Ryenne went back to the hospital to spend the last hour or so with her mom before they kicked her out. She had just kissed her mom’s dry cheek goodnight when Gavin and Lucien came into the room.

Lucien was in his usual skin-tight dark t-shirt and jeans, which was always enough to make her drool. But Gavin took her breath away. His hair was still damp from a shower. He smelled of his most expensive aftershave. And he was in the kind of outfit he normally wore to go out to clubs. His darkest, skinniest jeans, the ones with the strategic hole at the top of the thigh. And a tight t-shirt that showed off his pecs and biceps.

“Why so dressed up?” she asked.

“I have a date,” he trilled.

Her stomach plummeted into her feet. Oh no. He was going to fall for Nakamura. It would be bad enough for Gavin to get his heart broken. But it would be even worse if Nakamura used Gavin for information against them.

“Gav...” she started.

He held up a hand. “Ryenne, I love you but I don’t want to hear it. I came to say goodnight to Willow and then I’m off to meet Taylor. I’ll see you in the morning.” Then he marched to her mom’s bedside, kissed her cheek, and left.

Ryenne stared after him, her mouth open.

Lucien went to her mom’s side next and also kissed her cheek. “Goodnight, Willow. Let me know if you need me to bring anything from the house tomorrow.”

“I will.”

“Sleep well.” He gave Ryenne an awkward smile and went out the door.

Ryenne hurried through her own goodbye to her mom, then rushed after Lucien. “Wait,” she called to him as he got on the elevator. He reached his hand out to stop the elevator doors from closing.

Ryenne’s phone buzzed and she dug it out. It was Scotty again. She stopped moving and stared at Lucien, her finger poised over the green button on her phone. She could always call Scotty back. It was more important to talk to Lucien now, for the few minutes until the elevator reached the ground.

But Lucien had moved his hand and the door began closing.

“Wait,” she said again, rushing forward. But he didn’t wait. The door closed and Lucien was gone.

With a heavy sigh, she pushed the green button. “What’s up?” she asked.

“We found Joseph O’Brien.”

Her spirits soared from the depths of her body where they’d plummeted after Lucien’s departure. “Where?” Her voice was high and tense from excitement. “Did he confess?”

“Not exactly,” Scotty said. “He’s dead. His body was stuffed in a dumpster near where we found the car he stole to hit your mom.”

A rushing sound filled her ears and she spun in a slow circle, lost. Squeezing her eyes shut, she wondered what it meant. Had Lucien killed him in revenge? No, he wouldn’t, and he would have told her.

“How?” she asked, her voice a croak.

“His throat was slit and the wound packed with that sappy crap.”

No way. “The Fangs?” she whispered. Why would the Fangs kill one of their own?

She could feel Scotty’s shrug through the phone. “Because he botched the attempt on your mom’s life?”

Or because he’d tried to kill her at all. Her father was a Fang. Ryenne suspected he still loved her mom. Maybe he killed Joseph.

Her body got hot and itchy and her claws grew from her fingers. Had her father killed for her mom? Glancing around, she willed her fingers to go back to normal. She had to get out of here. She had to run.

“Gotta go,” she said to Scotty, then pushed her phone into her pocket.

Nothing else mattered in this moment than to get to the park, shed her clothes and her humanity, and run as a wolf and think like the beast inside her. Her wolf would help her decide what to do next.

With her mom still in the hospital, Gavin falling in love with a shifter, Lucien not speaking to her, and so many sensations swirling around in her body, there was nothing else to do but run.

And forget.

***

A run every night, exercising in the gym every morning, and multiple sessions per day with her hand or vibrator were helping to keep her wolf in check.

She felt bad for how things had ended between her and Gavin last night before his big date. So she went into the office before going to see Mom at the hospital, expecting to see him at his desk as usual, or at least still in bed—hopefully, alone.

But he wasn’t there. His bed hadn’t been slept in and his computer was shut down. And there was no coffee.

Guess it had been a good date.

She put on some coffee so it would be hot and ready for him when he got home. She sat down at her own computer to check in with the business.

An hour passed, and Gavin still hadn’t arrived.

She sent him a text: “Having too much fun?”

Another hour passed without a response. She tried calling, but he didn’t answer. She left a voicemail. “Gavin, I hope this means you’re having fun but I’d really like to know you’re okay. Please check in. Thanks!”

At least she had let her mom know why she’d be late getting to the hospital. Surely Gavin could extend her the same courtesy.

