1. One

one

“Where are you heading, buddy?” I muttered, squinting at the taillights of the motorcycle I was following and regretting the impulse that had led me to this course of action.

It was frustrating to know that after an hour of painstaking surveillance I was no closer to learning what my quarry was up to than when I’d first started. In a city where you could be pretty much anywhere you wanted within half an hour, it was unusual that a trip would take this long. Especially at this time of night when traffic was at its lowest.

It made me think there was more going on than I’d previously suspected. Like maybe my friend on the motorcycle wasn’t quite as unaware of my presence as he was pretending. Not surprising really. Stalking a hunter, an individual whose job it was to hunt down and execute those of the supernatural persuasion, was never my best idea.

Curse my curiosity.

He’d probably driven past the apothecary I’d been staking out on purpose. Normally, I would have ignored him. Chalked up his presence to a fluke and continued on with my night like nothing happened. If only the hunter in question hadn’t declared himself my cousin. In front of my human family, no less.

How was I supposed to react in a situation like that? Pretend I didn’t have a burning need to find out everything involving him and the rest of his so-called family?

Ha. If only.

A hunter had already come close to killing me once. Okay, maybe twice. No way was I going to allow one to gallivant freely all over my city. Not without having an idea of his intentions, which right now were about as clear as mud.

“You sure he doesn’t know we’re following him?” Caroline asked, echoing my thoughts. Though her delivery was slightly garbled from the taco she was in the midst of devouring.

“You’re not helping.”

I didn’t need any negativity right now.

Caroline shrugged and took another bite of the delicious smelling taco. “I’m just saying—our chauffeur isn’t exactly a master of covert surveillance.”

I glanced at the unlucky human who’d just happened to be getting into his car at the exact wrong time and place.

“Stop that,” I snapped as the man shivered like a wet dog.

His back snapped straight as my compulsion forced him to obey. Seconds later, a high-pitched whistle like that of a boiling tea kettle escaped his nose.

The sound was more irritating than the shivering.

I sent Caroline an annoyed look. “Now look what you’ve done. He’s scared.”

He’d just started to calm down too.

“Don’t blame me. It’s your compulsion. Just order him not to be afraid.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” I grumbled.

I could force someone to do my bidding. Even make them forget everything they did or saw while under my influence, but I couldn’t manipulate their emotions. That was a skill that was still beyond my capabilities.

Caroline occupied herself with devouring another taco as I went back to staring at the taillights of our quarry.

Much as I hated to admit it, she was onto something.

He had to be aware that he was being followed. There weren’t that many other cars on the road. No matter how far back I told our driver to stay, our presence was bound to be noted. Unless he was an idiot—and I very much doubted that—he’d know what was going on.

Normally, surveillance of this nature was conducted with a team that involved several tailing vehicles that switched on and off of the mark. Hunters were naturally observant, paranoid individuals. I should have known after the first ten minutes of nonstop turns that he was taking us for a ride, but I’d been too focused on my obsession of finding answers to recognize counter surveillance tactics when I saw them.

Caroline dropped the taco she was holding into the to-go container and set it aside before grabbing a napkin to wipe her hands. “You never did tell me what’s so interesting about him that we had to kidnap a poor human so we could use his vehicle for this. I thought the plan for tonight was to spy on the sprites causing trouble for the druid.”

“I told you it’s not called spying. It’s surveillance.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Intent.”

By definition, spying implied a nefarious purpose. Whereas surveillance was done by governments and private investigators as a tool to gather information. Hence, my stakeout of the apothecary was a perfectly legal endeavor. If I’d been licensed and part of the mundane world, that is.

What I was doing now, on the other hand, following the hunter—that was closer to spying.

I was splitting hairs, I know.

Caroline wedged herself in the corner of the back seat, propping one foot on the console between the driver and passenger seat as she quirked an eyebrow at me. “I notice you still haven’t answered my first question.”

“Didn’t I? Must have slipped my mind.”

I kept my voice deliberately airy, trying not to give anything away. Caroline had always been protective. Since becoming a werewolf that part of her had kicked into overdrive. If I told her that the motorcyclist we were following was a hunter, she’d try to end the threat to her pack—aka me—before it began.

There’d be no chance to explain the hunter’s connection to my dad. That he was Dad’s nephew. Or that Dad had once been a hunter himself. That he was descended from a whole line of born hunters.

