remain calm. Brody could sense her fear. A werewolf could sense fear, but Brody fed off it. He liked to cause fear in others.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

He raised his thick, black brow again. "Really?"

She shook her head, determined to hold her ground. She'd done it many times before, and in truth, she'd often walked away from their clashes, while not necessarily the victor, at least unscathed. This time she knew it was very important she didn't submit.

He relaxed even more, regarding her with his brown eyes. So brown they often looked black, empty. "Let me refresh your memory. The front seat of a pickup truck. An old man's kitchen table. On that creaky, wooden swing out there on your front porch." Bile rose up in the back of Elizabeth's throat, but she swallowed back her nausea. Oh G.o.d, Brody had watched them. Had seen it all. And while his wrath frightened her to the point that she was nearly shaking, it was the idea that he'd witnessed moments that should have been just hers and Jensen's that distressed her. That he was somehow tainting them with his presence. That was what sickened her. But she managed to pull herself up to her full height. "It's nothing more than what you've done," she said with false bravado, amazed it sounded believable, even to her ears.

"So you were just extending a little payback, eh?"

She nodded, trying to look angry rather than scared.

He quirked his lips, seeming to consider that information. For a moment, she thought he was going to accept her explanation. After all, Brody had cheated on her almost from the day that she'd agreed to mate with him. Not the natural behavior of a mated werewolf, but he'd never been conventional in any of his werewolf traits. Including his fidelity. And in truth, she'd been more than happy for him to go to other females. She'd mated for survival, not happiness or love.

But her hope that he'd just accept her reason was quickly dashed as he rose and stalked toward her. She backed away, but soon felt the handle of the refrigerator sharp in her back.

He cornered her there, blocking her escape with his ma.s.sive body. He was about the same height as Jensen, but he had a good fifty pounds on Jensen's lean, athletic build. Brody was like a tank. And he was a bully. And Elizabeth knew she was having a hard time keeping the fear out of her eyes.

"Now, darling, I appreciate that you think turnabout is fair play. But that isn't the way I see it."

Elizabeth raised her chin, meeting his eyes. "Is this another of your random alpha male rules?"

He laughed, the sound low and dangerous. "Random alpha male rules? Now, baby, you know I never had any of those. These are just Brody's rules. And the number one rule is that Brody's mate does not cheat. Especially not with a human."

His eyes roamed down her body, making her skin crawl. "You let yourself be tainted, woman."

She didn't disagree with that, but it had been Brody who'd done the tainting, not Jensen. Jensen had made her realize what she could have had. If she hadn't been so scared and pathetic.

She started as he moved, but she was surprised that he actually released her and paced away from her. She used the moment to shift away from the fridge, sidling closer to the back door.

He turned back to face her and she froze.

"The truth is that I could let that go. After all, from what I saw, the human seemed to teach you a trick or two." He grinned, the lascivious gleam in his eyes nearly making her shiver with revulsion. But she didn't. She remained absolutely still, doing nothing to draw him back to her.

He began to pace again, and for the first time, she realized his movements seemed a little jerky, as if something was hurting him. She watched his movements, trying to figure out what was wrong as she edged past the back door to the counter, spotting the knife holder. Even if she ran out the back door now, Brody would catch her in a heartbeat. She needed a weapon.

"But... " He spun toward her, his dark eyes moving over her again. She remained motionless, barely even pulling in a breath. But her frozen posture didn't save her this time. He darted, and before she could even prepare for his impact, she found herself pinned to the wall, his huge, hard bulk holding her there. She tried to pull in a breath, but couldn't.

"But," he repeated with one of his deceptively attractive smiles, "I can't let go what I've tasted on your skin." To punctuate his words, he leaned forward and licked her, his tongue moving up her cheek like a hot, slimy slug.

This time she couldn't suppress a violent shudder.

He shifted back to look at her, and this time there was no smile, lascivious or otherwise. This time his mouth was set in a grim scowl. His black eyes burned with disgust.

"Oh, Lizzie, you have sealed that human's death."

