"Maybe he did something to the pack, to their land, whatever. They're not far from here, Ava. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility."

"But if he did something, they would have dealt with it there and then. And I highly doubt yet another looney went after werewolves with a shotgun. Why would they follow him here and deal with him where anyone could see?"

He ran his hands through his hair in exasperation. "What do you expect me to do, Ava? I don't know how the werewolves think. Maybe they wanted to hunt. Maybe that's how they ended up here. Maybe he doesn't live here. Maybe he ran for help, and they got to him first. All I can do is focus on the clues in front of me, and they're all pointing toward another werewolf attack. We can't cover this up a second time, Ava. Not this. The first man's family was so embarra.s.sed by what happened that they asked us not to make it public. Mac was in the newspapers for hara.s.sing a woman, and it seemed like keeping the death quiet was the best thing to do at the time, but I wasn't happy with it."

"And you think leaving the Senate is the best way to deal with the dodgy things they do?"

"I did what was best for me," he snapped. "The werewolves are dangerous, and if you're not careful, the paragon will decide that you're too dangerous to live, too." He gripped my shoulders. "Now don't give him what he wants."

"I can't just stand there and let him kill them all! It could be a lone werewolf, one who isn't with the pack."

He raised an eyebrow. "You mean an untethered wolf?"

I swallowed hard as bile rose in my throat. "What if it wasn't a werewolf, Shay?"

He held my gaze. "But what if it was?"

Chapter Eight.

Things grew tense after that. Shay asked one of his teams to drop me home. They were young and excitable, and I envied them. I hoped the things they saw didn't twist them into cynics.

The werewolves were in serious trouble. Esther and everyone who cared about her were in serious trouble. Both murders were similar and yet not close enough to have been perpetrated by the same person. I didn't even know how to confront the werewolves, or warn them, about what had happened. Phoenix had said he could communicate with them, but I had only seen Icarus in his animal form except for the first time, when he was caged in a tiny cell. I wasn't even sure if he could actually speak in his human form.

I didn't know how to warn the werewolves, but I could certainly warn Esther. The shifters would be on the warpath, and that alone put my friend in danger. I had called Moses and Carl at the second crime scene and given them both a quick heads up about Mac. Neither of them had sounded surprised, and both seemed even a little pleased. That worried me. What if I know the murderer? Or torturer?

When the recruits dropped me home, a crowd had gathered on the road. I waved goodbye to Shay's recruits after thanking them, hoping they didn't see anything suspicious, not that I suspected anyone. But still.

The crowd parted, and I saw Esther standing there, her mouth twisted in a grimace of pain. Carl seemed to be holding her up. For some reason, she always brought out his protective streak.

"Did something happen to you?" I asked, panicked by her appearance.

She shook her hand and waved off my attention. "Just a migraine. It's over now. I'm fine. I'm sorry, but I had to come back. The shifters showed up at the flats. I just I didn't know where else to go. I thought maybe Val could take me to the sanctuary." She gave Val an apologetic look. "Sorry." Her eyes were gla.s.sy, and I knew she could never have taken down the alpha in that state.

"That's not a problem," Val said. "Anyone who wants to can stay in the Sanctuary for as long as they please."

"Maybe you should all pack up," I said. "If the shifters went to the flats, they'll be here next."

"I ran while they were searching the place," Esther admitted. "They could have picked up my scent. Moses had already called Shay to come and help. He'll move them on soon, in any case."

"Don't worry about it," I said.

"So he's dead," she said flatly. "Mac is gone."

"And now the shifter pack is leaderless," Peter said. "That's not so good, right?"

"They usually replace an alpha through a challenge," Esther said tiredly. "Whenever an alpha seems weak, he's replaced. And that's because he needs to be strong to hold the pack together."

"I think Mac was already falling apart," I said. "And he was keeping free shifters locked up in barns."

She nodded. "Peter told me. Breeding from them, though? That's beyond sick. My brother might have been a traitor, but at least I can say he wasn't involved in that."

"Mac suffered before he died, if that's any consolation," I said.

"Shifters are coming," Val said, transforming instantly. Her eyes glistened red, and her voice deepened. "Everyone get inside."

Carl and Peter ran to get weapons, but Esther refused to go inside.

"You're too weak for a fight," I said.

"This place is protected," she said in a small voice.

"It's supposed to be, but I can't trust it," I began, but something shifted inside me, something that made me step closer to Esther.

"What's the matter?" she asked. "You've gone all intense."

I breathed a sigh of relief as I realised she was my next lost soul. She was mine to protect. That meant she was part of the balance, after all. "It's nothing," I said. "Just been a weird day."

A group of shifters approached the mouth of the cul-de-sac, shouting and jeering when they spotted Esther.

"Murderers and cowards!" one of them said.

The defeated look on Esther's face made my blood boil. I stomped ahead, closely followed by Val. "Look who's talking," I quipped. "You have to drug women to get them into bed."

"That's a lie!" the bulkiest shifter shouted. I had seen him a couple of times with Mac, but he hadn't been at the farm.

"I saw it myself," I said. "They found Mac's body on his farm, the place he was holding the free shifters captive."

"Bull," he said. "And there's no such thing as a 'free' shifter."

"There's one standing right next to me, you eejit," I said.

"Didn't you hear?" he said. "If you're not tethered, you're not free to live."

"He is-was-Mac's second," Esther whispered. "If he doesn't know about the farm, then it's not common knowledge to the pack."