It was another secret on what was becoming a growing pile of them.

It seemed my life post transition to vampire-dom was built on a shifting foundation of lies and deceptions. It meant I was no stranger to keeping the people I loved in the dark. For their safety—and my own.

I pretended not to notice Caroline’s stare as she practically bored a hole in the side of my face.

“Who is he?” Caroline demanded.

“Just someone involved in a different case.”

Caroline studied me quietly, her intelligent gaze picking up far more than I wanted her to. She knew I was bullshitting her. I could see it in her face. The slight furrow of her forehead. The way the skin around her blue eyes crinkled like it did when she was trying to work through a particularly troublesome problem.

Her blond hair was swept up into a high ponytail, and she was dressed entirely in black. She’d even worn combat boots.

Her softer edges had burned away since becoming a werewolf. Her frame leaner and covered with muscle. Her features sharper. More feral. With an edge of wildness that threatened to lure the unwary closer. Like a moth to the flame.

“You realize werewolves are as good as vampires when it comes to sniffing out lies,” Caroline informed me seriously.

“I’ve been a supernatural longer than you. Of course, I do.”

Unlike her, most of that time was spent as a courier to the supernatural world. I wouldn’t have survived if I didn’t know the capabilities of the spooks I suddenly found myself surrounded by. I was betting I knew almost as much about werewolves and their habits as her.

“Besides, what part of my statement was a lie?” I asked.

Not a single word.

I’ll say this for hanging around vampires—they’d taught me how to deceive without ever having to speak a word of falsehood. It was a skill I’d come to appreciate. Mostly because it had saved my life more than once.

“You’re keeping something from me, Lena,” Caroline said.

“Quite possibly, but I’m not the only one keeping secrets, now, am I?”

Caroline shut her mouth at the pointed look I sent her.

Yeah, that’s what I thought. It wasn’t so fun when the shoe was on the other foot. I’d known there was a reason she volunteered to accompany me on this stakeout despite it being a work night. Caroline had always been a workaholic. Becoming the assistant librarian of the supernatural library hadn’t changed that. If anything, it made her worse. All that knowledge, just waiting to be consumed. I was surprised she ever left the stacks.

For her to take time off; something was up.

I just wasn’t sure what. She also wasn’t talking.

The driver darted a fear filled look over his shoulder. “Um—”

I didn’t take my eyes off Caroline. “Eyes on the road.”

The driver’s shoulders crawled toward his ears but he faced forward again.

“You have something to say?” I asked.

Caroline’s expression was blank. “You’re getting good at that.”

“Practice.”

It really did make perfect.

“It’s just that not too long ago, you never would have considered compelling a human.”

“People change.”

I’d come to understand that compulsion was a tool. One I desperately needed in my arsenal. I couldn’t continue to rely on the vampires around me on the rare occasion I needed it. They might not always be there to make humans forget when my world spilled into theirs. I had to be able to handle things on my own. Otherwise, people—innocent people who, like our driver, were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time—would get hurt.

Caroline broke our stare off to nod at the highway we were heading North on. “We’re getting close to the outer belt. Do you have a plan?”

I let her change the subject.

Up ahead, the motorcycle moved into the far, right hand lane in preparation of taking the on-ramp to 270.

“Too bad you didn’t give me a heads up about him beforehand,” Caroline drawled. “I could have done some flirting. Maybe found out where he was going. If nothing else, I could have tagged his bike with a tracker.”

“For so many reasons—no. Just no.”

Like I was going to let my best friend turn herself into bait for a hunter.

“So, he’s dangerous. Good to know.”

Damn it. Caroline always was too smart for my own good.

“Am I still following?” the driver asked in a quavering voice.

“Yes.”

Caroline snorted at my answer, slouching further in her seat. I noticed she hadn’t bothered with a seat belt. Another change in my formerly cautious friend. Prior to growing hair all over her body and howling at the moon, Caroline never would have sat in a moving vehicle without buckling up. She hadn’t even liked to ride in the shuttles at the airport because of the lack of seat belts.

“Slow down a little,” I ordered as the car sped up slightly.

“I’m going to lose him,” the human protested, gesturing at the road ahead where the motorcyclist had pulled far enough away to be a tiny dot on the horizon.

Seconds later, we lost sight of him momentarily as the on-ramp curved, obstructing our line of sight.

