As I stood in my shower with blood swirling down the drain, I could hardly believe that I had scared away a shifter. More so, I couldn't believe how badly I had wanted to hurt him.

I wasn't a fighter. I was very much a lover. I was happy, flirty Alex. However, something inside me had changed when I saw Sophie in danger, and I didn't even question my actions.

I had no idea who the guy was, why he was there, or what all he had done, yet I had nearly killed him. I found myself wondering if Sophie even knew how close I had actually come. Although I was frightened by how willing I was to squeeze the life out of him, I was still confused about why Sophie wanted to let him go.

I shook my head and forced myself to finish my shower quickly. My worry continued to grow with each passing second. Even though I knew my grandmother could both heal and protect her, I couldn't stand being away from Sophie when I knew she was hurt.

By the time I was out of the shower, I was so worked up that I couldn't stop myself from calling her to check in. I dialed her number, but it only rang and rang.

I left a voicemail, then tried again. Still no answer. My heart dropped like a rock into the pit of my stomach. I quickly called my grandmother.

"What now?" she answered with a sigh.

"How's Sophie doing?"

"How should I know? I left."

"You what?"

"I left."

"Damnit. I have to go."

"Do not curse at me, Alexander," my grandmother replied with a huff before hanging up.

My heart pounded like crazy as I quickly dressed, then raced out the door and jumped into my truck. I tore out of the orchard and down the road to Sophie's place, thankful the entire time that she lived so close.

My feet hit the ground after I slid out of my truck. I didn't even get my door closed before I heard Sophie's front door slam. Alarmed, I looked toward the sound.

I was slightly relieved to see it was only Sophie, but what was she doing outside? She should have been resting. Her back was to me and she was hunched over like she was in pain, yet she was still trying to leave.

Why?

I stood there frozen and watched as she fumbled with something in her hands. She dropped it, and I realized it was her keys. She started cursing profusely as she stared at the keys by her foot.

"I'll melt you down and turn you into a damned rake. I'll give it to Alex and he can use you with manure because that's all you're good for."

My eyes grew wide as I listened to her. She was normally the personification of calm and collected. Something was very wrong.

I started to move before I even realized it. I had to know why she was so frantic. My worry only grew when she didn't turn around as I approached.

I knew that her shifter senses meant she could hear and smell me from much farther away than a few paces behind her. Yet, even as I walked up her steps, she still didn't seem to notice me.

She hissed in pain as she started to bend over to pick up her keys and froze. As if she thought better of it, she straightened up and took a deep breath. That was when I noticed the weekend bag slung over her shoulder. Was she going somewhere?

Frowning, I reached down to pick up her keys for her. To my surprise, she whirled around and shot back a few steps, wild-eyed. A harsh gasp left her mouth, and I worried she may have hurt herself. At least, I did until I met her gaze. There was no green left in her eyes—her cat had taken over.

"Sophie?"

I searched the deep blue in her eyes for any remnant of the woman that I knew. Her ashen face had me worried that she was in great pain, or about to pass out.

"Sophie, did you hurt yourself again? Is my grandmother's salve not working?"

She shook her head sharply but didn't reply. My stomach sank.

"Sophie, please, talk to me."

Instead of answering me, she grabbed her keys from my hand and locked the front door. She immediately turned and headed down the steps, her unwounded arm brushing against me. If there was anything she didn't need to be doing right now, it was driving.

I gently placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her and a felt current of tension harden her body. I felt like I had placed my hand on the body of a wild beast, but I had no choice. I couldn't let her hurt herself.

"Where do you have to go right now? Why aren't you resting? Does this have to do with your fight earlier?"

I waited for a reply but she shrugged off my hand and started to walk away again.

"Sophie, what's going on? Who was that guy? Talk to me."

I heard her take a trembling breath, then she stopped moving long enough to say, "You're parked behind me."

"And I'm not moving until you talk to me."

With measured movements, she turned around to face me. As she did so, her bag slipped from her shoulder and dropped to the ground. A cloud of dirt puffed up at her feet. Her chaotic eyes rapidly shifted between blue and green. I could practically feel the anxiety pouring out of her.

"I need to go. Now."

"Let me help you."

I carefully grabbed both of her shoulders and pleaded with my eyes. I couldn't stand to see her like this. She was moving as if she still really hurt, and I couldn't figure out what was so important that she was pushing herself like this.

Her lips pressed together, but I saw the faint quiver in her bottom lip. The corners of her eyes shone ever so slightly. The longer I held her gaze, the more her normal green started to pull through.

"It's my sister," she finally whispered, her voice breaking. "I have to save her. I didn't want to leave her there in the first place, but she left me no choice. She left me no choice." She closed her eyes and swallowed thickly.

I moved one of my hands from her shoulder to tuck a finger underneath her chin and waited until her gaze met mine. "We'll go get her. Together. Now, tell me where she is."

My heart clenched as she pushed my hands away and shook her head.

"It's too dangerous and you've already done too much. I have to go, alone. I'm not even sure I can get her out."

She turned away and stopped after she took a step, staring at my truck. She didn't even seem to realize that she had left her bag on the ground.

I wasn't going to let her go out and get herself hurt even more. Whatever was going on was serious and clearly had her distracted. I couldn't let her drive right now, especially with her wounds. Plus, I knew from experience that Granny's balm would suddenly hit like a truck and make her feel very sleepy.

I picked up her bag and stepped next to her. She shot me a confused look as I wordlessly took her by the arm and led her to my truck, but she didn't fight me. I opened my passenger side door and tossed her bag into the back seat of the double cab.

