Tears stung my eyes. I grunted in frustration. Ever since getting my shift back, I’d become so emotional.

  Wait. That was it. If I shifted, the rope would be too big and I could work my way out. I struggled to my feet and walked the perimeter of the small cage, studying the forest outside. It didn’t appear anyone stood watch, but that didn’t mean they weren’t out there. I continued searching, feeling like I was staring at a hidden picture puzzle.

  My aches grew more burdensome. Maybe waiting to shift was stupid. I needed to do it now to get out of the ties.

  The wolfborn jumped up and growled, baring his teeth at me.

  That was the answer to my question. If I shifted, we’d be able to communicate. I could see if he and I could work together to find a way out.

  “Hold on.” I turned, struggled to slide off my pants, and then my hoodie. I worked it loose so that it only hung from my wrists. With any luck, my only clothes would survive the shift.

  I gave into my tears, hoping to finally shift.

  Chapter 88

  Toby

  I pulled the Hummer into a tiny gas station, frustrated beyond belief. The others slept, but I couldn’t. We’d been driving all night in search of Victoria with no luck. Frida had seen both her and my old pack at the northern point of the peninsula. That meant they had to be close. All I needed was one small clue.

  But first, the Hummer needed fuel. I climbed out, stuck my card in the machine, and pumped the gas in. Just standing there, my eyelids grew heavy. I wouldn’t give into my exhaustion—not until Victoria was safe and sound.

  Just as I tore my receipt free, I noticed something. It was only a trace of a scent, but it was hers. There was no doubt in my mind. I raised my nose and took in a deep breath. Given the slight westerly breeze, I guessed her to be southwest of where we were.

  I climbed back into the beast and rolled down all the windows. The others mumbled and shifted positions, but nobody woke. I started the engine, tore out into the empty road, and followed the scent. It was still faint, but growing slightly stronger as I headed southwest.

  Eventually, I couldn’t go any farther. The road ended at heavy woods. I rolled up the windows. “I’m going to find Victoria. Anyone coming with me?”

  Brick sat up in the passenger seat and snorted. “Huh? What?”

  “I found her scent.”

  He rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, I’m with you.”

  I glanced back at the others, still sound asleep.

  “Let them sleep.” Brick stretched. “We’ll need them alert when we sleep. Have you gotten any rest?”

  “Nope. I’ve gone down every road in the area at least twice.”

  We climbed out and I locked the doors. Exhaustion threatened, but I wouldn’t give in. Not when Victoria was close.

  Brick sniffed the air. “I smell her, too.”

  Without a word, we burst into a run, following the scent. We darted around trees and over bushes. The trail grew stronger, though remained weak. I clung to the hope that she’d left me some kind of clue.

  I skidded to a stop as we came to an old campfire. “She was here.”

  “The rumors about the mutt are true.” Brick scratched his nose.

  “There’s something nearby.” I followed the new trail into a bush. Shredded fabric lay everywhere—stuck to leaves and branches, but mostly on the ground. I picked some up and took a deep breath. Her aroma filled my nose.

  She’d worn the destroyed clothes.

  A mixture of terror and anger ran through me.

  “I smell your old pack,” Brick called.

  Stuffing some of the fabric in a pocket, I climbed out of the bush. “Me, too. Smells like my cousins.”

  “The ones she killed?”

  I nodded and tore off in the direction the odors wafted from. Pools of dried blood covered the ground, but none of it was Victoria’s.

  Brick nodded in obvious approval. “She did good.”

  “But what happened to her?” I exclaimed.

  “Didn’t she get away?”

  “That’s what my father claims. Not that his word means much to me.”

  “I’d think he’d brag about having caught her.”

  A spot of red on a tree caught my attention. I held up a finger and walked over to it. It was a small splatter of blood, but one sniff told me it was Victoria’s. “They hurt her!”

  Brick came over and studied it. He turned to the pools of blood. “I’d say she got her revenge.”

