The cabin had an open, airy feeling to it but did nothing to help Karri’s claustrophobia. She found herself in a compound full of shifters with dangerous people after them—possibly after her. It all seemed like a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from. Standing before the Chief, she seemed to dwarf before him. His muscular, wide frame and height made it seem like there was more of a difference between them then there actually was.

“Welcome to Crimson Hollow, Karri. I’m Jase.” He held his hand out to her.

After a moment of hesitation, she reached out to take his hand, wondering if she’d feel the same connection she had with Noah’s touch. As her fingers brushed the back of his hand, nothing sparked to life, allowing her to accept the handshake. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Noah spoke highly about you.”

“Now I know you’re lying.” Jase let out a deep laugh.

“I ensure you, he did,” she pressed not wanting Noah to be in trouble because of her.

“It’s fine, sugar.” He laid his hand on her arm and the unease that had been running through her subsided. “He’s messing with you. Jase is a good Chief.”

“Better if I accepted your suggestions.” Jase raised an eyebrow at Noah, as if waiting for a response.

“Well, we all know that’s the truth.” The other man spoke from where he was leaning against the wall in the background. “I’m Liam.”

The third and final man had thus far stood silent, watching the exchange. “Though we kind of already met. I’m Roger, by the way.”

“The lion from the…I’m sorry.” She wasn’t sure what to say around these people and it seemed that the filter between her brain and her mouth had been suddenly turned off.

“You’re fine. Yes, the lion from the woods. I hadn’t meant to scare you. I assumed you were aware of shifters, considering how many had attended that party.”

“I was aware of shifters existing; I mean, how could I not? It’s all over the news. I just never expected to meet one in person. Let alone be standing in the middle of their town.” Noah’s touch helped to keep the anxiety at bay. Though she wasn’t sure why, she trusted him, and if he trusted everyone here, then she knew she’d be safe.

Kat had always told her to be more open to people and less judgmental. She could hear her friend’s words playing through her thoughts. Just because you came from a small hick town where everyone knew everyone else doesn’t mean the world is as bad as your parents have made it seem. Except maybe it was; she had just watched a group of people get murdered in front of her eyes, including Kat and her boyfriend.

Sitting there on the sofa, she ran her hand through her hair and tried to fight through the emotions running through her. For the last twenty minutes, Jase had grilled her on what happened, making her relive the horrible scene. She had cooperated because she wanted to help but she couldn’t handle much more of it. No longer was she seeing the open space of the cabin; instead, she was back in the woods, dead bodies littering the ground around her and blood everywhere. She didn’t want to be there, didn’t want to look at the bodies at her feet, and she most certainly didn’t want to find Kat’s body in the carnage.

“When the shooting started, could you tell how many shooters there were?”

As if his question sparked the memory, she was back at the beginning. She was just returning to the party after fetching her phone from the car. Music blared, people danced, and liquor flowed freely. That party somewhat reminded her of home—there’d been a barn she and some friends used to party at in her teenage years. The barn backed to the woods, which left plenty of places for privacy. The difference was that back then they’d had country music playing and drank beer, rarely any hard liquor—unlike this last event. Gunshots rang through the air then, stopping her memory of teenage parties and bringing her back to recent past.

“Stop!” Pain laced that single word and her chest tightened.

“Enough.” There was a touch of anger in Noah’s voice, but she didn’t have enough strength to look back at him.

“I can’t do this! Not again…” She held her hands to her ears as if it would stop the gunshots but it didn’t. They weren’t real, but lived on in her mind.

“Sugar, it’s okay.” Noah, who had hung back through the whole questioning, came up to her and squatted in front of her.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t…” Tears stung her eyes as she stared at him. He brought her hands away from her ears and held them together in his larger one.

“You did great.” He glanced over to where Jase was sitting on the armchair. “She’s been through enough tonight and you’ve got your information.”

