Chapter 13

Holly balledup a shirt and slammed it into her suitcase. She couldn't just sit at her Airbnb and wait for Pierce to tell her he'd taken care of the Kyle situation. If she were honest with herself, she worried about how he and his pack planned to handle it in the first place. They wouldn't do anything too extreme, would they? Not that Kyle was her favorite person, and he'd certainly be risking the life of every shifter in the world by outing them, but she still didn't want anything bad to happen to him in return.

She yanked another shirt out of the closet, sending the hanger flinging upward in its wake. This whole thing was so frustrating! She'd thought she'd finally had a decent annual meeting—outside of almost drowning, of course. She'd met a fantastic guy who spoke to her very soul and seemed to be the embodiment of a modern-day hero. He was handsome, courteous, and everything else she'd want in a man.

"But then I had to go and fuck it up, didn't I?" she berated herself as she tossed the next garment into her suitcase, paying little attention to folding or organizing. It was just going to get shaken around in the belly of the plane, anyway. "I lied to him. I lied right to his face when I said I'd be packing up the next morning and leaving. I knew it was wrong, and it made me sick to do it. It was only because I wanted to protect him, but that obviously didn't work."

No, it sure hadn't. Now, he was out there taking care of the problem, putting himself right in the line of danger she'd tried so hard to keep him from. He had family there. He had backup and resources. Who was she to think she could stop this just because she knew Kyle and understood the process of creating an article?

"Hmph. Fucking Kyle." The jacket Holly had brought in case the nights were cool hit the open top of the suitcase and threatened to topple it backward. She'd only made herself look worse by spending her secret time in Eugene with her coworker. Again, she'd screwed things up beyond repair. Was she attempting to sabotage herself?

When she reached back into the closet, she grabbed the navy skirt she'd worn on her night out with Pierce. Tears welled up in her eyes as she ran her hands over the fabric, soft and flowy. It'd made her feel so sexy as it moved around her, but it was Pierce who'd truly made her come alive. She'd never felt so wanted as she had in his arms, and she'd never get to experience that again.

Holly brought the skirt over to her suitcase and laid it in gently. It was just a piece of clothing. It made no real difference in her life, but she knew it would always make her think of that night. It was a fateful night, with Rick's house burning down and all.

She pressed her lips together, wondering if it was even more fateful than that. Was there more to tell Pierce? She still had to figure that out.

Her phone chirped. It was too late for anyone to be calling or texting. Holly picked it up off the nightstand and saw the symbol for low battery. "I guess I really let myself get distracted today." She reached down for the charger, but it wasn't there.

After she checked the kitchen counter and the end table in the living room, Holly realized she must've left it in her car. Grabbing her keys, she stepped out into the night. She crossed the small patch of yard, realizing the grass was far brighter than it should be at this time. Turning, she looked up at the moon, full and bright as it shone down on her. Pierce had told her about the moon goddess Selene, whom Rex had named his club after. It was a new concept to her but one she'd grown to appreciate. The moon was always there, looking over them. Who was looking over her?

The screeching of tires had her turning again, this time toward the street as a car careened down it. The headlights bobbed and the brakes squealed as the vehicle curled into the driveway and nearly hit her rental.

"Hey!" she shouted, knowing what she'd have to pay for damages.

Kyle jumped out of the driver's seat. "Get in the house, Holly! Get inside right now and lock the doors!"

This guy just didn't give up. "What are you doing here?"

"Just get in the house. We can't talk out here." He grabbed her by the elbow and practically dragged her.

Holly went, but only because she knew Kyle. He'd get whatever this was out of his system, and then she could get him to shut up and leave her alone for a while. She closed the door behind her but didn't lock it. "What do you want?"

"It's the shifters," he began. His hair was a mess, and his eyes were wide with dark hollows beneath them. The back of his jeans were muddy, and his shoes were dragging dirt and muck in that the landlord probably wouldn't be too happy about.

Holly put her hands on her hips. Kyle was a long way off from the neatly dressed reporter she knew from those annual meetings. Sure, he'd always been a creep, but he'd never looked like he'd been living under a bush before. "I thought I made it abundantly clear that I didn't want to discuss that anymore. I told you, there's no such thing."

"Oh, yes, there is!" He let out a maniacal laugh, a little too high in pitch. "I saw them with my own eyes, Holly. Not just one or two, and not just from a distance. A whole bunch of them."

Uh oh. "Were you drinking tonight?"

As seemed to be his habit, Kyle ignored anything that didn't play into his narrative. "Do want to hear the most interesting part? One of them was your little boy-toy, Pierce! He stood right there in front of me. He knew all about what I've been trying to do, and that only proves me right. He used you to get to me!"

That was absolutely not what happened, but she couldn't imagine how hysterical Kyle would get if she tried to explain fated mates to him.

"It wasn't just that," Kyle went on, pacing in front of her. "This wasn't just a man-to-man talk, Holly. He had his whole pack of wolves behind him, hackles raised and teeth bared. He threatened me and told me to stop. I refused and saw him turn, Holly, with my very own eyes—into a wolf! There are even scratches down the back of my car to prove it!"

Her stomach and heart sank. Pierce had tried, but Kyle was too stubborn to listen to any kind of reason. Even a snarling pack of wolves wasn't enough to drive him away from this story.

"You have to believe me, Holly," he insisted. "You have to, for your own safety! If they're coming after me, they're going to come after you, too!"

There wouldn't be any arguing with him. "Okay, Kyle," she said softly, speaking to him like a wild animal caught in a trap. "I believe you."

