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"Before or after the one guy slugged me?" she asked Hell, she was lucky to see that the truck was pale blue and had tinted s in this snow And now a bullet hole with a spider web of cracks trailing out from it in the center of the windshield If they didn’t replace it, she would recognize it anywhere

Hunter chuckled darkly "Yes or no would have sufficed"

"What are we going to do about them?"

"End their pathetic existence"

Rourke moaned

"Can you hear ain to get a look at hi her hand still planted on the hat over Cara’s wound to steave her a devilish smile

Meara leaned away fro to live"

Hunter looked in the rearview ht Rourke would be all right But now his shoulders relaxed, and he concentrated on the road again

She took a deep breath of relief

"Did you at least shoot one of them?" he asked

"I shot the windshield I wasn’t sure the truck was theirs"

"It was theot… a… call… just… before--"

"Shh, let Ashton tell the story," Meara said

Ashton cleared his throat "The Departhas closed because of downed electric lines, flooding, slides, and fallen trees and--"

Tessa looked up fro the cap on Cara’s forehead to see why Ashton had quit talking

Hunter pulled to a stop in front of a Douglas fir blocking the road "Unless anyone thought to bring along a chainsaw, looks like this is the end of the road"

"How et to Tessa’s place?" Meara asked

"Two" Hunter shut off the engine "Ashton and I can go back and grab your chainsaw, Tessa, and cut up the tree, then we’ll drive home"

"No," Tessa said Everyone waited for her to speak further on the nore her response She straightened her shoulders "We can’t wait here like proverbial sitting ducks Unless you think Cara and Rourke are too injured to move, and then we’ll have to take our chances"

"Not ht Just someone help me up" Rourke tried to sit up with Meara’s help

"I’ of you, Tessa," Hunter said

"Well, I’m perfectly fine"

"We’ll discuss this stubborn streak you have later If everyone is agreeable, we’ll all walk back to Tessa’s place"

Both Rourke and Cara looked paler than noran the trek home Tessa had planned to somehoalk on her own, but Hunter lifted her in his arms

"You can’t carry me all that way"

Everyone chuckled

"If I didn’t have a lupus garou’s strength, you’d probably be right"

"I don’t think I’ve heard anyone question Hunter’s strength before and get off that easily," Meara said, her voice alancing at him as if to make sure he was okay

Ashton had his arled under his arm

"About the driver of the truck, I couldn’t kill hiuy as stalking me And even if he was…" Tessa let her words trail off She couldn’t have murdered him in cold blood If he had tried to run her over with the truck again, she wouldn’t have hesitated then

Hunter shook his head "The bullets wouldn’t have killed hiend says I don’t know of anyone who shot a lupus garou with silver bullets But it could have happened That’s often how legends get started"

They all grew quiet The snow fell around the hard, and they slipped as they walked on the icy road After a mile, Rourke had slowed his pace even th Ashton finally lifted Cara and carried her But before they reached the house, Tessa saw a black Hummer parked in the driveway Her heart tripped

"Leidolf," Hunter said, his voice couched in annoyance

"The red lupus garou is back for the redhead," Meara said "Don’t you think?"

"Back for me?" Not that there were any other redheads in their little party "Red lupus garou?"

"There are red and grays," Meara explained

"Better not be the reason why he’s returned," Hunter responded

Tessa didn’t see any sign of Leidolf in the Hu out the picture

"How’d he get in id skin turned icier

Leidolf opened the front door and came outside "Back door was unlocked Road was blocked by doires the way I was headed Looks like you ran into some trouble, too"