“If she remembers anything—”

“I’ll let you know.” Noah cut Jase off before he could finish. “I’m taking her back to my place tonight. She’s too distraught to be alone.”

“Take care of your mate. We’ll see about what we can do with her information.” Jase rose from the chair and tipped his head to Liam and Roger before going to the door.

“Karri.” Liam paused by the sofa before joining Jase at the door. “I know that was rough, but I assure you it was worth it. The information you were able to give us, while you might not think it was much, will be a great help to us.”

She didn’t know what to say so she stayed silent. Instead, she tried to remember where she was and what she was doing there. She focused on Noah and allowed his deep brown eyes to ground her in the moment.

“Come on, we’ll go back to my place and you can get some rest. I don’t want to leave you here alone.” He stood, taking her with him.

“Why can’t we stay here?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to go back out there. Inside, she felt safe, but outside, even knowing about the guards’ presence and the fence separating her from the rest of the world, she felt as if The Saviors might be watching, waiting for her to venture out so they could kill her.

“I need to be close to Sin and Jase in case something happens. My cabin is right next door. Liam used to share it with me as well, but once he mated, they wanted more privacy. Until their new cabin is built alongside mine, I’m the closest guard to Sin and Jase.” He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and stared down at her. “It’s going to be okay.”

The moment might have seemed innocent to someone looking in from the outside but there was something very intimate about his touch and the way he slid her hair behind her ear. She wanted to lean into him and enjoy the moment but exhaustion ate at her. “Let’s go.”

“Liam’s right. The information you gave us will be helpful.”

“I’m glad I didn’t go through Hell for nothing.” She tried to make light of it, but her words were truthful. Reliving the memories over and over to answer Jase’s questions had been worse than Hell. The whole time she kept thinking about what she could have done differently. What could she have done to save people? Could she have saved Kat? Somewhere in reliving the memories, she realized Kat was likely dead. She had no proof of this but in her heart, she sensed her friend was no longer alive. The horror of it clung to her. If she hadn’t gone to the car minutes earlier, she’d have been standing next to Kat when the shooting started.

I’d be dead, too.

* * *

Early morning sunlight streamed through the bay window as Noah sat in his living room trying to pull together what he could from the police and news reports. According to the reports, the police suspected six shooters. What they weren’t aware of was the presence of a seventh one, who, if he had a gun, didn’t get to use it. They had only been able to gather that information because of the interrogation Jase had put Karri through. Noah had wanted to stop it, to protect his mate from having to live through it again, but the information she had might be what they needed to stop The Saviors. So, he’d hung back, giving Jase the chance to question her, forcing himself not to reach out and touch her. His touch might have influenced the memories she was recalling.

The night had been rough, but now with it over she was finally resting and he was able to do something to help his tribe. He’d missed the meeting with Sin and the others, but Liam dropped by to fill him in. The attack on the party close to home was enough to bring Jase to his senses. He agreed to adding additional guards to both his and Sin’s protection details. Now, both Liam and Noah had to pick a First Lieutenant to be second-in-command of the charges’ protection. After that, they could each chose two additional guards, to be used as needed.

Noah was hoping to convince Brett Oaks to take the position. As a former police officer, he was suited for the role and his size as a bear shifter added extra weight to the decision. He had also proven himself time and time again to both Noah and the tribe. He glanced at his phone and debated calling Brett to have him come over to discuss the promotion. The original plan had been for him to go over to Brett and Swift’s place once Karri woke up so he wouldn’t have to leave her alone, but having him come there might be easier since he wasn’t sure she’d be up to socializing after everything she had been through. Getting Brett on board immediately would help to relieve some of the pressure on Noah, especially now that he had to worry about his mate as well.

Before he could make the call, a scream echoed through the cabin and he shot off the sofa, rushing up the stairs in a blink of an eye. “Karri!” As he opened the door to his bedroom, the stench of fear hit him full force, bringing his lion to the forefront. He glanced around the room but no one was there—not that be expected there to be with the guards patrolling the grounds, but one could never be sure.

