Knox had called me in early to help him tear out some invasive weeds that were encroaching on the trails. The main Acadia trail that went around the entire park was 50 miles long and the job would take us all day, for sure.

“Is something wrong, man? You look like someone stole your puppy.” Knox didn’t say it jokingly; he was seriously concerned.

I hadn’t told him about what happened with Blanca yet, and I was honestly dreading it. She took off the day before and neither she—nor her agents—had retuned since. I panicked; what if they had gone back to the FBI and told them everything? They could be sending people to infiltrate Acadia at any moment.

I didn’t think Blanca went back and told them—or, at least I hoped with every fiber of my being that she didn’t. I wanted to believe that my plea to her carried some weight, especially after the time we spent together in the Jeep. I knew I was told to flirt like hell with her, so I did, but I couldn’t deny that my inner bear had begun to surface again that day. Desire—deeper than I’d ever known—surged through my body, blazing through all my extremities, and as my lips crashed against hers, I knew my bear had chosen his mate.

Like it or not, I knew it was time to tell Knox; I couldn’t keep it from him any longer.

“Knox, there’s something I have to tell you.” I could hear the dread in my voice and I knew Knox could, too.

“Yes?” His tone sounded like a parent whose child was about to admit to something.

“Agent Gianni…yesterday in the holding cell…She…The shifter, he…”

“Spit it out, Trent.” Knox’s voice was stern now.

“Agent Gianni knows about us. About shifters.” I held my breath, waiting for a response. He was silent at first.

“She what?” Knox roared; his expression was livid. “How did this happen?!”

“Before you get angry, let me explain. The suspect shifted in front of her, right there, plain as day! And while I was trying to explain things to her, he changed back. There was no denying it! What was I supposed to tell her? She was just hallucinating?”

“Wait, he full blown shifted in front of her? Who the hell does that in front of a human?” Knox still seemed infuriated, but his anger appeared more directed towards the shifter now and not me.

“I don’t think he’s trying to do anything. Knox, something is seriously wrong with that guy, and when Ramon saw him, he agreed. At first, we thought that maybe the bear had completely taken control over his mind and body, but after watching him closely yesterday, it’s much more than that. He’s wild, almost rabid. He doesn’t speak and doesn’t respond to anything; he just growls and snarls. If you try to talk to him, he bares his teeth and lashes out. I’ve never seen a shifter act the way he does, and neither has Ramon.”

“What about the blood sample? Have we heard anything else about it?” Knox seemed to be calming down slowly. He definitely wasn’t as angry as he’d been previously, thank god.

“I haven’t heard anything from Ramon yet. He must be hard at work trying to unravel what’s going on. Seeing the shifter seemed to make him worry that whatever was affecting that guy could possibly spread to the rest of us. I personally think it’s a stretch, since he scratched me when I was trying to bring him in and nothing seems to be wrong with me.”

“I’ll have to check with him for an update.” Knox’s voice seemed concerned and he reached out to Ramon with his mind as he went back to whacking weeds. I followed suit; the air seemed tense after the conversation and I’m sure Knox was thinking about how to handle the situation now that the FBI knew about our existence.

After a few moments of silence, Knox groaned. “Fuck, nothing solid yet from Ramon. So, about when did all of this happen yesterday?”

“Maybe 10am?” I winced. I knew he would be pissed that I waited so long to tell him about it. It had been over a day, but I needed the day to figure out what to do. I met Knox’s eyes to notice him glaring back at me.

“So, you decided to wait over a day to tell me this because…?”

“I’m not going to give you an excuse. I’m sorry; I should have told you earlier,” I responded. “So, how do you think we should handle this?”

“That’s a good question. I don’t know. This isn’t going to be as easy as it was when Hannah found out about us. I was lucky she fell in love with me, but I doubt Blanca is going to be that smitten with you any time soon.” Knox rolled his eyes.

“Well…you never asked me how that things went…” I smirked a little, hoping he knew what I was talking about. He caught my eye and returned the smile.

“I’m guessing from that face you were able to work your charm after all?”

“You could say that…”

“So, what happened? Did you get some ass?” Knox chuckled, seemingly back to his normal self.

“Not everyone can be as lucky as you are,” I laughed. Knox looked at me as if he was waiting for the details. “We kissed.”

“That’s it? Hardly anything to brag about. You think she’s sweet on you just because you had a little make out session? You’ll have to do better than that, Trent. Much better.” Knox was shaking his head in disappointment.

“It wasn’t just a kiss, okay? I felt something, and I know she did, too. Things would have gone further if we weren’t interrupted.” I rolled my eyes, remembering the moment we heard a knock on the window of my Jeep. “Bar Harbor’s sheriff caught us on the side of the road, but I was able to laugh it off with him.”

“Your fault for getting caught,” Knox snickered. “Okay, so you had her, but you lost her due to the interruption. Do you think she’d give it another try?”

“I highly doubt it after the whole shifter thing. You should have seen her face. She wouldn’t even let me touch her when she found out I was one, too.” My gaze fell to the dirt; I didn’t want to remember the look in Blanca’s eyes when she pulled away from me. “How did you handle it? When Hannah found out?”

I looked up at Knox, searching for some kind of direction from my Alpha, my friend. I knew if anyone could help me, Knox would know what to do.

“Hannah was different, Trent. She saw me shift and confronted me about it; you know how she is. Blanca seems to put up a tough front, but learning this information shook her world. She found out the guy she was making out with moments ago can turn into a bear at will. That’s not an easy thing to take in, especially when it was thrown in her face like that. I think you should give her some time. Let her process things. If she was going to tell the FBI about us, she would have done it already and Acadia would be swarming with agents. But we’re not, which means she probably hasn’t said shit. Let her come to you. And if the kiss was as intense as you think it was, I’m sure she thought it was, too. Just wait for her.”

Knox’s words seemed sincere and they resonated with me. Maybe he was right. This wasn’t just a fling now; I needed things for us to work out, more than just for satisfying my inner bear’s carnal needs.

This had to work for the sake of the clan.

“Alright, I’ll wait. But, what if she never comes?”

“You’d better hope she does. This is our only way out right now until I think of something else. I’m lucky you two started to hit it off; otherwise, we’d have nothing to go on. I’ll try to think of another solution in the meantime in case this doesn’t pan out, but Trent, you know how you’re always joking about being happy that Hannah came around for me because I needed someone? Well, you do, too. And this could be your turn. She could really be the one and I’d love to see you just as happy as I am.”

Knox smiled and I could feel a love one can only feel from their Alpha. It was almost fatherly, coming from someone who watches over and protects you, who wants the best for you. I felt a tinge of heartache when I remembered Officer Davidson, the man who almost took my mom and I in all those years ago. I felt the same kind of love from him, and then he was gone.

Nodding at Knox, I returned his smile. He seemed to always know exactly what to say or do when faced with a sticky situation. He was a great Alpha, and in that moment, I was thankful to be in Acadia.

“Now, let’s get these weeds taken care of! The sooner we finish, the sooner we’ll be done,” Knox said, adding more gusto to his hacking.

Having a night off sounded great, and who knew? Maybe she would come by that night.

I certainly hoped so.