I take the stairs three at a time, dripping mud and grit across the floor. My chest heaves as I pant, pulling in deep lungfuls of his scent. It’s off somehow, singed with smoke and ash.
I nudge my bedroom open, but the room is empty. The scent is coming from across the hall.
Tobias’s old room.
Turning around, I nudge the door, but it’s closed. My claws scrape the wood, pleading with a desperate whine. But it doesn’t budge.
Is he shutting me out?
I tug again. Nothing.
I force the shift and try the knob. It doesn’t turn. “Toby?” My voice cracks as I try again. It’s locked.
I slam my shoulder into it once, twice. On the third try, it finally gives, the wood splitting in an eerie crescendo.
Darkness greets me.
No lights. No sound. Only the smell of dust and old clothes… and him. He’s standing by the window with his back turned, shoulders drawn tight as if he’s held together by an invisible force.
For a heartbeat, it’s like déjà vu. The first time we laid eyes on each other was through this window. I was still in wolf form then, looking up at him from the backyard. He’d been so scared, terrified even, that he’d hidden behind the curtain.
That fear had cracked my heart wide open. All I wanted to do was help him. Be his provider, his comfort. In any way I could.
But now… it’s like that man is gone. There’s no hint of fear. No sorrow. No pain. Nothing.
He’s… gone.
A chill creeps over me as I move closer. “Tobias?” I whisper.
No response.
I pull at the tether, desperate to feel even a quiver. Anything to let me know he hasn’t severed our link. I’d know if he had. The pain would be like nothing I’ve felt before. But this nothingness is alarming. Terrifying, really.
I barely recognize him.
I step forward. “Toby?”
He turns slowly. His face is pale, eyes shadowed, lips parted like it hurts to breathe. For a moment, there’s the faintest flicker of awareness, like he’s fighting to come up through water. Then it’s gone.
When he speaks, his voice is wrong—flat and empty, hollowed out. “You said you’d keep me safe.”
My stomach drops. “We are,” I say quickly. “We have everyone out on patrols right now. Grant’s covering the western ridge with some from the Spokane pack, and Neal’s sweeping the—”
I stop. It’s clear he’s not listening. His eyes are on me, but it’s like he’s staring straight through me.
The air suddenly feels too thin.
“Toby, listen to me. Whatever’s happening, we’re going to fix it. You’re not alone.”
His voice slices through mine. “I didn’t want this.”
The mark on his shoulder pulses bright red, a heartbeat beneath his shirt. It seems to move, vibrate in his veins, as if the magic were charged.
“I know,” I whisper. “I know you didn’t want it. But we’ll get you out—”
Tobias moves before I can blink.
One second he’s in front of the window, the next he’s slamming me against the wall, his hand around my throat. The impact rattles my teeth.
