Once Officer Dan discreetly wiped the message on Jane’s arm off, he motioned for the coroner to take her away. The guy hadn’t been paying attention. Thank goodness.

The coroner pronounced Jane dead and named her time of death. Then, she was carried away.

“Make sure someone calls me when the others return,” Officer Dan insisted, his hand on my shoulder. “I’d like to know Wesley and the others are okay.”

I nodded. “Yeah, sure. I will.” I folded my arms over my chest, unable to shake the cold chill that had gripped hold of me since seeing Jane carried away. “Thanks for helping to clean that up before anyone else saw.”

“No problem,” Officer Dan said as he walked away.

I stared at the space where Jane’s body had been moments before. A pool of blood stained the gravel, and there were droplets of it leading up to it from the woods. Police were walking through the woods, searching for whatever creature Officer Dan had told them to be on the lookout for. It was clear they weren’t really trying to find anything though. They probably thought the sirens had scared away the animal.

“Someone should clean that up so the little kids don’t see,” Alec said. I jumped, not having heard him come up behind me. My mind was elsewhere. “Not that they haven’t already seen worse tonight, but still.”

“Yeah,” I whispered. The park was clearing out, which meant everyone would be leaving the party building and heading back to their trailers. Alec should leave too. He shouldn’t have been here to begin with.

“I don’t know how you clean up something like that.” He crammed his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

“Me either.”

My gaze drifted back to the puddle of blood.

I didn’t know Jane, but I felt as though I did. There was a hole inside me because of her death. One where guilt had made itself a home. While I knew I shouldn’t feel responsible for what happened to her, I did.

“Oh, honey,” Mom said as she came up behind me. She pulled me in for a hug and I let her. “I’m so sorry your birthday ended this way.”

“Me too,” I said, even though I’d forgotten it was my birthday. The party and fun seemed like it happened forever ago.

“They’ll catch whoever did this. The alp–” Dad coughed. I knew it was because he’d been about to say something about our alpha, and then realized he was in Alec’s presence. “The police will nab whoever’s responsible.”

I hoped he was right. I hoped the alpha ripped his damn throat out. All of them. My wolf wished for the same.

No. Our alpha needed to stay as far away from the Midnight Reaper.

Vampire. Alpha. Death threat.

These three thoughts circled through my mind while Mom continued to talk. I couldn’t focus on what she was saying. My mind was somewhere else.

I was back in the city with Regina. She’d just told me the reason she was seeking revenge against my pack, against my alpha.

Your alpha is mine.

The words flashed through my mind again, written in Jane’s blood on her arm.

“No,” I whispered. “It can’t be her.”

“Can’t be who, honey?” Mom asked. “What are you talking about?”

I licked my lips. “No one. It’s nothing. Forget it. I’m just tired.”

“Understandable,” Mom insisted. “You could come home with us until Eli comes back.”

Eli.

What if it was Regina responsible for all of this somehow? What would she do to Eli?

My heart pounded in my chest as possible scenarios played through my mind. None of them were good.

It couldn’t be her though, I tried to rationalize. I’d watched her die. I’d crammed multiple syringes of Abstraction into her system, flooding it. Then, I’d watched as she overdosed. Next, Eli had staked her. She’d turned to ashes. I saw her.

No. It couldn’t be her. It couldn’t even be about her. It had to be someone else.

But who?

“Honey?” Mom pressed.

“I’ll be okay. I’m going to go home and wait for Eli,” I said as I smoothed a hand over my forehead.

“Care for any company?” Alec asked.

My eyes snapped to him as my teeth sank into my bottom lip. I knew I should say no, but for whatever reason, I couldn't bring myself to.

“Sure,” I said.

The ghost of a smile crossed Alec’s face. “Cool.”

“Umm, well. We’ll be at home if you need us,” Mom insisted. She pulled me in for another hug before she and Dad started home.

“Happy birthday,” Dad called over his shoulder.

