The next morning, Ryenne woke in her own bed, feeling alone. She turned to the side, flinging out her arm to feel the cool, empty sheets next to her. No Lucien.

The hospital wouldn’t let her stay with her mom last night, and the guys convinced her not to spend another night in the waiting room. Nick had sent a uniformed cop to sit outside her mom’s door. She had a little chat with Officer Reynolds and impressed upon him how important his job was.

She got right in his face and warned him that if she heard from any of the overnight nursing staff that he had fallen asleep on the job, she would personally rip off his balls.

So, here she was in her bed all alone. Yet she still felt the primal needs she’d been experiencing since she’d changed. To fuck someone, to hit someone, to run as a wolf.

Since she was alone, the first two were out. Now that it was daylight, the third one was out.

The only option left to her was to take matters into her own hands.

She reached an exploratory hand under the sheets and into the boy shorts she’d slept in. She was wet and throbbing within a minute, her left hand covering her breast, her fingers pebbling her nipple. It felt good, but it wasn’t the same as being with someone else. With a partner, there could be as much friction, intensity, power, and even aggression as she needed.

Next time, she’d use the vibrator in the drawer of her bedside table. For now, she could smell her own juices flowing and it pushed her over the brink to orgasm. It took the edge off but it left her not fully satisfied.

It certainly wasn’t the same as being with Lucien, who was one of the best lovers she’d ever had. He might be the best, but she didn’t like superlatives.

Pulling on some exercise clothes, she drank some water, then went down to her building’s gym and pushed herself harder and faster than usual.

After, she turned the shower on extra hot to further punish her body.

She couldn’t wait for all of these primal urges to subside. They were no fun without Lucien. She really needed to get back to her dojo where she could spar with another black belt and get out some of her aggression. But even that wouldn’t be as intense as a real fight. Maybe she should take up boxing.

Her phone beeped with a message. Scotty told her they’d found CCTV footage of the car and had traced the path to its current location. He gave an address for her to meet them.

Ryenne met Scotty and Nick behind the Fulton Fish Market at South Street Seaport.

“Are you starting to get the idea they have a headquarters around here somewhere?” she asked them, sauntering through the line of uniformed cops to her two detective friends.

They nodded. “We’ve canvassed the area but haven’t found anyone willing to cop to it,” Nick said.

“But instead of leaving the car by the river, this time it’s behind the fish market,” she said. “Why do you think that is?”

“We’re thinking it’s because of the smell,” Scotty said. “Maybe trying to keep us off their track.”

Ryenne nodded. It was a sound idea. The fish smell was intense enough to interfere with her shifter senses.

“It’s been wiped clean, but we had you come down because we thought you might be able to smell something that we obviously can’t,” Scotty explained.

“Don’t you have any shifters on the Shifter Crimes Taskforce?” she asked.

“Nope,” Scotty answered with a grin.

“Most shifters want to stay under the police radar,” Nick explained. “So, even shifters on the force keep it on the down low.”

Ryenne walked around the car, sniffing. She smelled fox shifter but couldn’t find a trail. “No cameras around here that captured where the driver went next?”

Nick shook his head. “The car is a complete dead end. Its owner has nothing to do with this. Not a known shifter and he reported the car stolen two days ago.”

“Which brings us to our other piece of news,” Scotty said. “We got a decent image of the driver.”

“You know who it was?” she asked, bouncing on her toes.

A grin spread across their faces, one pale, one dark. “You were right. It was one of the O’Brien boys,” Scotty said. “Joseph. The red-haired one.”

A sense of victory flooded Ryenne’s system as she remembered fighting him and freeing her mother from his grasp. But it was short-lived. Knowing the driver’s identity only got them so much closer. It didn’t necessarily keep Mom any safer. They had to capture them first. All of the O’Briens. And put a stop to the Fangs.

“What happens now?” she asked.

“We’ve got a warrant out for his arrest,” Nick said. “There was no one at their apartment in Brooklyn, but his name and description have gone out over the wire, as well as those of the brother and sister, since they may be able to lead us to Joseph.”

Ryenne nodded. Progress. She’d take any bit of it she could.