“You’re not going to lose him.” Caroline leaned forward as we followed the curve around, the motorcyclist coming into view far up ahead. Just barely visible. “He’s not getting on 270. Looks like he’s taking the exit for 23.”

With a satisfied look more suited to a feline than a wolf, Caroline crossed her legs, sitting back and making herself comfortable.

The driver sent her a startled glance. “You can see him from this far away?”

Caroline arched an arrogant eyebrow at him “You can’t?”

A range of emotions played out on the driver’s face as his gaze darted to meet mine in the rearview mirror before he looked away just as quickly. Uncertainty. Disbelief. Apprehension. Followed by a growing realization that Caroline wasn’t pulling his leg. Every word she spoke was the truth.

His throat worked as he swallowed hard, his hands tightening on the wheel.

Caroline’s nostrils flared. Probably picking up on the subtle changes in scent as adrenaline and stress flooded his system.

My sense of smell wasn’t nearly as developed as hers—one of the differences between a werewolf and vampire—but I could hear his heart rate speeding up. The changes in his breathing as it grew rapid and shallow, the knowledge that the two individuals in his back seat may not be entirely human sinking in.

Was it strange that a small part of me enjoyed his fear? It made me feel powerful. A dark queen basking in her place at the top of the food chain.

It was odd. There was once a time in my life when the thought of someone looking at me with that kind of terror and dread would have been a blade in my heart. It would have left me feeling like a monster. Something that didn’t deserve to walk under the same sky as the rest of humanity.

Instead, his fear sent a pulse of delight through me. It made me feel indestructible. He was right to fear me. I could end him with a snap of my fingers. All it would take was a moment of carelessness on my end. A split second of inattention in regards to my strength and squish. Bye bye, human.

“You okay?” Caroline asked, a concerned look on her face.

I shook myself, her question jogging me out of the strange place I’d just been in. “Yeah. Of course.”

Caroline stared at me for a second. Long enough that it was obvious she didn’t believe my assurances.

“I’m fine, Caro. I promise.”

The harsh frown lines in her brow softened as she finally let the subject drop. “We’re going to talk about this later.”

“Uh huh. Whatever you say.”

Despite my flippancy, a part of me was hoping she followed up on her threat. Something in me had changed over the past months. The worst part was how little the change in my personality bothered me.

That lack of concern was what scared me the most.

Caroline nodded at the exit up ahead. “What do you think? North or south.”

I hesitated, putting some thought into my answer. “South takes him towards Worthington.”

There wasn’t much there that I could think of that would interest a hunter. It was a cute neighborhood, mostly geared toward families. As a result, its downtown pretty much closed by nine.

“His end goal might be further south. There’s a lot of bars just a few minutes outside of there.”

I’d considered that. The Blue Pepper, a bar owned by a friend of mine and Caroline’s, was in that direction too. It was a mecca for supernaturals. Exactly the sort of place a hunter might stake out to find new prey.

Except if that was the case, he would have gotten off the highway much earlier. There were easier and more direct routes than the one we were on. Unless his goal was to be as confusing and obnoxious as possible.

A possibility I wasn’t quite ready to discard.

“Looks like we’re wrong, he just got off heading north.” Caroline grinned over at me. “This night just gets more and more interesting.”

I’ll say.

For the life of me, I couldn’t think what could be drawing the hunter in that direction.

Caroline tapped the driver on the shoulder. “You can go ahead and speed up. We don’t want to lose him.”

The human made a high-pitched sound that could have been a moan or a mumble of agreement. It was hard to tell.

Caroline frowned in disgust as she slanted a look at me. “Tell me again why we couldn’t take your car?”

“Besides the fact that it screams ‘look at me’ and isn’t suitable for surveillance work?”

I loved everything about my Jaguar F-Type. Its speed. Its maneuverability. Even its very distinctive color. A burnt umber that stood out even at night.

Its only drawback was how noticeable it was. It wasn’t exactly the type of car that went unnoticed.

Besides, my quarry was familiar with the car I drove. He would have known the moment I started tailing him.

Though since he’d figured it out anyway, I could have saved myself some trouble.

The driver stomped on the gas pedal. The car jolted and shot forward.

“Whoa, friend. Let’s not go too crazy. This isn’t a race,” Caroline cautioned.

“You said speed up. That’s what I did!”

Caroline made a placating motion with her hands. “Alright. Alright. My bad. Calm down.”

