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“You need to get to the highway.” His voice had softened. “Head north and keep going. This is the plan your parents had for you. You need to stick to it.”

“Aren’t you going to stay on the phone?”

“I help people in need. You’re currently out of danger. I’ll text you an address on your emergency phone. You have cash and a handful of prepaid cards. I’ll send you a new ID when you pick a name and get settled. Remember Razor Edge. That’s who will meet you in Seattle.”

“But-”

“I have to go. I have another caller.” His voice held a hint of compassion that had her on the verge of tears. “Oh, and Natasha?”

“Yes?”

“Take the battery out of your phone and throw them both out of the car so you can’t be tracked.”

Natasha’s Bluetooth beeped off. She reached the highway and stopped to glance both ways.

The adrenaline tapered off and her limbs shook.

She hugged herself tightly and bowed her head.

She had to do this. Her parents had raised her to be strong.

She threw the Bluetooth onto the seat next to her and grabbed her phone.

She fished out the battery and held it out her window.

She stared at it for several seconds before setting it back on the passenger seat.

Gulping down a tremendous breath, she gripped the wheel, turned left and headed north.

An hour later, Natasha pulled into a deserted rest stop.

She gazed at the cement restroom. Her ragged breath coursed in and out.

She stretched to relieve the ache in her back and realized she still wore her backpack.

Reaching to remove the pack, she winced when pain shot through her arm.

She tilted the rearview mirror at herself.

The cut below her eye had already sealed shut but four pieces of glass protruded from her shoulder and collarbone.

With trembling fingers, she pried them free.

Small cuts covered her chest and neck. Glass blanketed her lap like party confetti and sprinkled her legs.

Natasha stepped out onto the cold asphalt, spilling the shards to the ground.

The seat, floor mats and every surface of the car were littered with the small fragments.

After removing her backpack, she set it on the ground and then unzipped it. She pulled out her hoodie and threw it over her bloodied cami. Next, she fished out her sneakers and slipped them on. The rest of the bag contained wads of cash, a wallet, and keys to several safety deposit boxes.

She stared at the pieces of colored plastic that now represented the wealth her family had amassed.

This was all that she had left. A mournful cry escaped her lips.

Never again would she hear her dad call her his bebe .

Never again would she change at the full moon, her mother on her left and her father out in front, always protecting and keeping watch for danger.

Never again would she smell his aftershave or be tickled by his whiskers or watch sappy old Cary Grant movies with her mom or-

She stopped herself, refusing to crumple to the ground and die of a broken heart.

It was possible her parents were still alive. Maybe they’d gotten out of the house.

In the front pocket of her bag were two prepaid cell phones. Her hand trembled as she dialed her father’s emergency cell number. It went straight to an automated message, and her hope plummeted.

“Please call me.” She sucked in a large breath. “I think I might have killed Daniel. Or at least hurt him pretty bad. I love you. I love Mom.” She choked back a sob and blew out a low breath. She had to keep it together. They would expect her to. “Please call.”

She turned off the phone and closed her eyes, setting it against her forehead.

She needed to get ahold of herself. Her parents had raised her better.

In a werewolf community there was always the threat of violence in one form or another and since her father and Uncle Jeremiah had fallen out her parents’ relationship had been strained with the pack.

With the thread that held the peace between the Wolf River pack and Daniel’s getting thinner, fights had broken out over territory.

Two had almost resulted in death. With the money he and his father had spread around, she didn’t know who in her Wolf River she could still trust. Some of the Wolf River pack members had even joined Daniel’s father’s pack.

She shoved the phone in her bag and pulled down the sleeves of her hoodie.

Her bracelet! She searched the ground and the floor of the car.

Her palms scratched against the pins of glass as she searched under the seats.

There was nothing there. Where was it? Her wolfsbane bracelet was the only thing that kept her from shifting into her wolf form.

She’d not shifted in over a month, without her bracelet her wolf would tear through her and get out sometime in the next forty-eight hours- and who knew where Natasha would be when it happened.

Natasha lifted her head and howled into the night. She slapped her hands over her mouth and whirled around to see if anyone had heard. No one knew of their existence, and to show yourself to a human could have dire consequences. To howl in public was reckless at best.

Like the rest of her Blood Born werewolf pack they could change at will but with her parents keeping her locked up for the last two months, due to Daniel’s threat, she’d not been able to shift and go running.

Bitten shifters were relegated to only changing during the full moon. Sometimes she envied that.

She needed her bracelet. Without it to hold off her dual nature, the shift would be worse than ever, and she didn’t know where she was going or where to run or… or… or-

Drained, she gathered her things, picked up her backpack and used it to wipe as much glass as possible from her seat before getting back in.

She leaned forward and rested her head on the steering wheel.

Giant heaves wracked her body. The wind whipped through the broken window, bringing with it the scent of the public bathroom.

The need to reach out to her cousins Logan, Caleb and Griffin for support all but consumed her. But the dread of not knowing who had betrayed her parents and told Daniel where they’d been hiding, kept her from calling anyone. There was no way Daniel had gotten in without help.

Her pack would be divided by her father’s death; between those who had sided with them during his split from her uncle, and those that had sided with her uncle Jeremiah- but no matter whose side people were on, she would be used as a pawn by those wanting a war.

She wiped her face on her sleeve and breathed deeply several times. All she had was the cash in her bag and a shifter named Razor Edge, to get her to safety. Natasha only hoped she could trust him.