Chapter 10
Tonya slumped in her car, consciously tightening her muscles one at a time as she tried to stay awake.
She thought massive guilt for what she was about to do would keep her wide eyed, but apparently not.
It had just been too long since she slept, though fear made sure even her quiet times were filled with angst.
It was dusk as Tonya waited at the address asshole Johnny had given Alan.
The place where Elisabeth was supposedly hiding out with children.
Jesus. Kids. The idea that the bitch was experimenting on more children made Tonya’s gut tighten with horror.
But it was a familiar feeling, one she experienced often in her police career, and so she pushed it aside with her usual practicality.
Not so the second-guessing about her decision.
They were about to capture Alan, and she hated that with every fiber of her being. But she didn’t see any alternatives.
She scanned the area again, searching for either of her quarries: Elisabeth or Alan.
Neither was anywhere to be seen. She and Mark had already cased the crappy cabin and found it empty.
Local PD had been alerted to the bitch’s location and crimes, which meant the cougar had probably skipped hours ago.
Shifters tended to have a sixth sense when they were being hunted.
It was the animal instinct side and it was especially strong in loner species like cougars.
That meant that Tonya was here waiting to grab Alan, and Mark hid out in the backyard, being less amenable to sitting in a car for hours on end.
Except the whole thing made her stomach clench, and not from the battery-acid coffee she’d been drinking.
Alan was the victim here, and she hated tracking him in the same way she’d hunt down a criminal.
But he was a danger to himself and others, and she couldn’t let that go. She cared too much about him for that.
And still his words echoed in her thoughts. I’m not the bad guy.
Didn’t he understand? She wasn’t tracking him to hurt him. She was on his side, but he was out of control. And when a bear-shifter went off the rails, it was her job as a cop and as the Gladwin Beta to hunt him down.
I’m not the bad guy.
Then stop acting like one. Come home. Let me help you.
She slumped down farther, her gritty eyes drifting shut just for a moment. She’d already tried that tack with Alan to no avail. Which left her precious few options.
She forced her eyes back open before she succumbed to sleep. And in the dim light, she spoke into her mic as another way to keep herself awake.
“You still human, Mark?”
It was a joke...sort of. Barely more than a week ago, Tonya had been ready to put a bullet between his eyes.
He’d turned feral and she’d been ready to kill him rather than let him hurt the one woman he treasured above all else.
She’d held back—thank God—and Julie had performed a miracle beyond miracles.
She’d tamed a feral shifter. Everyone proclaimed Mark cured.
Everyone, that is, except anyone with a brain.
Tonya didn’t trust miracles, and so she kept a wary eye on her friend, who answered her question with an understanding she appreciated.
“Not a grizzly itch to be found,” he grumbled. “But I’m thinking of changing that. If one more mosquito tries to suck on my all-too-pink skin, I’m going to go bear on the whole lot.”
“Take a blowtorch to them instead. It’s safer.”
“Fresh out of propane torches. What about you? Any monsters around?”
“Just the Sandman,” she confessed. Jesus, she was tired.
Then in the long silence, Mark finally asked the key question. “You rethinking the plan here?”
Yes. “No. Whatever it takes, we have to bring him in. He’s sick, Mark.”
“Can’t cure him if he’s dead.”
“Last resort. You remember those other infected ones. They weren’t sane.”
Mark’s silence cut her deeper than any words he might say. Neither of them wanted to hurt Alan, but they couldn’t let him run amok. He’d attack some innocent and that was the last thing Alan would ever want.
Neither of them said anything more. They just sat in their own misery and waited.
And then, she saw him. At first she’d thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.
She saw a lanky guy in flip-flops, board shorts, and a blindingly bright tie-dyed shirt strolling down the road.
He could have been any one of the summer vacationers enjoying the evening cool.
She’d already counted more than a dozen bored teens, not to mention the adults walking dogs.
It’s what one did on vacation when the heat finally cooled off.
