It was almost mid-June, but fall had arrived outside the forest cabin. The early morning sun blazed in the sky but gave no warmth. I existed on two hours of broken sleep, eyeing the door every time the cabin creaked. Last night I dreamed of blood spreading and pooling under my feet. It soaked my clothes—it wouldn't stop.

David was in a deep sleep when I closed the door behind me. I'd tried to recall where exactly I hid the van. How far was it? My eyes were dazzled by a ray of the sun reflecting on the windshield through the bramble. At least it was nearby. I strolled over to the van, unlocking it.

My eyes roamed the gaps in the pine trees that surrounded the clearing. Dried leaves whipped around my feet, and the undergrowth cracked beneath the weight of a step. I waited, hoping the sound wouldn't repeat, but it did. There was no point turning. I knew who it was.

"Come on out, Paul."

"I understand if you're feeling... hysterical?" he said.

"C'mere, see for yourself." I put bravery behind my words that didn't echo the sentiment in my heart. If Lucille had bestowed one thing last night, it was to trust no one. Her words had been trusted to David alone, and now I had my work cut out for me to find her myself.

"I'm not sure, but the ominous calm may be worse," he replied, stepping out of the tree cover with one arm raised in surrender, and the other dropped a lit cigarette. His eyes took in everything about me but held a reserve that gave nothing in return.

Is Paul still safe? I stilled my mind and tried to read the subtle shifts in the wind, as he had once told me to do. Nothing.

"Yes, I'm safe," he said. "I came to make sure you're okay. This,"—he gestured around the clearing —"was the last place I thought you'd come. You have your answers now, and I'm no threat. The first thing I did was teach you how to listen for signs of danger. You already know I'm not. If I ever meant you harm, would I have taught you that first?"

I refused to be lured back in by his half-truths. He was always right and wrong, leaving me needing clarification. "If you meant no harm, why did you want to rip my throat out last night?"

"That wasn't supposed to happen. I needed longer to catch your scent, for my wolf to recognize who you were between states. We've spent millennia being hunted by your kind. Those instincts don't just fold for a pretty girl." Paul's face was absent of humor. "Change your perception of what the world is. Different rulebook, remember?"

He tapped his temple. "There's a cognitive link within these woods, the rush of salt air by the ocean. Nature is majestic and strong. It works to its own set of rules here. Don't you want to play by that rulebook instead now?"

"After last night, I'm ready to burn your goddamn rulebook."

"I can help you learn," he said. "Nothing has to change if you don't let it."

"Not anymore. Not from you."

His eyes narrowed. "From Carlyle? You'll get nothing but a tainted version of the truth from him."

"I would say the same thing about you. Carlyle undoubtedly has an agenda of his own, but we want the same things. He will help me. Your dad was talkative last night, and I'm only a few pieces short of the complete puzzle. I no longer need your version of the truth."

He held up a warning finger. "Without context, Dana, you'll be no more enlightened than when you arrived in town."

"Says you? I know what I saw, and I want no part in it. You can talk all you like about nature and rulebooks, and go for your frolics in the wood butt naked, but what you did crosses a boundary that nature should not allow. If you're ready to answer my questions, start with this: Why did Lucille not trust any of you? Why did she, with clear purpose, incite my return to town by faking her death?"

"I don't know. I'm not her descendant. We're linked with Lucille as our former Alpha. This won't stop for her until you link with her and find out the rest of your answers directly."

For that very reason, his words made me shiver. The entire town was against me or needed something from me. This was a certainty above all others. I needed to be sure who I could trust. "Can you say with conviction that I will be safe with you? What if you shift again?"

He thought it over for a moment. "No," he said in all honesty. I'd be lying if I said the process of having you around if that happened, if we are not more familiar didn't have risks. That's what I tried to prevent. But there's a gigantic difference between the threats you've conjured in your head and what would actually happen. Last night, agreed. That wasn't the norm. Luke sees it as a gift, a privilege. No one is asking you to jump into the unknown here. That's what I was trying to prepare you for at a pace that wouldn't scare you."

"You failed." I hadn't wanted this conversation out in the open, on his turf. Standing his ground, I could see the conflicting emotions dancing like sparks in his hazel eyes, reminding me, as they often did, of something close to a home. But I wanted no part of this—yet there was a prickling under my skin, deep in my chest, that felt like a precursor to heartbreak.

Paul took three strides forward, and I felt a familiar weakness surge. Batting my arm away without much resistance, he sealed his mouth over mine in a swift move worth of a midpoint in a romance novel. I fought not to give in with every ounce of my will, not letting his kiss consume and ignite me. Vivid images of Paul on his knees, a look of terror in his eyes, came slashing into my thoughts. No, the reality Paul was trying to paint was nothing like the one I had witnessed.

I stepped back, pushing him away while wiping my mouth on my sleeve. His head dropped, and fingers ran through his hair. As he did, I caught a flicker of discomfort in his eyes, and at the same time, his hand reached for his chest.

"Where are you going to go, Peach? Her house? The shop? You can only leave once she says you're done here. Neither of us can. The only way out at this point is through. All I'll ever ask you to do is try. Come home with me."

I gnawed on my thumbnail, deciding what to do or whether he would follow if I ran. Paul was right, if I didn't learn how to approach Lucille from someone, she could just as easily rip my throat out as they were capable of last night. I turned my cell phone back on, ready to call whoever I needed to if he took a single step toward me.

"We do this my way," I said.

Paul frowned, then shook his head. "You don't trust me anymore if you ever did?"

"This is what she wants."

"How do you—."

