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“I need you to do that genius hacking stuff and monitor Markis. The moment he leaves the city, you let me know.”

“I can do that.”

“But Tech, you have to be careful. Markis is very smart. You can’t give him any sign that you’re tracking him. You are the only person who knows where I am.”

“I got you. Trust me.”

I know Tech’s talents. I have firsthand experience of how good he is at hacking and hiding himself. But he’s never faced an opponent like my ex. Markis is always two steps ahead of everyone. It’s one of the things that made me so attracted to him in the beginning. The way he thinks and sees the world should be studied.

“Good,” I say. “Stay safe.”

“You too.” The line disconnects. I place my phone down on the sink behind me.

The night I fled from the ambush my father set up, I had only one goal. Get far enough away from Markis that he couldn’t scent me and find a place to hold up where I could keep Marley safe. That was as far as I’d got with my planning. Now that I have accomplished those two things, I need to plan my next step.

“There is only one way to keep him from finding out what you know.”The voice in my head reminds me of my one true out. Hopefully, it won’t come to that. But in order to protect the secret I have, I’d take my life.

Pushing away from the bathroom sink, I make my way into my room to get dressed for the day. I quickly pull on my long sleeve thermal, hiding the cuffs around my wrist.

As soon as I slide my feet into my sneakers, Marley’s high-pitched scream has me sprinting out of my room. I’m at the front door in seconds.

A beheaded raccoon lies on our porch. Marley turns away from the sight, tucking her face into my shoulder.

“I smelled the blood. Why would they do this?”

Because they are assholes. I think but don’t say. Just then, something across from me catches my eye. The Beta steps out on his porch, a coffee cup in his hand and a smug smile spread over his face. When he notices me watching, he winks before taking a sip of his drink.

“Go back in the house, Marley.”

She lifts her head from my shoulder, her brown eyes staring up at mine. She then turns her head and looks at the Beta.

Marley steps back but doesn’t go inside.

“Morning,” the Beta says. “I see you had your breakfast delivered this morning.”

It takes all my many years of training to keep my cool. I look down at the dead animal and then back at him.

“Funny. Too bad a defenseless animal had to die for your joke to land. But what did I expect from a pack of werewolves.”

I watch in glee as his jaw ticks.

“Never talk to me about killing defenseless beings. We could slaughter every animal in this got damn forest and lay it at your doorstep and it still wouldn’t add up to the amount of people vampires have slaughtered over the years.”

“Whoa, that’s a lot of anger,” Marley says placing a hand to her forehead.

I turn to her, giving her my attention.

“Go inside,” I demand.

No matter how much I want to go off and tell this big stupid wolf about the things his kind has done, I can’t. Not only can I not do anything to get us kicked out, I can’t risk my sister’s health. Anger is a powerful emotion. It’s hard to block. Dealing with so many angry wolves will be one of her hardest challenges.

Marley finally turns and heads back into the cabin. When I look back at the Beta, he’s still watching me.

“Look, I don’t want problems,” I say, trying to lower the tension. “I’ll stay out of your way, and you can stay out of mine.”

He shakes his head. “Until the day you leave Dark Woods land, you’ll never be out of the way, vamp.” He tosses the remainder of his coffee off the porch, turns, and then storms back into his cabin, slamming the door behind him.

“Asshole,” I murmur, even though he might still hear me.