“Doesn’t matter. For the record, you’re responsible for the four killings in Fontana recently, correct?”

With a miserable expression, Fletcher nodded. “Yeah. I did it for my mate.”

Jayce couldn’t exactly blame him. If someone took Kat, he’d do anything to get her back. “Why didn’t you go to your Alpha or the Council?”

“I’m a beta; your Council wouldn’t give a shit about my mate unless we had some political ties. And . . . Luiz is a good Alpha, but if I’d gone to him, they’d have known and they would have killed my mate. He wouldn’t have allowed me to go on a killing spree, no matter how good the cause. And he wouldn’t have been wrong. I know I’ll have to pay for what I did and I’m willing to suffer the consequences. I just want Heather and my unborn child safe.”

Before Jayce could respond, he heard light steps on the stairs above them. Turning to face Connor, who stood halfway up the stairs, quiet and ready for anything, he started to speak but then he scented Kat. Sweet, classic roses. He didn’t have to say anything because Connor grunted in annoyance and strode up the basement stairs to open the door.

Seconds later Kat came down into the basement with her Alpha, an expression of open defiance on her face. “I got tired of waiting for you two,” she snapped before either of them could speak.

Fletcher gasped as he looked between the two of them. “You brought your mate on a mission to kill me?” he asked Jayce, more than a little shock in his voice. “Hell, I didn’t even think enforcers got mated,” he muttered almost to himself.

“We’re not mated,” Kat snapped again, the agitation from her seeming to grow with each passing second.

Because they’d left her in the woods or because of the beta’s statement, Jayce couldn’t be sure. And he didn’t have time to dwell on it.

Turning back to Fletcher, Jayce asked, “The cop, Derrick Bird—he lets you keep a weapon?”

A sharp shake of his head. “Hell, no. I lifted this off one of the men I killed the other night. They were both APL members and from the rap sheet the human gave me, not good men.”

“What about your first two victims?”

“They both had sheets too. The first not so bad, but the second was a fucking pedophile. The cop seems to have a weird moral code about only killing people with records. His partner, or boss—I’m not sure of the hierarchy—doesn’t seem to have that sort of compunction from what I’ve heard of their phone calls.”

“His partner’s name?”

“Anthony Mayfield. I think the cop forgets I can hear his phone conversations even when I’m down here and he’s outside.” Fletcher shrugged, relaxing a fraction for the first time since Jayce and Connor had arrived.

Humans had a tendency to do that, probably because shifters didn’t broadcast the scope of their abilities to the world on a regular basis. “What else did he say? I need to know everything you’ve talked about and everything you’ve overheard.”

Those dark green eyes narrowed slightly. “I know you’re going to kill me, but first promise you’ll search for my mate. You won’t have much time, but—”

“I’m not going to kill you. Not yet anyway. My only concern is bringing down these APL fuckers and stopping the killings in Fontana. I might turn you over to the human government or I might let your Alpha deal with you, so I guarantee you will be punished. But unless you try to kill me again, we’re good. And you can be damn sure we’re going to search for your mate. Now that we have this cop’s name we’ll run his phone records and see what we can find.” Jayce turned around and gave Connor a questioning look.

The Alpha nodded and went back up the stairs, pulling his phone from his pocket; Jayce assumed he was calling Ryan.

“Wait, did you say unless he tries to kill you again?” Kat hissed behind him and he heard the beginnings of a low growl in her throat.

The sound brought a ghost of a smile to his lips. Good to know she cared. Schooling his expression, he focused on Fletcher. “Talk. Now.”

The beta swallowed hard but nodded. “Okay. We’re going to another bar tonight. Not an APL hangout, just a busy place where he wants to target at least half a dozen criminals. From what I gather, they want to enrage the humans in Fontana and they think a higher body count is the only way to do that. Apparently the men I’ve killed haven’t brought as much of a media shit storm as they originally hoped for.”

“Do you know who your targets are?”

He shook his head. “The cop doesn’t tell me until right before.”

“How much does this cop know about betas and alphas and shifter life?” Kat asked as she stepped forward.

Jayce wondered why she wanted to know, but he didn’t interrupt.

