Sarah makes a sympathetic sound. "I'm sure he knows. You're not so good at hiding your feelings."
"Yeah, but I wish I'd told him."
"Do you have any way to contact him?"
I sniff. "Yes. But I'd have to speak in code."
"Well, if it's important to you, get him the message. Let him know you'll be around if he gets his shit figured out. I mean, if that's what you want."
I don't want that to be what I want. Waiting around for how long? Months? Years? Never knowing if Charlie's dead or alive? It sounds terrible. And yet the alternative-crushing the hope, however dim it may be, of ever seeing him again-is far worse.
"Yeah, maybe. Thanks, Sarah."
"Call me again. Let me know when you have a phone number I can use again."
"I will. Love you, sis."
"Love you."
I park the stolen truck in a Sheraton parking lot and get out. Time for a shower. A long cry. And to go on.
Without Charlie in my life.
It seems impossible, but it's what I must do.
CHARLIE
I RIDE my new motorcycle to the metal warehouses south of the train tracks where the Tucson shifters set up their illegal cage fights. I'd made a new ID and taken the first flight I could get to Arizona where I bought this bike. I figure it will help me fit in, to connect with the pack.
The truth is, I like the way it feels-the power and speed remind me of what it's like to shift and run. Which must be why the shifters like them so well.
Several motorcycles are parked out front. I park beside them and dismount. I'm itchy about going in. Even in special forces, I was a lone wolf. It's not that I don't make friends, but I'm not a highly social guy.
Or maybe I hesitate because my heart's been smashed to a pulp, and I'm barely a shell of a man right now. But I need to go in there for Annabel, to find out what's going to happen to her-what's going to happen to me.
I push open the door without knocking, and four huge guys stop talking to look over.
I recognize them all from the last time I was here. I've been trained to never forget a face. Jared stands beside his pierced friend. Garrett Green is the pack leader, the one whose lawyer girlfriend marched in and pulled Jared out of the police station. The fourth guy is huge-built like a tank, complete with a military crew cut. He served as a bouncer at the cage fight.
"Well, well, well, he survived the full moon," Jared drawls.
His buddy snickers. "What'd you think? You were going to go on a killing rampage?"
I'm all out of humor. I march over and wrap my fist in the guy's shirt. He growls and the other three step forward, closing us in.
"I bit a girl. Could've killed her."
"You marked her," Jared speaks. His words cut through my anger. He's saying something important.
I release his friend's shirt and whirl. "I what?"
"You marked her as your mate. She survived it?"
I grip Jared's shirt. I'm ready to punch him for speaking so casually about Annabel almost dying.
"You should've fucking told me!"
Jared's big hand reaches for my throat, and it's on. I'm dying to grapple right now. I duck out of his reach and kick him in the gut. The other three move back, arms folded over chests.
"Did she survive?" he grits as he staggers back.
"Yeah, no thanks to you." I throw a punch. He dodges and swings at me. I drop down to sweep a foot out, tripping him to the ground. He's up in a blink, coming at me, both fists swinging. I duck and parry, try to get a swing into his ribs, but he blocks it.
"I tried to tell you. You hung up on me. I even called you back."
I remember now, the phone ringing as I crushed it beneath my heel.
Damn. I want this to be Jared's fault, but it's not. It's nobody's but mine.
I duck, but he goes in for my torso, picks me up and walks me backward to the wall, throws me against it.
I reach up to grab a beam, wrap my lower legs around Jared's neck and squeeze.
"So, what's going to happen to her?" I demand.
He grabs my legs and attempts to pry them off his throat.
"She's... forever marked... with your scent," he grits out with choked breath. "No... other wolf... will touch her."
I release him and drop to the ground.
"That's it? She's not going to turn into a wolf?"
All four wolves snicker. "We're not leeches, dude. You can't turn someone into a wolf," the pierced guy says.
"Unless you're the crazy Doctor Smyth," Garrett mutters.
Relief almost turns my legs weak. "So... she's fine? Other than the scent thing?"
Jared throws a right uppercut, and I let it land because I pretty much deserve it. It hits me on the left side of my jaw and throws me backward.
A good-natured grin spreads across his face. "You took that one on purpose, didn't you?"
I shrug.
He holds out a hand, and I take it. He pulls me forward.
"Guys, this is Agent Charlie Dune. I've told you about him." He introduces me to the other men. The pierced one is Trey, the larger one aptly called Tank.
"Well, you want the good news or the bad news?" Jared asks.
"Bad."
"Bad news is once you've marked a female, you'll never be able to leave her. She's yours to protect until you both die. The instinct will be there even if the human in you wants to deny the connection."
I blink. Could be worse. Could be way worse.
"But I won't hurt her? I won't bite her again?"
"You'll never hurt her. You'll kill to keep her safe," Tank says.
"I would anyway."
Garrett, Jared, and Tank all grin and nod like they know exactly how I feel.
"What's the good news?"