To me, she mouthed “Oh my God. So sensitive” while rolling her eyes.

It was a struggle not to smile at their interaction as the car rocketed forward, reaching the exit ramp and barely making it through the traffic light at the top.

Caroline snapped to attention, her focus on the tiny dot of the motorcycle’s tail lights up ahead where it was in the midst of turning into a strip of shops. “Avoid the bypass and get in the second to right lane. Turn at the light past this next one.”

“This is it. I’m going to die. You’re going to kill me when you don’t need me anymore,” the human moaned.

“We’re not going to kill you,” I grumbled, scanning the shop in the strip mall. My gaze settled on one in particular. A bar. The Lounge. I’d heard of it in passing. It was something of a local haunt. It had been listed on Columbus’s top ten dive bars at one point or another, earning it some fame.

It wasn’t a bar I’d ever been to. Partly because rumor had it the owner hated vampires. But mostly because when I felt like drinking, I went to the Blue Pepper. They had the best lemon drop martinis and I liked the atmosphere.

“Are you going to kill him?” the human asked.

Now why did that question sound almost hopeful?

I struggled for patience. “Also no.”

Caroline propped her arm on the frame of the door next to her and buried her face in her arm, her shoulders shaking suspiciously.

“Don’t worry—you won’t remember any of this tomorrow,” I told him, trying to be reassuring.

“Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! You are going to kill me.”

“What the fuck? I just told you I wasn’t!”

How did he get from “you won’t remember” to “you’re going to die”?

Peals of laughter came from Caroline as she lost the battle with her amusement.

Meanwhile, our driver was practicing deep breathing as he inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth. “I’ve heard all about this on the podcasts I listen to. You’re taking me to a secondary location where you’ll butcher me into little pieces. Then you’ll mail my body parts across the country as a sick taunt to law enforcement.”

Caroline’s laughter cut off. She lifted her head to stare at the human in sick fascination.

I blinked. And blinked again. “That’s oddly specific.”

Disturbingly so.

Talk about intrusive thoughts.

“I’m going to die tonight. I just know it. My mother is going to be crushed.” The man rocked back and forth, holding onto the steering wheel for dear life. “My house is a mess. If I’d known this was coming, I would have taken the time to clean it. Now everyone is going to think I’m a slob.”

Caroline was still staring. “Wow.”

I elbowed her in the side, giving her a look that said cool it. “I told you. We’re not going to hurt you. We just needed to borrow your car for a little while.”

Next time, I was going to order my victim to hand over the keys rather than have them drive me around. So much less drama that way.

“Please don’t start crying again,” I pleaded as his shoulders started to tremble.

Too late from the sound of the sobs coming from the front seat.

“You’re doing great,” Caroline assured me.

“I can’t tell you how much your compliment means to me.”

Caroline’s snicker was soft, barely audible over the ticking of the vehicle’s turn signal. If not for my heightened hearing, I may never have caught it.

“What do I do now?” the driver asked as we made the turn onto the next street.

The sidelong look Caroline shot me spoke volumes. “I assume you already have a good guess as to where he’s gone.”

The corners of my lips hooked up the slightest bit. “I may have an inkling.”

There weren’t that many places open in this area after nine. A German beer house and the bar I’d spotted earlier were the most likely contenders.

Of those two, the bar had my vote. It was exactly the sort of place a hunter might choose as a meeting point. It was far enough away from downtown and vampire territory. The fact the owner disliked our kind was a bonus. Throw in the dim interior and a large enough crowd that one or two extra people would go unnoticed and you had the perfect venue for a clandestine meeting.

Honestly, I might want to consider it for the next time I needed a neutral meeting spot.

I leaned forward and tapped the driver on the shoulder. “Turn here.”

He made a right onto a side street that wound behind a rundown-looking strip mall and a couple of the hotels that had sprung up in recent years as we backtracked toward where I’d seen the bar.

“Wait a minute. I’ve been here,” our driver said, perking up a little.

Caroline sent him an interested look. “Have you now?”

He nodded. “A couple of my friends wanted to try it out. It’s supposed to be one of the best dive bars in Columbus.”

“Did it live up to the hype?” she asked.

He shrugged. “It was okay. The drinks weren’t too expensive but you have to have cash. They don’t accept credit cards. The regulars were a little odd though.”

“How so?”

“Not very welcoming. They acted like our presence was an intrusion.”