The beta looked at him, as if asking for permission to speak, so he nodded. Fletcher cleared his throat nervously. “I don’t think he knows that much. Just that we can turn into animals and we have heightened senses. He didn’t tell me the two men from the other night were hopped up on vampire blood until the last second. Didn’t seem to realize that they were more likely to kill me, as a beta, than the other way around.”

“But you did kill them,” Jayce said.

Fletcher shrugged. “I have more to lose.”

Jayce glanced at Kat, who now stood right next to him. “Why do you want to know what this cop knows about shifters?”

Her eyes had a dangerous glint to them. “Because I have a plan that might bring these APL members out in the open as monsters. They want to start a media war against shifters, right?” she asked Fletcher.

The beta nodded. “They know they can’t take us physically, at least not one-on-one. They seem to want the public to ostracize all of us. I’m not sure of their endgame, but I can imagine it’s not pretty.”

“What are you thinking, Kat?” Jayce asked quietly, not liking the vibe he was getting from her.

“You’re not gonna like it, but I was thinking they used his mate against him”—she motioned to Fletcher—“and he’s not politically connected to anyone, so imagine what they would do if they got their hands on me again. My previous connection to you was common knowledge and now we’re living in the same city again. A lot of people saw us at the police station earlier and—”

“No!” Jayce roared. He didn’t know what her plan was and he didn’t care. He didn’t like the direction she was taking.

“No, what?” Connor asked as he descended the stairs.

“I have a plan to bring the local APL out into the open and expose them as the monsters they are.”

“Kat—,” Jayce began, his claws protracting against his palms.

Connor completely ignored Jayce. “What kind of plan?”

“We’ll need to involve Parker—and probably other law enforcement types,” she said, hedging.

Still ignoring Jayce, Connor nodded. “All right. What’s the plan?”

Kat smiled at her Alpha’s words, obviously not expecting them. Hell, Jayce hadn’t expected Connor to want to listen after the mention of involving law enforcement.

She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from Jayce to completely face her Alpha. “It’s simple. I’ll be the bait.”

* * *

Kat’s grip around Jayce’s waist tightened as they flew down the highway at breakneck speed. Yep, he was beyond pissed at her. So much so that she wondered if he would even let her go through with their plan for that night.

Connor was annoyed at her too, but for different reasons. He told her she had to clean out the stables for the next two weeks because she’d disobeyed his orders about staying put and because she’d stolen from a pack member. Liam sure hadn’t wasted any time telling his brother about her thievery. Not that she blamed him. The punishment sucked, but it wasn’t too bad. At least he hadn’t scoffed at her idea for tonight.

Unlike Jayce.

He’d tried to tell her no, but as Connor reminded him, Jayce wasn’t her Alpha and they weren’t bondmates. There had been a weird look that passed between the two of them in that moment and she hadn’t been able to shake the odd feeling she’d been holding on to since Jayce had bitten her. Not that she felt physically different, but his scent seemed stronger somehow, constantly surrounding her. They’d been having quite a bit of sex, though, so she’d chalked it up to that. Now she wondered if there wasn’t more to it. Especially since that beta had seemed convinced they were mated. She hated that she didn’t understand more about pack life.

As they pulled into the driveway at December’s house, Jayce was practically vibrating even after they’d come to a complete stop. Without looking at her, he got off the bike and headed inside the house.

Gritting her teeth, she followed him and slammed the door. “Are you going to sulk?” she called after him as she placed her helmet by the coatrack near the front door. Next she hung up her leather jacket, only to freeze with her hand in midair as Jayce strode out of the kitchen. He sure had that angry walk down.

The look on his face was predatory and vulnerable. An odd combination. One that touched something deep inside her and made her want to reach out and hug him. She didn’t like seeing Jayce vulnerable. It threw her world out of order.

“I marked you,” he said bluntly, jerking her out of her thoughts.

She blinked once. “What?”

“In the shower, I bit you.” Again with the almost monotone voice.

Shrugging, she slid one of her boots off. “Yeah, I know. I was there.”

“I marked you as mine. The way I took you,” his voice dropped an octave as he walked so close that only a foot separated them, “from behind, biting you as we made love. It makes you my mate, marking you in a way that all other supernatural beings know you’re mine and to stay away.”

Her other boot fell from her hand, hitting the hardwood floor with a thump. “I thought bondmates—”