I woke covered in sweat. By the position of the sun, I knew it was well past noon. She’d let me sleep too long.

“Lena?” I called out. She was gone. The backpack was gone too. My heart thundered hard with the lingering traces of the dream. I’d been in the woods, just like this. Able Valent had been in my head. He’d called me after the patrols cornered a runaway. I remembered the kid as pale and skinny, not much more than eighteen years old. He’d been one of Valent's new recruits, but things hadn’t gone well for him.

I rubbed a hand over my face trying to shake the vision clear. Able had wanted an example made out of him. Let the members know what happened if you tried to shirk your duties. Able’s thoughts filled my head and I’d broken his legs. I still remembered the look on the kid’s face. Not shock. Not fear. Just cold acceptance then agony. Able had called me back before I got the chance to see whether he lived or died. I’d tried to fight against it. I would have welcomed the death he brought me for defying him. But in the end, Able was stronger. At least, that’s what I needed to believe.

“Lena?” I called again. She couldn’t be far. Closing my eyes, I took air into my lungs. She was heading northeast away from the river. My eyes snapped open. She was running. That wasn’t the path we’d agreed on. She was running from me?

“Shit,” I said, launching myself to my feet. I wanted to yell for her. There was still nothing out here but harmless doe and a few rabbits. Still, I couldn’t risk any other ears hearing me shout.

The wind changed and Lena’s scent covered me. It stirred my wolf. Heat poured through me and adrenaline shot straight through my toes. I staggered sideways from the power of it. It came unbidden. Lust. Pure, naked lust. Shaking my head, I carved my fingers into the bark of the nearest tree until I drew blood.

I was still disoriented from the dream. That’s all it was. All it could be.

I was close enough to hear Lena’s sharp intake of breath as she realized how close I was. I felt her pulse pounding alongside my own. Shit. She was terrified. Had she seen something? That couldn’t be it. There’s no way anything would have gotten past me even in the dream.

Lena stumbled a few yards ahead of me. I saw her thick auburn hair trailing behind her like a banner. I didn’t want to chase her down. She was obviously scared enough. Still, I had to get to her. I had to keep her safe.

“Lena!” I shouted. She scrambled to her feet and turned to face me. All color drained from her face, making the jagged scar on her right cheek stand out in stark, pink contrast. My wolf flared hot inside of me at the reminder of what she’d endured. Now, it seemed she was afraid again...of me.

“You…” she pointed at my chest. Sweat caked her hair against her temples.

“Lena,” I said, hands out. I came to her slowly. She was like a skittish colt. One wrong move and she’d bolt again. “What happened? Did you see something?”

Her voice cracked. Her throat was so dry she couldn’t seem to get her words out. “You said…”

“I said what? I woke up and you were just gone. Tell me, what’s got you so terrified?”

Lena dropped her hand and straightened her back. For an instant, she looked so small, defeated. Then, in one breath it all changed. Her eyes hardened and she drew her shoulders back. She was strong, defiant, and apparently pissed as hell.

“He was in your head. Admit it.”

“What?” My heart jackhammered inside of me.

“Valent. You said his name. You were dreaming, but you said his name. Don’t try to deny it or play it off, Payne. I know what it looks like when a wolf is in Able Valent’s thrall.”

My heart turned to stone. The branches of a birch tree separated us. I reached for them and ripped them out of my way. “I’m not in anyone’s thrall. I had a dream. I can’t control what happens in my dreams.”

She cocked her head to the side. “You said there was nobody bigger or badder than you. What did you mean by that? Don’t lie to me.”

Her words hit me like a bullet through the heart. And yet, I knew I was going to lie to her. I had no other choice. “I didn’t mean anything.”

“What were you to him?” she asked, breathless.

“I’m not Pack, Lena. Jesus. You really think your brother would have sent you out here with me? I’m not your enemy. And you can’t just run off whenever you feel like it. I know you’re smart. I know you’re a survivor. And you know exactly how dangerous it is for you to be out here. You don’t have to like me. Hell, you can hate my guts. But, you have to let me do my job. I’m going to make sure they can’t get to you.”

“Your job?” she asked. She dropped her shoulders and some of the fear left her eyes. She took a tentative step toward me. “That’s what I’m asking you, Payne. What was your job? Before you came to Mammoth Forest. What were you to Able?”

“What does that matter?”

She stopped her advance. God, she really was the bravest woman I’d ever met. Her eyes seemed to see straight through to my soul. It was as if she knew who and what I was just by looking at me. I’d been telling her not to run. Now, it’s all I wanted to do.

“Did he have you?” she asked.

It was an odd way to phrase the question. “Don’t,” I answered.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t ask questions you really don’t want answered. It doesn’t matter. And I’m going to see you safely across that fucking border if it kills me.”

“Are you hoping it does?” She was so close to me. Her hot breath caressed my shoulder. The heat in my core spread, making my fingers tremble. I wanted to touch her. I wanted to tilt her chin toward me. Her lips parted and her tongue darted out, wetting them. I couldn’t see straight. I couldn’t think straight. It was the aftereffects of the dream. It had to be. I was lying to her face and she saw through it all.

A beat passed between us. Then another.

“Answer me,” she said. “You owe me that. Do you have a death wish, Payne? Is that why you agreed to make this run?”

I let out a hard breath. “I’m not Jagger,” I said. It wasn’t the answer she wanted, but it was all I could give.

“Jagger doesn’t think he’s got anything to live for,” she said.

