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"I’ll head out to Harpers Ferry," Wulfe offered

Lyon nodded "I’ve already sent Jag and Olivia scouring areas nearby Delaney is hooked into the FBI’s network, looking for reports of strange, large animals"

As the others moved toward the back door of Feral House, Hawke brushed Faith’s blue-tipped locks back froo through that again tore so loose inside of him But there was no choice, was there? She had to be cured

"Are you bringing her in, Hawke?" Kougar called, halfway to the patio

Hawke shook his head, and Kougar lifted his hand in acknowledgment and joined the others Alone, Hawke tipped his face to the spring sunshine filtering through the leaves, enjoying the feel of the breeze on his face He needed ti since he’d been able to take to the skies and revel in the freedoain But he hated even more that Faith hadn’t been cured

Beneath the brush of his hand, she began to stir Her eyes blinked open, her gazeto his "Did it work?" she asked softly

"For the others, yes For you, no"

She sat up slowly, eyeing him with a bleakness that cut him to the core, a hopelessness that told him she expected them to clear the way for her replace her hair "We’re not giving up on you, Smiley The Shaman believes they can’t cure the darkness while it’s dor you into your animal first"

Relief lit her features, then dissolved into an expression that made her look as if she’d bitten into a leain?"

"It shouldn’t be as bad the next time Neither of the others suffered like you did" He sat on the grass beside her and took her hand in his "We’ll bring you into your ani"

Her eyes slowly turned huge as another thought see to turn evil"

"Not evil, justinfected"

Her hand squeezed his fiercely "Don’t let me hurt anyone, Hawke Promise me I couldn’t the way I a teeth"

"I won’t let you hurt anyone"

He hoped he could hang on to his anih to fulfill that promise

Chapter Sixteen

Wulfe parked his truck behind a deserted warehouse outside Frederick, Maryland, then climbed out, shoved his keys deep in his jeans pocket, and stripped, tossing his clothes into the bed of the oversized pickup Kneeling beside the truck, hidden fro eyes, he shifted into his wolf He’dthe twenty h he’d tried to convince himselfand Lyonotherwise, this trip had little to do with hunting the new Ferals It was a long shot that they’d have come back here, and he’d seen no evidence of it

No, this trip was about Natalie and his need to check on her for Xavier

Okay, not for Xavier Not just for Xavier The truth was he needed to know that she was all right He needed to see her for hih she wouldn’t remember him He’d taken care to clear her memories of that horrific day - the deaths of her friends at the hands of three wraith Dae in front of the stake upon which she’d been tied The opening had been a worone down, as had a couple of her dead friends

But Natalie had survived, along with her brother, Xavier, and another girl The Ferals had been able to clear Natalie’s and the other girl’s meh the eyes He lived at Feral House, now, helping Pink in the kitchen

And Natalie was back home with no recollection of where she’d been for a week or where her brother had gone All she kneas that three of her friends had died horrific deaths She knew that only because their bodies had been spit out again by the spirit trap, and the Ferals had left them for the humans to find

In his wolf’s for hi mapped out the coordinates before he left hoed to beher in Harpers Ferry and watching from the shadows as her fiance swept her into his are out of his head It was best for her, he knew that She had no place in his world She was human And he was a er, as the humans would put it A ed, in his world Mating bonds were real aal proed the survivor, one way or another He didn’t have it in hiain And he’d never want to, especially with a hu for anything from Natalie, he just needed to know she was okay In the short time he’d spent with her in the prison below Feral House, she’d touched him in a way he couldn’t quite explain

So a thrill of recognition through his man’s mind She’d walked these woods in the past couple of days Alone

He followed her scent straight to the house he kneas hers - a s and a wooden deck attached to the back And noas he going to do? He couldn’t trot up to the door and start barking In his wolf’s forer than any normal wolf In past centuries, he’d terrified humans in his animal form Today, olves so rare,Many weren’t quite terrified, though enerally suited him just fine

Today, he wished he could downsize into an innocuous pup and call for Natalie’s attention Though he’d stolen herhis ht not have been afraid of the scarred mess after that trio of hideous Daemons, but she didn’t remember those, now, either Compared to most humans, he was a monster And, thanks to his inability to keep his clothes when he shifted, a big, naked one, at that No, it was far better to stay in his anilimpse of her It was already close to sunset If she didn’t pull blinds or curtains over her s at night, he ht succeed If she did, he was out of luck Or if she went to her fiance’s place instead of her own