WILLOW

"Is she as good in bed as I keep imagining?"

The minute the words left his mouth, something shifted in Croc's expression. His eyes flashed, teeth bared, and I sucked in a breath, recognizing the change. He wasn't my Croc anymore. A dragon-like growl rumbled from deep inside his chest. He was whoever had been chained to that tree.

"Cro—"

He gripped Reggie by his clothes, hoisted him up, then slammed him down hard.

"Croc!"

If he heard me, he didn't care. He pounded Reggie's skull.

"Croc!"

The men carrying vegetables down the path dropped their cargo and rushed to help. Reggie swung his massive fist, connecting with Croc's cheek. But Croc barely flinched. He just kept hitting him, and no matter how many times Reggie hit him back, he didn't slow.

Reggie kicked and bucked, fighting to get free, but Croc wrestled him like an alligator. Only, this was so much worse than in the swamp. This wasn't a game. This was savage. "Goddamn, do you not feel pain?" Reggie roared.

"I am pain."

Croc headbutted him hard. A sickening crack rang up. Reggie went slack. Three men rushed forward and gripped Croc from behind, fighting to pull him away. He turned his rage on them. Another roar. He yanked the legs out from under one, yanked the shirt of another. He moved like he was possessed, inhuman, feral. Like everything he'd learned had melted away, and this was who he truly was. More men approached, massive men who'd been changed, but Croc wasn't like them. He hadn't been morphed from man to beast. He was a beast disguised as a man.

The remaining men fell into formation, like a wall of soldiers moving into battle. He was outnumbered.

Croc released the call.

"Oh, fuck," I said.

The men slowed, looking between themselves and Croc cautiously. Then a horde of gators raced forward, and their wall crumbled to ruin, as they all scrambled to escape.

No, no, no, no, no! This was not good!

I needed to stop this. If the gators killed even one of those men, then all our hope was lost. We needed each other. We were already too few. I opened my mouth, and the sound that emerged was unlike any I'd ever made before. It was so powerful it burned my lungs. So loud it hurt my ears and echoed long after it ended. It filled me like the green, coursing through my veins. Only, instead of rotting me from the inside out, this filled me with life. With power.

Then the sound faded away, and absolute silence took its place. I looked around, stunned to find the gators had stopped, and Croc was staring at me.

"Go, Little Bit," Merle breathed. It was only then I noticed him behind me. He must have exited the men's room. He too was frozen, looking at me as if I'd suddenly donned a cape and saved the world.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Tex broke through the crowd. "What the fuck is going on?"

The men all kept a distance, held back by a barrier of growling gators standing guard between us.

Merle motioned toward Reggie with his chin. "Is he dead?"

"Not yet," Croc rumbled.

I focused on Croc, willing him back to earth. "We don't kill people just because they—"

"He challenged me," Croc seethed.

I heaved a shaking breath. Despite knowing he would never hurt me, I hesitated on whether or not to approach. Not when he was like this. Basic intelligence, instinct, and every natural urge dictated I stay as far away as possible. Regardless, I took a small step forward.

He watched me.

"One punch would have sufficed," I whispered.

His brow furrowed as he seemed to think, then he shook his head hard. "No. I may not know everything about humans, but I've seen enough fights over females to know what a challenge looks like. He challenged me, and I won."

"Can't argue with that." Merle stepped over and nudged Reggie with the toe of his boot. "I wasn't aware he could be this quiet."

"Croc?" Another step. My fingertips met his chest. His muscles trembled beneath my touch, and he let out a breath as his body seemed to slowly deflate. "It's okay," I whispered, sounding as if I were coaxing a wild animal. It felt like I was.

He palmed the side of my head and drew it to his chest. "I won."

I embraced him, checking Tex and the others with wary eyes. What if they kicked us out? Where would we go? The swamp wasn't safe anymore, and we'd have no one there to help us when the next wave of Officials inevitably came.

