Bess Kennedy lived in a tiny brick house on the east side of town. A well-manicured, tree lined street. Quiet. Affluent. It would be easy to pretend here that nothing sinister lurked in the woods beyond.

Tonight, I was that sinister thing.

I wondered later if she had been waiting for me. I found her sitting quietly on her back porch. The cool autumn air blew through her auburn hair. She was already crying when I got there.

I clenched my fists at my sides. The wolf burned strong within me. With each heartbeat, I felt Molly slipping further away from me. She was shutting down. Trying to stay calm. Even now, she was trying to protect me.

I didn’t wait for an invitation. I walked up Bess’s freshly cut lawn and towered over her. She sipped iced tea, her fingers trembling as she set the glass down.

“I knew you’d come,” she said. “Will you do it here?”

In all the turmoil of the last hour, Bess’s words shook me. She thought I was going to kill her. She wiped a tear from her cheek and stared up at me.

“Is that what they told you I am? A monster? Diseased? You think that’s what they said about Brady Langley? Did you know him?”

Bess let out a strangled cry. “I’m not responsible for that.”

The moment she said it, I knew it was a lie. God. It was my fault. Bess Kennedy had been reporting on us all along. I sealed Molly’s fate the minute I stepped out of the shadows behind the clinic. The weight of her betrayal threatened to crush me. But, as long as Molly and Keara still drew breath, there was time. Precious little.

“Zeke?” I asked. “You gonna tell me he made you do it?”

Bess closed her eyes against my words as if they would shield her from the pain of truth.

“How long has he been one of the Pack’s spies?”

Bess’s eyes snapped open. “I don’t know. What difference does it make? Do you know who he reports to?”

“What do you know?” I went to her. I’m not proud, but I gripped her by the shoulders and shook her. I didn’t hurt her. My touch was gentle, but Bess had been through so much, instinct made her flinch.

“You know what the Pack is, don’t you? You’ve know it your whole life.”

“It’s you who doesn’t know what the Pack is,” she said. “Do you know who Zeke reports to? He’s got this town on lock, Liam. The only man more powerful is the Alpha himself.”

God. The answers had been right in front of me. I should have known it the moment I looked in Zeke Redmond’s eyes that first night. He spied for the Alpha’s top general. He was dialed into the true power in Shadow Springs. Now, he’d probably brought Molly and Keara right to him.

She openly wept now. “I didn’t have a choice. I’m sorry about your friend, but they were going to hurt Molly. You couldn’t protect her, so I did.”

“What are you talking about? The Pack’s taken Molly. God, I can feel them around her right now. Do you have any idea what it’s doing to me not to charge over there?”

Bess rose slowly to her feet. “You’re wrong. Zeke said they were interested in her friend Keara. That was the deal. Keara for Molly. I had no choice. They were going to kill her. She’s going to hate me forever, but at least she’ll be alive to do it.”

I tore a hand through my hair. There was still a part of me that could step back and look at her from a distance. Removed from the pain Molly’s distress caused me. “You made a deal with the Pack? You trusted them? Bess, they were never going to honor that.”

She put a hand to her mouth. “What are you telling me?”

“I’m telling you you haven’t saved Molly from anything.”

“Oh, God. I swear to you. They promised. That was my condition.”

I gripped the railing of her porch so hard the wood splintered. Bess jumped and took a step back. I tried to steady my breathing. She was terrified.

“It’s not too late,” I forced myself to say, hoping to God it was true. “It’s not too late if you help me now. I know where they are. But I need to know how many of them there are. I need to know how deep this goes.”

“What are you going to do? What can you do? His name is Tenley. I’ve only met him once. Zeke says there’s no one more powerful than him except the Alpha.”

Tenley. The name simmered in my brain. Rage boiled through me. My vision tunneled and I knew she could see my wolf eyes. There was no help for it anymore. But, I could see her nature as easily as she could see mine. She was just a scared woman trying to do what she thought was right, misguided as that might be. She was also my only chance.

“There were three of them,” she said. “This Tenley was with them. I’ve been around shifters before, Liam. But this one...he’s different. Zeke brought them here in his truck. They made me tell them where Keara was going to meet Molly. I’m sorry, Liam. I set a meeting up between the two of them at the clinic. I have no idea if any more met them. I don’t know where they’ve taken them.”

I reached for her. Somehow, it seemed important to me to comfort her. It was as if I needed to remind myself that through all of that, I was still human too.

“It’s all right,” I said, though I knew it wasn’t. “I do.”