I rolled over in bed, seeking warmth that wasn't there. In the twilight between dreams and waking, I thought Alex was in bed beside me. My eyes snapped open and disappointment crushed me—I was alone.

I didn't know why I expected anything else. It would have been nice to have him here, his arms comforting me as I slept. No, I thought. I had to remind myself I couldn't involve him in this mess. That didn't make forcing him away yesterday morning at that truck stop any easier. It just made it necessary.

I got out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom to take a shower. It didn't take me long to get myself cleaned up and ready for the day. Once dressed, I decided to get the mail since I hadn't picked it up yesterday. I opened my front door and froze at the sight on my doorstep.

A pair of mutilated dead rabbits were displayed on my front porch like a twisted gift. One had its stomach slashed open and its intestines were wrapped around its neck like a macabre necklace.

The other rabbit's body was bent in odd angles. I crouched down and gently touched it, then yanked back my hand. It felt like it was a bean bag, with no bones other than its skull. My nostrils flared. Edward's scent rose up from the poor animals.

A low growl rolled out of me and I scanned the area for any signs of him, even up into the trees. I held still, scenting the air. Nothing.

I stepped back inside, stripped, then laid my clothes on a nearby chair. As I shifted into my cougar, the breeze brought the smell of the rabbits to me even stronger. They had been recently killed.

Edward's stench covered them. I carefully stepped over the bodies and his scent disappeared. What the hell? It didn't make sense. I lowered my head and carefully circled the rabbits, but there was nothing for me to track.

My blood ran cold. I had no idea how he could get his scent to disappear. Did that mean he could be out here, right now, watching me?

Had he found some way to make himself invisible? I whipped my head up; my heart raced as my eyes darted around.

If he could make himself invisible to my senses, could he do it to others, too? With the thought that invisible enemies could be surrounding me, my inner cat froze. I had no problem defending my territory, but I didn't want to fight a losing battle against unseen foes either.

How could I fight something I couldn't even see? The answer was I couldn't. That thought immediately calmed me down. I refused to be afraid of something I couldn't see.

I stepped inside the house, shifted to my human form and grabbed a paper sack. Returning to the porch, I gently picked up the rabbits and carefully placed them into the bag. My heart twisted as one of the rabbits hung limply in my hand, all of its small bones broken.

I rolled down the top of the bag and set it on the ground before I shifted. I picked up the paper sack with my mouth, bunched my legs, then leapt off my porch and headed for coyote territory. I would give meaning to the rabbits' terrible deaths.

And, if Edward was watching me, I'd lead him away from Aly and Isabelle, who were each taking up one of my two guest bedrooms.

It didn't take me long to reach the edge of coyote territory and deposit the rabbits. I took a different route home to be safe. During my run, I considered the threat Edward represented.

I really didn't think he'd bring the entire pack after us. He wanted me all to himself. He wanted to torment me. He knew where I lived. Where my sister and Isabelle slept. He knew who Alex was, too. My stomach twisted. Now I had to deal with the fact that he could make his scent disappear.

Dread shot through me. There was only one answer. We had to leave Fayoak. I couldn't risk him hurting Aly, Isabelle or Alex. I put on a burst of speed and sprinted home, glad most of my injuries were healed. My front leg slowed me down a bit, but not much.

I shifted mid-step while still running when I reached my house. I jumped over the pool of rabbit blood still on my porch and shut the door behind me. In moments, I was dressed and down the hallway at Aly's door.

I knocked, but she didn't answer. My sister slept like the dead, so I knocked again, louder. I knew she was in there, her scent was too strong for the room to be empty.

Worry started to coil inside me when she still didn't answer, but I pushed it back. Edward was obsessed with me, not her. He wouldn't hesitate to hurt her to get to me, but I was sure he'd leave her alone if I was around. He wouldn't go after anything else if his choice prey was around.

I pounded on the door and loudly yelled, "Alysse, I need you to get up!"

I wrenched on the knob and it didn't turn so I banged again.

The door behind me opened and I whirled around to meet Isabelle's startled gaze.

She smiled shyly. "Hi."