“Did he tell you that? He doesn’t talk to anyone; why would he talk to you?” I felt like an alien had taken over my mouth. I sounded...jealous. At that moment, the idea of Lena sharing anything intimate with Jagger, even a conversation, burned through me like wildfire. What the actual fuck was happening to me?

Lena narrowed her eyes. “He didn’t have to tell it to me. It’s obvious. He’s trying to live with his heart ripped out of his body. He’s doing it for the rest of you. I know what that’s like.”

She gutted me. This woman stood before me and made me feel like my own organs had been ripped out. It made no sense. I barely knew her. She was just...a job. She mattered to Mac, so she mattered to me. And yet, there she stood with those hazel-gold eyes of hers boring through me and laying me bare. She was in pain of her own just as deep as Jagger’s. Of course she related to him. My fingers curled into fists again and my claws came out. Blood welled in my palms. I wanted to reach into her past and kill the men who’d made her hurt. I knew exactly how.

“You freaked me out,” she said, retreating a little.

“I’m sorry.”

“You called out for Valent in your sleep. Pack wolves do that. I’ve seen it. So, I’m asking you again. Does he still have a hold on you?”

I forced my hands open, hoping she wouldn’t see the blood. Her eyes darted downward then quickly back up to mine.

“No,” I said, my voice hollow. “Valent doesn’t have a hold over me. But, my past with him is just that. The past. You feel like sharing yours with me?”

“No!” A muscle jumped in her jaw as she clenched it hard. “No way.”

“Good,” I said. I reached for the pack on her shoulder. She flinched but held her ground. I took the pack from her and heaved it on my back. “You’re going in the wrong direction. We need to stay a little further west. Can you handle ten miles before we make camp for the night? I’ll take watch. You’ll sleep.”

She arched a brow and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Right. You’re a wolf. And, I’ve heard that one before.”

I didn’t wait for permission. I moved around her and headed back into the woods going west. She held back for a moment, then her sigh seemed to fill me as she started to follow.

We hiked in silence and covered good ground for the rest of the afternoon. I tried to push thoughts of my dream and Lena’s accusations out of my mind. Did the Alpha still have a hold on me? No. He didn’t. I was here. He was somewhere else. Until Birch Haven, I hadn’t allowed myself to even think of the things I’d done in his name. But, I’d had no choice. I was younger. Weaker. More foolish. I’d been raised to think serving the Alpha was the most noble thing any shifter could do. I didn’t know my own power. I didn’t understand that I was an Alpha until it was already too late. My own father had offered me up to him when I was sixteen years old. Fallon men had served at Able’s right hand for two generations. I would be no different.

Until I was.

As the sun began to set, we found the river’s edge again. At this pace, and with no incidents, we’d make the Ohio River in four days. We’d planned for seven. I had every expectation that we’d need to stop and hide for a night at least once. There were bound to be close calls with the Pack one way or the other. If we made it into Michigan things would be easier on the way back. I could hopefully travel alone, and we had human friends willing to transport any supplies I brought back. If I could convince the Wild Lake doctor to come into Kentucky, that would be another matter, but I planned to cross that bridge when I came to it. For now, it was enough to just get Lena to safety.

“This looks about as good a place as any,” Lena said, unable to hold back a yawn. I couldn’t help that it made me smile. She’d sleep tonight. She needed it. A thought popped into my head unbidden. I wanted to keep her warm.

I slid the pack off my back and started setting up the tent. We’d stay right on the edge of the water. If someone came for us, they’d come from the woods, not the river. Probably.

Lena didn’t argue when I handed her the bedroll. Her eyelids were hooded and her posture stooped. She was exhausted. A wave of guilt ran through me.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I told you to tell me if you needed to rest more often. You look awful.”

Smiling, she shook her head and unzipped the tent. “I just need sleep. And we’re here. I told you I can keep up and take care of myself.”

Grumbling, I held the tent flap open so she could slip inside. “So sleep. I’ll keep watch. I know...I’m a wolf.”

Sighing, she said, “I’ve heard that before.” This time, her words got a genuine smile out of me. I stood outside and listened as she settled in.

More than anything, I wanted to shift. I needed to let my wolf out and run along the shoreline. I needed to hunt and to burn off energy. I’d been keyed up around Lena all day. She poked her head through the tent flap.

“Shoo,” she said. “Do your wolf thing if you need to. It’s been a day and a half. I know how this works. Shifter’s sister, remember?”

God, it was as if she could read my damn mind. That was a scary prospect. “Twenty minutes,” I said. “An hour, tops. You’ll be safe while I’m gone. I won’t go far.”

“Uh huh,” she said with a yawn, then settled back into the tent.

I did exactly as she told me. I folded my jeans and let my wolf out. Stretching my paws, I dipped them into the cool river. Bass darted past me. I wasn’t in the mood for fish tonight though. My stomach rumbled. I could chance smaller quarry. Rabbits. Maybe a few squirrels. We might even be able to risk a campfire come morning. The idea of making a real breakfast for Lena warmed me in new ways.

Pawing the ground, I arched my back. It was risky, but I couldn’t help giving at least one howl to the moon. Then, I dashed for the woods, letting instinct kick in.

Within a few minutes, I had two rabbits and started back for the campsite. My heart thundered as a huge buck appeared in the clearing a few yards away. Instinct kicked in and I dropped my head low to the ground. I wouldn’t kill him, not tonight. But, the thrill of the chase was all I needed.

I launched myself at the deer, letting adrenaline drive me. Then, a shot struck my heart, nearly bringing me to my knees. The Pack. Three of them tore down the hillside running straight for the buck. They skidded to a halt as they scented me instead. Eyes flashing and fangs out, they came at me.