Probably because it was. No one wanted a bunch of tourists ruining their favorite watering hole.

Although, if the rumors about the owner were true, it was possible those “regulars” were supernaturals of some kind. Most supernaturals only tolerated humans. Some mundanes could pick up on that fact.

I gave the driver a thoughtful look, wondering whether he was a sensitive. One of those rare few whose instincts warned them when they’d strayed into a spook’s territory. I’d never met one before so it was impossible to know what to look for.

“Found him,” Caroline crowed, distracting me. “His bike at least.”

I looked to where Caroline was pointing to find the bike we’d been tailing for the last hour. Bikes weren’t my area of expertise, but this one was all class with a stylish edge. It looked like something out of an old movie. Its leather seat contrasted with the chrome and metal of its frame, which was on the thinner side.

About the only thing I could tell you was that it wasn’t a Harley. Or any bike I’d seen before.

I scanned the parking lot, finding no sign of my prey. “It looks like he’s already gone inside.”

That was good news for us. It meant that we didn’t have to circle around and park somewhere far away.

“Stop here,” I ordered the driver.

Caroline had already thrown open her door and was climbing out before we had fully rolled to a stop.

I shoved out of the car after her. “Someone’s a little eager.”

“Can you blame me? All this secrecy has gotten me curious.”

Caroline snickered, stuffing her hands into her pockets as I ignored her, walking over to the driver’s side window and knocking. I waited for the human to look at me before gesturing for him to roll the window down.

He stared at me, not moving for long moments. His hands tightened around the steering wheel. Prey on the precipice of flight. I could practically see the thoughts turning in his brain. The urge to stomp down on the gas pedal and rocket away from the big bad scary.

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” I warned, my voice lowering to a rumble that felt sinister even to me.

My reflexes were faster than his. I could punch through this window quicker than he could follow through on his impulse. If worse came to worst and he managed to get the car moving, I could use my vampiric strength and speed to ram the car and tip it onto its side.

I was strong enough for that. Probably.

The only issue was the damage either course of action might do to this jacket. It was one of my favorites. I wouldn’t be happy if it got ruined. Neither would he once I got done with him.

Our stare off lasted for a second before the human released the steering wheel and reached over to roll down the window.

“Good choice,” I muttered.

I wasn’t in the mood for a tussle. Not to mention the attention it would draw.

The human couldn’t quite meet my gaze as the window lowered. “Sorry about that. I was confused for a moment.”

“Uh huh.”

Sure, he was. Confused about his place on the food chain.

“Alright, let’s get this over with. All you need to do is look at me and then you can go on your merry way.”

That brought his eyes up to mine. “Really? You’re not going to kill me?”

“I told you already. I was never going to hurt you.”

I might not be as against this whole vampire thing as I once was, but I hadn’t completely lost myself. As long as he didn’t try to hurt me or mine, he was safe. I wasn’t going to go on a killing spree willy nilly.

This time my assurance seemed to get through to him, the strain in his features loosening as something approaching a smile graced his face.

“That’s awesome!” He grinned down at his steering wheel, pounding it lightly before looking back up at me. “I’m so relieved. For a minute there, I thought my ticket was punched.”

“That’s nice. Look at me.”

So I could end this annoying encounter and get back to the rest of my night.

“Hey! Wait!” He leaned partially out the window. “This was actually kind of fun.”

“Fun?”

“Yeah. You know—exciting.”

“You mean between all of the ‘Oh God, please don’t kill me’?”

He nodded with an eagerness that was at complete odds with the nervous, high-strung human I’d gotten to know over the past hour.

He grabbed his wallet from the cup holder and fished out a business card before handing it to me. “Here. Just in case. Next time you have a situation like this, call me. I’m happy anytime you want to car jack me.”

Was this a joke? Had I somehow managed to break his tiny human brain with my compulsion?

Seeing my nonplussed expression, he shoved the card at me again. This time more forcefully. “I’m serious.”

Maybe so, but it wasn’t going to happen. If I ever was in this situation again, I was taking the car and leaving the human. So much quieter that way. None of the hysteria or crying.

There was a soft sound from the rear of the car. Something close to a whimper.

I straightened to look in that direction. “Caroline? What’s wrong?”

My friend stood ramrod still, a distant look on her face, her arms and legs quivering as if locked in battle with an unseen force.

In the next second, she doubled over. “Brax.”

Fur sprouted along her body and face. Everywhere that wasn’t covered by clothes.

