I killed the engine in front of my apartment. Stepping out with my bag and clothes, I pressed the button on the keypad. The car beeped, letting me know it was locked. I unlocked the apartment door and walked into the cool house, turning the light on over the dining room table.

 "Where the hell have you been?" I jumped. "Good Goddess." I felt my eyes widen. "Shawn, what the hell are you doing here?" The wolf growled quietly, disturbed by someone invading her den. I took a deep breath and soothed her, projecting a sense of pack to her. She settled down, her ears perked but otherwise calm. "I've been trying to get a hold of you for the past three hours," he said. I looked at the door, then back to where he was sitting on the couch. "How the fuck did you get in?"

 "I don't need a key," he said. "You picked my lock?" He nodded. "If you had a chain on the door it would've been more difficult. I'd have had to bust the chain."

"I'll remember that," I said and put my stuff on the table. "Looks like you stayed the night somewhere," he said. "I did," I admitted. "Where?" he asked, "Dinah's?" I shook my head and went to the fridge, opening a can of Diet Coke. "Nope. Guess again."

 "The countess?" he asked and even as he asked it he managed to sound like he quite didn't believe it. My voice was soft as I sat down in the armchair. "Yeah."

 "I don't trust her." His brown eyes had gone cold and hard. "I'm afraid," I said. "Why are you afraid? I haven't known you to be afraid of anything. Except for spiders," he said. "I'm afraid," I said, "that I do trust her."

 "Camila, you can't trust anyone. Especially not a vampire."

 "Shawn, I think you forget what I am."

 "You're a different story," he said. "You didn't choose to be what you are."

 "Who's to say Lauren chose to be a vampire?"

 "They're tricksters, Camila." His voice was calm, as if he was trying to get the words gradually through to me, like if he didn't remain calm and speak slowly I wouldn't hear him. I suddenly felt like a crazy woman he was trying to talk down off the ledge. I didn't like that. "You don't know her," I said, narrowing my eyes. "So don't start passing judgment and don't start talking down to me." 

"I'm not passing judgment," he said. "I'm not talking down to you. I'm just saying that you haven't known her long enough to really know her either." He stood from the couch. "Wait," I said and he stopped. "Are you mad at me?"

 "That's not my place," he said. "I'm just worried. I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into." His shoulders lifted in a shrug beneath the denim jacket. He turned to look at me "You're like a sister to me and I don't want to see you to get hurt." 

"Shawn," I said, "I don't want to get hurt, either. Trust me on that one."

 "Do what you have to do." He nodded and opened the door. "Call me if you need anything." He shut the door behind him. I got up and locked it, placing the laptop that had been moved to the island on the dining room table. I forgot to ask him why he had been calling me in the first place. If it had been important, he would've told me, but I had a feeling that Shawn was just worried about me.

 I only hoped that he wouldn't resort to picking my lock again. With a new shifting ability, Goddess only knew what could happen if someone seriously spooked me. I rubbed my temples. I'd gotten used to going furry once a month. The wolf had become just another aspect of myself, but the raven... I hoped that the raven didn't come with the same price as the wolf. If it came with the price of going feathery once a month, I wasn't sure how I felt about that. 

---------------------------------------

  I spent some time when I got home sipping coffee and doing research on Colorado state parks and killings. Ally Brooke had mentioned that the guy she'd gone out with had worked as a park ranger somewhere in Colorado. 

Sure enough, there were three killings reported in that area. In all of them, the victims had been torn apart, and pieces of their bodies were still missing. There was nothing about Evan or any other wolves. In fact, the police still didn't have any suspects. I turned on the shower. I stood under the spray of hot water, feeling each bead beat against the sore muscles in my back. 

Shifting into different animals really takes it out of the body. 

I thought about Lauren. I thought about the look of soft affection in her emerald eyes as she held me. The way they flinched in pain as the sunlight began to cast its glow on our side of the world. I ran the tip of my tongue across my lips, recollection bringing forth the moment when blood welled between our mouths. 

There wasn't a nick on my tongue. It had been my canines that had cut her. The vampire hadn't taken me when she had the chance. She hadn't even taken me when I'd agreed with the wolf and offered myself to her on a silver platter. She had presented herself as a calming presence when I shape-shifted into something strange and unusual. It was still unnerving.

