“Hey, why the tears?” Matt pulled a handkerchief from the front pocket of his long-sleeved flannel shirt.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I just hate that this happened to your mom. There’s a chance Sean Taggart did this because of his hatred for me.” She didn’t know why she was spilling her secret fears to them so freely but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. How many times had her father told her to keep her mouth shut around humans? Once they’d come out to the world they’d had to be careful what they said in public for fear of anything being misconstrued. The media had more to worry about than them, but if they got a juicy story about a shifter they ran with it. Today she apparently forgot everything she’d been taught.

Kaya grabbed her hand in a tight grip. “Even if Taggart did this, it’s not your fault. You’ve got to let go of your fears, girl. I’m not going to shun your entire kind because of something one did.”

Ana swallowed back more tears. “I know.” But it was nice to hear. Trusting humans was hard, and after all the years they’d known one another she desperately wanted to trust Kaya and her son. She started to say more, but a nurse chose that moment to pop in.

The woman paused by the door as she looked between the three of them. “Visiting hours are up.”

Ana nodded at the woman and picked up her purse. “How long will you be here?” she asked Kaya.

“They’re letting me go tomorrow morning, so rest easy. I’ll be back at work in no time.”

“Yeah, and it wouldn’t hurt you to stop by the shop sometime,” Matt said.

“I will. I promise.”

After saying her good-byes and giving hugs, she found herself heading back to the elevators once again. She might hate the circumstances but she was glad she’d come. Seeing Kaya reminded her that there were a lot of good people out there. Maybe it was time she started making some changes in her own attitude toward the town.

Keeping a careful distance, he held Ana Cordona in his sights as she strode down the hallway. His lip curled in disgust. She came to the hospital under the pretense of caring, but she was just as likely to hurt Kaya as whoever had gone after her last night.

Because Ana was an animal. She might try to hide behind her femininity and softness, but it was all an act. Beneath that pretty facade a monster lurked. As it was for all shifter abominations. For all he knew, she’d sent someone to hurt Kaya, then used it as an excuse to come here and finish the job herself.

Conniving. Deceitful.

Every single one of them.

Kaya trusted her, but that was her mistake. When Ana pressed the elevator button he ducked into the stairwell and hurried to the bottom floor. He didn’t want to risk her seeing him following her. She might want to talk, and he didn’t know if he could hide his disgust any longer.

Her kind was different that way. They could smell anger or fear. Another unfair advantage of their freakish mutations.

Staring out the long, slim window of the exit door, he watched as she stepped from the elevator. She looked deceptively normal, and it brought the rage inside him bubbling to the surface. No one would realize how dangerous she was. But he knew what her kind could do. He’d seen their barbarism firsthand. His father had been killed by one of them. Mauled and ripped apart. The cops had said it was a bear attack, but after the freak shifters had announced their presence to the world he’d known there had been no bear all those years ago. His father had been too badly torn apart. Ripped limb from limb. There weren’t many bears around these parts, and the humans had needed a way to explain the death. No, it had to have been one of those abominations. Now that he knew the truth he’d make as many of them pay as he could while he was alive.

Waiting until she’d passed by the door, he opened it and waited until she reached the end of the hallway. When she turned toward the exit doors, he followed.

His pulse drummed in his ears. Killing her would be a huge blow to her family. When he’d poisoned her pack a couple months ago he’d hoped she’d be one of the first to go, but no such luck. Her sisters and cousins all looked up to her. Her death would have been so much better for him and the world. But the poison he’d created had had a different effect than he’d originally intended. It had definitely worked, but something in it had bonded directly to the testosterone molecules in the male shifters, killing them almost instantly. The pregnant females had simply died because of their weakened immune systems. That was the one thing their species had in common with humans. When pregnant, their females were much weaker and more susceptible to even human viruses. Unfortunately the rest of them had figured out what was going on too soon during his first attempt to exterminate them. Now he’d have to take a different approach. A more hands-on approach. This time he wasn’t going to use a poison he’d made. He’d be using silver. It would be riskier because the purchase could be traced back to him if someone dug hard enough, but at least he knew it would work on the rest of the pack.