“Got anything else for me?” she asked. “I want to get back to the hospital.”

“That’s all for now,” Scotty said. “We’ll talk to any known associates of the O’Briens and track them down.”

“How about Mom’s doctor? Did you find anything out about him?”

“So far he’s clean,” Nick said. “No criminal record, just a couple of parking tickets. He’s not even known as a shifter. No malpractice suits, no medical complaints, nothing.”

This was mostly good news, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t a Fang. There were Fangs who’d flown under the radar their whole lives but happened to agree with the hatred spewed by Mr. Lord and his minions. Granted, it would be unusual for a doctor to be a Fang, considering the Hippocratic oath, but it would be a coup for the Fangs to have a doctor at their beck and call.

Signs were good, but she wasn’t yet ready to accept Dr. Nakamura.

***

Ryenne spent the rest of the day at the hospital with her mom, who was doing a lot better but was still in pain.

When Ryenne had first walked into the hospital room, her mom was staring at the card from her dad.

“What are you doing?” Ryenne asked.

“Trying to imagine what was going through his mind, all those years ago, and what could possibly be going through his mind now.”

But there was a faraway look in her mother’s eyes that didn’t match her words. Did she still have feelings for him? It would be natural to hold a torch for someone you thought you had lost when you still loved him. But now she knew part of the truth about him, could Mom still love him?

Ryenne’s own feelings about her dad were fucked up. She was angry—so angry—for losing these fifteen years with him. But there was also a part of her, larger than she’d like to admit, who was still the little girl who had lost her father and would do almost anything to get him back.

She found herself wondering sometimes if they would find him, what he was doing, what his role was with the Fangs, and even worse, what he would think of Lucien. Would he approve?

When Ryenne had known her father, he had been angry at shifters because of her brother’s murder. But if he now worked for the Fangs, he must’ve put his animosity toward shifters to rest. So maybe he would approve of Lucien. But the Fangs were the closest thing to evil she’d ever encountered, and Lucien, although a shifter, was nowhere near evil. If her father was truly a Fang, then he would not approve of Lucien. But if he was truly a Fang, then Ryenne didn’t see how she could have any place in her father’s life.

Gavin showed up around dinnertime with another goofy grin.

“Let me guess,” she said, “you had another date with Doctor Hottie.”

His grin grew even wider. “Why, yes, smarty pants, I had coffee with him again before his shift.”

“Oh Gavin,” her mom gushed. “I’m so happy for you.”

“But, Mom, he’s a shifter.”

“So are you,” Mom shot back.

“I thought after Lucien you had put your shifter prejudices to rest,” Gavin said, his grin faltering. “If you can find love with a shifter, why can’t I?”

“I’m sorry, Gavin. I’m just on edge and I don’t trust anybody right now. I don’t have anything specific against Dr. Nakamura.”

“Well, good,” Gavin said. “Because I really hope he’s the one.”

Ryenne’s stomach dropped. In the past, Gavin would have said he was sure some guy was the one, and he was always wrong. Now, he was saying he hoped so. That meant Nakamura really could be the one for Gavin.

Shit.

In an attempt to put the conversation behind them, Ryenne turned to a safer subject. “What have you been up to today?”

“I spent most of the day in the office catching up on work. And Scotty has been emailing me updates on the case, and asking me to look into specific aspects.”

Ryenne nodded. She was glad Scotty and Nick trusted them enough to include them in this investigation. “Have you found out anything?”

“Nothing we didn’t already expect,” he said. “All three O’Briens are on the Lord Enterprises payroll.”

“For how long?”

“Tess, about twelve years, and the brothers, who are twins, for eight years,” he answered. “In fact, Tess seems to be one of the founding members of Lord Enterprises.”

“Huh. She must be pretty high up in the company. What are their official titles?”

“The brothers work in security,” he said. “Which fits with what we’ve seen of their activities. And Tess is the Executive Vice President.”

Ryenne’s eyebrows shot up. “You have got to be kidding me.” Executive Vice President was a lofty title for someone who took so much pleasure in taking other people’s lives.

Gavin shrugged. “They are Fangs.”

“Anything else?” she asked.

“That’s about it for now.”