“What’s wrong?” Declan asked.

He heard the stuttering voice on the other end of the line. “I’m Wong, nothing’s wrong.”

“Wong. What’s the update? You wouldn’t make the call if there wasn’t anything to report.”

“I’ve got activation on Sanders. His phone pinged about ten minutes ago.”

“And?”

“I’m waiting for the calculation to come back. It must be from the Creek. There aren’t that many cell phone towers so it can take a while. Sanders though, he is in Fort Myers.”

“He’s gone the slow route in the hope of throwing us off the scent. He’s a sneaky bastard.”

“The message Sanders received. I managed to grab hold of that one, and it only says the army has roadblocks a few miles out of the Creek. The girls need to go on foot,” said Wong.

“Geez! The army is taking this seriously,” Declan said.

“It is a natural occurrence though,” Wong said. “Isn’t it?”

“With the forces involved. Who knows?” Declan stretched. “I’ve got to go. I need some rest.”

Wong yawned in response to Declan’s stretching. “I’ll keep going. Ariana has plenty of energy drinks here, and the dancers are hot as hell.”

“Have fun, Wong.” Declan left the little spectacled whizz to get on with his work.

“What did he say that was so interesting?” Garrett asked.

“Megan’s arrived back in the Creek. The army’s put up roadblocks a few miles out of town,” he explained. “Did you see roadblocks when you came out?”

Garrett and Abigail smiled. “We never came by the regular roads. We crossed country all the way through the cattle fields. You remember them, don’t you?” Declan did remember.

The ATV buggies. What a blast they were. That was the day when they’d picked the flowers and helped Garrett and Abigail to get their memories back.

“Noelle, Mom and I have been talking. We’re going to head off home. It won’t be long before you head off on Drake’s trail so we’ll need to vanish then, anyway,” Garrett explained.

Noelle looked across the table. “When are you thinking of going?”

Abigail grabbed hold of Noelle’s hand and rubbed it. It was a long time since Noelle had felt her mother’s touch.

“Now! We’ve got an open ticket, and we can be home in a few hours,” Abigail replied. “We can check up on that no-good cousin of yours. If I had the chance, I’d take her head; clean off.”

“Mom. That’s Megan you’re talking about.”

“Yes, I know. She never was to be trusted. Sure, she was a damned fine hunter, but I think she was doing it more for the kicks and the fun of it, rather than what it meant.”

Noelle wanted to get her mom and dad to hang around, but again, they were correct. Soon she’d be off by whatever means, and heading toward Mexico on Drake’s trail. Fingers crossed and some faith, she could only pray they’d get him back safely.

“I’m not going to tell you to stay, even if you’re welcome. And I’m glad you came.” Noelle looked at Declan. “We’re both glad you came.”

Garrett and Abigail stood. With a shake of everyone’s hand and a big hug for Noelle, it was decided.

“Take care of her, and bring our grandson home safe.”

“Yes, I will, if I don’t, you can hunt me down,” Declan said.

Garrett smiled. “You know it’ll never come to that.”

Garrett and Abigail grabbed their bags and left as quickly as they’d arrived. Noelle leaned on Declan’s side and looked up into his eyes.

“That’s my mom and dad; for you. Here one minute and gone the next.”

“Never a dull moment,” Declan added. “Well, now they’ve gone, we’d better get some rest before we decide what we’re going to do.”

Declan rested his head on the pillow, and it was lights out. For three days he’d run on adrenaline with hardly any sleep. Heading off into Mexico was very much different to rounding Sanders’ followers in Miami. It was the land of the unknown. Out of his depth was an understatement, and if they ended up in trouble, there wasn’t anyone they could call on to help them out.

He fell asleep with Noelle wrapped in his arms.

Declan stood at the counter in the coffee shop waiting for the barista to make his regular. He glanced around and noticed the girl. His heart raced and pounded hard against his chest. He’d never seen anyone like her before. Not wanting to appear obvious he turned back toward the counter and watched her reflection in the stainless steel.

