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  My face was warm as he dropped my arm. What the heck was that? I made a point to take deep and even breaths as we stepped out onto the sidewalk and down the street. I tried to sneak a glance at him as we walked. Falk was scary. His silence even more so. His face was a stony mask. A chill ran over my skin; I pulled my jacket closed even more. Astrid wouldn’t have sent him if he wasn’t on our side. Evie would never have dealt with him if he wasn’t… Right?

  Falk

  Mates. With a human! Was that even possible? My body ached with every step out of the courtyard. I curled my fingers into a fist as I tried to force myself under control. It didn’t help that the movement of her hips caught my eye as she started down the street. I tore my gaze away as I moved to walk beside her, keeping her on the inside, near the buildings.

  Yeah, I had noticed her back in Chicago; any straight male would. But mates? The muscles in my shoulders grew tense. I couldn’t even begin to wrap my head around it. I focused on our surroundings. We were headed north… The street grew busier. She flagged down a taxi and turned to look up at me. Those hazel eyes hit me like a punch.

  “I have to get to the airport.” She swallowed hard. “I’m guessing you’re supposed to go with me?”

  I nodded.

  She wrung her fingers as she turned to get in. Before I knew I even moved, I was holding her arm, pulling her back from the cab. Cursing myself, I bent down and checked the ID number before letting her arm go. My fingers tingled as she slid in.

  “JFK please.” She cleared her throat before shifting over further to make room for me. I followed closely behind and was immediately surrounded by the scent of lavender.

  This nodding or shaking my head thing was only going to work so long, I was going to have to talk to her at some point. Decision made, I pulled my phone out of my back pocket, brought up contacts, and held it out to her.

  Her fingers trembled as she took it, careful not to touch my skin. When I had checked her over for injuries, her eyes had been as wide as saucers; her olive skin had gone pale. I’d scared the shit out of her. Any normal person would be scared of someone who did that. The twinge in my chest irritated me. It shouldn’t matter. Scaring people wasn’t anything new. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she typed in her information. A human. As my mate. Memories surged, making what was left of my heart drop into a pit.

  Rina finished with my phone and handed it back to me. I quickly texted her.

  Falk: I can’t talk. So, I’ll have to text you. Next time you run into vampires, run away.

  Her phone chimed. She read it and answered without looking at me. “I did.” She hesitated before typing something into her phone.

  Rina: Why did you kill him? You could have just knocked him out.

  Was she that fucking naive? I scowled as I texted back.

  Falk: They were going to drain you dry then toss your corpse. And that’s if you were lucky. Next time, go for the kill.

  She swallowed hard before looking out the window. It got under my skin. It was the truth; she would have been killed or converted. That’s what the nest in Manhattan did. I looked out the window as we got on the freeway. There was no reason to feel guilty about scaring her…

  Falk: Where are we flying?

  She hesitated before looking at her phone. “Jacksonville, Florida. Evie’s in trouble. Your doctor friend won’t be able to figure it out. At least that’s what she said when she linked with me.”

  Gears turning, I texted.

  Falk: She told you how to save her?

  “Yeah.” She gave me a mischievous grin as the fear faded from her face. “It’s going to be interesting.” … Something about that grin told me she was going to be trouble.

  Rina

  I stepped into the line for security with Falk. He had been quiet the rest of the drive to the airport. The longer he went without killing someone, the less jumpy I got. The large man had even bought my ticket before I could.

  We were halfway through the line to checkpoint, standing in awkward silence, when I looked at the ticket.

  “Uh, Falk.” I looked up at him and held up my ticket. “I think they made a mistake; this is a first-class ticket.”

  His face didn’t change a centimeter as he pulled out his phone. My phone dinged.

  Falk: Zahur warned me that I wouldn’t fit into economy.

  Oh. Without raising my head, I eyed his legs. Yeah…Zahur was right. He’d have a hell of a time. I got squished sometimes, and he had a good eight inches on me. My phone dinged again.

  Falk: And I’m not leaving you to sit alone.

  I looked up at him. Was he serious? I was a grown woman. His face was blank as a wall. There was no give there, nothing soft. Just hard, icy lines.

  “Thank you for the ticket,” I said as I turned and moved up in the line. My phone dinged.

  Falk: Where are we going after?

  “Jacksonville, obviously.” I turned and looked up at him again. “Then St. Louis, then Chicago.”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “That’s it.”

  He frowned, then texted again.

  Falk: Why does it seem like that’s too easy?

  I gave him a half-grin. “Because it probably is. Knowing Evie, it’s going to be harder than we think.”

  His eyes moved over my head, then back to me. He gestured behind me. Not understanding, I turned and found an annoyed TSA agent. “Miss? Step forward.”

  My face warmed as I hurried forward and gave him my boarding pass and identification while muttering, “Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

  He checked my pass and ID, then waved me through with a nod. I went over to the conveyer belt, tossed my bag in a low plastic bin, toed off my shoes, and added them to the bin. Falk was sent to the other side and did the same. The line didn’t move slowly, but I was checking my phone for the time every couple of minutes. Then it was finally my turn. I put my phone in my bin and walked into the screening area.