  I touched the spot of dried blood and yelled out. My inner wolf clawed, trying to get out.

  “We’ll find her.”

  “How?” I snapped. “Can you sense her presence? She’s obviously been gone from here for some time! It’s our only clue, and her scent doesn’t lead us anywhere else.”

  “It was strongest at the campsite. Maybe we can find something else there.”

  “Like more shredded clothes? Is she even wearing anything? What if she’s freezing to death somewhere?”

  “Or,” Brick said slowly, “she could be in her wolf form, keeping warm and safe with the girl she turned. That’s the more likely explanation.”

  I paced, my mind spinning out of control.

  “I’ve heard newly turned wolves shift right away and Victoria isn’t bound by the moon, right? They’re probably hiding somewhere.”

  I stopped and stared at my friend. Could he be right?

  “Let’s go back to the others. Maybe Soleil or Frida can help us figure out where she is.”

  “Hold on.” I went over to the tree that had a little splotch of her blood and scraped it off in case it would help with a locator spell.

  Brick and I made our way back through the woods and to the SUV. Soleil woke when we closed our doors.

  “Did I miss something?”

  “Those are the woods where she killed my cousins,” I said.

  “Where is she now?”

  “That’s what we need to find out,” I said. “I’ve got some of her shredded clothes and a bit of her dried blood. I don’t suppose that you can work with that?”

  “Essence. I work with essence.”

  “She shifted while wearing these clothes. There might be a chance some essence got on them, don’t you think?”

  “I’ve never seen anything like that, but hand them over.”

  I dug into my pocket and pulled out a handful. She looked them over and sniffed them, but eventually handed them back. “Sorry, no essence.”

  “Thanks for trying. Maybe Frida can help with a locator spell.”

  Frida stretched. “Did I hear my name?”

  “We found some of Victoria’s things in the forest, but no sign of her.”

  “I see where this is going. Give me a couple minutes to wake up and then I’ll get everything set up.”

  “Thank you.”

  Soleil glanced to Tap, Jet, and Ziamara, who were sleeping in the third row. “I didn’t think vampires were supposed to sleep that much.”

  “She sleeps more when she’s worried.” I turned to Frida. “Do you need help with anything?”

  “What exactly did you find?”

  “Shredded clothes and some blood scraped from a tree.”

  “Perfect.” She grabbed a little black bag. “Let’s go.”

  “Us, too?” asked Brick.

  “Yes. I can draw from your energy.” She glanced up at the sky. “I don’t see the moon, but hopefully I can draw from it, also.”

  The five of us headed into the woods. Frida set up her things along with what I’d gathered near the campfire where Victoria’s smell had been the strongest. “Everyone hold hands.” We did, and she spoke in a foreign language. Leaves rustled nearby and a breeze came our way. Frida’s voice grew louder. I swore I heard whispers around us. Chills ran down my back.

  Frida continued raising her voice. The soft breeze turned into a cold wind, whipping against us with force. “Stay where you are. Don’t move.” She returned to speaking in the foreign language. The whispers grew closer and more rapid and the wind grew increasingly cold. The air itself felt a full ten degrees colder.

  I shivered and cracked open an eye knowing Frida would likely reprimand me for it. She sat tall, her own eyes closed, practically yelling the spell over the wind and the voices. Blood dripped down from her nose.

  “Frida!”

  “Let me finish.” She continued on with the spell. More blood gushed from her nose.

  “You should stop.”

  “Close your eyes. Now. I almost have her.”

  I closed my eyes and she went back to speaking in the foreign language. I’d give her a minute before insisting she stop.

  Just as I was about to open my eyes and check on her, she stopped and everything died down. The candles had all blown out and fallen over. The flower petals were gone. Blood ran from her nose down over her mouth.

  “Why did you continue?” I exclaimed.

  Frida wiped her mouth. “Something was blocking me. I was close, but couldn’t find her. My only choice was to amp up the spell. I’m just glad you three were all here.”