She wouldn’t have given this guy more than a second glance if he hadn’t been walking in that slightly creepy way.
It was something all shifters did. No thumping of the feet, no awkward hitch to the step. The animal in them knew how to walk softly on the earth. And when that animal was on the hunt, he prowled even when he was pretending to casually stroll down the street.
She leaned forward, blinking her eyes as she tried to make out details.
Was he hurt? Was he angry? Was that a cut on his arm or a trick of the light?
She knew she should say something. Mark needed to know that Alan was here.
But the words wouldn’t come out her mouth.
She was mesmerized by the man she’d known all her life.
She was accustomed to seeing a solidness in Alan when he moved.
He’d been a swimmer in high school with the broad-shouldered build typical in such men.
He seemed taller now, his bones longer and his joints thicker.
But far from making him awkward, he moved with animal precision.
There was a grace to him that was altogether new.
It was the monster doing that, she knew, but she couldn’t hate the beauty of it.
He ought to be walking with a jerkiness.
Visually, his parts did not completely fit together. But all was smooth hunting.
She swallowed, startled at the realization that she was aroused.
Not just her bear, but her human side, too.
How could she find the aberration that Alan had become so attractive?
She ought to be mourning the man who was, but instead, she was admiring the thing he’d become.
He was the monster now, and yet he seemed beautiful to her.
She climbed out of her car, walking swiftly to intercept him from behind. He noticed her immediately. His sense of smell likely picked her up the second she opened the car door.
“Stay away,” he growled at her. The words were gravelly and full of threat, and she all but purred at the sound. It was powerful and masculine. She didn’t want it to make her toes curl, but it did, and she damned herself for being so unprofessional.
“Elisabeth isn’t here,” she said. “Probably long gone.”
His eyes narrowed. “How long?”
She shrugged. Her own nose said they’d missed the bitch by only a few hours. How refined were his senses? And how close would he let her get to him? She took a step nearer and he tensed, obviously ready to flee.
“Mark couldn’t track her beyond the nearest gas station. They were driving.”
His lips curled back into a snarl. “They.” Not a question.
“Boy and a girl. That’s all we know right now, but we’re tracking them. We’ll catch up soon.”
“Email me when you do.” His lips curled. “You know the address.”
She ached to just touch him, but she didn’t dare. “Don’t run. Please, Alan, just talk to me a moment.”
She knew his speed from the hotel. He could be long gone by now, but he lingered. She hoped it was because he wanted to be near her. Especially given the way he looked at her, his eyes dark and hungry as he scanned her from head to toe.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he finally said. “I didn’t want to hurt you.” There was an odd note to his voice. Guilt and apology were obvious, but there was an underlying agony in his words. As if he hated everything about this as much as she did.
“I Tasered you first.” She took another step closer as she noted his cut feet and the welt on his cheek. “How are you feeling?”
He shrugged. “The fevers better. In an odd way, I think the Taser helped. It jolted me more in line.” Then he shook his head. “I know that doesn’t make any sense.”
She smiled, and her fingers twitched as she kept herself from touching him. “New treatment then.”
He snorted. “Electroshock therapy has been around for a century. A favorite of doctors and torturers alike.”
There was a light note to his words, a clear attempt at teasing. But there was an accusation in it as well, and one she richly deserved. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“Yes, you were. You were trying to subdue the monster.” He lifted his chin, an animal gesture of dominance. “It didn’t work.”
“No, it didn’t,” she said as her bear dropped her head and tilted it slightly sideways. Submission. Acknowledgment. “How’d you get here?”
He took a deep breath. “Held it together long enough to convince a very generous family to bring me.” He glanced down at his clothes. “Even gave me a shirt and shoes.”
She smiled, though the expression felt strained. “So you’re Alan again, right?” She gestured to his clothing. “Laid-back surfer Alan—”
“No.” He cut off her words with a slash of his hand.
“What?”
“No, I’m not going back with you. No, I’m not going to quit searching for Elisabeth. And definitely no Alan here. Surfer or not.”