"What're you—" Before she could finish her question, I wrapped my hands around her waist and carefully lifted her into my truck, mindful of her wounds, then shut the door. I could feel her eyes on me as I walked around to the driver's side.

I hopped inside and started the truck, then finally looked at her. "Tell me where I'm going."

The confusion hadn't left her face. "I wasn't kidding, Alex. She's not even in the same state."

"Tell me where I'm going," I repeated.

She stared at me for a moment before she finally relented. "Get on the highway and go north. You'll take Exit 223, but it'll be several hours before you get there."

"How far are we going?"

"It's about a six-hour drive." Her voice was flat, and I could hear the exhaustion start to creep in.

I immediately put the truck into reverse and pulled out of her driveway, then hit the road without another question. When I glanced over at her, I saw her hands were curled into fists and her knuckles were white. She was silent until we hit the highway.

"Why are you doing this? Do you have a death wish? Don't you understand?"

"I wasn't going to let you drive when you couldn't even lock your front door."

I could feel her bristle beside me. "You think I'm weak? Haven't I told you before that I don't need a babysitter?"

Her words made my normally dormant temper flare, but I coaxed it back down to a simmer.

"Is that what you think of me? That I'm helping you because I think you're weak? C'mon, you can't believe that's true."

She was quiet for a moment, then I saw her nod out of the corner of my eye.

"You're right. I'm just so . . ." she trailed off, then slumped against the passenger door. "I don't know."

I gripped the steering wheel tighter when I heard the weariness in her voice. She sounded so tired. Either Granny's salve was kicking in or she was just that exhausted.

"On edge, maybe?" I asked.

I looked away from the road long enough to give her a small smile, but her eyes were closed and she looked as if a smile would be the emotional equivalent to lifting a thousand pounds with one arm.

"That's not even the half of it." Her voice was so soft that I had to strain my ears to hear her past the sounds of the highway rushing by.

"Can you tell me what's going on with your sister? Is it the cougar you fought earlier?" I asked.

She moved around in her seat and sighed. "I don't even know where to begin. You're going to think the worst of me."

I doubted it. I hadn't even been truly angry at her for missing our date at the Moon Festival. I'd been more hurt and worried than anything.

I frowned at the road ahead. I didn't know that I could ever think poorly of Sophie. She wasn't that type of person.

She truly cared about people and expected so much of herself. Even when she had rebuffed all my flirting when we first met, I couldn't get her out of my system.

"You can tell me," I coaxed gently.

I glanced over at her again and saw her stare down at her lap intently.

"My old pack was good to begin with, but then our Alpha retired. The new Alpha brought in all his cronies and things slowly started to take a turn in the wrong direction."

"What do you mean by 'wrong direction?'" I asked with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

I spared another glance at her when she didn't immediately reply, and the sight nearly knocked the wind out of me. I could see the faint shimmer of tears.

"They expected everyone to bow down before them. They didn't need a reason why, they just thought they deserved it. The worst was Edward." She shivered as she said the man's name.

"Edward?"

She let out a trembling breath and fell quiet for a contemplative moment.

"Yeah, Edward," she finally said in a flat, emotionless tone. "He's the guy I fought earlier."

Anger shot through me. I had no idea what Edward had done—or tried to do—to Sophie, but the way she spoke of him told me he had done something. If I had known before that he made her feel this way, I'm not sure I would have been able to let him limp away.

"What did he do, Sophie?"

"He didn't," she rushed to answer. "But he wanted to. I should have let you kill him earlier. My act of mercy put Aly in danger."

"How so?"

"Edward wants me. He wants to own me. It's all part of how the pack changed. In the beginning, it was fine. But then they started making these changes. Slowly, at first, but they're horrible now. The women aren't being treated right.

"And my sister's friend was just . . ." She took a deep breath. "She was taken to the leaders. When she came back, my sister said she was shell-shocked. Her friend was covered in bruises and . . ." She bit her lip and looked to the side. "There was a group of them. They did things. Terrible things."

"You don't have to say anything more," I rushed to say. "I understand."

She nodded, then took a deep breath before she continued, "My sister left me a message earlier. She told me she was scared she might be next. I think Edward may have contacted the old pack and told them to hurt her. Before our fight, he threatened me. Said he'd hurt her if I didn't cooperate. Why did I tell you to let him go?"

Anger coursed through me. "She can't just leave?"

"No. Apparently they've got the whole place locked down." Sophie growled. "It wasn't that bad when I left, but I had been afraid it was coming. Now, my sister's been living like some sort of prisoner, only going between the compound and school. I knew things were grim, but she wouldn't talk about it. She'd call me, but when I thought I'd get her to spill, she'd clam up."

My hands tightened on the steering wheel so hard that I briefly worried it might break. My jaw clenched in anger. It was such a foreign feeling to me. I rarely got so worked up, but the things she was saying—they were awful.

In that moment, I was positive I'd made the right choice to come with her. I couldn't stand the thought of her facing this alone. Despite my earlier performance, I wasn't exactly a combative person, but I knew I would do everything in my power to help get her sister back.

"We're going to save your sister," I said, my voice firm. "We'll get her out of there."

She yawned, and I knew my Granny's balm was starting to hit her.

"We need to be there by two, Alex, or we'll be out of time." Her words were slow and slightly slurred.

A chill ran through me. I glanced at the clock. At this rate, we'd make it long before two.

I wasn't sure time was our problem anyway. Our problem was that we had to save her sister and manage to do it without getting killed in the process. One half-fae and a wounded shifter against a cultish pack. The odds were stacked against us, to say the least.