 Was it permanent? How had I been granted a gift? Was it really a gift? Why would the Morrigan have placed her mark so strongly on me? If I had the energy to freak out about it, I might. I assured myself there wasn't any point in freaking out about it. I'd learned a long time ago that freaking out doesn't fix anything. I had to accept the fact that I was no longer just a werewolf. I laughed. It seemed that for once in my life I was willing to allow a question to remain unanswered for the time being. 

Then again, time itself has a funny way of revealing things. Water dripped onto the floor as I grabbed a towel from the hall closet and headed to the bedroom. I wore a long-sleeved burgundy thermal and a pair of black jeans. The Mark III in its shoulder holster was hidden from view thanks to the black leather jacket.

 I picked Dinah up, as I said I would.

 "Turn here," Dinah said, pointing to the street on the left. The little blue sign above the red stop sign read Dillon. "It's the third house on the left," she said and I guided the Tiburon into the driveway, parking behind a red pickup truck. I turned to look at her while unbuckling my seat belt. "Do they know?" I asked. "What I am?" I nodded. She shook her head. "No." She put her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. "I never told Seth."

 "Do you think Evan knows where your brother works and lives?" I asked. Slowly, she nodded. "The whole pack knows," she said. "We know that type of stuff about one another: where everyone works, what they do for a living, where they live..."

 "Terrific," I said. She looked at me with widened eyes. "If someone from the pack has taken him," she said, "they're breaking pack law." 

That much I knew, but I didn't think Evan really gave two shits about breaking pack law. "I know," I said, stepping out of the car. The house looked small from the outside. The door opened and the woman looked past me and to Dinah.

 Dinah slipped past me, enfolding the smaller woman in her arms. I heard her whisper, "I'm so sorry, Paula." Paula stroked Dinah's back. "I know, sweetie." Paula Meeks stepped back and looked at me. I approached, offering my hand and introducing myself. Paula took the hand I offered and her fingers were light, her touch tentative and soft. I was guessing she was in her early twenties. "Thank you, Camila," she said, "for agreeing to meet with me."

 "I'm just glad you found the time." I winced, hoping it didn't sound judgmental. But I found myself hoping that if I went missing, someone would make the time to talk to the people who could help find me. Of course, with the company I was keeping these days, there probably wouldn't be anything left of me to find.

 I decided to pick up that train of morbid thought later, maybe to lull myself to sleep or something. She opened the door. "Come in." I followed Dinah into the living room, sitting down on the sofa beside her. "Would you like some tea or coffee?" Paula asked, raising a hand to push the light brown curls of chin-length hair out of her face. Her dark eyes were red around the edges, as if she'd been working too hard and crying too much. 

Dinah accepted the offer of tea. I gracefully declined. I waited until Paula returned, handing Dinah a mug and sitting down in the recliner on the other side of the coffee table. The house was neat and tidy. Two worn recliners were placed side by side. I imagined Paula and Seth often sat in them, watching television together. "Paula," I said, speaking softly, "can you tell me what happened?" I watched as she took in a deep breath, steeling herself. "I came home from work Sunday evening." She looked off to the left, remembering. "He'd already gone into work. He works until midnight at the school." 

"Jefferson Elementary?" I asked remembering what Dinah had told me. Paula nodded. "Yes," she said, "Henry goes into work at seven in the evening and usually doesn't get home until around midnight." Her voice shook. "I take a sleeping medication," she said. "I'm usually fast asleep when he gets in from work, but when I woke up the next morning he wasn't in bed with me. He wasn't here, so I ran outside to see if his car was in the driveway, and it wasn't. I tried to call him," she said, "and kept getting his voicemail. The last time I spoke with him was earlier Sunday evening, before he left for work." 

"He works weekends as a janitor?" I asked. She nodded. "I'm sorry to ask you this," I said, "but would there be any reason for you to believe that he left you? Have you been fighting?" She shook her head, eyes watering with unshed tears. "No," she said, "Seth isn't like that. If he was going to leave, he'd make damn sure I knew it." 

"Does he have a history of disappearing for days?" I asked. "Does he drink? Gamble? Is there anyone at work that he's friends with?"

