Searching for what though?

Anything! A piece of her clothing, a strand of her beautiful blonde hair, a tickle of her scent clinging to a branch she’d touched.

Zeke is too good, doubt said. If he doesn’t want to be found, he won’t be.

He couldn’t stay idle. There wasn’t enough time. Soon the sun would come up and he’d have to make quick work back home. And then what? Grayson’s men would continue their search using were guards but still.

If he didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be.

“FUCK!” His shout echoed through the forest. The sound a hollow version of himself.

The car at the highway could all be a trick. He could have had one of his pack come pick him up to throw them off his trail. He could have taken her across the highway to the other side. It might be more dangerous, but the man was mad and capable of anything. Dom wouldn’t put much past him.

He fisted his hair, tugging until the strands pulled and snapped as he gritted his teeth, gnashing. How could she do this to him? Dom barked another curse then continued his search through the forest. He would find her, and when he did she would pay and the price would be high.

Sweat ran down his chest, smearing the dirt and grime on his body into an oil painting of color. The phone in his pocket beeped. He didn’t stop running as he pulled it out. The message was a text from Grayson.

All it said was: Sunrise.

The sweat didn’t come from the strain in his muscles or the pounding work of his lungs and heart. No, it came from the scalding heat. From that orange glow that began to rise so far in the distance.

He couldn’t do it.

He couldn’t find her.

Failure coated his tongue with a sour taste.

He turned back, running away from it—the sun, Felicity, his election.

Blazing heat scored his back like burning flames as he left the forest a shirtless, dirty bum. The open light seared him until tendrils of black smoke drifted up around him. He gritted his teeth and braced his legs apart, muscles bunched hard and shaking as the pain consumed him.

Yes, this was better, better than the pain of dealing with what she’d done.

The sound of a car pulling up didn’t even make him open his eyes. Not even when he heard Grayson’s voice, deep and raspy; his breath smelling of cigarettes.

“Come on, man. Let’s get you home.”

He was helped into a car, shut in, and he didn’t feel a thing as he  gazed out at the forest.

Why was it when terrible things happened time seemed to pass so much slower? Time was a bitch. It wanted you to feel every single second of agony, to see all the details of what a mistake you made. Yet, during the most exciting time of your life time seemed to try to fly by so fast you couldn’t stop and simply enjoy the moment. Felicity hated it and if time was human, she’d kill it.

Time was all she had. None of it allowed her to open the hatch, which after four hours of trying to open it, one of the weres finally came in and told her they’d latched it from the outside too. A big metal bar was across the door so it wouldn’t budge. Nice. Of course, they’d had four hours to tell her this but they hadn’t. They’d let her cry and hurt as she tried to get the blasted door open to get free. To get back to Dom and explain. It still wasn’t too late.

For some reason a terrible thought struck her that if she allowed the sun to come up without explaining herself to Dom then something awful would happen.

But she hadn’t gotten it open and they wouldn’t let her go. So she’d spent all day sitting on a sofa watching the news. Dom’s points dropped and dropped as more pictures of her popped up. When pictures of her mother on the beach with her boyfriend came on screen she’d nearly cried. They were digging into her past and searching for every piece of dirt on her, and finding it.

They called her a liar, a whore, a gold-digger, and anything else that came to the reporter’s little minds.

It wasn’t true, at least not mostly true since she had lied some, but it hurt all the same. As the hours passed like fine grains of sand moving through tar, she could only sit by and watch Dom’s numbers come in, lower and lower.

She never even got out to vote.

Judgment came at ten o’clock that night. VNN reported Zeke the winner. The men cheered, or roared, more like. And it was all her fault. She’d done this. Her fit of anxiety had cost him a whole election.

Will he ever forgive me?

She sucked in a hiccupped breath. How could he ever forgive her? She’d ruined his dreams over her stupid fears and panic. Oh god. Clutching her knees to her chest, Felicity buried her face in her knees to hide the tears.

She needed to apologize but how? No amount of explaining, apologies, or gifts could give him that election back. Nor could any of it take back the pain and frustration she’d caused him.

Something brushed her ankle. Sniffling, she pulled away to see Zeke had dropped a cellphone next to her. He stood over her, grinning.

“Go ahead, give him a call. I have a victory celebration to get to. You’re looking at the new president of the vampire and weres.” He flicked up an imaginary collar then strode away.

Felicity stared at the phone for far too long before gathering enough courage to pick it up. As she began pushing the buttons to dial him, she quickly hit text instead of dial. She couldn’t handle talking to him. What if he didn’t answer the phone?

What if he did?

She couldn’t deal with it right now. Texts were safer.

Her fingers hovered over the little buttons. What did she say? How to begin? “I’m sorry” seemed so very inadequate for the damage she’d caused.

So, she started with something else.

I know you hate me but I love you.

Send.

She held her breath and stared at the screen as it darkened. Would he write her back, ignore her, or pretend he didn’t get the text?

Her answer came exactly four minutes later. Four minutes which felt more like an hour. The phone beeped. Like ripping a Band-Aid fast to get the pain over with she quickly hit the button.

Where are you?

She stared at the words for several long minutes. What did he mean? Did this mean he wasn’t angry? The thought lifted her spirits but she knew the likelihood of this was near zero.

With Zeke. I tried to leave but he wouldn’t let me. I’m sorry...

Her heart pounded, making her chest rise and fall in great heaves. Wet tears streaked her face. God, this hurt. Her heart burned with a fierce, aching pain like acid had been poured on it.

How inadequate her words looked. It didn’t begin to summarize how freakishly, incredibly, monumentally sorry she was for screwing up, running away, and hurting him. For so many things...

I’m upset with you.

Uh-oh. Felicity shook her head. Well of course he was. Hell, she’d be if their situations were reversed.

I know. I’m REALLY sorry. We need to talk in person, please.

“All right, darlin’ it’s time to get goin’.” Zeke pulled her to the hatch. He climbed up then rapped his knuckles on it in what sounded like a very specific cadence. Sure enough, a few moments later metal screeched and moonlight spilled into the square door.

“You had someone up there watching it the whole time?”

Zeke didn’t answer, just hopped up and out leaving her and the rest of his men to follow. She kept the phone squeezed tightly in her fingers. It beeped as she received a text. It took everything in her not to open it halfway up the ladder and start reading.

The moon hung high in the sky, the air held a crisp chill that brought goose bumps over her arms making her shiver.

With a rakish grin, Zeke waved towards a tree. “Tie her up over there.”