She looked hot and refined. Power-dressed and ready to kill. Declan watched her glance in his direction. “Your coffee, sir,” the barista said, placing the hot coffee (to go) on the counter with a couple of table napkins.

He moved to the door and tuned in to his wolf senses. He turned. She stood before him.

“Hey, you were just...”

“I was just inside,” she replied. “You buy coffee here oft...” she started to say.

“All the time, near-enough every day. It beats the crap out of instant.”

“You can say that again, but it’s not so good for the figure,” the woman said, patting her flat stomach.

“There’s nothing wrong with your figure from where I’m standing,” Declan replied.

The young woman smiled. It wasn’t often she grabbed a man’s attention so strongly. His eyes smoldered as he looked at her. She sensed he was full of passion. He was Declan, the leader of the pack and in charge of Clifton Towers. The woman bit her bottom lip; she coyly glanced away and then looked back into his eyes. She knew deep down he was a killer. He’d take men’s souls and rip their hearts out for the fun of it. A natural-born killer. It was his destiny.

She, on the other hand, came from a very good family. Right was right and wrong was wrong. Never should either cross the path of the other.

“Noelle.”

“Excuse me,” Declan replied.

He wanted to turn and head off back to the Towers. His wolf sense told him the young woman was trouble. His feet were stuck to the floor, and his eyes were stuck on her.

“My name’s Noelle.”

“That’s nice, I mean, that’s a nice name.”

“It was given to me by my grandmother.”

“Not your parents?”

“Of course, they had the final say, but it was a family tradition for the firstborn to carry on the name of Noelle.”

Declan listened. All his concentration was fixated on every word and how her lips formed them. They looked soft and plump and he pictured himself locked onto them with her in his embrace. He mentally reminded himself the woman was trouble. He knew it and didn’t need to be reminded. He chose to ignore the fact.

He sucked in a large breath as she spoke. “Declan,” she whispered. “Declan.”

His body rocked from side to side. He felt he was going to f...

“Declan, wake up will ya,” Noelle muttered, now shaking him.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. “What is it?”

“Maria’s in the lounge. She woke up a few hours ago.”

Declan lifted himself from the bed and rested on his elbow. He asked what was in her dream. Noelle said he’d better speak to her; it’d make more sense than her relaying the story. Chinese whispers and the convoluted stories which happened would not be a good play. Declan slipped his legs off the bed and washed his face and wet his hair. He stepped into the lounge area and looked at Maria.

“Noelle said you’d come to bring me up to date?” He looked at the window. It was dark. “What time is it?”

“Believe it or not, it’s only a little after lunch.”

“It’s pitch-black.”

Maria looked serious. “That’s one of the things I wanted to speak to you about. There’s going to be one hell of a storm coming in the next few days.”

“We can’t be holed up here. We need to get moving before it arrives.”

Maria agreed. Declan asked her to check all the weather for Florida and out to sea. They needed to know what storm was coming and how it would affect their plans.

“Do you want to know the rest of my dream?”

“Yeah!”

Declan poured two mugs of coffee from the pot. Two sugars in each and cream in one. Maria was a healthy chick and skipped on the cream. Sugar was her weakness, and two large spoons was a bad habit she’d learned from Dustin. Kelvin wasn’t the only one he’d influenced with his sweet tooth.

“You know about the gas already. I saw where it was leaking in the mine warehouse. Canisters were on the table.” Declan explained about Wong and the message. Megan and Tanya were in the Creek. “I saw Tiffany by your old house in the woods. I asked Gabriel about her, and he said she mentioned squad, and in my dream, she told me of the others who were watching Sanders.”

Declan shook his head. “I don’t know anything about her. She was purely part of Gabriel’s time in the Towers, and then she went when I ousted him.”

“The funny thing was, I mentioned her bag of things. She said she might need them,” Maria explained.

Declan exhaled and took a final gulp from his mug. He dropped the cup back to the table and looked in Maria’s direction.

