"You're sending me where?"
Captain Chen didn't even look up from her desk. "Wolfridge. Small town, two hours north. Three bodies in two weeks."
My hands clenched in my lap. Wolfridge. The one place I'd sworn I'd never go back to. The one town that would recognize what I was the second I crossed the border.
"I can't." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "Send Morris. Send anyone else."
Now Chen looked up, her expression sharp. "This isn't a request, Blackwood. You're the best sketch artist we have. The locals specifically asked for you."
Ice flooded my veins. They asked for me. By name.
Someone knew.
"Captain, I really think—"
"You leave tomorrow morning. Six a.m. flight." Chen slid a file across her desk. "Read up. The sheriff says it's animal attacks, but something about the scenes doesn't sit right with him. That's where you come in."
I took the file with numb fingers. Opened it. The first photo made my stomach drop.
Body torn apart. Throat ripped out. And there, carved into the tree behind the victim, a symbol I hadn't seen in twelve years. The same symbol that had been carved into the trees the night my pack died.
"Ms. Blackwood?" Chen's voice cut through the roaring in my ears. "You look pale. Do you need a minute?"
I needed to run. Needed to pack my car and disappear like I should have done years ago. But running now would raise questions I couldn't answer.
"I'm fine." I closed the file. "Six a.m.?"
"Morris will meet you at the airport." Chen leaned back in her chair. "One week, maybe less. Get in, do the sketches, get out. Easy."
Nothing about this was easy.
I made it to my car before my hands started shaking. Sat there in the parking garage, staring at the file, trying to breathe normally. Twelve years. I'd stayed hidden for twelve years. Built a life. Made myself forgettable. Human.
My phone buzzed. Mira.
Drinks tonight? You've been weird all week.
I typed back: Can't. Work thing.
Her response came immediately: You're always working. When's the last time you actually had fun?
Fun. Right. Hard to have fun when you're constantly looking over your shoulder, waiting for the day someone figures out what you are.
I tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and started the engine. One week. I could survive one week in Wolfridge. Stay professional. Keep my head down. Finish the job and leave before anyone got too curious.
The flight the next morning was torture. Morris talked the entire time about his daughter's soccer team while I stared out the window, watching the landscape change from city to forest. Thick, dense forest that went on for miles. Pack territory. All of it.
My wolf stirred for the first time in months, restless and anxious. I shoved her down hard. Not here. Not now.
The regional airport was tiny. Two gates and a coffee stand that looked like it hadn't been updated since the nineties. A sheriff's cruiser waited outside, a young deputy leaning against it.
"Detective Morris?" The deputy straightened. "I'm Hayes. Sheriff sent me to pick you up."
Morris shook his hand. "This is Sera Blackwood, our sketch artist."
Hayes turned to me, and his nostrils flared slightly. His eyes widened just a fraction before he caught himself. He knew. Maybe not exactly what I was, but he knew I wasn't completely human.
"Ma'am." He opened the back door. "It's about forty minutes to town."
I slid into the cruiser, my wolf pacing beneath my skin. Too exposed. Too vulnerable. Every instinct screamed at me to shift and run.
The drive took us deeper into wolf territory. I could smell them everywhere. Dozens of different scents layered over each other, all belonging to the same pack. Shadowpine. The largest pack in the Pacific Northwest.
The pack whose alpha had ordered the slaughter of mine.
"So these attacks," Morris said from the front seat. "Sheriff thinks it's a bear?"
Hayes's knuckles went white on the steering wheel. "That's the official theory."
"But you don't think so."
"I think bears don't carve symbols into trees."
The town appeared gradually. Gas station. Post office. Diner. And people. So many people moving through the streets with that easy confidence that came from knowing you were surrounded by your own kind.
The sheriff's station was at the end of Main Street. Inside, it smelled like burnt coffee and old paper. A woman at the front desk looked up as we entered, her eyes landing on me with an intensity that made my skin crawl.
"Sheriff's waiting." She picked up the phone without looking away from me. "He'll want to see you right away."
Sheriff Donnelly was late fifties, solid build, with eyes that had seen too much. He shook Morris's hand firmly.
"Appreciate you folks coming on such short notice." His voice was gravel. "This situation's got the whole town on edge."
"Happy to help." Morris gestured to me. "This is Sera Blackwood."
Donnelly's gaze shifted to me, and I felt the weight of it. Measuring. Knowing. "Ms. Blackwood. Hope you've got a strong stomach."
"I've seen worse."
Something in my tone made him pause. Then he nodded slowly. "I bet you have. Come on back."
He led us to a conference room converted into a command center. Photos covered one wall. Three victims. All torn apart. All marked with symbols I recognized.
My vision swam. I gripped the back of a chair to steady myself.
"You okay?" Morris asked.
"Fine. Just need coffee."
Donnelly pulled out witness statements. "We've got a few people who saw someone near the first crime scene. Descriptions are all over the place, but maybe you can make sense of them."
I forced myself to focus on the statements. Male. Female. Tall. Short. Nothing consistent except one detail: glowing eyes.
Every witness mentioned glowing eyes.
"I'll need to interview them individually," I said. "Can you set that up?"
"Sure thing. Most of them are local. I can have them here this afternoon." Donnelly checked his watch. "Give you time to settle in at the motel, grab some lunch."
The door opened.
The scent hit me first. Pine and smoke and something wild that made every hair on my body stand up. Then I saw him.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dark hair. Amber eyes that locked onto mine with the force of a physical blow.