I waved and flashed a small smile before I started walking to my trailer with Alec at my side. We didn’t get far before Gracie called out to me.

“Hey. Do you want me to take Moonshine home with me?” she asked, hugging my puppy to her chest. How could I have forgotten about her?

“No. It’s okay. I’ll take her.” I reached for her as soon as Gracie was close enough. “Thanks, though.”

“No problem. I’ll, uh, talk to you later.” She wanted to talk about what happened. I could see her questions burning in her eyes.

In that moment, I was glad Alec stood beside me. He was serving as a shield, allowing me to not have to talk about the things that had happened with Jane.

“Yeah. Okay,” I said as I squeezed Moonshine against my chest. She wiggled, wanting down, but I refused to set her down.

I glanced behind me to see if anyone else waited to say something and spotted Ridley and Benji coming out of the party building with Becca. Benji looked as though he still wasn’t feeling well. Concern for him shifted across Ridley’s face while Becca looked as though she were in shock.

“Hey, I’m sorry to dip out, but I think Benji needs to go home and lie down,” Ridley said as they made their way to where Alec and I stood.

“I just can’t get over all that blood,” Benji whispered. His eyes drifted between Alec and me to the pool of blood on the gravel. “Oh, man, there it is again. I think I’m gonna be sick!” His hand flew to his mouth as his cheeks puffed out. He dashed to the nearest trash can.

“It’s okay. I’ll call you later,” I said as I motioned for Ridley to follow him.

“Happy birthday,” she shouted over her shoulder as she ran to where Benji hunched over a trash can.

“I think I’m going to head home too,” Becca said. She folded her arms across her chest as a shiver slipped through her body, her expression haunted. “This has got me all freaked out.” Her gaze darted to the woods as though she were waiting for something to jump out and attack her.

“I know. Me too. Thanks for coming though.” I reached out to give her a one-armed hug. Moonshine wiggled to get away from us both.

“Happy birthday,” Becca insisted as she returned my hug. “I’ll try to swing by and see you before I leave tomorrow.”

“Maybe we can meet for breakfast or something?”

“I’d like that.” She touched Alec’s arm. “I’ll talk to you later too.”

“Can you make it home okay? I can drive you if you need me to,” Alec offered, always a gentleman.

“I’ll be all right,” she said as she started toward where she’d parked.

A few members of the pack whispered happy birthday to me as they started to their trailers, ready to turn in for the night. I set Moonshine on the ground and walked Alec toward Eli’s and my trailer, still wondering if asking him to stay was stupid.

“You okay?” he asked once we are almost to the front door.

“As okay as I can be, considering,” I said without looking at him. “What about you?”

“Same.” He scratched the back of his neck. “That was crazy.”

“Yeah, it was,” I said even though he didn’t know the half of it.

We started up the wooden stairs to my place, and I opened the door. Eli’s familiar scent lingered in the air. Worry shifted through me. What if he didn’t come back? What if something horrible happened while he was in the woods? What if the Midnight Reaper got him?

My heartbeat grew sluggish as my mind continued to crank out one horrible thought after the other. I should’ve gone with him. Simple as that.

What the hell was I doing here with Alec?

There wasn’t anything romantic left between us. Ivette had seen to making me a friend and nothing more in his eyes when she screwed with his memory, and I was imprinted with Eli. There was no room for anyone else inside my heart. There never would be.

So, why had I told him he could stay?

Alec reminded me of a different part of myself, one that was separate from anything supernatural. To me, he represented normalcy. That was why I’d invited him to stay. My mind needed normalcy on this crazy night.

If not, I’d worry myself sick. Especially now with Eli in the woods with that monster.

“Wow, this place is nice,” Alec said as he followed me inside and closed the door behind him.

“Thanks,” I muttered as I unhooked Moonshine from her leash.

She ran straight to Alec and sniffed his boots.

“She’s cute.” He bent down to pet her. “What did you say her name was again?”

“Moonshine.”

“Interesting name.”

“Eli came up with it. It’s mainly because of the white circle on top of her head. It sort of looks like a moon.”