"Hey, sorry to be so noisy, but I need you both to get dressed quickly. We're getting out of here."

Her face paled. "What happened?"

"Nothing . . . yet. But it's not safe here anymore."

Aly's door opened behind me and I stepped back so I could see both of them.

"Soph, what happened?" Aly asked, her hair rumpled but she looked alert.

"Nothing, like I said."

"Bullshit."

"What did you say?" I asked in a dangerously quiet voice.

"You heard me. Bullshit. You wouldn't be telling us we have to go if 'nothing' happened. So, what the hell happened?"

I forced down the anger her tone triggered inside me. Aly never spoke to me like that. I could understand why she did it, though.

I was trying to protect my sister, but she needed the facts, too. I swallowed back my instinctive denial.

"Edward is here."

"Edward is here?" Isabelle whispered.

I didn't want to know why she knew to fear him. He had been so good at fooling the rest of the pack. If she knew he was dangerous, there was a reason.

"So what?" Aly asked, anger coloring her tone. She was still livid from when I told her about him attacking me. "He's a coward. You and I can take him."

"He's not a coward, Aly. You don't know what he's really like. And we might not even see, smell, or hear him coming."

Aly snorted. "Like that would happen."

I quickly explained the lack of scent on the animal kills at the mass grave and the rabbits on the porch.

"I don't know how he's getting around without me knowing it, but we can't fight against that."

"What about the local pack?" Aly asked. "Couldn't they help?"

I looked off to the side without answering her.

"Oh my God, Sophie. You haven't even talked to the local pack, have you?"

"I have," I shot back, angry that she'd think I was so irresponsible. "I've joined the pack. I followed all the rules."

"Well then, what are they doing about Edward?"

"Nothing, okay? We have to get out of here."

"Soph," Aly put her hand on my arm, "what happens if we run and he follows us? What happens when he finds us again?"

I opened my mouth to answer her, but nothing came out.

"And if he doesn't chase us? We just leave him here? That seems pretty screwed up. We need to warn people."

I blinked at her. When did my baby sister grow up? Where did these words of wisdom come from?

"I never thought about that. I simply figured he'd chase us . . . chase me." I thought about leaving them, but if Edward didn't follow me, they'd be in double danger. And Edward wasn't the only threat.

"What about the old pack, huh? I can see it in your eyes, Soph. You know they're gonna come for us. What then? I don't want to be on the run for the rest of my life."

"I don't either."

"What kind of Alpha is Jack?" Aly squeezed my arm before letting go. "Why won't the Fayoak pack help us?"

"It's not that he's a bad Alpha, it's just that . . ."

I winced. I was going to have to explain myself.

"I might've not told him my whole story when I arrived. I didn't exactly tell him about the pack. We can go ask him for help, but I don't know how much good it will do."

"We?" Isabelle asked, her eyes wide.

"Yeah, we. You'll need their protection, too," I told her gently.

The blood drained from her face. I hadn't even considered how scary meeting an Alpha would be for her after what she's been through. I was afraid she was going to pass out, and I stepped forward, my hand reaching out to catch her.

She shook her head and leaned away from me. "I'm fine. Really, I'm fine."

"Isabelle—" I began, but she surprised me by shaking her head again.

"Izzy. Please, call me Izzy."

"Izzy," I tried again, "it'll be okay. Jack's nothing like him." I refused to use that asshole's name. "Jack's a good Alpha, you'll see. But if we're going to stay here, we have to meet with him. And you'll need the pack's protection. I'm sure you know the rules."

She nodded, although everything about her posture was filled with resignation. The sight broke my heart, but it had to be done.

I looked between the two of them. Izzy's fear-filled look and Aly's challenging one. I wasn't one to give up and run, but Edward was out to get me. When he got started on something he clearly had no brakes, and he had decided to focus on me.

Aly was right. I was going to have to seek help and see if I could get it.

"Okay, I'll go call Jack and see if he can meet with us."

I turned around and went to my room. My phone sat in its normal place on the charger. I picked it up, yet I hesitated. I put things off for a moment and checked my messages.

