“Willow, I’m so sorry to wake you.” Elinor sounded frantic. “I banged on your door, but there was no answer and I couldn’t see your car. So did you go home after the pub last night? You didn’t hear anything?”

“No … I wasn’t home. Hear what?” My heart pattered against my chest.

“Someone trashed Resurrection Ink. The front window’s smashed and all our equipment is completely ruined. The police are saying it’s some kind of wild animal.”

Shit.

My throat went completely dry. Phantom pain shot through my leg. The stalker. The guy dressed in black who’d chased me outside my flat … he must’ve done it.

A shifter broke into the tattoo shop. That was no coincidence. Had it hit my place, too?

What if I’d been home last night? What would’ve happened to me? My whole body trembled.

When I didn’t say anything, Elinor continued. “I wanted to see if your place was hit too, and also if you saw or heard anything unusual last night.”

Only a crazy stalker trying to attack me as I went to my car. Only Irvine’s words that lit my body on fire.

In the corner of the room, Irvine fumbled with the coffee canister while he listened to Caleb. Judging by the way his eyes burned into mine, he’d just received the same news.

This was crazy. If the stalker was actually committing property damage, that was only one step away from hurting an innocent person. But if I said anything, they’d want to dig into my past, to try and figure out why this guy was after me. I couldn’t deal with that, not when Willow Summers was just starting to enjoy her new life.

A vision of bared teeth and pain flashed in front of my eyes. This was about saving lives. Maybe I could find a way to speak the truth without alerting them that I might be the cause.

“Um, I actually didn’t go home last night. I stayed with a … a friend.”

“Oh, I see.” Elinor lowered her voice. “Irvine?”

“No! Just a friend. You wouldn’t know her.” I took a deep breath, then said. “But I did see something. I’ve noticed what I think was someone in the bushes behind the shop last night. A man dressed in black. He ran at me when I went to my car to head to the pub. He didn’t say anything, but he looked pretty unhinged. I thought it was just some drunk guy.”

Irvine raised an eyebrow at me, clearly wondering why I’d decided to tell such a half-truth. I waved a hand at him. Not now.

“Did you see what he looked like?”

I’d never forget those wild eyes or the venom in his voice. “Yeah, he had really short hair and a black hoodie. He was young, but muscular, like he worked outdoors. He looked angry, or upset. When he ran at me he was screaming incoherently … Maybe he was on drugs or something?”

“Maybe.” Elinor’s voice was heavy. “Anything else?”

“No, but it was pretty dark when I left to meet you guys.”

“Okay. I’m here at the shop now so when you get the chance, come over and we’ll take a look at your flat. The police are here, and they’re going to need your statement. They might get you to sit down with a sketch artist. And Caleb will probably want to talk to you, too.”

Great. Just what I need, to be interrogated by a wolf. I was just about to say that, when I remembered I wasn’t supposed to know about werewolves or that Caleb was the alpha of their pack. “Um … why does Caleb need to talk to me? I hardly know him. Is he with the police?”‘

“He sort of …” Elinor paused. I think she realised she’d said something she shouldn’t. “… looks after things around here. If this guy is after you or Bianca, he’ll be able to help protect you.”

“How? Is he the mafia?” Irvine gave me an amused look as he handed me a hot cup of tea.

“No, Willow. He’s not the mafia. I promise I’ll explain someday. Just not today.”

“How’s Bianca holding up?”

Elinor paused. “Not good, but she’ll be fine. Just come as soon as you can.”

“Okay, I’ll—”

But Elinor had already hung up. I dropped my phone. My mind blurred. The stalker isn’t just a stalker. He attacked the shop. He’s a werewolf. He’s coming after me.

Strong arms wrapped around my chest. “Willow Summers, you listen to me,” Irvine’s deep voice boomed in my ear. “Everything is going to be just fine. He’s not gonnae get anywhere near you. We’ll make sure of that.”

A sob escaped my throat. “I only just escaped. I had my first taste of freedom and it was amazing. And now I’m trapped again.”

“I dinnae ken. What did you escape from?”

I buried my face in his shoulder, my body shuddering as I let out all the tension that had worked its way through my bones. The phantom pain subsided as all of my fear bled out in vicious tears.

“Isn’t it enough that I have to live without a leg? Isn’t it enough that I’ve been paraded around like a circus freak to further a cause I’m not even sure I believe in anymore? Why is this person after me? Am I that disgusting? Am I that wrong …” I broke down again.

“Willow, you’re not disgusting, and I’ll hurt the person who said that to you.”

“Curtis, my ex-boyfriend.”

Irvine’s face darkened. “Then he’s a dead man. But that’s for another day. If there’s something you’ve nae told me … I cannae keep you safe if I dinnae ken what’s going on.”

“I—” I opened my mouth to tell him everything, about my mother and Werewolf Watch and why I wanted to start over, but all that came out were more strangled sobs.

“Ssssh, sssshh, not now.” Irvine stroked my hair. “We’ll get this guy, Willow Summers. That is my promise to you. Everything’s gonnae be fine.”

---

I couldn’t even turn into the parking lot behind the shop because of the broken glass on the footpath. Instead, I found a park down the road. Elinor stood beside the shop window with a police officer, but came running over as I pulled up.

“This is what the bastard did,” she said, grabbing my hand and dragging me to the window, so I could get a good look at the damage inside.

