With that, we were on the move again, heading back to ‘Bottoms Up,’ me driving the SUV with the windows down to air out the smell of shit, and O’Shea following behind in his truck. But what would we do afterward? Would O’Shea come with me back to the farmhouse? Would he let me help him? Would he tell me he loved me back?

My gut twisted at the thought of losing him after we’d been through so much together. Because I knew better than anyone else that if O’Shea wasn’t strong enough, this would be his last two weeks thinking like the man I knew before becoming just like Alex. If all I had with him were two weeks, then I wanted every precious moment I could get.

20

‘Bottoms Up’ was dark. Then again, it was like four in the morning, and even a strip bar shuts down at some point. I pulled over half a block away, eyeing up the building. I’d phoned Jewel and left her a message before we’d left O’Shea’s house, telling her we were on our way.

Scrubbing my hands over my face, I waited a few moments before getting out of the SUV, the snow and wind curling around me, tangling my hair.

Alex slid out of the vehicle, sniffing the ground. “Wolf pack,” he whispered, putting one claw to his lips.

Great, just what I needed. I waved once at O’Shea and he got out of his truck, trudging through the snow in nothing but jeans, boots and a t-shirt.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“No.”

I squinted at him, blinking in surprise. As the snow hit his skin, little bursts of steam went upward. Shit, he was further along in the changes than I would have thought.

“You stay here, make sure no one else comes in after me,” I said.

Frowning, O’Shea shook his head. “No. You aren’t going in there alone.”

“Listen.” I put a hand on his chest, the heat radiating off him pulsing right through my gloves. “You are not in the best state of mind. I’m going in, and coming right back out.”

“With the kid?”

“Yes, with the kid.”

“You can’t carry him and manage doors at the same time.”

He glared at me, dark orbs floating with amber bits; my heart lurched. He was right, damn it.

“Fine. You carry the kid; I’ll get the doors. Alex, you stick close.”

The werewolf sat up on his haunches and gave me a sharp salute. “Yuppy doody!”

O’Shea picked up Ricky’s body, slinging it over his shoulder with ease.

I led the way, one sword drawn just in case. The snow crunched under our feet, and was about the only sound I could hear. “Boys, you getting anything?”

Alex shook his head, and O’Shea glared at me. “I’m not a f**king scent hound.”

I shrugged, for once not giving the sharp retort I normally would. He was going to be touchy for a while, getting used to using all his new found senses. Taking a slow, even breath, I put my hand on the front door, giving it a quick twist, expecting it to be locked. The door eased open, and a burly old man blinked up at us. “Heard you might be coming, leave the body here. I’ll get it to Jewel.”

“Fine,” I said, pointing at the ground. “Put him down.”

O’Shea laid Ricky on the doorstep and then grabbed my arm. “We need to leave. Right now.”

I didn’t question him, just turned and walked away as fast as I could without running. Our job was done, Ricky was delivered and now—

Three werewolves burst out of the building behind us, howling and snarling. Son of a bitch! This was what I’d wanted to avoid. O’Shea threw me behind him and I hit the snow, hard, sliding a good ten feet before tumbling to a stop.

Alex and O’Shea were back to back, the three werewolves surrounding them. Shit!

“Come on, you cocksuckers!” I got the attention of the smallest of the three. A thick grey pelt and bright green eyes peered at me, his muzzle pulling back in a wicked snarl before he leapt at me.

I yanked the whip from off my waist, snapping it through the air like a lion tamer, nailing the wolf in the face. He yelped, but kept coming, and I swirled the whip around again, getting it coiled around his neck. Like a giant leash, I yanked on it, putting all my weight into it. Around me, I could hear the howls and sounds of flesh being torn, but I couldn’t look away to see how the boys were doing.

The grey wolf snarled at me then tried to bite through the whip, whimpering when his tongue and lips came in contact with it. A surprised look passed over his face, and I laughed.

“Woven with silver, a**hole,” I said, jerking it again, biting it deeper into the flesh around his neck. He growled and leapt at me. I dropped back, let him go over the top of me as I held up my sword. His momentum and the sharp blade did the trick. Rolling to the side, I missed most of the entrails sliding out of his body onto the white snow. He landed with a thud, crashing to the ground in utter stillness. A flick of my wrist and the whip uncoiled. Spinning, I turned to see things hadn’t gone as badly as I thought.

The other two wolves were laid out, one with his neck obviously broken, head looking like it had been screwed on backwards, and the third was missing the front portion of his throat.