The human pushed open the door to climb out. “What is happening to her?”

I shoved him back into the car, slamming the door closed behind him for good measure. “Stay there. Don’t move.”

I barely remembered to lace my command with a compulsion before tossing the human to the back of my mind and hurrying over to Caroline.

She was curled in on herself, making agonized sounds. I knelt beside her, my hands hovering. I was afraid to touch lest I hurt her more. She looked like she was in the throes of a transition to werewolf. Only I’d never seen a change take this long—or be this painful.

“Caroline, talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”

I accessed my other sight, the special ability that allowed me to physically see the magic in the world around me. It was a product of my magic breaking power. No one was quite sure how or why I was able to do something so rare that the mere whisper of it would put me at the top of everyone’s hit list.

Over the past few years, I’d done some research into magic breakers and found that they weren’t always rare. Sometime in the last thousand years or so, they’d started to die out. Or were killed off.

From the descriptions I’d pieced together, my power wasn’t quite the same as theirs either. As their name implied, magic breakers could break magic but it was usually limited to spells and the like. Something like adjusting the balance of a demon tainted werewolf or taking away the madness of an ancient vampire wasn’t supposed to be possible. Even for them.

Yet I’d managed both.

I didn’t know what any of it meant either. Nor was there anyone I could ask since my biological father, perhaps the only person who might truly understand why I was so different, had disappeared.

Caroline grabbed my wrist, her grip bruising. Her claws dug into my skin, drawing beads of blood. “It hurts.”

Her eyes had gone fully over to the wolf. A beautiful, mesmerizing amber.

In my magic sight, a wolf was superimposed over her body. The wolf writhed in agony, trying to throw off the rope of golden light that had settled over her neck. It looked like a dog collar. About three finger widths wide and too tight, practically strangling her as it forced her obedience.

I reached for it, guessing that this was the cause of Caroline’s pain. My palm and fingers blistered the second I came into contact with the gold.

Caroline’s howl echoed, nearly deafening me. More fur sprouted, her nose and jaw elongating. The sound of crunching came, the pop of bones breaking and reforming. Her spine twisted, her limbs warping as she fell to all fours.

“Hold on, Caroline. I’m going to fix this.”

I didn’t know how, but I was a magic breaker. I could do this.

Grabbing the collar with both hands this time, I pulled with all my strength, ignoring the stench of burning skin and the searing pain that came along with it.

The collar didn’t budge.

That was okay. I had other methods.

I reached for the part of me that I considered the source of my magic breaking. It unfurled, responding to my desire. I aimed it at the collar and the complex magic I could see at its heart. It was a nasty piece of work, meant to subjugate its recipient.

The strange thing was that there was something eerily familiar about it. Just out of reach. Like an echo of something I’d encountered before, but the details eluded me.

Sensing my attempt, the collar tightened around Caroline’s neck, drawing another pained whine from her wolf.

Whether I recognized the magic or not was no longer important. This needed to come off. Now. Otherwise, I’d lose her.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.”

Hurriedly, I sorted through the magic, trying to find a weak spot. Something I could use to tear it apart.

It would help if I knew how it came to be on Caroline in the first place.

At that thought, my magic shifted, sharpening and bringing into focus something that was hard to describe. I couldn’t “see” this change. Not with my eyes anyway. And yet, that’s exactly what it felt like. As if I was using a sense outside the normal five. With it, I knew how the magic had managed to infiltrate Caroline’s defenses. Like a virus sneaking through a back door. In this case, Caroline’s connection to her pack.

Somehow the person who’d orchestrated this attack was using that link to try to gain control over Caroline and her wolf. If I could restrict it somehow and cut off the power source feeding the spell, it might be enough for Caroline’s wolf to destroy the collar on her own.

Before I could question the wisdom of fiddling with a pack link, I reached for the connection with my mind, smothering it.

There was a sucking sensation. The world around me spun, a complicated web of intersecting lines eclipsing my vision for a split second. Curious, I reached out and touched one. The closest in proximity to Caroline’s.

A spark ran from me to it, feeding along the line to its source and then several other connections branching off of it. It was like watching the path of lightning. Seemingly random and chaotic. Arcs splitting off the main vein to feed into branches of their own.

A howl ripped me from the inner world.

In the next second, something big and fast slammed into me, knocking me backwards. My head collided with the asphalt.