“Yeah, I guess. I probably would’ve named her Luna or something though.”

A smile twisted at the corners of my lips because that was exactly what I’d said to Eli when we first got her.

“Are you thirsty?” I asked as I stepped to the kitchen to get myself a glass of water.

“No, I’m fine.”

I grabbed a glass from the cabinet beside the sink and filled it with tap water. Alec was still petting Moonshine when I turned back around. She licked his hand.

“I think you made a new friend,” I said, watching the two of them.

“I think so.” Alec chuckled. “So, when do you think Eli will be back?”

“I don’t know.” Worry bubbled through me again. “Hopefully soon.”

Alec stood, abandoning petting Moonshine. She jumped on him and yipped, not having it. “Do you think he’ll be okay with my being here?”

“Yeah. You’re my friend. He knows that.”

Relief registered in Alec’s eyes. “Cool. I didn’t want to cause any friction between the two of you, especially after everything that’s happened tonight already.”

“It’ll be okay.” I slipped past him and stepped into the living room, heading for the couch. Alec followed and moved to sit beside me. He scratched at his eyebrow as he situated himself. I studied his face, trying to determine what he was thinking.

“What do you think happened to that girl?” he asked.

I should have known that was where his mind was. Alec always was the curious type.

“I’m not sure.”

“Her neck looked as though it had been mauled,” he whispered. “Like something had viciously attacked her.”

I was treading in dangerous territory, which meant I needed to be careful with what I said next.

“I know,” I said, hoping agreeing with him and not adding anything else would suffice enough to end the conversation.

“So, what do you think attacked her?” he pressed. Did he think I knew something more than him? Could he sense it? I tried to get a vibe off where he was going with all of this but couldn’t. Alec was hard to read. “It had to be an animal of some kind.”

Moonshine jumped up onto the couch and settled between us. I reached out to stroke the crown of her head, giving myself a moment to think of an answer.

“Maybe it was a bear.” I shrugged.

“Maybe,” Alec said. “I guess it could’ve swiped at her if she’d startled it somehow.”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t get a chance to look at the rest of her to see if there were other marks. Did you?”

“I think there was something on her leg. Possibly on her midsection too,” I lied. If he thought there was more than one wound, maybe the animal theory would hold better clout with him.

Hopefully when Officer Dan filed the report, he noted that an animal attack was the cause of death. That was what needed to be circulated through town because I knew it would somehow find its way back to Alec. I didn’t want him harboring any questions about tonight.

“God, that’s got to be an awful way to go,” Alec said. A breath of air rushed past his lips, and he smoothed a hand along his face. His eyes locked with mine when it fell to his lap again. “What if it was that serial killer? The Midnight Reaper? I remember seeing on the news another body was found about thirty miles from here this morning.”

Shit. He was putting pieces together, but it wasn’t his puzzle to complete.

“I heard about that too. It’s possible the Midnight Reaper might be in town, I guess. Although, I seriously hope not,” I said before chugging some of my water. I needed to stop talking. I wasn’t helping the situation.

“Markings on her arms and legs would make sense if it were the Midnight Reaper too. They said in one of the reports some of the bodies had been mutilated.”

He was looking too deep into this. I needed to change the subject.

“If she ran through the woods, she could’ve had plenty of scratches on her arms and legs, whether she was running from an animal or the killer,” I said as I reached for the TV remote. “Do you want to watch some TV? We have Netflix.”

Alec didn’t speak. I knew him well enough to know it was because he was mulling over the possibilities of both theories being true.

I set my water on the coffee table and scrolled through comedies. I decided on one I hadn’t seen in forever and pulled Moonshine into my lap.

Time ticked away.

When the movie was almost over, a pang of worry slithered through me. I still hadn’t heard from Eli. Just when I thought to get up and grab my cell so I could send him a text asking if he was okay, the front door swung open and he stumbled in.

Blood and grime marred his beautiful skin, and his clothes were in tatters.