At the hospital, her mom had visitors, some friends from work. The three women sat together, laughing and talking, so Ryenne turned around and went to the Nurses Station. She asked for Dr. Nakamura but was told he wouldn’t be in until that evening.

Most likely, he and Gavin were together, extending their date. But what if something had happened to Gavin? What if Nakamura was a Fang? They could kidnap Gavin to try to get to her mom.

And Tess hated Ryenne. She could see it in Tess’s eyes. Would Tess harm Gavin to get back at Ryenne? Ryenne had no doubt. Especially now that Tess’s own brother was dead. She might be like a wounded animal that you couldn’t approach for fear it would lash out.

Gavin might not know about this latest development in the case. He wouldn’t know the kind of danger he might be walking into. Tess and Nakamura could be working together, for all Ryenne knew.

As the day passed, still with no word from Gavin, Ryenne’s fear for him and anxiety level rose, along with her anger.

In the early afternoon, Ryenne had texted Lucien and he hadn’t heard from Gavin either but suspected the same as her mom, that he was enjoying himself. “He deserves some fun,” Lucien told her, “so let him.”

She huffed out a breath. She couldn’t lay off when her best friend’s life was at stake.

“I understand why he wouldn’t check in with you,” Mom said after her friends had left, “if he chose to spend the day with Taylor. But I would’ve thought he’d at least tell me or Lucien.”

Gavin finally strolled in around five o’clock and Ryenne’s anxiety level had reached a peak.

She threw herself at him. “Where have you been? Why didn’t you contact us?”

He looked genuinely surprised by her reaction. “I told you I was going on a date with Taylor.”

“You didn’t tell us it would be an overnight date and you were taking today off.”

“Oh, so you’re angry because I didn’t work today? That I’m not at your beck and call?”

Ryenne stepped back as if he had punched her. “What? No, this has nothing to do with work. This is about you. I was worried about you.”

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Gavin insisted. “Taylor is a good guy, Ryenne. Just give him a chance.”

Lucien came up behind Gavin, who turned and smiled.

“Taylor is like another Lucien. He’s one of the good guys, Ryenne,” Gavin said.

“It’s not just about giving him another chance, Gavin,” she insisted. “You were gone all day, in the middle of a crisis. Mom is here in the hospital because of what Fangs did to her. The Fangs could be after any one of us or they could come back for Mom. All we’re asking is for you to let us know you’re okay. If we had known you were spending the day with Taylor, we wouldn’t have been so worried about you.”

“Really, Ryenne?” he asked. “Wouldn’t you have? You suspect him of being a Fang, too, so you would’ve been just as worried. And maybe you would have tried to triangulate my position and track me down.”

“Are you kidding me?” she asked, voice rising. “Why would I do that? I don’t even know how.” The last statement was the real reason she wouldn’t have done such a thing. Since he hadn’t answered any of her texts or phone calls, it hadn’t occurred to her. Now her anger rose to the surface. Anger at herself as much as at Gavin. She should have thought of that. She should have thought of everything. She should have tracked him down and gone after him and pulled him out of Nakamura’s arms, if she had to. “How much do you really know about him?”

“I know all I need to know, Ryenne, and if you can’t accept this relationship, then maybe you’re not the friend I thought.” He turned on his heel, pushed past Lucien, and left the room.

She started to follow but Lucien stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Don’t. Let him go. Let him cool off.”

“Whose side are you on, anyway?” she demanded.

“At the moment, if you’re going to make me choose sides, I choose his. You’re being unreasonable. He deserves a little bit of happiness,” Lucien said.

How dare he?

“I’ll follow him and make sure he’s safe,” Lucien said. “Stay here with your mom.” He left.

She turned and stared at her mom, her mouth open. “Do you agree with them, too? Am I wrong?”

Her mom’s head tilted from side to side.

“You do. You agree with them. So, I’m the problem. I’m wrong. I’m completely unreasonable. Fine.” She stormed out, taking the stairs so she wouldn’t risk running into Gavin at the elevator.

It wasn’t yet dark enough to run in the park and it wouldn’t be for hours. But there were other things she could do. She went home and exercised and used her vibrator. But these things weren’t enough. She still wanted to jump out of her skin. Her wolf wanted to tear Nakamura to pieces. Or Tess. Or any Fang she could lay her hands on.

This was their fault, not hers.

She showered, her tears mixing with the hot water. She had lost everyone she cared about. Getting into bed, she pulled the covers over her head.

She guessed she’d have to be a lone wolf now.