“Fuck!” I hiss, lurching to my feet. I put some space between us, grinding my teeth. I’m not giving up on him, even if he has given up on himself. He’s too important to me.
“Could he have gone back to the past?” Nan asks, and my heart leaps.
That’s certainly possible. If Gunnar had been able to wrest back control, his pack would surely be one of the first places he’d turn to for help.
“I’ll check there,” I say.
“We’ll come with you,” Mum says, looking to Dad, who nods and sets down his coffee.
“Nan, can you stay and work on the potion? I’ve got all the ingredients and the recipe in the shed.”
“Of course!” She bustles over to me and takes my hands, squeezing them. “You just focus on finding that poor dear.”
Imogen nudges Rodney. “I’ll search around the place where he transformed. Just in case he’s still around.”
“I’ll go with you. The TTA said where that was, right?” Rodney asks. “Text us the address if you’ve got it.”
“It was in town, around the pub where you first met him,” I tell them.
Rodney smiles. “We got this, Lo. That big hunky puppy of yours will be back before you can say ‘I do!’”
Gratitude swells in my chest. I have the best friends and family a witch could ask for.
“You’re still marrying that thing?” Derek’s disbelieving voice pops a pin in all my warm, fuzzy feelings.
I spin around to face him. “His name is Gunnar! And if he’ll have me, then yes. I love him. We’re fated for each other, Der. He’s going to be a part of my life.”
Derek drops his arms from where he’d folded them over his chest, shaking his head. “How can you even stand to kiss him when he’s just like the bastard who attacked you!”
Rodney snaps, “Believe it or not, an entire group of people shouldn’t be blamed for the actions of one guy! I’ve heard of plenty of witches who’ve done fucked-up shit, but you aren’t calling all witches arseholes, are you?”
Derek curls his lip. “What, you calling me a bigot or something?”
“You kinda are, Der,” Imogen says coolly.
He scoffs. “I’m not a fucking bigot! It’s not racist to be afraid of ulfhednar; it’s common fucking sense! They’re violent, savage! That pagan crap they believe in tells them to kill and—”
“Shut up!” I snap, unable to hear another word. I genuinely cannot believe someone I’ve called a close friend, even a lover at one point, is this ignorant. “If you’re not going to help, then just leave.”
We’ve been friends for a long time, but I’ve got no issue cutting him out of my life now that he’s shown his true colors.
Derek shakes his head as if we’ve all lost it. “I thought you were smarter than this, Lo.” He storms out the door, and I have to fight not to slam it behind him. That hateful tirade made my blood boil.
Imogen nudges me. “Did you see his arm?”
“No. What about it?”
Eyes narrowing, she rushes out the door. “Derek, wait!”
Rodney gives me a confused look but dashes after his sister.
Out in the driveway, Imogen is confronting Derek by his car. “Show me your arm,” she demands.
“The fuck? No!” He hugs his left arm to his chest. There’s a patch of blood blooming through his sweater.
Imogen grabs his arm and wrenches the sleeve up.
My stomach turns over. Bandages unravel toward the ground, swaying in the wind. There on his arm is an enormous bite mark. I touch my own arm, feeling the indentations of rows of sharp fangs.