I saw a text from Alex and I caught my breath. He asked how I was. How was I? That was a loaded question.

There was no way I could get into it without a long explanation. I swallowed deeply. I was surprised he even texted me after what I had put him through.

I thought about ignoring him entirely; I didn't want to give him false hope, but couldn't bring myself to do so. I sent him a short reply.

No other messages waited for me. With no more excuses to delay me, I took another deep breath for courage and dialed Jack's number.

If he didn't answer, I'd leave a message. It was early and part of me hoped he wouldn't answer.

It rang once.

"Go," a male voice answered tersely.

"Jack?" I asked. I needed to make sure I was talking to the right person.

Just because it was his number didn't mean he was the one who answered. I never talked to him on the phone, so even though I thought it was him, I wasn't positive.

"This is his number."

"Is this Jack though?" I said suppressing a growl. I was not in the mood to play games.

I knew that cat-shifters liked to have fun with this sort of thing, but I didn't have the patience to deal with it right now. I was ready to get it over with.

"Who's this?" the voice asked.

I held back a sigh. Cats. It figured he'd want to play games, and it looked like this was going to devolve into twenty-questions. A favorite game of cat-shifters everywhere.

"Sophie Addison. Is this Jack?"

"Why are you calling?"

"Is. This. Jack?" I bit off each word and couldn't stop the rumble in my voice this time. I meant business and he needed to know it.

Of course, if it was Jack, I could be pissing off the very Alpha I was about to petition for help. Not my best idea, but he'd used up the last of my patience with his games.

"Yes. This is Jack." Suddenly his voice was all business. I swallowed. I'd definitely pissed off the Alpha. "Why are you calling me, Sophie?"

"I need to meet with you in person."

"I'm free tomorrow afternoon."

"It's urgent," I said, despite knowing I was in no position to make demands. "It can't wait that long."

He didn't answer right away. My stomach started to twist in knots. He was a smart man, and I could tell he knew I hadn't told him everything when I petitioned to join his pack. But he let it slide.

I made it a point to avoid him whenever I could. I didn't want him to figure anything out. Now, I had to come clean.

"Please," I said softly when he kept silent, "we need to see you today."

If he refused, we needed to hit the road. Now. Not only was Edward out there stalking me, but I had no idea when our old pack would come for us.

After that battle, it was no longer an if, but a when. And when they did come, I knew I couldn't take them on myself. My only option to avoid all that would be to run and find a deep hole for us to hide in.

But Aly was right. Where would that lead? Running for the rest of our lives? What kind of option was that? I found myself truly hoping the pack would help.

I knew I should have called Jack yesterday, but I hadn't been thinking clearly. I had hoped Edward would give up after Alex nearly killed him. I should have known better. I shuddered, he probably thought of our fight as some form of sick foreplay.

A long sigh sounded through the phone. "Fine. Meet me at pack headquarters in an hour."

"Okay. Thank you, Jack."

"Yeah, yeah. This better be as urgent as you say."

I put my phone back on the charger and turned around to see Aly and Izzy peer in my doorway.

"He said he'd meet with us in an hour. We need to leave in about forty minutes. Take showers if you want to, but you need to be ready to go. We can't be late."

"I only have the clothes I left in," Izzy said softly. "This nightshirt is Aly's."

I glanced at Aly in question. Why didn't she give her the time to pack?

Aly smiled slightly, then shrugged, unrepentant. "I wasn't going to leave anything to chance. I pulled her from her bed on my way out. No time to pack."

"It was smart," Izzy admitted with a sad smile. "I might have let something slip. You can't talk about escaping if you don't know you're gonna."

I looked at Izzy from top to bottom. She was small and thin. I wasn't all that big, but she would be swimming in my clothes. Her best bet was Aly's clothes and a very tight belt.

"You're welcome to borrow anything of mine, but I think Aly's clothes would fit you better." I looked at my sister. "Do you have some extra clothes she can borrow?"

"Yep, no problem," Aly said. "C'mon, you can pick something out. You'll like my taste in clothes better than my stodgy old sister's anyway."