  A guy around my age smiled at me. “Go ahead and face to the right there, honey. And lift your arms.”

  Honey? It wasn’t anything new, but it still irritated me. “Um, I have hearing aids in; they might pop up on the scan.”

  He nodded as he gestured for me to face to the right. Uneasy, I did what I was told.

  “Please step out.”

  I followed instructions.

  “Oh.” Creepy smile guy turned to me. “I’ve got to pat you down. So, if you’d step this way.”

  For crying out loud… Irritated, I moved to the spot he asked me to as Falk began to go through the screening. “Can I get a woman agent, please?”

  “Arms up, please,” Creepy smile guy said. “None of our women are on tonight, which is why I’m not offering a private screening. It protects both of us.”

  Protects? What the heck? No women on tonight? That didn’t sound right…

  He stepped behind me and ran his palms over my arms. My stomach rolled as his hands moved down my sides to my waist. As he patted down my hips, my skin crawled. When his hands went to my butt, I’d had enough. “Are you sure there aren’t any women on shift?”

  He said something I couldn’t quite catch.

  I turned my head, trying to hear. “What?”

  His hands moved between my legs, his fingers brushing places on my body he had no business being near. His wrist rolled, bringing his fingers and palm against me.

  “Whoa, whoa. Hey!” It took everything I had not to turn around and slap him. I’m not well traveled but I’ve flown enough to know they were never supposed to do that!

  The hand disappeared. There was some noise behind me. I kept my arms up and turned. Falk had the creepy smile guy against the scanner and now stood like a large bear between me and him. Creepy smile guy’s face was turning purple, his eyes bulging as Falk held him pinned to the machine by the throat. The other agents started to move towards him.

  Without thinking, I darted in front of them and grabbed Falk’s arm with both arms. “Don’t
kill him,” I hissed under my breath. The tension in his body seemed to drain from his shoulders. Falk loosened his grip. Creepy smile guy gulped in air.

  “Sir, take your hands off the agent and step away,” one of the agents ordered Falk as another called for security. Falk didn’t move.

  “Falk…” I tugged again, my heart pounding in my throat. With a deep growl, he let him go. Creepy smile guy slid down the scanner to the floor. Falk’s arm dropped to his side. I looked over my shoulder at the other agents as I pulled on his arm to get him to step back even more. “That jerk just groped me!”

  Falk didn’t take his eyes off the handsy TSA agent as he moved with me away from the scanner. He turned to the other agents and signed in Sign Assisted English: She asked for a female to do the pat down. He refused. And when she protested, he ignored her.

  Stunned, I repeated what he signed to the other agents. Then added, “And the jerk used his palm and fingers while doing a groin check.”

  Several of the older men shared an angry look.

  One of the older TSA agents began saying something but it was under his breath, so I couldn’t catch it. He stepped forward. “I’m sorry. We have women on shift. If you can calm down your friend, you might be able to still make your flight while I find one.” Tell me we were going to get out of this…

  A large, warm hand slipped around one of mine. My skin stopped crawling as my pulse began to slow. Looking down, I realized I was still holding onto Falk. He seemed to realize he was holding me at the same time. We both jerked away from the other. My face burning, I shoved my hands in my pockets quickly.

  “If you two could come this way?” the polite TSA agent asked.

  Falk waited for me to follow before moving an inch. My face warmed as people watched the entire scene. They called for a female agent and their supervisor to come to the screening area.

  Screening continued; several people shot me dirty looks. Falk shifted slightly and blocked me from sight.

  I looked up at him and signed: I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen. We might miss our flight.

  If he wasn’t an asshole, then it wouldn’t have happened.

  I snorted. I didn’t know you knew how to sign.

  He glanced at my ear. No one I know really uses it. I tried to teach Ranulf once, but I may have taught him a few signs that got him in trouble in London.

  “Shot yourself in the foot there a bit, huh?” I grinned a little.

  Falk nodded. He turned to the right. I turned and found a female TSA agent.

  “—to interrupt, I need to finish your pat down,” she said in a sweet voice. I followed her instructions and it was over quickly.

  She apologized again for what happened and assured us that the man wouldn’t get off lightly. Falk stayed between me and the crowd as we started walking toward our gate.

  It was close, but we made it just in time. Heck, I was just happy Falk wasn’t going to get charged with assault.

  When we got on the plane, he hesitated at our seats. He gestured for me to get on the inside.

  My stomach rolled. “Um, actually, I hate heights, so sitting next to the window would not be a good idea.”

  He only hesitated a moment before he ducked into the row and took the window seat, frowning.

  It wasn’t long before we were both strapped in and the plane door was shut. We were taxiing to the runway when I started rubbing my palm against my jeans. My heart pounded; my lungs grew tight as we turned onto the tarmac. I started taking deep, slow breaths as we came to a stop. The feeling of someone watching me washed through me; I looked up at Falk. His eyes narrowed as they ran over me, his brows drawn down as he watched my knee bounce. I took another deep breath through a tight chest and let it out as my hands began to shake. I pushed up the sleeves of my sweater and clutched the armrests. The engines grew loud enough that even I could hear them. My breathing sped up. The plane shot forward, shoving me back into my seat. I closed my eyes and focused on staying calm.