The mate bond snapped into place like a chain wrapping around my chest. Like a noose tightening. Like fate laughing at me.
No.
Every cell in my body screamed. My wolf surged, desperate and hungry and wanting. The bond pulled tight, demanding I go to him. Touch him. Claim him.
But I knew that face. I'd seen it in photos. Younger, standing next to the man who'd given the order to slaughter my pack.
Kade Thorne. Son of the alpha who'd destroyed everything I loved.
His expression shifted from neutral to shocked to something that looked like devastation. His hand gripped the doorframe hard enough that the wood creaked.
"Sheriff." His voice was rough, strained. "We need to talk."
But he wasn't looking at Donnelly. He was staring at me like I was a ghost. Like I was something he'd been searching for his entire life.
The bond thrummed between us, undeniable and unwanted.
"Alpha Thorne." Donnelly straightened. "Didn't expect you today."
Alpha. Of course he was alpha now. Of course the universe hated me this much.
"Got your message about the investigation." Kade finally tore his gaze from me to look at Donnelly. "Shadowpine wants to cooperate fully."
Morris stepped forward. "Detective Morris, Seattle PD. This is our consultant, Sera Blackwood."
Kade's jaw tightened when Morris said my name. Recognition flashed in his eyes. He knew exactly who I was. What I was. What his father had done to my family.
"Ms. Blackwood." He didn't offer his hand. Smart. If we touched, I'd either shift or scream. Maybe both.
The bond pulled tighter. My wolf was howling, throwing herself against my ribs. Mate. Mate. Mate.
I wanted to vomit.
"We were just going over the crime scenes," Donnelly said, oblivious to the tension crackling through the room. "Three victims in two weeks. All found on or near Shadowpine land."
"My wolves didn't do this." Kade's voice was hard. "We don't kill humans."
"Then who did?"
"That's what I'm here to find out." Kade's eyes slid back to me. Held. The bond pulsed between us, and through it I felt his emotions. Shock. Recognition. Want. And underneath it all, guilt so heavy it had weight.
I lifted my chin. Met his gaze head-on. Let him see everything I felt. The hatred. The fear. The absolute refusal to accept what the bond was trying to force on us.
His expression cracked. Just slightly. Just enough to show the pain beneath.
"Ms. Blackwood." His voice dropped lower. "Can I speak with you? Privately?"
"No."
The word came out sharp. Final. Morris and Donnelly both looked at me, surprised.
Kade's jaw clenched. "It's important."
"I don't care."
"Sera—"
"That's Ms. Blackwood to you." I grabbed my bag. "Sheriff, when can I start those interviews?"
Donnelly glanced between us, clearly sensing something was wrong but not understanding what. "Uh, couple hours? I'll have Hayes call the witnesses."
"Perfect. I'll be at the motel." I headed for the door, needing to get out before I did something stupid. Like shift. Like cry. Like let the bond drag me toward a man I should hate.
Kade moved to block my path. Not touching. Not threatening. Just there.
"Please." The single word was raw. "Five minutes. That's all I'm asking."
"You're asking for more than that and we both know it." I kept my voice low. "Get out of my way."
"I can't." His eyes flashed gold. "You know I can't."
"Then I guess we have a problem."
The bond thrummed between us, painful and insistent. Through it, I felt his desperation. His need. His absolute refusal to let me walk away.
Too bad. I'd been running for twelve years. I was good at it.
I pushed past him, our shoulders brushing for just a second. The vision that slammed into me was brutal. Fire. Blood. Screaming. And those amber eyes staring at me from a face covered in my pack's blood.
Not Kade's face. His father's.
But the eyes were the same.
I jerked away, gasping.
Kade caught my arm. "What did you see?"
"Don't touch me!" I yanked free, stumbling back. Morris was there suddenly, steadying me.
"Blackwood? You okay?"
"Fine. Just tired." I couldn't look at Kade. Couldn't let him see how badly I was shaking. "I need air."
I walked out of the station, out into the cold mountain air, and kept walking until I couldn't feel the bond anymore.
But even blocks away, I could still feel him. Still feel that chain wrapped around my chest, pulling me back.
My phone buzzed. Unknown number.
The text was simple: You can run, Seer. But you can't hide. Not from him. Not from us. Not from what you are.
Three days until the blood moon. Better learn fast.
My hands shook as I stared at the message.
Someone knew. Someone had been watching. Someone had lured me here on purpose.
And I'd walked right into their trap.
A shadow fell over me. I spun, ready to fight.
Kade stood there, hands up, expression careful. "I'm not here to hurt you."
"Just like your father wasn't?"
He flinched. "I'm not my father."
"No?" I held up my phone. "Then explain this."
He read the message. His expression went from careful to furious in half a second. "Who sent this?"
"You tell me. This is your territory. Your pack. Your game."
"This isn't a game." He stepped closer, and despite everything, the bond made me want to close the distance. "Someone's hunting you. Someone knows what you are. And they're using me to get to you."
"Using you how?"
"The mate bond. They knew it would snap the second we saw each other. Knew you'd be distracted. Vulnerable." His eyes blazed. "Knew I'd do anything to protect you."
"I don't need your protection."
"Yes, you do." He held up his own p
hone. "Because I got the same message."
I stared at his screen. The text was identical to mine, word for word.
"What does this mean?" I whispered.
Kade's voice was grim. "It means we're both being hunted. And we have three days to figure out why."