* * *

As we drove to pack headquarters, the scent of Izzy's anxiety was sour in the car. Aly must have thought the same thing because she rolled down her window at the same time I did. There was nothing I could say to calm her down. I only hoped Jack would accept them.

When we got out of the car, Aly immediately put her arm around Izzy. She looked terrified. I had no idea how a human had survived so long in such an insane pack. Izzy was quiet though, so maybe she had been careful not to draw attention to herself.

She had to have some steel inside her too, in order to survive what she had been through. I admired that.

The door opened before I could knock, and Jack stood there filling the doorframe. He was a large, broad-shouldered man with dark, shaggy hair that was way overdue for a haircut. He smiled a lot and his face showed it. I noticed, with a hint of dread, that his customary smile was nowhere to be seen.

I raised my chin and briefly met his gaze, then shifted my eyes to the side. I could still see his face but wasn't making direct eye contact. I wanted him to know I wasn't challenging him, but that I wouldn't back down, either.

He took a deep breath and let it out in a harsh exhale. I saw surprise in his gaze, along with a feral, protective anger, as he studied the three of us.

His eyes lingered on Izzy's bruised face. I glanced over at her, and she was intently studying her feet.

"Come in," he said. "This isn't a discussion to have in front of the neighbors."

He turned and led us inside. As we followed him I looked behind me and saw Aly still had her arm around Izzy's shoulders as they moved. I caught the scent of several other packmates around and my cat relaxed. Even if Edward could move about undetected, he wasn't dumb enough to brave a shifter's pack house.

Once we were in the kitchen, Jack gestured for us to each take a seat at the table. He waited until we were all in chairs before he sat, taking position at the head of the table with an authoritative air.

"Who are they?" Jack asked me with a nod at my companions.

"My sister, Alysse, and her friend, Isabelle."

"She's human," he said. I couldn't tell by his tone if this fact upset him or not.

The dread returned. I racked my brain to try to remember if I'd ever even seen a non-shifter in a pack.

For the most part, our animals preferred to be in the same type of pack—cats preferred to hang with other cats. It didn't matter if they were cougars, panthers, or lions, as long as they were cats. Although there were exceptions, especially when there were only a small number of that animal, like the bears.

In Fayoak, where there was such a large population of shifters, we were able to mostly separate and keep our animals happy. As for non-shifters in a pack, Rose was the only one who came to mind, but I didn't hang out with the other packs much so there could be more.

"She is," I answered carefully. "But she was part of our old pack and—" I heard Isabelle take in a small, trembling breath. "She was hurt and in danger. We couldn't leave her."

"Most packs only have human members when they're mated," he said, eerily echoing my thoughts. "Did you have a mate in the pack?"

Izzy's eyes stayed glued to her feet and she didn't answer.

"She didn't," Aly spoke up for her in a firm tone.

Jack grunted. "Why did your old pack have unmated humans in it?"

I still couldn't tell from the tone of his voice what he thought about all this. I cursed myself for not being more involved in the pack. I hated not knowing where we stood.

I raised my chin as I answered him, "They kept them for their own amusement. Especially women."

A growl rumbled out of Jack. He met my gaze, his eyes lion-gold. I felt my cat come forward to meet his.

"How did she get here?" A rumble went through his chest and he snarled, making his opinion of that clear.

"I'll be frank," I said, "Izzy and my sister didn't walk out freely. We fought our way out."

He made a non-committal sound. "From what I'm hearing, it sounds like trouble is going to follow these two."

"Possibly," I paused, then reluctantly added, "probably."

"Why did you bring this trouble to my doorstep?"

My cat bristled and I felt a growl begin to rumble through my chest. When I met his eyes, however, it wasn't anger that I saw, but genuine curiosity.

"Does it really matter?" I asked. "They were in danger."

He studied me for a moment, then nodded slowly. "It does matter. I want an answer. Why did you bring trouble to my doorstep?"

I took a deep breath. My answer could be the reason he would let us stay and accept Aly and Izzy into the pack. That would give us help in the battle that would eventually find us.

It might even make Edward think twice about going after us. But he was a nut job, so maybe not.