  Falk shifted in his seat, his forearm pressing against my hand on the armrest. Calm slipped through me, taking most of my fear with it. What the heck… The plane continued to climb. When the seatbelt light finally went off, I was actually doing all right.

  Falk shifted; his arm pulled away from mine as he got comfortable. That nervous energy shot through me again, but at least this time we weren’t taking off.

  I reclined my seat. It was almost morning, and all the adrenaline rushes of the night left me feeling exhausted. I decided to try to get some sleep.

  Falk

  Rina’s breathing was deep and even beside me. It had been impressive; she was half-awake and muttering one second, dead to the world the next. I examined her ear from where I was. You couldn’t even see the hearing aid there. She had told the TSA agent about them quietly, almost as if she were ashamed of it. Before that, I hadn’t been around her enough to notice her hearing problem. I shook my head; I couldn’t talk, and my mate couldn’t hear. Nice job, universe.

  Not that it mattered. She was human. It was a dagger to the gut. It seemed I was destined to always outlive any woman that may…

  Memories swam through my head as I watched the clouds go by below. But this time…this time I knew not to try. It wouldn’t matter if we would be happy for decades. In the end she’d hate me, and regret everything. I swallowed hard as it hit me. If she were with me… No. I couldn’t do that to her. I learned my lesson the last time.

  “The moose…” Rina muttered in her sleep, drawing my attention. “Make sure the baby moose brushes her teeth… It’s important…”

  My lips twitched as a calm peace settled into my chest while I watched her sleep. I couldn’t help it. She was beautiful. Those deep-hazel eyes were going to haunt me for centuries.

  She was going to have a normal life. A happy, human life. Even if I had to watch as she married some… I leaned back in my seat and watched the sky grow lighter, my forearm still tingling from her skin.

  Rina

  I gasped as the seat dropped from under me. My eyes snapped open as a searing palm forced me back into the seat. The plane stopped dropping. Chuckles ran through the cabin as the plane climbed back to cruising altitude. My heart pounded in my throat as I tried to breathe.

  Falk. His hand was spread out over my stomach he had kept me in the seat. And I was still clinging to him. I swallowed hard and forced myself to let go. He pulled back immediately.

  An announcement came over the speaker above us, but it was too fast and garbled for me to make out. The people around us groaned and cursed. I turned to Falk with an eyebrow raised.

  There’s a huge storm moving in. We’re going to hit turbulence. We’re being diverted and grounded at Richmond Virginia, he signed for me.

  I sighed. Great. “I hate turbulence.”

  I stretched before turning back to look out the window as the sun was starting to rise. Pink, orange, and purple began to streak across the sky. With the clouds below, it wasn’t so bad. I couldn’t see the ground. The purple and blue clouds rolled under the clear sky. It helped me pretend it was fog.

  At least the sunrise is beautiful.

  He looked out the window and shrugged. It’s a sunrise, just like every morning.

  I raised an eyebrow. Really? You don’t think that’s beautiful?

  It’s the same as yesterday, it’ll be the same tomorrow, he signed.

  I tried to smile as my heart sank. He couldn’t see it. But this is the only sunrise that will happen today. This sunrise will never be seen again; it’s only for one day. It might be only a little while, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching.

  He stared at me silently for several heartbeats before he looked out the window again. I kept my gaze on his face as he watched the sunrise. His jawline softened a little around the edges. He saw it. I smiled, my heart warming.

  2

  Christmas Day

  Astrid

  Something annoying dragged me to the surface. I pulled the b
lankets over my head, but it didn’t stop. Fucking phone… I reached over to the nightstand and picked it up as it stopped vibrating. Turning on the screen, I checked the number. Shit… It was David. I muttered under my breath and I texted.

  Astrid: What the hell do you want?

  Alpha Dick: We have a missing wolf. There’s a crime scene.

  I pushed the covers off my face and read it again. Fuck.

  Astrid: Send me the address.

  I rubbed my eyes and tried to wake up. We hadn’t gotten back until late morning. One of the stinking demons had been a chameleon. It had taken hours to find him. We still had no idea how many were out there.

  A large foot nudged mine. Ranulf rolled over, still deep asleep. I slid out from under the blankets and started pulling on my clothes. I got dressed quickly, then slipped out into the hall.

  I stopped for coffee before I drove out to the address that David texted me.

  It was out of town but not far, and close to the Matthiessen State park. The house was an old cabin. It was nice, and far enough back from the road to need its own gravel driveway.

  I pulled in and spotted other wolves waiting. I turned off my car and climbed out. Several wolves eyed me. One of the females hurried over.

  “Astrid, thank God.” Candice’s face was pale. “I came out to see Ben for Christmas and he’s just…gone.”

  I shut my car door and crossed the lawn through the others. The scent of copper reached my nose. Shit. The front door was smashed open and hanging by one hinge. Memories surged to the front. Blood. Silver buckshot. Fire. I pushed them back the best I could.