 "No, no," she said, shaking her head. "Seth doesn't have very many friends. He's a loner, keeps to himself."

 "He's always been like that," Dinah added. "Does he have any enemies?" I asked. "Any disputes with anyone at work or anything?" Paula shook her head. "My brother is one of those guys that when he does socialize, almost everyone likes him," Dinah said. I rubbed my temples. If Seth didn't have any known enemies or friends, I couldn't think of anyone else who would've kidnapped him but Evan. But then, I didn't understand why Evan would kidnap Dinah's brother. 

It didn't make sense, unless there was something going on in the pack, some type of power struggle. I looked at Dinah, wondering, why would Evan take her brother? She'd said he'd made no threats to her. She'd stated that Taylor's half brother had, but I had a feeling that was more to do with the whole werewolf power-bluffing shit than any actual real threat. 

Evan Peters posed a huge threat. As far as I could tell he was my prime suspect. How many werewolves end up with a dead body on their land? The ones that commit the crime, I say. If Evan wanted her position in the pack—why wouldn't he just challenge her? I had a feeling I would find out soon enough. I looked at Paula, standing. "Thank you, Paula. I'll call you if I learn anything about Henry's whereabouts." 

"That's it?" she asked. I nodded. "For now," I said, forcing myself to smile.

 Gods be damned—what the hell was Evan Peters up to? 

--------------------------------------

  We left Paula's house and headed to the pack meeting. Dinah informed me that the meeting was at the same place as the one I had spied on before. I drove while she stared out the window, obviously lost in her own thoughts. 

Once we were on the highway it was pretty much a forward shot until it was time to exit. "This next exit," Dinah said. "That's an exit early," I responded. "You can park where the others park." I turned down the dirt road that she was pointing at. As we drove farther down, the headlights reflected off the other cars and the body of water next to them.

 "I didn't know there was a lake out here," I said. "It's a pond." Well, it was a big-ass pond. I parked the car. She nodded toward my jacket. "You'll have to cover the gun well, Camila. I'm sorry, but it's the rules." I frowned but buttoned up the jacket to hide the shoulder holster. It really didn't matter, because if the entire pack posed a threat to me, well, silver bullets or no, I couldn't pull a trigger fast enough to deal with an angry pack. 

Dinah led the way through the thicket of trees. I wasn't sure if I could've found the clearing from this direction. Though the half shoe prints in the dirt might've helped lead the way if I was that determined. There was always the smell of a group of wolves that wafted on the air, and if I focused I could've tracked it.

 Dinah put her hands in the pockets of her jeans, ducking tree limbs that jutted out like wicked hands. I could smell the burning torches before we entered the clearing. A few people mingled here and there. I looked to my right at the stone throne. Taylor wasn't sitting there. I spotted Trevor mingling with two female wolves. Apparently, he spotted us as well. He practically skipped up to us.

 "Hey, Dinah." He looked at me. "Camila, right?" I did my best not to glare, and I think I managed not to. "Yeah." 

"Taylor wants you to introduce her," he said, talking to Dinah. "Where is Taylor?" she asked. "She's not here yet. Said she'd be a little late. She and Austin had to take care of something." I looked out over the array of werewolves and spotted Evan Peters dark hair.

 His brown eyes met mine, empty of any emotion. I gave him a dirty look. Trevor said, "They probably got caught up working on the house. They've been doing some remodeling, did you hear?" He looked at Dinah again. "Taylor's thinking about having our meetings there once the renovations are done." He smiled brightly.

 "No. I hadn't heard." Dinah sounded disinterested. Trevor's girlfriend was still werewolf-sitting. Ally wouldn't be able to meet with the other wolves for a few more days, until the fever finally broke. For now she was on bed rest. A guy walked up behind Trevor. He smiled at Dinah and then me. "Who's your friend?" His voice was a deep baritone. His hair was short and spiky. He was well built. The leather of his jacket thudded against his back when Trevor put half an arm around him. 

"Austin!" he exclaimed. "It's about time you guys showed up. Still remodeling?" The big man laughed. "Taylor's got this idea that another wall needs to be knocked down to open the dining room up into the living room and den. We're not going to have any walls by the time she's done." Trevor nodded as if he understood and then looked around. "Where's Taylor?"