My cell rang, and Carolyn's name blinkered on the screen. I held a pointed finger out to keep him from moving closer. Then, I placed the phone to my ear. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. Antoine called last night. He had the nerve to call from an out-of-state pay phone. The smuck called collect and reversed the charges. I thought it was you!"

My heart dropped for the second time in as many minutes. "What did Antoine say? Are you okay?"

Paul's eyes narrowed, and he took a step forward. I held up my hand again, making him stop in his tracks.

"He said he wasn't waiting anymore. I hung up. I've been trying to reach you since. Dana, what do I do?"

I had never turned my phone back on after Carlyle's instruction. "Carolyn, I am so sorry. Are you still at the apartment?"

"No," her voice cracked. "I stayed at Sam's. What do we do now?"

I looked up at Paul. "I'll get the man his money. I'll figure it out and find a way. This time, I mean it. Stay where you are, and I'll speak to you soon." Disconnecting the call, I rubbed my eyes.

"Let me help," Paul urged.

I shook my head. "No. And never try to get inside my head again."

I climbed into the van, closed the door, and reached for my seatbelt. Before the door closed fully, Paul cleared his throat, his voice sounding thicker and more hoarse. "I knew you never trusted me enough."

My heart broke a little more. How can I trust him? All the men in my life, apart from my father, had deceived me. The windshield was thick with condensation. I used the sleeve of my arms to clear it. The engine roared as I turned the key in the ignition, letting it roll momentarily as Paul stood on the porch. Looking back before reversing, I sighed and headed towards the main road, Paul's words echoing: The only way out is through.

I knew what I needed to do. There was only one person who had cash. By the time I arrived, Luke's truck sat in the driveway. I took two steps at a time, and my shoes hit each step, announcing my arrival. Not needing to knock, I yanked the screen door open and tried the door handle. It was unlocked, as Luke had always said it would be. What was it with the people in this town and their inability to lock a door?

Outside his room, I raised my hand to knock, but a voice from inside said, "You can come in, Dana."

I pushed the door ajar and stepped in. Luke sat on a double bed, his chest bare with a t-shirt bunched in his hands.

"What happened to Paul last night?" I was here to demand more than answers, but this needed satisfaction first.

"You are full of questions." He patted the edge of the bed, but I shook my head.

"Paul stalled."

"What happens when someone resists?"

"Beta's be damned," he said. "As an Alpha, I don't make it easy."

He took in the baffled look on my face and rephrased it. "We're not too fond of resistance. It sparks anger in its purest manifestation. There is a hierarchy. Paul knows this. "

"Is finding Lucille the only way to help her?" There must have been another way. Lucille's note was firmly etched in my mind, and I had no idea how to appease her.

"It looks as though you might get your answers after all. Paul knew it wouldn't take you long. But you came for something other than Lucille, didn't you?"

I nodded. "I need money. Paul doesn't have any. The shop is paying out thousands of dollars into bank accounts that should no longer exist. You know why."

I caught a faint pull on his lips. "The purple slips? You've been a busy-Dana-bee. Think of it as compensation. When wolves a pack member dies, Arthur keeps their accounts open; I legitimately channel funds, a long-term cash withdrawal service, if you will."

"But how does a bank take funds for a deceased account holder?"

"Because, besides an obituary, you won't find a single official record of death or burial for anyone in this town."

"That's how Lucille got me back to town. A fake death record and the lure of a cash sell. Now it's time to make good. I need a loan." I paused. "Let me correct myself; you're going to give me money. Consider it a gift that I will accept."

"I'm listening... but you know what I want."

"I won't do that with you; you have lost my trust."

"Then do it with Paul there instead. He can show you how to find Lucille."

"How would he make any difference?"

"Because he was exactly where you were once. If you're wondering whether Paul has the same scars as Carlyle, he didn't, but as of this morning, he now does. That boy has never resisted, always submitted, until last night. They should tell you more than words. I am invested more than him. I'll do this for the rest of my life for my Pack. But, that boy's dreams have always been bigger than Benton."

Had I caused the marks on Paul to happen? The pain he was in —was that my fault too? If he had not been as worried about what could happen to me, he would not have resisted the shift in front of his alpha. "I want a guarantee I will be safe."

"You have my word. But to do that, I need to become familiar with your scent. Then, once you've connected with your grandmother, I'll get you your cash and drive you home myself."

"Why you? Why not Jenny or Paul?"

"You can wait around for them both to familiarise but as an Alpha, if I recognize you in my wolf's form, I can ensure they are forced to. My will can protect you from more than just Paul and Jenny."

How could I say yes? How could I trust in a process they seemed to be sure of when I had witnessed the opposite last night? The answer was as clear and as brutal as the marks that were now on Paul's skin. I had no other choice. I couldn't leave town unless I found Lucille and I couldn't do that without protection from the Alpha. And what would become of Carolyn? Without my parents, she was as close to my last relative as I am now, even as a friend. I could never lose her too.

"When?" I pressed. Antoine's threat level had increased substantially.

He smiled. "We start tomorrow."

"That's too long. I need that cash now."

"That's the best I can do. I promised to keep you safe from your good-for-nothing loan shark too, but I can only do that if you're here. So you go where we go from now on."

I felt the color drain from my face. "You have got to be joking. I can't move in."

"What other choices do you have? Stay in this room; I'll take the couch." He shrugged.

If Antoine was in town, it would take him hours, not days, to find me. The only way out was indeed through.

"Fine. I'll go and pack a bag."

He nodded. "Carlyle is out front. I'll instruct him to take you."

With one hand on the door handle, I turned a final time. "Oh, and Luke: Deer my fucking ass."