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"Let’s see this security footage," Billy said, voice gruff It wasn’t a thank you, but it wasn’t an insult either Rick and I unfolded ourselves from the seats and we all trooped upstairs into the ser had left the disc in the syste the readiness of the equipuessed that working as ave the help soes of two lasses My heart thudded It was the tolves I had left unconscious and bound for the cops in the hotel room where the pack had held Rick prisoner It was easy for my mountain lion self to accept their reality by scent alone, but ht, electric, toxic So did Rick, a faint reek of fear leaching frohten or appear to react More and more like a cat

I focused on the screen One of the wolves was bigger than Big Evan and solid uy looked little next to him, but probably stood between five feet seven and five ten It was hard to tell next to the ital footage, seeression of fraes under his hoodie that were likely weapons He looked weaselly, which became his new name

We watched Fire Truck and Weasel disappear inside, trailed later by a woranny dress and old-fashioned boots, an open ue again showed the woainly in the boots, followed by the tolves The time stamp indicated that sixty-twoarea and the wolf out onto the street An instant later, Rick entered, and the footage stopped

"Again," Billy said When the bikes roared off, we got a glih to know they weren’t North Carolina plates He looked at Rick "You’re sure these two are the ones who kidnapped an undercover cop, held him prisoner, tortured hi for olf taint--"and tried to kill hi to the insult in the look

"Before you go thinking Rick ht turn into a olf and bite your men, you should know that the vamps’ Mercy Blade took care of any possibility of that," I said "He’s not a olf" Rick laughed and the sound carried a bitter note Yeah No olf Of course he rade the BOLO on the bikers to include stills froerous, with orders to locate but not approach" Chandler looked at ness clear in his eyes He didn’t want to be asking uys, what are we supposed to do?"

"Call heads kill the them?"

"You’ll have soh the cops into the hallway and down the stairs Outside, I sloshed through puddles to the SUV and roared out into the street I had a lot to think about

I do ht Ideas are like s into corners when a cat tries to chase the Back in my room, I studied topo ain studied the s and the wolf attacks I noticed a place I hadn’t hunted before, one that looked like pro-cats liked, but composed of shale too steep for huave the security teaht, and orders to call Leo if the vamps resisted the plans I texted Bruiser with two lines, telling hi and that the vamps were not to leave the hotel due to security concerns He’d know to put Leo on if e froie Baby I punched in the code and listened to her soft voice say, "Aunt Jane You got to come back to see otta come"

Guilt wormed its way into me like a steel barb It sounded as if Mol was still spelled But Big Evan was on the job, and I had proie Baby," I murmured

I set the cell Leo could use to trackclean jeans, running shoes, T-shirt, and a light jacket I took off in the SUV I was coht a new throay cell at a stripup 70, a patch of road I was getting far too fa sees: the wolves’ kill-sites, the grindy sightings, the wolf scent stalking Molly and her fa territory I didn’t believe in coincidences, and had seen little evidence to shake that faith But there were a lot of the to the dark side, Lincoln Shaddock under her spell, olves ending up in the area, to naether, but how? I needed to try so processes Instead of hunting the wolves where they had killed and departed, I needed to hunt where they had hunted and not killed In Beast form

I parked down the mountain froain The chain guarding the drive was old, rusted, but solid The lock holding it was rusted through and broke apart when I took a tire iron to it I drove up the drive, weeds scraping the undercarriage, and parked around a bend where the SUV wouldn’t be seen co in the front seat, I stripped naked, rolling the clothes I’d been wearing around the throay cell and into ht when I hunted as Beast, when I had territory that I/we claimed as ours Or in su and could stay in Beast forht it was cold, with an unseasonably early frost warning I had no idea where I’d end up by dawn I ht have to shift back to human someplace far off and hike to the nearest road Maybe hike until my cell worked I couldn’t stay in Beast form all day and do my job