by Juniper Hart
“You think I’m the Werewolf?” she snickered. “I wouldn’t waste the flesh like that jackass.”
“Hazel,” Lev tried again, and she lost the leer on her face.
“I’m not Hazel,” she hissed. “Stop calling me that.”
Confusion flooded him, and he stared at her, trying to make sense of what was happening. It had to be Hazel. Who else could it be?
“Okay,” he said slowly. “Who are you?”
“Asha,” she replied, and slowly, she shifted back into her mortal form. Standing before him was the same woman he called partner by day, her blue eyes boring into him with defiance. “Why are you staring at me like that?” she snorted. “Haven’t you ever seen a wolf before?”
Quickly, Lev did the same, morphing back into his human skin. He reached for her, pulling her body toward him, but she slipped out of his grip and bolted off again like they were playing a game of tag.
“You’re it!” Hazel giggled, disappearing out of sight again. Stunned, Lev could only stare after her. He knew where she was going: back to her apartment.
He decided to head her off, and in minutes, he was back at the apartment building, watching in amazement as she scaled the side back up to her balcony.
You coming, party pooper? Hazel called at him, and Lev followed after her, his pulse racing. But when he entered the dark apartment, he found her fast asleep in her bed.
“Is this some kind of joke to you?” he snapped, shaking her roughly. She didn’t move until he pounced upon her, his strong legs straddling her. Slowly, she blinked and stared up at him in disbelief.
“What the hell are you doing?” she gasped, shoving him off. “Are you insane?”
Lev could only stare at her.
“What the hell was that?” he yelled, his composure completely gone. “Have you been playing me?” A shadow crossed over Hazel’s face as she sat up in the tousled bed, looking around.
“What are you talking about, Lev?” she demanded, fear and anger coloring her face. “Why are you attacking me?”
Lev’s breaths were escaping in short, jagged rasps, but the more he stared at her face, the more he realized that she wasn’t acting.
“Hazel?” he asked slowly, and she stared at him warily.
“Who the hell else would I be?” She grabbed the comforter and wrapped it around herself protectively. “What is wrong with you?”
What is this? Lev wracked his brain for any plausible explanation about what might be happening, but he was coming up short.
“Are you sleepwalking?” Hazel demanded, and he considered that as an idea. Could she be sleepwalking?
Abruptly, he thought of the memory loss she’d been suffering, and a picture began to come into play in his mind.
“I must have been,” he muttered, backing off immediately. “I’m sorry. Go back to bed.”
Hazel didn’t seem convinced, but Lev didn’t know what else to say. He wasn’t about to explain to her that she had just shifted and run through the pier as a wolf.
“You’re scaring me,” she mumbled, her body tense as she studied him.
I think we’re both a little freaked out, Lev agreed silently, managing a weak smile.
“Never mind,” he told her. “I think we just need to get some rest. Both of us.”
Hazel nodded, and for a moment, Lev wondered if she was going to ask him to leave. To his relief, she didn’t. He prodded her thoughts, but he found nothing in her mind except perplexity and alarm.
She really doesn’t remember any of it.
“Hey,” he said, settling in beside her. “Does the name Asha mean anything to you?” Hazel turned her head, her eyes narrowing slightly.
“Not really,” she murmured, and again, Lev could tell she was speaking the truth. “Should it?”
“No,” he answered quickly. “Go back to sleep. Sorry I alarmed you.”
Hazel snuggled back into the thick of the sheets, and Lev curled his solid frame around her nude form, yanking her close to his skin.
Asha is her wolf personality. Something happened to her when Gabriel turned her, and now she becomes someone else when she turns. The question was, how much damage had Asha done while Hazel remained in a fugue state?
Dread consumed Lev as he realized the repercussions of what he’d learned. Not only did he have to protect Hazel from Gabriel; he was going to have to protect her from herself, too.
10
The following morning, Hazel couldn’t shake the feeling that something had changed literally overnight between her and Lev. She couldn’t pinpoint the exact problem. If anything, Lev seemed more attentive (if possible) as they sat facing one another over the breakfast table in her apartment.
“How are you feeling?” Lev asked, and Hazel eyed him.
“How do I look?” she joked. He didn’t smile.
“You always look beautiful, Hazel. I’m just asking.”