  Soleil wiped her eyes. “You must’ve borrowed some of my juice. I feel a little weak.”

  Brick put his arm around her.

  “I’m sorry.” Frida wiped the blood from her nose.

  “Don’t be.” Soleil leaned against Brick. “You found her, didn’t you?”

  Frida rubbed the back of her neck. “Finally, I did.”

  “Where is she?” I asked.

  “In some other woods about thirty miles from here.”

  I groaned. “So far away?”

  “They must be in wolf form,” Brick said.

  “Let’s find her.” I rose and helped Frida up.

  “Can’t she use runes to get us there?” Brick asked.

  Frida shook her head. “Not if I haven’t been there before.”

  Brick frowned.

  We gathered what was left of her things and made our way back to the car. Jet and Ziamara were finally awake.

  “Where’d you guys go?” Jet asked. “And what was up with that wind?”

  “Frida ran another locator spell.” I started the engine and backed up. “She’s thirty miles away. Which direction?”

  “Head east,” Frida said. “I’ll tell you when we’re close.”

  I turned on my radar detector and drove as fast as I could for the nearest main road.

  “What’d you see?” Soleil asked Frida.

  “Not a lot. There was something trying to block the spell. It took everything I had to get past it.”

  “Does that happen a lot?” Ziamara asked.

  “Only when someone goes to great lengths not to be found.”

  Nobody responded, though I was sure we were all thinking the same thing—why would she want to hide, unless she was in real danger?

  It was hard not to drive too fast. “Were you able to see if she was okay?”

  Frida didn’t respond.

  “Frida?”

  She hesitated. “It was difficult to see much. There was a lot of darkness, and I kept getting pushed away and diverted.”

  “Why would that happen?” Ziamara asked.

  Frida cleared her throat. “I don’t know, but I have a feeling we’ll soon find out.”

  Chapter 89

  Victoria

  I rose to all fours and stared into the eyes of the wolfborn in the next cage.

  You can shift when you want to? he exclaimed.

  It’s more complicated than that, but I’m cursed by the moon.

  Explain it to me. He stepped closer to the bars, his fur standing on end.

  I don’t have time—I can’t let them see me like this.

  Why shift, then?

  To make sure you understand I don’t want to hurt you.

  His ears lowered. You don’t get it, do you? I have no choice but to follow their orders. They say to attack, and I have to. It doesn’t matter who they tell me to attack. It could be my own mother.

  I paced in circles. Can’t you fight it?

  I’ve tried. A witch doctor put a spell on me.

  A witch doctor?

  Yes. I can’t fight the spell. I’m sorry.

  A noise caught my attention and I froze, worried one of the other werewolves now knew I could shift outside of the full moon. The only sounds were of the hammering. I turned back to the wolfborn. What if we work together? Could we do something to break your spell?

  I doubt it. The witch doctor was unlike any witch I’ve ever seen. I wish I could explain it.

  Is there a way we can break out of here?

  Don’t you think I’d have left already if I could’ve?

  Right.

  You’d better shift back. They never stay away for long. Wilson will be here soon to taunt me. They want to turn me vicious.

  I paced again, not wanting to change forms away from the one wolf I could actually talk to.

  Shift back. Someone’s coming.

  Wait. What’s your name?

  Charles. Hurry!

  Growling, I ran over to my pile of clothes and closed my eyes, focused on shifting back. Pops and cracks sounded. Once the pain receded, I opened my eyes. I was human again and I heard conversation. Scrambling, I pulled my clothes on just before Wilson and some other guy sauntered over. The other one was bigger than Wilson but had a baby face. I covered the cuffs of my hoodie which had torn during my shift because of the ties—I was lucky that was the only thing I’d ruined.

  “Sleep well?” Wilson hit the side of my cage.

  I glared at him, refusing to reply.

  “Managed to get out of the rope, huh? That saves me the time of undoing the knot. Stand up, we’re going on a walk.”