A small amount of relief showed in his eyes, but the frenzy he'd worked himself into wouldn't disappear with just an affirmation from her. "Good. Good. I'm glad you're back on board, Holly. I need you in order to make this story work."

That was the very last thing she needed, as was him standing there in her temporary living room. She checked her back pocket for her phone, thinking she should probably at least send Pierce a text, but she'd left the damn thing in the bedroom. "So what's the next step?" she asked cautiously. If she could at least get information from him, she might be able to use it against him.

"I've been thinking about that a lot," he admitted, continuing to pace as he gestured wildly with his hands. "I worked with some ghost hunters last year on a story. They didn't find any evidence, of course, but they have some very sensitive equipment. Maybe they'd have some ideas as to how we could get infallible proof. Or they might even be able to tell the difference between humans and these monsters!"

She felt a familiar rise of anger within her. That was happening more and more around Kyle, especially when he was badmouthing a group of people he didn't even understand. She balled her hands into fists as her bear roared its discontent inside.

"I've got a buddy with high-res drone camera," Kyle continued. "I'd have to bring him out here from Florida, but I wonder if he could fly over some of the parks at night and catch them in the act!"

"Even if they're real, don't you think it makes sense to treat them like any other people?" she asked. Holly knew Kyle was well past the point of being reasoned with, but she still had to try. She couldn't just give up on this.

"Ha!" he barked sharply. "They didn't treat me with any respect when they cornered me in the woods and threatened me, so there's no chance in hell that I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt. You're too nice, honey. That's your problem."

"I know it is," she grumbled through gritted teeth as her bear surged once again, "but don't call me honey."

"I know for sure now that Selene's is a main hub for them. I followed a couple of guys out of there again tonight. Plus, at least two of the guys who work there were with Pierce tonight. I did a little bit of online research, wondering if anyone else had noticed strange activity there. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find that Selene was an ancient moon goddess. Think about it, Holly! The moon? People who change into wolves? It all makes sense!" He stabbed a finger toward his temple.

How was she going to fix this now? It'd gone too far, too fast. Just a couple of days ago, he'd been raving at the woman in First Light Café, and Holly had been convinced he'd never go any further. Now, he was actually piecing a few bits of information together. The rock club being named after an ancient goddess meant nothing on its own, but he'd seen enough from Pierce and his packmates to understand there really was more here. They weren't werewolves, exactly, but his mind had defaulted to that because it could understand. "Kyle, I think we need to slow down and?—"

"We're going to be so famous!" he rambled on, throwing his hands in the air. "Can you just imagine? This is going to be so much bigger than anything Newman publishes. You'll probably get job offers from all the biggest newspapers and magazines in the country. I might go into television."

He was definitely off the rails. "That's cool, but we really need to think about this."

"Or maybe they'll want us together, a package deal. Have you ever thought about television?"

Her anger continued to simmer inside her, working its way toward a rolling boil. She'd been putting up with him for the last several days. He'd probably cost her the last chance she had at a relationship with Pierce, if there had been one at all. Now, he was determined to drag her along onto his rollercoaster ride of insanity. "No, and I'm not interested. I don't want to do any of this."

"Granted, nothing is going to top this story," Kyle continued. "This is the top, and once we milk this story for all it's worth, it'll be a bit of a downhill turn, but that's fine. I can handle that."

"Kyle, please."

"We just have to find a way to trap them, and I think you're the key. They don't think you're dangerous. No one does. Sweet little Holly, so shy and innocent. You're perfect!" He grabbed her by the arms, shaking her in his excitement.

"You're wrong," she growled, finally reaching a point of no return with all the emotions that bubbled inside her. Kyle refused to listen. It didn't matter if she pandered to him, tried to reason with him, or even grabbed him by the throat again. He was too damn stubborn. "I am dangerous, honey."

Holly stepped back and let her bear emerge. It'd been trapped inside her for too long, fighting against everything happening around her. She felt the familiar comfort of her dense fur. Her bones thickened and lengthened to support her massive muscles, and the deadly claws on the ends of her paws snagged in the carpet. Cracking sounds echoed through her skull as her bones rearranged into the other face she wore, the one with a long muzzle and dark nose. The lamp fell to the floor and crashed, the bulb sending up a pop of sparks as her large body tried to find enough room in the space.

A new sensation echoed deep inside her belly, a knowledge that she wasn't alone in this body. It was the confirmation she'd been seeking, and it filled her with a pleasant warmth. She was pregnant.

But Kyle was too busy shrieking for her to enjoy the moment.

With every ounce of exasperation she'd felt for Kyle, Holly pulled in a deep breath and let it out as a roar, screaming out her anger.

He fell backward over the coffee table and landed on his shoulder near the hearth, still bellowing. Kyle regained his footing, but there was no place to go unless he went past Holly. He threw his arms in the air, flailing about as he tried to figure out what to do about this black bear standing in his way.

Holly blinked. Her sight had always been good, and it was even sharper when she was in her animal form, but something didn't look right. The roots of his dark hair lightened as he gibbered before her, the effect moving out to the ends. His hair had turned a shocking shade of white.

Tired of all his bullshit and screaming, Holly raised her paw and sent it across his face with a smack. Kyle's eyes rolled back in his head, and he crumpled to the floor just as the front door flew open.

Holly backed away quickly. Instinctively, she wondered what sort of trap Kyle had set for her. But when she turned to the door to face the new danger, she saw it was only Pierce.