Cold fear lodged in her stomach, immobilizing her for several seconds as her mind tried to comprehend the danger. In slow motion, her head whipped to the left and caught sight of him.

Oh no.

She turned to the right and started running. It was like being in her dream and knee deep in mud though. No matter how hard she pumped her arms or kicked out her legs, she couldn’t move fast enough. She reached the top of the street and turned to look over her shoulder. He still stood where he’d been. I can still get away. The wind was in her favor, he couldn’t scent her like she did him.

Then his head turned and his eyes latched onto hers. His face contorted into a mask of rage, and then he shouted, the sound so loud, so terrifying the windows along the street vibrated and cracked.

Cassie cried out and kept running. He was coming. He was coming after her, and this wasn’t a dream. She had no time to stop and think, to figure out how he’d found this little town. Her only thought was of survival.

* * *

Cassie sprinted through the streets, turning left and right, without a clue as to where Darien was. The one thing she knew was that she had to find him.

Brick buildings flew past her as she ran, turning into a blur. She circled around, went down streets only to turn back up them again, anything to muddy up her scent—to spread it around so far he wouldn’t be able to track her.

She panted hard, completely out of breath and her sides were aching hard like a knife had taken up living between her ribs. She ground her teeth together and ignored it, had to.

There! She finally found his black truck parked out front a florist shop. She turned to go to it, but something caught her foot and she went flying down to the ground hard. She barely managed to keep her face from having the skin rubbed raw, but her hands and knees took the brunt of it anyways. She bit her lips to keep from crying out. Don’t let him hear you.

Picking herself back up, she half-ran, half-wobbled to his truck. Her ankle was throbbing like a jackhammering pulse and her hands and knees burned hot. She sniffed and smelled blood. Looking down, she gasped at the sight of her blood coating her jeans around her knees. From her hands, blood splashed in drops down onto the concrete.

She had little time. He knew the scent of her blood better than his own. After all, he’d been using her for years.

Biting her lip to stifle a cry, she ran to Darien’s truck. The door to the florist chimed and she flinched hard, coming to a stop, expecting to see his cold face there.

Her heart soared at the sight of her lykaen--her Darien. His eyes shot to hers and took in everything at once. She rushed to him, but she didn’t need to. He met her and wrapped her in his big, strong arms. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.

“What’s wrong?” She could feel his head turning to look up and down the streets.

“We n-need to go n-now,” she said. Her fingers curled into his shirt, hanging on for dear life.

“Come on,” he said and quickly put her in the truck. He got into the driver’s side with a speed that had his lykaen glowing in his eyes. “Now tell me what’s going on,” he demanded.

Her head shook to match the trembling in her body. She was shaking like a damned leaf in the wind. Her eyes darted everywhere, looking for him.

“We need to go now.” He grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him. Now her teeth were chattering like she was sitting in a pool of ice water. Her hands burned and her knees hurt, yet none of that mattered to her. “Go now,” she said between chattering teeth.

Sighing hard, he started the car, and sped off. Cassie ducked down in the seat, and she pretended that Darien wasn’t completely noticing the move.

“When we get back you’re going to tell me what the fuck is going on, Cassandra.” She winced at the use of her full name. She didn’t release her grip on the seat until they were out of town. Slowly she sat up and looked in the side view mirror. A part of her was afraid that he’d be right behind her sprinting to catch up to the car or burning rubber in his own.

She sighed and slumped back in her seat. Finally her heart had a chance to slow to a normal speed. Now that her body was returning to a semi-normal state she got to feel the full force of the burning pain in her hands and knees. And she had to deal with the lykaen next to her.

Darien gripped the steering wheel like he was trying to meld with it. His lips were pulled hard and flat in anger, and barely restrained fury radiated off him in waves. Suddenly she had the urge to tell him sorry and cry. She couldn’t stay with him any longer.

He’d already found her. It was only a matter of time now. If something happened to her lykaen, she’d...

“God dammit, tell me what happened.” Hearing his deep voice raised in anger made her want to plaster herself to the far window. This was not a man she wanted to see angry, especially at her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered raggedly. If anything her words managed to make him look angrier. He formed a fist with his big hand and slammed it into the dashboard. She flinched and drew her knees up to her stomach, wrapping her arms around herself. She wanted nothing more than a hole in the earth to open up and swallow her up.

She heard his ragged sigh. “Don’t be afraid of me, Cassie. I’m sorry. I lost it for a second, but I’m fine now.” Cassie chanced a watery peek at him and saw that his grip was slightly more relaxed on the steering wheel and his nostrils weren’t flaring angrily.

A cold knot was fixed in her chest and wouldn’t go away. “I am sorry.”

“I know, honey. Listen I’m not mad at you. I just smelled your blood and... Sometimes the beast comes up whether you want it to or not.”

Cassie blinked; she hadn’t even thought about that. He called her honey, and boy did he make her feel like honey. With that one word, he melted her from the inside out until she was scooting across the seat and leaning her tired head against him. She closed her eyes, suddenly feeling as if she hadn’t slept in a week.

She wondered if he’d push her away, when he started to move she pulled back. He didn’t. He wrapped his big warm arm around her. He tucked her against him like a big blanket and she sighed, snuggling close to him. The rocking motion of the truck and the safety of his arms were too much and soon heavy sleep drifted over her.

Cassie came awake with a start.

When had she gotten to the cabin? The last thing she remembered was falling asleep against Darien. She looked down and saw that Darien had tucked her in, even going so far as to pull the covers up over her. Her heart filled up like a balloon. She had to take a deep breath to keep from doing something stupid like ask him to mate with her. Or at least be her boyfriend.

She took stock of her body with a grimace. Her hands looked like ground up meat, but he must have cleaned them for her because there was no longer any gravel in them. And... her jeans were gone. Her eyes widened and then a slow grin formed on her face. He cleaned her knees and left her in her panties. Did he like what he saw? Did he struggle over the job? Her ego could only hope.

“Darien?” she called out hesitantly. Nerves had her walking on tiptoe around the cabin. She stuck her head out the front door but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. A horrible thought hit her like a sledgehammer to the gut. What if Daniel got him? What if he found her out here?

Quickly, she pulled on her jeans and ran barefoot out the front door. She spun around in a circle but didn’t see anything. Her heart was beating so fast in her chest it was the only sound she could hear. She stopped turning and opened her senses. She found Darien’s scent and locked on to it. Her eyes snapped open and she took off after the smell of raw, lykaen man.