Lee's face was like a storm cloud as the two friends walked back to Caleb's blue Dodge Charger.

"I should—I should just go back there and drag her out," Lee growled, fists clenched at his sides. His shoulders were shaking—not with rage, but with desperation.

Caleb paused with one hand on the door handle. "She'd hate you if you did that," he replied quietly. Lee was the more hot-headed of the two, which was ironic considering that Caleb was Alpha-descended.

Lee heaved a huge sigh and thrust a hand through his dark hair. "I'd come back tomorrow night, but I've got to work. Are you free?"

Caleb hesitated. Lee worked night security for Stillwater Casino, Hecate City's largest employer—as well as Caleb's family's business. Caleb, on the other hand, was a firefighter in one of the city's poorest districts. "Yeah, I'm off tomorrow."

"Something wrong, man?" Lee asked, catching on instantly.

"It's—it's just been a long time," Caleb replied, opening the Charger's door and climbing inside. Right now, he didn't want to relieve the shock and hurt he'd seen in Sawyer's eyes when he walked into that seedy bar. He lived every day with the guilt of not defending her from his grandfather's rage.

Mollified by his explanation, Lee nodded and climbed into the passenger seat.

The two men drove in silence through the streets, passing bar patrons stumbling toward their next destination. Bars and strip clubs soon gave way to Hecate City's bustling business district, quiet for the night save for one building: In the very heart of the city was Stillwater Casino, Owen Stillwater's pride and joy. Caleb drove a little too quickly past the main entrance, not wanting to stare at the monument to his grandfather's arrogance any more than he had to.

The claustrophobia of the inner city gave way to pleasant suburbs and then, farther out, clan land. Caleb pulled up to the gate at the front of Clan Bloodmoon and punched in the code he'd memorized since childhood. The gates slid back soundlessly, allowing the Charger to pass through.

Lee lived in a small bachelor's cottage on his parent's property. Caleb pulled into the driveway and the two men exchanged a fist bump before Lee got out, their agreement lying unspoken between them.

It was well after one in the morning when Caleb reached Clan Stillwater. Armed guards shined a light in his eye as he pulled up to the gate, bowing in deference once they recognized the alpha's grandson. Caleb hated the sniveling and scraping his grandfather expected from his underlings and he was more than happy to see it go once his father received the Authority.

Like Lee, Caleb lived in a cottage behind his parents' house. Most adult male werewolves did until they got married. But he didn't go there immediately—the lights in his parents' house were still on.

Caleb parked in the driveway, got out, and locked the Charger. His mother met him at the door, dressed in her pajamas.

"Something wrong, Ma?" Caleb asked, concerned.

Helen O'Connell Stillwater was a small, petite woman with kind green eyes and a startling wealth of heavy auburn hair. "Wrong?" Her eyebrows lifted in confusion, then she smiled. "Oh, no, honey. Your father and I just wanted to know if you managed to find Sawyer or not."

After years of looking for the faerie, a werewolf police officer who worked in the bar district had reported seeing a woman matching Sawyer's description the week before. Caleb had told his parents right before he and Lee left.

"Yeah, we did," Caleb told his mother, stepping into the house.

"Oh, blessed goddess!" Helen exclaimed, pressing a hand to her heart. "How is she? Did you bring her home?"

They walked into the kitchen where Caleb's father Ryan sat at the island, eating a sandwich. "Is this about Sawyer?" Ryan asked, wiping his mouth on a napkin. His father was a large man, but unlike Owen Stillwater, Ryan didn't use his size to intimidate. "Did you boys find her?"

"Yeah," Caleb said, sliding onto a stool next to his father.

Helen walked to the fridge and started pulling out sandwich meat and Dijon mustard. "You don't sound happy, Caleb. What happened?"

Caleb looked down at the smooth grey marble countertop. "She refused to come home."

"Oh, honey." Packages of deli meat fell onto the counter as Helen lifted a hand to her mouth. "I'm so, so sorry." She slipped around the island to put her small arms around her son.