O’Shea stood in the middle of it, Alex cowering at his feet, tail thumping lightly in the snow.

“I have to go,” he said, turning away from me.

“Liam, don’t, this isn’t as bad as you think it is.” I called after him. He wasn’t heading toward his truck, but in the opposite direction, toward the badlands and the open plains. Shit.

He said nothing else, just loped off into the darkness, his shadow fading until Alex and I were alone in the middle of the road, surrounded by bodies and blood.

The creature inside him raged. He should have killed all the wolves, including Alex. It had taken every last ounce of his strength to still his hands and teeth, to keep from tearing out the submissive wolf’s throat. Then to walk away, turn his back and run, not only from Alex, but from Rylee. It tore a hole in him, the creature he was becoming not appreciative of the finer points of life.

Mates don’t leave mates. Call to her, she will come. It was as if a voice that was not his own spoke, a new voice, one that had no problem killing, no problem with bloodshed. She’d said she loved him, but how could she now? What if he ended up like Alex, trapped in a body and a mind that wouldn’t allow him anything but a submissive life?

He groaned into the icy wind, relishing the feel of it on his skin. It felt like there was a fire burning inside of him, scouring away what was left of the human he’d been, replacing it with the monster he was to become.

There was no way he’d be able to live a life now, not as he’d wanted, not even with Rylee. How could she be with him? It wasn’t possible. The look in her eyes, the soft acceptance, the understanding and love; she couldn’t know his thoughts, how he’d considered her fragile skin for biting into as much as for screwing.

Ducking his head, he ran into the wind, heading toward the badlands. He didn’t know why, but the monster inside of him spurred him onward. It was better this way—his leaving—better for everyone.

Most of all, better for Rylee. And if it was the last thing he did, he would keep her safe, even if it was from himself.

Jewel called me three days after we left Ricky on her doorstep, sobbing, asking me to come to the kid’s funeral. I declined. I also reversed the funds in my account; I couldn’t take money for finding Ricky, not when I still felt like his death was, in part, my fault. It didn’t matter that there were gunshot wounds, or that he’d been dead long before I found him, or had even started looking. My head and heart didn’t always agree on what was my fault and what wasn’t. This was just one of those cases that dredged up the fact I’d lost more kids than I’d saved. That simple fact was beginning to wear me down.

Two weeks came and went, the full moon crested and began to wane, and still there was no word from Liam. Thus far, I’d refused to Track him—if he wanted to deal with this alone, it was his choice. I was trying to respect that, but it was hard. By now, he was either just like Alex, stuck in a body caught between animal and human, or he was able to shift back and forth. With no word, and no sign of him, I feared the worst.

A phone call to Louisa had only intensified my fears.

“If Bear clawed him, it could have infected him with the shifting virus, but I doubt it. Most likely though, it was something else that got in the wound. Saliva is what carries it.” I must have been silent too long as she went on with her explanation.

“There was no way you could have known what he was going through, Rylee. The changes are so subtle when a human becomes a shifter; even I didn’t notice. Child, not even your second sight would have given you a clue to what was happening to him until he had already shifted.”

There was a shuffle on the other end and, to my surprise, Doran came on.

“Hello, beautiful Tracker. I hear your man has gone missing. My deepest condolences.”

I grit my teeth. “Yeah, thanks.”

“I wanted to tell you that you made it much safer here by taking out Jensen. Truly. For that, I will give you a favor. Free of charge.”

As much as he’d helped me, I was suspicious. “Why would you do that?”

His words rang alarm bells, as if he’d come at me with his teeth prepped for bleeding me dry. “I want you to trust me; I want you to let me help you.”

I hung up the phone, shaking. His words were an echo of Faris’, and I didn’t want any reminder of the vampire.

Thanks to all that was holy, he hadn’t made a repeat appearance, though I dreamed of Berget several times. Normal dreams, reminders of the past, and nothing more. I wasn’t sure if I was happy about that or not.

Mulling over Louisa’s words, I re-hashed the scene in her home in my mind, slowly realizing the mistake we’d made. I’d made. Liam had had open wounds and Alex had lain across them, drooling and bloodied around the mouth.

Alex had, because of my ineptitude, been the one to turn Liam. I slumped down against the kitchen counters, tucking my head between my knees, arms over my head. Shit, again, the blame for the loss of someone close to me lay squarely on my shoulders. With my face covered, I let the tears slip out, one by one, dripping onto the floor.