Sitting on a park bench, Sawyer felt the urge to go find the nearest bar and drown himself in whiskey until he couldn’t remember his own name, much less Naomi’s. But that wouldn’t solve anything.

Would she still be there when he went back? The ultimatum he had thrown at her had been harsh, he realized that now. But at that moment, it had felt like the only option. Just the thought of losing Naomi after he had just found her…

It had made him rash.

There was no way Sawyer could really know what it felt like to be in her shoes. Sure, she had lied, kept important information from him. But it was all born out of a desire to bring down an evil that had claimed the lives of her parents, and her best friend’s husband.

And that urge for a very personal kind of revenge was not alien to Sawyer. Wouldn’t he have given anything at one point to be a part of the investigation into Ted’s death? Deep down, he had known it would be a terrible idea to get involved. There was no way he could have remained professional, impartial, to do the job like it needed to be done…

But when the wound had still been fresh, it had been very difficult to care about all that.

And now, with some time to cool down and think about things more clearly, Sawyer felt more foolish than anything about storming out on Naomi like that.

And the bomb I dropped on her… he groaned internally.

That was definitely not how he had wanted to tell Naomi she was his mate. She deserved an explanation, a real conversation about what it all meant. And she deserved to know how deeply he had come to care about her.

I should have never left her alone… What if she does decide to leave? If she goes back to her house, Verin will find her in a heartbeat.

Cursing himself, Sawyer pushed himself off the bench, setting his sights on his apartment building. He had let himself be controlled by his emotions, and now he was the one that had put Naomi in danger.

It was hard to think clearly when it came to her. Choices that should have been easy became difficult, and the fact that his wolf tended to forcefully voice its opinion when she was around didn’t really help either.

Picking up the pace, Sawyer rushed through familiar side streets, the windows of his building already in view. He didn’t know exactly what he was going to say to Naomi once he got there, assuming she would even still be there.

They were both too stubborn for their own good, after all.

But he knew he couldn’t let his fear of her getting hurt screw up the best thing that had ever happened to him. Naomi had to be feeling that same bond between them that he did. And if they were meant to be, they would figure out a way to get through this.

Across the street from his building, Sawyer stopped to wait for the light to turn green, when his wolf suddenly perked up, first whining, then growling deep inside him. Head on a swivel, Sawyer frowned. What where his instincts trying to tell him?

Nose crinkling, he sifted through the myriad of scents around him, from the smell of car exhausts, perfumes of the people around him to different food aromas wafting in from nearby businesses. But amidst all that, there was one very particular scent that caught his attention, making his lip curl.

Verin.

The acrid, decaying smell was impossible to mistake for anything else. Ignoring the rush of cars, Sawyer shot out into the road, dodging the vehicles whipping past him and the angry honks that followed.

When he reached the other side, the growl in his throat was impossible to suppress. Keys already in hand, he opened the front door and pushed it aside, running to climb the stairs with long strides.

Verin’s scent only got stronger in the confined spaces of the building, and all Sawyer could do was get to the ninth floor as fast as possible, hoping against hope the demon hadn’t harmed her.

His animal side propelling him forward, Sawyer pushed out of the staircase, skidding to a halt in the hallway in record time. At the end of the hall, his apartment door was shut. But as he crept forward, he could hear two heartbeats inside.

At least she’s still alive.

Softening his steps, it took all he had not to go barging into the apartment. But he knew that Verin being in there with Naomi made every move dangerous. If Verin felt threatened, Sawyer had no doubt the demon would hurt Naomi or worse, just to distract him.

Reaching his door, Sawyer stood there a moment, struggling to keep his wolf in check. Pricking his hears, he focused, listening to the voices inside.

“Please, don’t,” he heard Naomi whimper, and that pushed him over the edge.

All caution got thrown to the wind as he burst through the door, teeth bared. In the living room, his eyes snapped to Naomi, sitting on the floor, holding her palm over her cheek. A nasty-looking deep purple bruise encircled one of her arms, making Sawyer’s wolf thrash and howl, begging to be let out.

A tall figure stood over Naomi, familiar somehow… Sawyer’s eyes widened when the man turned around, and he was suddenly looking at his own face.

“What the…” he muttered, hands balling into fists.

“Ah, look who joined the party,” Verin said lightly, reaching down to pull Naomi to her feet.

She gasped at the force he used to yank her up, her lips in a grim line. Locking eyes with Sawyer, an array of emotions slid over her face, too quickly for him to read.

“Sawyer,” she called out, but Verin grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her.

“How do you like my new look?” Verin turned to Sawyer, taking one hand off Naomi to stroke his jaw. “I had quite a few faces to choose from, but then I thought… Wouldn’t it be fun if I beat Naomi here to death while looking like the guy she was shacking up with? That would just be… poetic,” he laughed.

“Let her go,” Sawyer demanded, stepping closer.

“I could do that,” Verin shrugged. “If you tell me where the statue is.”

“He won’t,” Naomi shook her head. “Don’t do it, Sawyer.”

Fully aware how important it was that Verin not get his hands on that statue, Sawyer hesitated. Naomi definitely didn’t want him to give it to the demon. But there was no way Sawyer could just stand by while Verin hurt his mate.

And when it came down to it, what Sawyer really needed was to stall, to wait for the right moment to go after Verin without putting Naomi’s life in danger in the process.

“It’s here,” he said, watching Naomi struggle against Verin’s grip, with tears in her eyes.

“Sawyer, no,” she urged him. “You can’t let him have it.”

“I can if it saves your life,” he replied. “Is that the deal?” he asked, turning to the demon, and trying to ignore the fact it was like looking into a mirror.

“Let’s say it is,” Verin replied. “Let’s be honest, you don’t really have a lot of bargaining power right now. Show me where it is or I crush her skull like a grape.”

“Back there, in the spare room,” Sawyer said, gesturing toward the hallway leading away from the living room.

“Is he lying to me, huh?” Verin asked, grabbing the back of Naomi’s head.

“I’m not,” Sawyer interjected, having an increasingly harder time keeping his anger in check.

All he wanted to do was rip that face-stealing monster limb from limb for ever laying a hand on Naomi, but that wasn’t the smart call. Not right at that very moment, at least.

“You lead the way, then,” Verin replied, pointing his chin at the hallway. “Me and Naomi will be right behind you.”

Grinding his jaw, Sawyer walked past them, through the hallway and into the spare room. A bag of Naomi’s stuff still lay on the floor, clothes and toiletries sticking out of it. The large closet in the wall stood closed, the safe inside hidden.

Sawyer stepped aside as Verin and Naomi came into the room, the demon still keeping a tight grip on her.

“There’s a safe in the back of the closet,” Sawyer explained. “Now let Naomi go.”

He didn’t have any delusions about this ‘deal’ he and Verin had made. There was no reason for the demon to let either of them live once he got what he wanted. Naomi and Sawyer had given the guy enough trouble as it was, and Verin wasn’t one to hesitate when it came to violence.

“How do I know you’re not lying to me?” Verin narrowed his eyes at him.

“Because I know you’ll kill Naomi if I am,” Sawyer replied.

Grunting to himself, Verin looked from Sawyer to Naomi before using his free hand to pull the closet’s sliding doors aside. As the light streamed in through the window, the shape of the safe could be made out in the back corner.

Verin’s eyes lit up as he saw it, and he edged toward the open door, reaching for the safe with his free hand… Locking eyes with Naomi, Sawyer gave her a quick nod as he crept closer, hoping the demon was too distracted to notice.

This is it. Kill or be killed.