Reaching into his pocket, he fisted the syringe full of colloidal silver. Any type of silver was a hundred times worse for shifters than a lethal dose of mercury to humans. He’d killed these animals before and he’d do it again. This time he wasn’t going to stop with Ana. He was going to finish off the entire Cordona pack and wipe their unnatural bloodline from the earth.

As she weaved her way through the parked cars he closed the distance between them. He hadn’t expected to see her today but he wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity. Hell, he never went anywhere without a syringe of silver for just this reason. He moved silently behind her, never alerting her to his presence. His father had been a hunter and a damned good one. While he didn’t have extrasensory abilities, he could stalk better than her kind.

She was close to her truck now. His heart hammered against his chest but he forced his breathing to stay calm. He needed to keep his anticipation under control or she’d scent him. He was careful to stay downwind of her.

Keeping his movements steady, he picked up his pace. No one was around. He could already see the attack in his mind. One quick jab to her neck and she’d start foaming at the mouth.

An overpowering need to see her writhing on the ground in agony burned through him. Her pretty face would twist in her suffering and those dark eyes would fill with terror. His fist clenched around the cold syringe. He was so close now.

Just a few more yards and he could plunge it into her neck. He tasted the victory, sweet and powerful. Addictive as a drug.

A car door slammed behind him and a woman laughed. “She’ll love the flowers,” she said to her companion.

Automatically he ducked behind a car as their voices drifted away. They hadn’t seen him. Shit. That had been close. Too close.

Peering up from behind the four-door sedan, he watched as Ana slid into the front seat of her truck. He gritted his teeth and waited until she’d pulled out of the parking lot, and fought the waves of frustration buffeting him.

This was too public a place anyway. He’d been careful before. He couldn’t let his impatience get him caught now. No, he’d stick to his plan. Soon the Cordona pack would wish they’d never settled in Fontana.

Then they’d all be dead.

Chapter 5

Connor’s boots crunched across the leaves and other foliage as he stalked across the yard. He couldn’t find Ana anywhere and now he’d discovered her truck wasn’t in the parking garage.

After he’d gotten back from the bank, he’d been putting out fires between his guys and Ana’s packmates. Small, unavoidable spats that were based more on sexual frustration than anything else. The females didn’t seem to realize it, but he could see it clearly. Most of his guys had been lone shifters, roaming the globe for decades or longer until he and his brother had convinced them to settle down. Now that they were on a ranch full of single, beautiful wolves, they wanted to mate in a bad way. Their most primal instincts were kicking in and wanted release.

They weren’t the only ones sexually frustrated. Right now his thoughts were consumed with Ana and, more important, where she was at the moment. It’s not as if he needed a play-by-play of Ana’s daily schedule, but he hadn’t been able to reach her on her cell and she’d just left this morning without telling him where she was going. After the fire last night, he was ready to send out a search party.

“Hey, Connor.” Carmen, Ana’s sister, fell into step with him as he walked toward the main house.

He nodded distractedly. “Carmen.”

“Ana’s not back yet,” she supplied in a cheerful voice.

“Oh?”

She shook her head. “Nah, I tried calling her but her phone’s still off, so she’s probably still at the hospital. Or she already left and just forgot to turn her phone on. Knowing her, that’s probably more likely. She hates those things. I’ve tried to teach her how to text but—”

“Hospital?” He couldn’t keep the shock out of his voice.

Carmen’s cheeks tinged bright pink. Her hand paused on the front door of the house. “Uh, yeah.”

“Why is she at the hospital?” Each word was measured.

“I, uh, I found out that Kaya Dunlauxe was the woman hurt last night, and since they’re friends, I told Ana and she headed right over there.”

His attention was diverted at the sound of a vehicle pulling up the drive. It was Ana. His heart rate tripled at the thought of seeing her. God, he was no better than a randy cub with his first crush.

“She probably just forgot to tell you. Or maybe I was supposed to tell you. Yeah, actually, I think I was,” Carmen murmured, guilt lacing each word.

“You’re the worst liar, little she-wolf.” Sighing, he changed the subject. “How’s Erin?”

She shrugged but the concern in her dark eyes was almost palpable. “I think she’s going to be okay. She’s adjusting well, but …”

“But what?”

“I know it’s not my business, but tell Noah to back off.”