One of the shifters made a run at the cul-de-sac, growling loudly. I braced myself for his attack, but at the very last second, he was flung backward as if a giant hand had batted him away.

"Wow," I said. "So it is working after all."

Val grunted. "It's a little too temperamental for my liking."

"Good job, protection," I said under my breath in case it really was some kind of living thing. Well, I'd heard of stranger things by far.

"Give us the shifter b.i.t.c.h," Mac's second in command said.

"Take me then, Greg," Esther shouted. "If you can."

He refused to look at her. Instead, he focused on me.

"Fine," he said. "You've proved yourself. You're in charge here. This is your territory. No big deal. But she killed one of us, and now she has to pay."

"I thought you were blaming that on me."

He shook his head. "I sniffed out the area myself."

"Then you must have caught the scent of the captives," I accused.

"There were lots of scents," he said. "The agents have overrun the place. I'll save my judgement for when I have the entire truth. Your scent is there, but it's only a fresh trail from today. The old scent smells like her." He nodded at Esther. "She was there when he died."

I turned to look at her in surprise. She looked about as shocked as I felt.

"I wasn't there," she said. "I didn't kill Mac! I'd remember if I killed him." She stuttered something else, but by the horrified look on her face, she was reconsidering her innocence.

"When you have proof she killed him, then we can talk," I said. "Besides, I thought she was one of you, too."

"She was never one of us," he scoffed. "She's not of our kind. We've heard of her kind. They're feral. Only something feral could have tortured Mac so. It was her, and I'm not leaving without her."

"In case you hadn't noticed"-I waved at his stunned friend on the ground-"you can't get in here, and you can't do us harm. This place is protected, and I'm not giving her to you. You'll kill her just to satisfy your need for revenge, and you'll be killing the wrong person. She said she didn't do it, and I believe her."

"This is a mistake," he said calmly-too calmly.

"That's for me to decide," I said.

"Ava Delaney, you are an enemy to our pack. If you step foot on our territories, we reserve the right to kill you on the spot. You are not permitted to look us in the eye or interfere in our business. And when we take this girl, you'll follow in her wake. You're another monster who doesn't deserve to live. And when I wrap my hands around your neck and crush your windpipe, you'll remember this moment, and you'll wish you had pushed her into my arms instead."

"I really doubt that," I said. "Now f.u.c.k off, you impotent little s.h.i.ts. Go home and play with a chew toy. Get that aggression out."

With a collective growl, the shifters left at the urging of Greg, who seemed more in command of himself than the rest of them did.

"Oh, no," Esther said. "I'm so sorry, Ava."

"About what?"

"You're an enemy of the pack! That's bad. Really bad! They just targeted you. You're fair game for the entire pack. For every shifter!"

I took out my phone and called Shay. "Hey, Shay, any shifters with you?"

"Um, yes?"

"Okay, tell them I'm an enemy of the pack and then ask them if they're planning on killing me the next time they see me."

In a bemused tone, he asked the shifters and got back to me. "They say no."

"Great, thanks, bye." I hung up. "See? Not every shifter."

"That's different. Ava, you're not taking this seriously!"

I gripped her shoulder. "I'm taking everything very seriously today, I promise. So, what occurred to you when the shifters were playing the blame game?"

She bowed her head, embarra.s.sed.

Carl wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "What is it?"

She avoided all of our eyes. "It's just when I have migraines, I black out. A couple of times, I've left the flats without even realising it. I wake up on Moses's sofa, and he tells me I've been gone a few hours. I have no idea what happens, and sometimes, he doesn't even notice I'm gone. In the middle of the night what if I really did go after Mac?"

"You've been blacking out?" I asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was embarra.s.sed, and Carl said it wasn't a big deal, that I was probably just sleepwalking."

I gave him an accusing glare. "You knew?"

"Well, I didn't realise somebody was going to torture our sworn enemy to death, Ava!" He held Esther closer. "She didn't do this."

I snorted. "Of course she didn't do this. She can barely stand on her own two feet. The problem is that the shifters probably don't care. I mean, they wanted me dead for the same crime a few hours ago. They'll get over it. We just need to find out who did it." I sighed. "And who's getting the werewolves into trouble."

"What's happened now?" Peter asked.

"On my way back here, we stopped off at a crime scene, and the paragon showed up. A body was ripped apart. I mean, torn apart in chunks."

"Like the werewolves do," Val said with a frown. "But they haven't attacked humans before."

"Apparently, they have." I winced at the gasps of alarm. "Some drunkard with a shotgun decided it was werewolf-hunting season a while back. He got his throat ripped out for his trouble."

"Not good," Peter said.

"The paragon's on a mission to have the werewolves put down, and now the shifters are all over Esther. This is not the best timing," I said.

"What are we going to do?" Carl asked, looking Esther over.

"Let's go inside before Esther drops," I said.

"I'm fine," she complained, but she let us lead her into my house.

"In good news, the protection worked today," I said brightly as we settled into my living room. "But Shay's doubting the werewolves, and I'm sure it won't be just him. The paragon's probably doing whatever paragons do already."

"They generally mount armies," Carl said.

"Stop trying to scare me," I said.

"It's true, though. The shifters are the least of our worries."

The thought of Esther being my second lost soul overrode that line of thought. "I need to get the shifters off our backs long enough for me to figure out what to do about the werewolves. d.a.m.n Phoenix for running off just before the s.h.i.t hit the fan."