If Jack didn't like my answer, then we would likely become nomads—never having a true place to call home, always on the run from Edward and my old pack.

I studied the table as I organized my thoughts, then I met his steady gaze.

"You're what an Alpha should be," I said sincerely. "When I moved here, I didn't know you. I didn't trust you. I joined your pack, but I kept my distance. From the edges, I watched. I listened. I paid attention to how you treated your pack mates. The strong and the weak. The bold and the shy."

"And what did you learn?" he asked.

"That you don't take any bullshit. I realized that you probably would have helped had I asked when I arrived. If I'd told you the whole story. But by the time I figured that out, I'd been here a while and I couldn't figure out how to come clean."

"You screwed yourself," he said pointedly.

"Yeah. I did. But I came from a pack that did that to people." I tilted my head slightly in Izzy's direction. "I had to make sure I wasn't leaving one hell for another."

Jack grunted. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't."

"The question is, will you, a good Alpha, help us?"

He studied me with consideration. "Anything else you wanna tell me before I decide?"

"Yeah, there's one more thing."

His eyebrows rose sharply as I told him about Edward. I could see the disbelief. He took a deep breath and looked off to the side when I finished.

"That's some seriously messed up shit," he finally said.

"I know. That's why I'm asking for your help. What do you say?"

Tension ran through my body. Had I told him too much? Did he believe me? Sure, I had Izzy sitting next to me in all her bruised glory, but she was human, and I had no idea if that mattered to him one way or another.

His eyes narrowed as he studied me, then Aly, and finally Izzy. When his gaze came back to me I could see mischief in his eyes.

"Why the hell not? I love a good fight."

With that, all the tension seemed to drain out of my body. I managed not to slide out of my chair but had to catch my breath. I hadn't realized until then how afraid I had been that we were going to have to run.

Now we could stay in Fayoak. It could be home. When they came for us, we had a pack of shifters who had our backs. We had a chance. It wasn't only my fight anymore. There must have been something in my expression because Jack abruptly stood and stepped over to my chair.

He pulled me up to my feet and engulfed me in his arms. It was like hugging my father—gentle, loving, and accepting. I only stayed a moment before I pulled back.

Jack opened his arms and Aly cautiously stepped in.

"Welcome to the pack," Jack said. "All of you."

Relief flowed through me as I watched her settle in his embrace. She hadn't forgotten what a good Alpha was like.

Jack took a deep breath and pulled back. He met Aly's gaze and smiled. "Your future cub is welcome, too."

"Thanks, big guy."

After she stepped back, Jack opened his arms for Izzy. She hesitated and looked at him warily. She didn't have a cat to tell her he was genuine. That he wouldn't hurt her like she had been hurt before.

"You're welcome, too, if you want," he said softly.

Izzy blinked, then she rushed into his arms. It was only when I heard a sob that I realized she was crying.

"Hush now," he said softly as he brushed a large hand over her hair, "you're safe."

She nodded against his chest, then stepped back and brushed away her tears. My heart eased to see her wariness had receded slightly. There was simply something about a good Alpha. She still had a long way to go, but I felt like Jack was exactly the Alpha she needed to help her through this.

"Thank you so much, Jack," I said. "We are lucky to have such a good pack to help us at a time like this."

I heard the front door open and a male voice was singing the chorus to Oklahoma. With gusto. There was only one pack member who loved musicals that much. Ray's sheer joy in the song was infectious.

I met Aly's gaze and saw her fighting to hold back a laugh.

"Raymond," Jack said in a long-suffering tone.

The man who sashayed into the room could have been a runway model. He was all lean lines, and his face was classically beautiful. He could make a woman's heart stop. But he made it clear upon first meeting him that it wasn't women he was interested in.

His gaze bounced from Aly, paused on Izzy, then he met my eyes. I saw a flash of understanding before he turned to our Alpha.

"Jack," he said with a sigh, "I just don't understand your hatred of musical masterpieces."

"It isn't the music that's the problem—"

"I know it isn't my singing voice. Because that's perfect."

"Yes," Jack said clearly amused, "your singing voice is amazing. On pitch. On key."

"Well, then," Ray said, "I don't see any issue."

