Screaming, she grabbed the can of pepper spray under the counter and aimed it, unleashing a stream onto Brick’s face.

“Fuck!” he yelled, swiping his hands over his eyes, as he turned away. “Stop! It burns! It burns! Stop!”

Duke hollered, “Holy shit!” He tackled Brick to the ground, placing his body over his, as the liquid landed on his back. “Don’t touch your eyes! Blink as fast as you can!”

At the sound of the pump of a forestock, his attention switched to the woman who’d replaced the spray with a shotgun, and she was handling it like she’d used it before.

She shouted, “Stay the fuck away from me!”

“I don’t know why he said that! He wasn’t feeling well when we got here. I think he’s coming down with a fever, or something. Maybe food poisoning. He must be hallucinating.”

“Who are you, and what do you want?”

Coughing, Brick moaned, “Water!”

“He’s Brick, and I’m Duke. We’ve come a long way, looking for something we were told could be here... that you might have it.”

“You were going to assault and rob me?”

She lifted the weapon higher on her shoulder.

“No, not at all. We’re not here to hurt you. As far as what we’re searching for, we’re willing to pay any amount to get it.”

Her eyebrows arched, and Brick made an animalistic whine of pain.

“Let me get him into the bathroom, so he can wash up. Then we’ll explain, okay? This is a huge misunderstanding. Keep the gun on us if you want. Just let me help him.”

A beat passed, and she cocked her head to the right.

“It’s down the hall, over there.”

“Thanks.”

Tears were pouring down Brick’s face from the fumes and the sting of the oils in the spray.

“I can’t see!”

“I’m sure, but I’ve got you, Alpha,” Duke replied, while he helped Brick stand up. Then he threw Brick’s arm over his shoulders. “Come on.”

When they entered the bathroom, Duke led Brick to the sink and turned on the faucet full blast.

“Here. Splash your face a few times, and then we’ll need to fill the sink, so you can open your eyes underwater. You know the drill from basic training, when we got sprayed by our instructor.”

Cupping his hands and bending forward, Brick splashed the water onto his face.

“Is there soap?”

“Yeah.”

Duke squirted some into Brick’s palm.

“Burns like a motherfucker!”

Brick slid the gel over his face, mixing it with the water to make it foam.

“I can’t say I blame her for freaking out, though. I mean, what were you thinking, storming up to her and saying that? What the fuck?”

Brick shrugged and answered, “I don’t know. Things got weird while you were gone.”

“Huh?”

“I kept smelling magnolia while I was walking the perimeter. Maybe it messed with my wolf’s senses, like at the Artist’s Alleyway.”

“Maybe.”

Brick rinsed away the soap, before pulling the stopper to close the drain. He ran enough water to dunk his face into it. He continued to immerse his burning skin, until the fire caused by the potent oils lessened, and then he dried off with paper towels. Chuckling, he tossed them into the trash.

“Get naked and get on me.”

“Yeah, don’t say that again unless you wanna get shot.”

Brick ripped his shirt over his head and tossed it onto the floor. After unbuckling his belt, he whipped it out of the loops and dropped it.

“I’m gonna shift and hurry up my healing time.”

Moments later, his wolf emerged.

“Her. Her. Her. It’s her. She’s the one.”

Hearing Brick’s frantic rambling through the link, Duke jerked his head up.

“Uuuhh… Alpha?”

Brick’s fur bristled, and his ears swiveled forward a second, before he bounded towards the door at full speed. It cracked, breaking under the force of his impact against it.

Duke sped behind him, waving his hands, shouting, “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!”

But as they closed the distance, the clerk raised the gun back to her shoulder and pulled the trigger.

“No!” Duke screamed, as Brick yelped in pain and thudded to the floor, sliding to a stop.