  Every muscle in my body seized up. His tone indicated I wouldn’t like the walk one bit.

  “Stand!” he shouted, spit flying from his mouth.

  I scurried to my feet, but didn’t move any closer to the door.

  The other werewolf snickered.

  Wilson glared at me and unlocked the door. “Get over here.”

  Charles whined and pawed the cement.

  Glowering at Wilson, I made my way over to the door. He and the other werewolf grabbed my arms. Wilson whipped me around and pinned me against him. “You’ll do what I say without a fuss. Got it?”

  I refused to answer.

  He tightened his grip, putting pressure on my sore shoulders. “Answer me.”

  “Okay.”

  “Good.” He flicked his head toward his friend. “Get the collar on her, Benjamin.”

  I squirmed to get away.

  Wilson applied more pressure. “I said you’ll obey me.”

  Benjamin pulled out a metal collar with little spikes all around the outside. He gave me an apologetic glance as he slid it around my neck and locked it into place.

  “Now the leash.” Wilson tightened his grip even more. It took all my strength not to cry out in pain.

  This time, Benjamin averted his gaze as he slid the long metal chain into the collar.

  Wilson shoved me away. “On all fours.”

  I gave him a double-take.

  “Am I being unclear?”

  “You’re serious?”

  He slapped me across the face. “All fours.”

  Rage tore through me, but I complied.

  “Come on,” Wilson snapped. “It’s time for some obedience training.”

  My stomach twisted in knots. What did they have planned for me?

  “I said get going!” Wilson’s face grew red. He turned to Benjamin. “Yank that blasted leash as hard as you have to.”

  I crawled forward before my neck ended up sore, too. My knees sunk into the soft dirt and pointed pebbles dug into my palms.

  Wilson rushed on ahead. Benjamin kept up with my pace. Wilson spun around and glared at me. “Faster!”

  I picked up my pace, ignoring the pain in my shoulders and back.

  “Don’t be afraid to hit her with that chain.” Wilson huffed and walked even faster.

  Benjamin nodded but made no move to hurt me. Wilson picked up his pace all the more. I did my best to keep up while digging rocks into my hands and knees. By the time we reached a dilapidated barn, the knees of my jeans were shredded.

  Wilson yanked open the door and waved us in. The building was full of hay and dust. It looked like it would all collapse if anyone so much as sneezed. Sunlight shone in through some cracks in the beams, and billows of dust danced in the light. Wilson slammed the door and the building shook.

  He gestured to a hook on a low beam. Benjamin walked over, and I crawled behind him. He slid the end chain link of the leash onto the hook. I gagged as it pulled on my neck.

  “You can stand.” Disgust covered Wilson’s face.

  I rose and tugged on the collar.

  “Did I say you could touch that?” Wilson yelled.

  I dropped my hands to my sides.

  “Tighten the chain.” Wilson glared at Benjamin.

  The younger werewolf gave me another sorrowful glance before removing the leash from the hook and attaching it about ten links in from the end.

  “I said tighten it, you fool!” Wilson rushed over and pushed Benjamin out of his way. He yanked the leash, making me gag as he attached the middle of it it to the hook, the chain so taut I had to stretch so I didn’t choke. “Like that, you stupid wimp.”

  I grabbed the collar to pull it from my neck.

  Wilson turned around and kicked me in the ribs. “I said to leave that alone!”

  Tears stung my eyes, but I determined never to let him see them. I released the collar and gagged again, struggling to breathe. Dust filled my nose and mouth. I coughed uncontrollably.

  Wilson threw his hands in the air. “I’m working with amateurs.” He walked over to me, standing only inches away. “Stay here, you understand? I’m going to let you think about what you’ve done for a while.” He punched me in the stomach before spinning around.

  I stumbled backward, the collar choking me until I regained my balance.

  Benjamin followed him to the door. I grabbed the collar and pulled it away from the front of my neck and gasped in big breaths.