“I’m so sorry.” I came into Resurrection Ink the first week I arrived in Crookshollow. I’d read online that it was a female-friendly clinic that wasn’t full of intimidating bikers. It had seemed pretty intimidating to me, with the skull paintings on the walls and the black tiles across the floor. But Bianca and Elinor had put me at ease, and it wasn’t long before the terrifying surroundings had actually seemed snug and homely.

Elinor looked like she was trying to hold back tears, but her expression was stern, businesslike. “It’s not your fault. Come on, let’s go see if he hit your place, too.”

I made Elinor go up the stairs first, so she wouldn’t see my limp. I shoved my key in the lock and opened the door to my flat, my stomach clenched tight at the thought of what I might see. But the sight that greeted me as I swung the door open was the same as the one I’d left last night – the secondhand couch covered with bridal magazines and folders, the kitchen covered in unwashed coffee cups, the sheets on Bianca’s old bed rumpled and unmade.

I let out a breath I didn’t realise I’d been holding. “He hasn’t been in here.”

“That’s a good sign, at least,” Elinor said, placing her hand on my shoulder as we walked back downstairs. “Come have a closer look in the shop. I want to know if anything jogs your memory.”

“You seem very calm.”

Elinor gave me a thin smile. “I’m not calm on the inside, trust me. But I know what has to be done. I was a lawyer in London before I moved here to start my apprenticeship with Bianca. I guess it’s hard for me to let go of that analytical process.”

A lawyer to a tattoo artist? “That’s a bit of a career shift. What made you move here and change your future so drastically?”

This time, Elinor’s smile was genuine. “Love, of course. The only worthwhile reason to do anything. After you.”

She held open the door and I stepped over the police tape in the door of the shop.

It looked like a hurricane had torn through the place, flinging the heavy massage tables against the walls and snapping the legs off the chairs. The artwork had been torn from the walls and smashed across the tiles. Broken needles and pots of ink splattered every surface. The blood-red velvet on the chaise-lounge under the window was in ribbons, almost as if …

… as if it had been clawed to shreds.

I sniffed the air, but apart from the smell of the inks, there was no heady wolf scent beyond the faint smell of Robbie, who must visit frequently since Bianca owned the shop. I frowned. That didn’t make sense. If a werewolf did this, then why didn’t the place reek of him?

I thought back to last night. I hadn’t smelt the wolf scent when the guy ran at me, either. That could’ve been because I was too far away, or too scared, but now I wasn’t so sure.

But if a wolf didn’t do this, then who did?

What kind of creature is loose in Crookshollow? And why is he after me?

My phone buzzed. In a daze, I lifted it to my ear. “Irvine, I’ll—”

“Irvine, who is Irvine?” Mum’s voice screeched down the phone. “Willow, I need to know where you are, right now. There’s been a serious uptick of werewolf activity in the news. I just heard about this tattoo parlour in Loamshire that was attacked by some kind of animal. They’re getting bolder! I need you here to help me film another video. We need to get the word out and stop them before any more innocent people get hurt.”

“Mum, I’m fine. I’ve never set foot in a tattoo parlour before, and I’m nowhere near Loamshire, but I’m not telling you where I am.” The lie stabbed me in the gut, but it was necessary.

“Carol Winters, I am your mother and I demand you answer me. If you don’t tell me where you are right now, I’m going to have to take matters into my own hands—”

I hung up the phone, my hands shaking. How had she heard about this attack so quickly? Why did she sound so panicked? Mum was usually pretty crazy about shifters, but her paranoia seemed to have got worse since I left. Was this just because she didn’t know what to do with herself without me, or was it because she knew someone was chasing me?

The threat in her words was implicit. Had Mum already hired someone to come after me, to bring me back to London? Had she given that person unlimited reign to terrify me so that I’d break and go back to her?

It was a terrible thought, but as I thought back over Mum’s behaviour, I became more and more convinced that was what was happening. If she thought it was the right thing to do, she wouldn’t hesitate to do it, even if it meant hurting me.

That was why Mum was calling to check up on me, so she could see if she’d got me. Now that she knew she had failed, she’d have to pull out the big guns.

“Willow?” Elinor waved her hand in front of my face. “You okay? You’ve gone all white.”

I tried to speak, but the words caught in my throat. My heartbeat pounded in my ears.

Shards of glass crunched under my feet as I moved in to peer out the window.

Elinor came up behind me. “Did you stand on some glass? You’re limping.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry.” I shoved my hands in my pockets so Elinor wouldn’t notice them shaking. A familiar car pulled into the parking space behind mine.

“Hey, there’s Irvine—” Elinor started, but I was already out the door.

Irvine waved as I walked across the street. He’d wanted to drive me straight to the shop, but I didn’t want Elinor to know we’d been together, so I made him wait ten minutes before following me.

His face fell in surprise as I crashed into him, burying myself in his leather jacket. I knew that Elinor would be able to see us, thus destroying my ruse, but in that moment, I didn’t care. I needed Irvine. I needed his brave stoicism.

“Willow,” he whispered as he patted my hair. “What’s wrong, my lass?”

“My mother,” I whispered. My whole body shook.

“What about your mother?”

“She won’t give up. She’ll send everything she has after me until she’s convinced me she’s right. She’ll never let me be free. I was just starting to build a life here and now she’s trying to take it away by faking a shifter attack.”

“Willow, you’re rambling. Are you saying your mother did this? If she wants to hurt you, why go after Resurrection Ink?”

I gripped my elbows with my hands, trying to control the shaking in my body. “Because she wants to hurt you guys. She wants you to turn me aside so I’ll go home again. If I don’t leave Crookshollow and go back to her, this is only the beginning of your troubles.”