them to come after us. This hunter problem needed to end once and for all.
Turning, I looked at my friend. “Yeah, I opened up the conversation with their alphas again. I hoped that this new predicament would change their minds. They didn’t sound swayed, but I got the impression that they might consider it down the road.”
I’d been looking forward to having dinner with Tori tonight, but now I wanted it to happen as soon as possible for different reasons. I wanted her to tell me everything she possibly could about the hunters.
Gratitude and relief settled on my shoulders that she wasn’t one of the shifters who had gone missing. Instead, she’d ended up here in Blackwood Creek.
Now I needed to convince her to stay and make this place her home. If she left, she wouldn’t be safe from the hunters—or herself.
Chapter17
Tori
I grabbed another table’s order and shuffled over to deliver it. Today had been worse than I could have imagined. Now that everyone believed I was engaged to their mayor, they all wanted to talk to the mayor’s mysterious fiancée.
Many of them were very excited about the news and wanted to know how we met. How long had we been engaged? Was the proposal romantic? Had we set a date yet? It was a whirlwind of activity.
Then there were the veiled, snide comments about me being a gold digger. Why would such a wealthy man marry someone nobody in this town knew, and a waitress at that? Several mutters of my getting pregnant to trap him hadn’t escaped my ears.
It was all headache-inducing, and I hated that I couldn’t leave because I was on shift.
Of course, everyone made pointed remarks over my lack of a ring. Repeatedly telling everybody that it was at the jeweler’s being sized was getting old, and I resisted the urge to tell them to shove it and mind their own business. Thanks to the many customer service jobs I’d worked over the years, though, I managed to keep a semi-polite smile on my face and ensured I didn’t embarrass my loving and doting fiancé.
It didn’t help that some of them mentioned the murder. I struggled to keep myself calm and reminded them that the sheriff already knew everything he needed to know about the situation. The non-stop attention was wreaking havoc on my nerves, and my wolf was becoming increasingly defensive. She wanted to come out and force people to shut their mouths, which didn’t make it any easier for me.
“There was so much blood at the scene. It was a hideous sight,” I overheard one of the Magpies tell a stranger later in the day.
That was the last straw. My head started pounding, and I struggled to get oxygen into my lungs. Panic crawled up my throat and settled in my brain as the apparent feral side effects kicked in. Ridge had said he assumed I was going feral, and these must be the warning signs. I’d never had these issues before, not until a little over a year ago.
Scents around me started making the monster hungry, and she fought to come out to play. I kept her tamped down, dropped what I was doing, and rushed to the café’s back door. The fluorescent lights were messing with my eyes as my surroundings faded in and out of the darkness.
I punched through the back door and made it outside. The woods were right there, and my wolf itched to shed the human body and become the predator she was born to be. She wanted to race into the trees, get lost, then hunt down Ridge.
Anxiety beat me down, making my wolf’s sable fur come to the surface of my skin. My wolf had been refusing to stay buried ever since we came to Blackwood Creek, which was now another point of contention between it and me.
I slammed my back against the cement wall, using the pain to force me into the here and now. Locking every muscle in place, I forced the wolf down. Sweat poured down my body as I clenched my jaw, fighting the monster inside me and forcing her to submit. She raged and warred with me, and my mind slowly started to slip.
Soft popping noises rang in my ears as my fingers painstakingly shifted into claws. Blood rushed inside my veins, deafening the sounds of life and nature around me. The wolf was gaining control. She relished her power, relished overcoming me.
I bit my bottom lip until a metallic taste flooded my tongue. I whimpered out a savage cry, praying nobody heard me.
Gaining enough strength, I smacked my hand hard across my face. My wolf growled at me, but I confused her enough to take back control. I dragged her to the deep dark pits of my mind, chaining her down by leashing and collaring her. I envisioned a muzzle wrapping around her snout, silencing her.
I sagged against the wall as the tension slipped away. My knees were weak and shaky, my stomach roiling, my head spinning. The fur retreated, leaving pink skin once more. The claws contorted back to eight fingers and two opposable thumbs.
My lungs pumped air hard and fast before I focused on my breathing, forcing myself to take slow breaths of cool, clean air, holding to the count of three and exhaling. Chills sprang up on my skin as the air caught the sweat my body was releasing. My entire body ached as if a semi had just rear-ended me. I wanted to go to sleep and be left alone.
The hinges of the back door squealed, startling me, and I accidentally hit my head against the wall.