He opened his mouth to resume his singing when Jack spoke up, "It's the volume. Just . . . turn down the volume."

Ray's dancing gaze met mine and he winked before turning a sad face to our Alpha. Jack's eyes laughed, but his face was sober as he met Ray's crestfallen expression. They stared at each other for a moment before Ray heaved a dramatic sigh.

"Fine," he huffed and stomped off to the fridge softly singing Oklahoma.

Jack shook his head and looked at us. "You all okay now?"

I glanced over at my sister and Izzy, then nodded. "Yeah, I think we are."

We said our goodbyes and headed out of the pack house. I felt like whistling as we got into the car. Aly and Izzy were surprisingly quiet as I started the drive. We were about half way home when Aly broke the peaceful quiet.

"So, he'll really help us?"

"Yep." I couldn't stop the grin on my face.

"Do you think the old pack will find us?"

"Probably. Edward did."

"And there'll be a fight?"

"Well, we aren't going back with them, so yeah."

"Okay, but the pack will help us?"

I glanced over at her. "You already asked that. What's going on with you right now?"

She bit her lip in an uncharacteristic show of uncertainty.

"Out with it," I ordered, still too relieved to be annoyed.

"Fine," Aly huffed. "Here's the thing. I think you really like Alex, but you shoved him away at the rest stop. I've been thinking about it, and you did it when you saw that he had gotten hurt."

My stomach clenched at the memory of his expression. "What are you getting at, Aly? It's not like you to be so cryptic."

"I saw your face. You pushed him away because you were afraid of him getting hurt like that again."

"Yeah, we live in a dangerous world," I said tightly.

"Bullshit."

"Alysse Addison," I said, "I don't like this trend of you cursing at me. Being eighteen doesn't suddenly give you a free pass."

"Then don't be a stupid idiot."

"Pardon me?"

"You heard me. You pushed away a guy you're obviously super into. And why? Because life's dangerous? Well, I'm more likely to die in a car wreck than a shifter fight. I could be struck by lightning. I could choke on food and die, but I don't let that stop me from eating."

"Now you're being melodramatic."

"Maybe I am, but my point is you don't know what's going to happen. Stop being stupid." Her voice grew soft. "Take a chance, Sophie."

I pulled into my driveway and thought about her words. Dare I take a chance? I had pushed him away so hard.

Could I even convince Alex to give me a second chance? He had texted me, so he was at least still thinking about me. Maybe . . .

"Hey," Aly said, breaking into my thoughts, "can we borrow the car to take Izzy to get some clothes?"

"Yeah, sure. Now?"

"That'd be great."

"Go on ahead. I don't need the car today."

I got out of the car, gave Aly the keys, then watched them drive away. I noticed the planting looked finished, and there were beautiful, blooming peonies in the planter beds. Disappointment shot through me as I realized I missed seeing Alex, although it was probably for the best.

I needed to figure out what to say to him. I couldn't stop myself from walking over to the flower bed and taking a deep breath. His scent was still fresh, mixed with the soil and flowers. I couldn't hold back my smile.

I turned back to the house and sighed as I saw the dried rabbit blood. I hadn't cleaned it up before we left. Well, no better time than the present.

Maybe I'd water the newly planted flowers, too. I walked over to get the hose from the side of the house. My mind ran in circles as I tried to figure out what to say to Alex.

Suddenly I saw something glittering on the ground. I frowned as I reached down to pick it up. It was a glittery vial that looked like the same one I found the other day with Alex.

As I picked it up, I caught a whiff of something and realized it was . . . Edward. I snarled and smelled it again, just to be certain. There was a second scent under his. Someone that I couldn't put my finger on, but I knew I had smelled them around Fayoak.

I pulled out my phone and thought about who to call. Who did I know that could possibly recognize the scent?

Maddox. Although he'd only been home a few months, he was all over Fayoak. If he didn't know whose scent it was, he'd know who would. I wanted to talk to Alex still, but I had to figure this out first. I dialed Maddox's number.

"Hey, Sophie. What's going on?"

"You busy?" I asked briskly. "I need to see you."