 "She'll be here soon," Austin said and then looked at me. "You're Dinah's friend?" he asked. "The new wolf?" New? I didn't know how I felt about being called new, but I shrugged. "Yeah."

 "Austin, this is Camila. Camila, this is Austin, Taylor's half brother." He offered his palm and I took it, unthinking. He wrapped his hand around mine so tightly that it hurt. I tore my hand away. "What the fuck, Austin?" He smiled, brightly, his hazel gaze holding mine. "Just a test," he said, "a lesser wolf wouldn't have taken their hand away." I slipped my hands in the pocket of my leather jacket.

 "I'm not very fond of tests," I stated in as cold a voice as I could muster. Austin gave a booming laugh, looking to Dinah. "You didn't warn her, did you, Beta?" Dinah's eyes narrowed in contempt and Austin's smile broadened. "Warn me of what?" I asked, turning to her. 

"They're going to test you. Maybe not today, but as they get to know you," she said, "and some of them, like Austin here, will be complete assholes about it." Austin grinned. A woman's voice growled out over the clearing. 

"Austin!" Taylor Swift was sitting in her throne. I hadn't seen her enter the clearing. I watched as Austin's shoulders tensed. His eyes narrowed slightly. He turned that look on me. "Well, Camila, you've been warned." His voice was a low whisper. He went to stand quietly behind his sister's throne. 

Taylor Swift's blue eyes scanned the crowd of werewolves that had suddenly fallen silent. Dinah grabbed my elbow, and as she went down to her knees she pulled me with her. I stifled the growl that was beginning to build. The clearing was suddenly hotter, like someone had lit a nearby fire.

 Dinah's energy thrummed up my arm where she held my elbow, and I took a deep breath in through my mouth, tasting fur on my tongue. "Step forward," Taylor said, her eyes meeting mine. Dinah let go of my elbow. I didn't move. I stared very hard at the ground. I heard her feet on the earth and felt the force of her energy a second before I felt her fingers bury in my hair. 

Taylor Swift grabbed a handful of my hair and jerked my head back. She lowered her pale face toward mine, close enough that I could feel her breath against my cheek. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I felt Evan watching. I felt the wolf inside of me. I felt her anger. A low growl threatened to trickle from my lips. I swallowed.

 "Why do you not step forward?" Taylor's blond hair fell around my face as she gazed down at me. I didn't like her that close and resisted the urge to push her away or break her hold. I spoke very carefully, trying to control my temper, trying to control the heat in my words. "You are not my alpha," I said, "not yet." Taylor's bright gaze widened as if it was the first time anyone had ever spoken against her.

 Her eyes narrowed a second later. "If you join our pack," she whispered, "I will be." 

"If you're not nice to me," I whispered back, taking a breath in through my mouth, "why would I even want to join your pack?" She let go of me so abruptly that I almost lost my balance and fell into Dinah. I caught myself with a hand against the earthen floor. I glared at Taylor Swift and she glared back. Oh, I so did not like this bitch. "Fair enough," she said, smiling. The smile didn't reach nor did it match the look in her eyes. No, there was a look there that said she'd enjoy punishing me for my bad behavior.

 I stifled a shudder. "Enjoy yourself, Camila," she said, and then turned, heading back to her stone throne. She announced out over the clearing, "My brothers and sisters of the Blackthorne Pack, there is a new wolf among us." She smiled darkly as her voice carried clear and unwavering. "Welcome her as you would welcome any other wolf to the Blackthorne pack." 

  Why did I get the feeling she'd just literally thrown me to the wolves? I continued to glare. If it wasn't for all of the evidence that pointed toward Evan, I would've so loved the opportunity to hunt Taylor Swift. You know those people you meet once and you know that no matter how many times you meet them, or how nice they try to act, you will never, ever, in your entire life, like them or fall for the good person act? That's how I felt about Taylor Swift.

 I was beginning to understand why Lauren didn't like her. Everything about Taylor rubbed me the wrong way, and knowing that she was a cruel bitch made it ten times worse. 

A meteor falling from the sky and striking her would've been icing on my cake.