Tex motioned around, directing the uninjured to help the rest. All the while, he kept his gaze on Croc's back. When the situation seemed at an end, he said, "Mind calling off your muscle?"

Croc stiffened at the sound of his voice, and his grip tightened as if he thought I'd be stolen away. He turned and met Tex's gaze. Then, reluctantly, he nodded, and the gator's slowly headed back toward the river.

Tex watched it happen with a low whistle. "They always do what you say?"

Croc looked back at me, something warm leaking into his tense expression. "Usually."

My lips parted. I'd been too caught up in the moment to process what I'd done, but now I knew for sure. I had controlled them. Me.

Tex made it up the hill and repeated what Merle had done, nudging Reggie with his boot. "I warned him."

"So did I," Merle said. "You know he don't listen worth a shit."

"Maybe this will finally be a lesson," Tex said. He focused on Croc. "I don't doubt he deserved this, but how about not killing everyone else with him?"

Merle huffed a laugh.

Croc looked thoughtful for a long moment, then he nodded once.

"Fair enough," Tex continued. "Something tells me it won't happen again. Now, tell me how you got your gators to follow orders."

***

CROC

I followed Tex through the camp, Willow and Merle a few paces behind us. Tex kept going on and on about the gators, but I was too busy watching the men we passed. There were more here, a lot more, and I didn't like the odds.

Willow was wrong. That challenge hadn't been any different than the thousands of gators I'd seen tear into each other during mating season. He wanted my female, and he wasn't the only one. After days of watching them look at her, leer at her, and talk about her, I'd had enough. I'd kill every last one before I'd let them lay a hand on her. I'd been about to do just that before she stopped me.

And she had stopped me. I sucked in a breath as pride fought to push away the rage. She'd released the call, and they'd listened to her despite the command I'd already given. Not only that, but I'd listened to her, and at that moment, I hadn't been a man. I hadn't been in control. That was the only thing that separated humans from animals: self-awareness. I knew because I'd experienced both perspectives. As a human, I could think for myself, hear my own voice deciding what action to take. But animals didn't need that. Instead, there was a command from somewhere beyond us, demanding we do what was needed. Find food. Find shelter. Sleep. Get warm. Protect.

That's all I'd heard the second he approached me. Protect. Hurt. Kill. Then anyone who arrived after that was an enemy.

But her call had pierced through the fog, overpowering all else.

Willow was strong.

We approached a small building not unlike Pappy's shed, and I noticed Julia and the babies sat at a nearby table. Eve jumped up and raced toward us. "Croc! Look! Tex gave us chocolate!" She held one up. "Try one!"

I smiled and took it. "Thank you." Though, I wasn't sure how to feel about the brown square. There was something familiar about it.

Eve looked up at me expectantly. I sighed and popped it into my mouth. My eyes widened.

Eve giggled. "It's good, isn't it!"

I nodded and closed my eyes, the flavor like a memory against my taste buds. Clear as day, I saw Pappy's face, smiling down at me, as he handed me a chocolate bar and a coloring book. "Sorry I couldn't make a cake this year, T-Croc."

"T-Croc."

"Huh?" Willow asked.

I opened my eyes to find her watching me.

"That's what Pappy used to call me," I said. "And he'd give me. . .chocolate."

I reached down into my pocket, retrieved the set of keys, and headed toward Julia.

She looked up as I handed them to her. "Did I just win a brand new car?"

Tex laughed.

I lifted the keychain and showed her the back. "There's something written here, but it's too dirty to read. Willow said you could get it clean."

She eyed them then shrugged. "I'll see what I can do. Doubt it's anything interesting though."

I nodded, but deep inside, I had a feeling the words were important. The more I remembered, the more I wanted to know. Where was my mother? Why had Pappy been alone? Who was the man with the gun, and why had he come? I had more questions than answers, and a clue was hidden there; I could feel it.

I just needed to figure out what it was.