“Karri,” he called to her again as he sat down onto the bed. “You’re safe.”

“No! No!” Sitting on the bed, she shook her head back and forth.

“Karri.” He wanted to wrap his arms around her but he didn’t want to scare her further. Even though her eyes were open he wasn’t sure she was awake or not. “Karri, look at me.”

“No…not Kat.”

Tears rolled down her face and he couldn’t stop himself from going to her. He scooted farther onto the bed to lean against the headboard and wrap his arms around her. “Oh sugar, I’m sorry.” The moment he held her, he could see the images in her mind that had her so upset. The pale woman with long black hair, thick black eyeliner, and bright red lipstick seemed to stand out more from the memory, as the rest of the bodies were hazier. In an instant, he recognized Kat from the picture he’d seen in the police report earlier when he’d learned she’d been among those listed as deceased. He hadn’t been able to give the news to Karri since she had been sleeping, but it was a piece of information he’d had no desire to deliver.

It appeared Kat, her boyfriend, and the group that had been hanging around them were the first to die. He wasn’t sure if they had been targeted yet, or if they just happened to be in the wrong area when the shooting started. He remembered enough from Karri’s memories to know she had been standing with them only moments before. If she hadn’t gone to the car for her cell phone, she’d be dead, too.

My mate would have died before I ever found her. He wasn’t sure what that meant—if he would have found someone else. Or if he would have been stuck without a mate until his dying day. Either way, it didn’t sit well with him. She was his. Now he had to figure out if she was in danger or not.

As much as he’d dug for information, he hadn’t been able to determine if Kat or her boyfriend had been shifters or not. Surprisingly, the news had been keeping it quiet as if they didn’t want to incite more riots. The police reports wouldn’t state the nature of the person until a family member confirmed it or the autopsy report came back. If they had been in hiding, it was unlikely that a family member would admit the truth. He wouldn’t be surprised if some of the family members went into hiding over the next several days. Those who didn’t risked being hunted down and killed by The Saviors.

“She’s really dead.” She pressed her face against his chest, tears seeping through his shirt.

“I know.” He squeezed her tight against him. “I’ve read the report. She didn’t suffer. She probably didn’t even know what happened.”

“How can you say that?” She tipped her head to look up at him. “It was terrifying.”

“For you, sugar, but you saw the whole thing. She was one of the first to die. It’s possible she didn’t know what was happening.” He wasn’t just saying it to calm her down, but because he believed it. From what he read in the police reports and the crime scene photos, it didn’t appear as if any of those from her group had tried to run. Kat and her boyfriend landed together, her shirt half unbuttoned as if they had started to get intimate there in the middle of the party.

“Were they…were we targeted?”

“I don’t know yet but I’m looking into it.” He smoothed his hand down the length of her back. “You’re safe here.”

“You keep telling me that and you’d think I’d believe it but I’m just so scared.” She leaned back against his chest. “I’m from a small town; where the worst crime we have is when someone gets rowdy at the bar. The most the cops have to worry about is speeders. There’s never been a murder there as long as I’ve been alive. Maybe I’m sheltered or even naive but I almost expected it to be like that everywhere. I never watched the news and our paper rarely covered the horrible things that were happening outside of our little bubble. When I left to start college, I had a rude wakeup call. Kat helped me adjust and she protected me when I needed it, but she also pushed me outside of my comfort zone.”

“She drugged you,” he reminded her.

“That was her boyfriend’s idea. He wanted her to come down for the party and she wouldn’t come without me.” She was silent for a moment before glancing back up at him. “He wasn’t a bad guy, just used to getting his own way no matter the cost. Unfortunately, the cost this time was their lives.”

“And it could have been yours.” The idea was unsettling, making him want to hold her tighter to him, as well as get back to his research to make sure The Saviors were not after her.

She’s safe here. The Saviors won’t have a chance to attack here.