His words seemed to knock the breath out of her. Jensen.

"Why?" she asked, not understanding what was motivating him. What had he tasted? When? She just didn't understand. "What does the human matter? We are over, anyway."

Brody nodded, his expression stating that he clearly didn't believe her. "So I heard you say."

"He isn't important. And-and I shouldn't have been with him. I just did it to-to hurt you." She knew she was grabbing at straws, but she couldn't let Brody go after Jensen. Jensen would be dead before he even realized what hit him.

"To hurt me?" He clearly didn't believe her. But she should have known that given the chance, Brody would take advantage of the situation.

"If that's the case, then I guess you'd want to show a little of that pa.s.sion to me." He didn't wait for her to answer as he smashed his mouth down on hers.

Elizabeth struggled to suppress the wave of nausea rising up inside her. Instead, she tried to keep her lips relaxed as he battered them with his rough, painful kiss.

She tried to keep her movements unnoticed as she reached behind her for one of the knives. Her fingers brushed the wooden handles and she eased one out of its slot.

"Baby, I'm just not feeling the pa.s.sion I saw with the human. You were getting freaky with him." He bit her bottom lip hard, as if to demonstrate the freakiness he wanted from her.

"Oh," she said, smiling sweetly even as another swell of nausea filled her. "I can be pretty freaky."

She didn't hesitate but drove the blade straight into his side. The knife slid in easier than she would have guessed, and he instantly jerked away from her.

Staring down at the steak knife, he let out a low growl that was more wolf than human. "You b.i.t.c.h."

Elizabeth didn't wait for any other reaction. She raced to the back door, flying down the steps, adrenaline coursing through her and adding to her speed. But once she reached the woods, she paused.

She glanced back at her house. She didn't think Brody had exited yet. So she took a moment, concentrating. She'd be able to get to Jensen faster if she changed into wolf form. She never willingly shifted, but this time she knew she had to make the change. She had to get to him before Brody did.

Pulling in a calming breath, she let it happen. The shift hurt, but once it was done, the pain would be forgotten. And since it wasn't quite the full moon, she would be able to think like herself. Only the full moon made her all wolf.

After a few pained moans and cracking of joints, she rose, then started running, her paws carrying her over the ground, eating up the distance between her and Jensen.

Jensen pushed aside Katie's sc.r.a.pbook. It was the first time he'd opened the book since Katie had died. Pain still filled his chest as he looked at the pictures. He wished things had gone differently. That Katie was here. He'd still give his own life for that to be the outcome of that night. But she was gone. And he'd mourned her. He still mourned her.

But he also mourned the look on Elizabeth's face as he'd driven away earlier today.

He glanced at the window. It was dark. Where had the afternoon gone? Had he really just sat here staring at pictures, trying to sort out his feelings?

Yeah, he had. And he wasn't that much closer to an answer. But he did know that he had to go to

Elizabeth. He couldn't go to Katie. But he could go to Elizabeth.

He got up from his bed, shoving his feet into his shoes. He walked over to the closet to grab a coat.

As he started to shrug on the leather jacket, he heard the back door slam. Then he heard the m.u.f.fled

voice of his grandfather shouting something.

Tugging on the coat, he hurried down the hall and took the stairs two at a time. What the h.e.l.l was his grandfather yelling about? As he reached the living room, he heard a gunshot.

s.h.i.t, not again.

He ran out into the kitchen, and sure enough his grandfather was again on the back porch. Again he had

his old rifle in his hand, aiming out at the darkened dooryard.

"Granddad," he cried, just as another shot rang out. But unlike the last time, this time he heard a sharp

yelp.

"Granddad! What the h.e.l.l are you doing?"

His grandfather didn't answer him, but loped down the steps, rifle still poised to shoot.

Jensen followed him out, not sure what he would find. But pretty d.a.m.ned sure it was going to be the

McCormacks' Newfoundland in a pool of blood.

He reached his grandfather, who scanned the ground, obviously looking for a trail of blood.