Ryan sighed and patted Caleb on the shoulder.

Caleb shook his head, fists clenching on the counter. "You should've seen her, Ma. So skinny, as if the life were sucked from her." He drew a shaky breath, tears pricking his eyes. "And the way she looked at me!" His chest tightened and he bowed his head.

"Caleb," his mother murmured comfortingly.

"I should've fought harder for her, Ma. Why didn't I fight harder?"

Helen Stillwater shook her head and kissed his cheek. "You did what you could."

"Your grandfather would've killed you on the spot if you intervened," Ryan told him, gripping his son's upper arm.

"It wasn't enough!" Caleb exclaimed, startling both parents as he banged on the countertop. "She was—is—my everything! I promised that I'd take care of her!"

Ryan paused and looked at the sandwich on his plate. "Did you tell her that I'm taking over?"

"Yes! And she still wouldn't come!"

"Goddess! What the hell is with all the noise?"

Caleb looked up as his older sister Naomi padded into the kitchen, her fiery red hair flattened on one side. "Did I miss the memo for a late-night family meeting?" She plopped herself down on the last free stool and grabbed the uneaten half of their father's sandwich, taking a large bite. Ryan Stillwater raised a dark eyebrow but didn't reprimand his daughter.

Helen patted Caleb's shoulder. "Your brother and Lee found Sawyer."

The sardonic edge to Naomi's expression softened. "Let me guess—she said no."

Caleb grunted, using the back of his thumb to wipe at the corners of his eyes.

"Well, you're going back, right? I've invested far too much time in your epic love story for it to end like this."

"Are you?" his mother asked.

Caleb sighed, then nodded. "Lee asked me to go back tomorrow night. He's got to work and I've got the day off."

"Why not just track her to her apartment?" Naomi asked around a mouthful of sandwich.

"You know that faeries are difficult to track," he told his sister. "And with all those stupid strip clubs in the area ..." If it were that easy, he and Lee would've found Sawyer years ago.

"Hmph," Naomi grunted.

"Well," his mother said, walking around the island. "Let me make you something to eat—"

"No, thanks, Ma," Caleb interrupted, sliding off the stool. "I'm going to go to bed." All he wanted was some quiet time to think and plan what he was going to say to Sawyer tomorrow night.

Helen smiled sadly and nodded. Ryan extended his arm and the two Stillwater men shook hands as Caleb passed by. He mock-punched his sister in the arm, earning himself a kick in the ass, and left by way of the back door.

The bachelor cottage was dark when Caleb walked up to the front door. After letting himself in, he locked the door and walked through the living room without turning on any lights. In comparison to Caleb's family home, the cottage was empty, with only his sad soul in residence. Sighing, he went to the bathroom to use the toilet, wash his hands and brush his teeth.

Stripping down to his boxers, Caleb flopped onto his bed, not even bothering to pull back the covers.

He'd loved Sawyer Bloodmoon from almost the day he'd met her—a small, shy, quiet faerie girl of four to his big, robust six-year-old werewolf. Lee had said that his parents adopted Sawyer and that he was now her big brother, who had to look out for her and protect her. And because Caleb and Lee were best friends, Caleb decided that he would do the same.

Since their mothers were also best friends, Caleb saw Sawyer all the time. He couldn't get enough of the faerie girl, who gradually opened up and blossomed into this bright, vivacious beauty who kept pulling him into her orbit time and time again.

Throwing an arm over his eyes, Caleb sighed. From the start, Sawyer had been the only girl for him. They'd made promises and plans, which all came crashing down when someone snitched to Owen Stillwater.

If he ever found out who it was, he'd wring their neck.

I'm so sorry, Savvy, he thought, arm dropping heavily to his side. The girl who had laughed and joked with him as they clumsily made love for the first time was gone, replaced by a shell of her former self. He couldn't leave her like that. Now that he found her, Caleb was determined to make sure that he never let her down ever again.