“There’s only one thing for it.”

Maria quizzed him about what the one thing was.

“You’d better fetch her things so we can check what’s in there.”

Maria stood to walk from the apartment. The one crucial part of her dream she’d forgotten about. But then it hit her like a flash.

“I found out where they’re taking Drake. I almost forgot.”

Declan looked up. Noelle must’ve heard too because she dashed from the bedroom.

“Where?”

“The Vera Cruz we’re looking for is up in the Cordoba Mountains.”

“While you’re grabbing Tiffany’s bag,” Declan said. He walked back and began making a fresh pot of coffee. “Get Dustin and bring him back with you.”

“What’re we going to do?” Noelle asked.

Declan grinned. “Now we can plan.”

“You want me to drop you here?” the cab driver asked Garrett. He looked in his rearview and noticed Garrett wasn’t joking. He flicked the meter and halted the cab.

Garrett and Abigail hopped over the fence to the amazement of the cab driver. He stepped outside and peered into the field. The roar of an engine fired into life, and an off-road buggy burst from the bushes. He heard a scream of “Yeehaw” and a saw a raised fist (of Abigail’s) as the buggy sped across the field. He shook his head and returned to his cab. As he turned the key something landed on the hood of his cab.

“What the fuck?”

He looked through the windshield as the beast turned toward him. Its fur black as night as it shone. The animal peered through the windshield at the driver. Its blood-red eyes burned into him. He fumbled with the keys as the engine started and he slammed it into reverse. The beast rolled onto the ground and walked in his direction. The cab spun on the grass verge.

“Come on, you bitch.” The tires screeched as they hit the asphalt. His foot pressed hard against the metal. His eyes were fixed on the rearview as he left the beast.

The cab driver shook with nerves as he peered at the dent in his hood. “That’s the last time I drop anyone in the Creek,” he muttered under his breath.

Garrett and Abigail missed the action (and the sight of the beast) by seconds. They reached halfway across the field and spotted cattle lying on the ground.

“Something’s not right,” Garrett yelled as he slowed and drove toward the first animal which lay there, motionless. Garrett climbed from the buggy and reached for his rifle. Abigail reached under her seat and pulled out a revolver. Once a hunter, always a hunter. They stood in silence and listened. “It’s not the gas that killed them, but, I bet it's related.”

The steer had its throat ripped out. The grass was covered in a dark crimson where it bled. Garrett crouched and shone a flashlight on the wound.

“Whatever did this isn’t one of those vlads. This is something else.”

Abigail turned on the spot as she kept watch. Her eyes strained to look into the distance.

“You don’t think they might’ve mutated, do you?”

“I think they might have done exactly that.” He stood and walked back to the buggy and hung his rifle up. “We’d better get home and pass on the news.”

They climbed in the buggy and sped off toward the gate which led to the river. More cattle covered the field.

“Garrett, I think it’s a good job we came home when we did. We can’t lose too many cattle to these things,” Abigail said.

“I know exactly what you’re going to say,” he replied. “It’s time to give the old crew a call.”

“Well, it won’t be an instant revival of the hunters. They all moved into the Towers and then spread out to be safe. If they come back, they’ve got nowhere safe to live.”

The buggy rumbled through the river. Water splashed into the vehicle. Garrett paused for a second as steam rose from the engine. He turned to Abigail.

“Our house is big enough. What do you think about giving shelter to a load of ex-werewolf hunters for a while?”

Abigail started laughing. It was ironic. “What goes around comes around,” Abigail shouted as they neared the top of the track by the house.

Garrett stopped the buggy. He stepped out and walked toward the top of the track. He looked for a moment or two and then walked back to the buggy. He climbed back inside and leaned on the steering wheel. He turned his head toward Abigail.

“Did you turn the lights off when we left?” he asked.

“Of course I did. You know I always do.”

“So why are they turned on now?”

“You’re my evening star; I can see your light shining out to sea.”