"I know I got it this time," he stated, not looking up from his search.

"Granddad, I'm starting to really worry about you."

"Don't worry about me. Worry about that d.a.m.ned wolf."

Jensen shook his head. This was really becoming a very strange obsession. A worrisome obsession. But he did find himself also scanning the ground for blood or pawprints.

Sure enough, he spotted prints in the damp driveway. Of course, he couldn't be sure without really studying them if they were canine or some other animal.

Dog, he guessed, but he did find himself following them. His grandfather veered the other way, and Jensen hesitated to call to him about what he'd discovered. He was truly afraid he was going to find someone's family pet, shot and dying. And given what Granddad had done for the last fifty years, Jensen knew he'd be devastated if he'd killed a domesticated animal.

No, it was best for Jensen to follow the trail himself, and if there was some poor animal injured, he'd handle it.

The trail continued toward the old woodshed behind the garage. He moved forward slowly as he realized the tracks seemed to lead right up to it. He approached slowly, afraid that the hurt animal might charge out of fear. But as he got to the building, nothing appeared. He glanced around, checking the door to see if it was open. The double doors were locked. He started to walk behind the shed to see if he could pick up the trail, when he heard a whimper. He stopped and listened.

Then he saw it. A large, black form in the waning light. Collapsed on the ground. He stepped a little closer. He saw the flash of pale eyes.

Again he heard a sound, although this time the sound didn't seem like an animal. It had an almost human quality to it.

He took another step forward, frightened by what he was seeing. Suddenly very frightened, when something came at him from his right, launching him into the air. He landed on the ground with a hard thud.

He rolled onto his back, scrambling to get his bearings and rise. But before he could manage to even sit up, the thing pounced onto him, pinning him to the ground with tremendous weight.

He stared up at the creature, not really sure what he was looking at. Between the darkness and his own disorientation, he just couldn't tell. But he knew whatever it was, it wasn't a human form. And it wasn't any animal that he was familiar with in this region. It was too large to be a dog. And it was indeed black, or dark enough to blend into the night.

The animal growled low in its throat, the sound as eerie as it was terrifying. Jensen could feel its breath on his face. He braced his hands on its neck, trying to push it away from him. Muscles bulged under its fur. Tendons and large bones made the animal like a living tank, immovable.

The creature growled again, and lunged at him, his jaws going straight for Jensen's throat. Teeth began to clamp onto Jensen's skin, although oddly, it didn't hurt.

Shock, Jensen realized, even as it dawned on him that he was going to die. Then a shot rang out, deafening in its nearness. The creature on him jerked, and Jensen realized it had been hit. The creature rolled off of him, growling ferociously.

Jensen didn't waste any time; he levered himself up on his arms, using both his hands and feet to scramble backwards away from the thing. It lunged at him again.

Jensen shoved at it, struggling to get out from underneath the crushing weight. In this position he was truly helpless.

"G.o.dd.a.m.ned thing," he heard his grandfather yell, and he heard the faint sound of his grandfather reloading his rifle.

This time when the shot rang out, the animal jerked back off of Jensen. It made a noise somewhere between a yelp and a growl, the sound almost unnatural.

Jensen saw the glint of black eyes, staring at him as if it was considering lunging again, but then it spun and raced off into the night.

Jensen fell back onto the hard, damp ground, panting, his heart racing so hard he truly thought he might pa.s.s out.

"Jensen? Are you okay?"

He nodded faintly, then realized his granddad probably couldn't see him. "Yes. I'm just winded."

Granddad knelt beside him, his hands moving over him as if to check for any broken bones or open wounds.

Jensen struggled upright. "I'm fine. You scared it off before it could do any real damage."Such as rip my throat out .

He sat there for a second, badly shaken. That had been the weirdest d.a.m.ned thing he'd ever experienced. Rubbing a shaking hand over his face, he tried to calm his heart rate.

"I think it's gone. And I think I wounded it again."

Jensen looked up at his grandfather's silhouetted figure. "You think that was the same thing that you shot

the other night?"