She shrugged and realized that her body somehow felt beaten, not unlike it did when she’d woken up without memories.
“I’m a little tired,” she confessed, but she grinned suggestively. “But I suspect that has more to do with you than anything.” Lev rose from the table to top up her coffee.
“Maybe you should take the day off today,” he told her. She laughed in response.
“We’re on the trail of a serial killer, Lev. I can’t just take a vacation day.”
“The team can handle it without you today.”
Hazel found herself getting slightly defensive.
“I’m heading the team,” she reminded him. “And I don’t need a day off. Why are you acting so strangely?” Lev purposely turned his head away so that she couldn’t read his expression, and a stab of worry coursed through her. “Lev, what is going on?”
“Nothing,” he replied quickly. Hazel didn’t believe him. Something had happened in the middle of the night.
She thought about how she’d woken to him on top of her, his face contorted in ire. Had she said something in her sleep? She couldn’t remember for the life of her.
“Did I talk in my sleep?” she asked him, and Lev balked at the question.
“No.” He didn’t offer more than that, but the matter wasn’t settled in Hazel’s mind.
“We should get going,” she said, her eyes widening when she caught sight of the time on the stove. She paused, looking uncomfortable. “We probably shouldn’t go in together,” she murmured. “I wouldn’t want people to get the wrong idea.”
Lev’s eyebrows raised.
“What idea would that be?” he asked, and she exhaled.
“You know what I mean.” He didn’t answer, but she caught the look of hurt on his face and instantly regretted saying anything. “I’m just saying that we don’t need to be undermined just because we had a one-night stand.”
“Is that what this was to you?” Lev snickered, though there was no anger in his tone. He sounded amused, and Hazel’s face flushed with humiliation.
“I’m not sure what this is,” she answered. Lev stood in front of her, reaching for her hands.
“You will,” he promised, squeezing her fingers. “You’ll see.” The words sent a surge of hope through Hazel.
He thinks we have a future together for some reason, she thought. Maybe I should have faith in his optimism.
But the nasty little voice whispered in his ear, taunting her again.
You’ll scare him off just like you do all the others, it hissed, and Hazel couldn’t help believing it. After all, when had anyone ever stayed?
The team was in the field when Hazel and Lev arrived at the office, and she found herself grateful that they hadn’t been seen together, despite Lev’s assurances that he didn’t care. Lev sat at his desk, but Hazel could feel his eyes on her, watching her with unnerving scrutiny.
“We should get back to the crime scene this morning,” she suggested. “I feel like there’s something we’re overlooking between all these cases still.”
“Sure,” Lev agreed, but h
e didn’t move.
“Lev?”
“Hm?”
“Is there something you want to tell me?” He stared at her for a long, silent moment, his dark eyes poking holes into her. He still didn’t speak. “Did I do something last night?” Hazel asked, exasperation coloring her words. “You’ve been acting weird all morning.”
Lev’s mouth parted, but suddenly, he seemed to reconsider his words and clamped his lips closed, shaking his head.
“No,” he told her. “I’m probably just tired.” Even though it was the best Hazel was going to get out of him, the answer did nothing to ease her mounting anxiety.
“Let’s get out of here,” she said, rising from her chair. “I’m already going stir crazy looking at the evidence.”
“You should touch base with Ortiz,” Lev said. “See if they have anything that might be helpful in California.”
“All right,” Hazel agreed. “Let’s go, then. I can’t sit around the office all day today.” She reached for her phone and called her partner in San Francisco, but the call went directly to voicemail.
“Ortiz, call me back and give me a little debrief about the state of things on your end,” she said into the phone. “I’m…” She trailed off as her call waiting beeped, and she pulled the phone from her ear to stare at the display.
Dr. Whitby! A flood of worry touched her as she hastily finished her message to Ortiz.
“Just call me.” Quickly, she flipped over lines and hurried out of the office, feeling Lev’s eyes on her as she moved. “Hazel Carrington.”
“Oh, hello, Mrs. Carrington!” Rebecca sighed into the phone. “I was just about to leave you a message.”
“Good morning, Rebecca. I’m glad you called.” That wasn’t exactly true, but Hazel knew she was going to have to deal with the doctor sooner or later, no matter how she wanted to brush her potential health risks under the carpet.
“I just wanted to follow up on your appointments,” Rebecca explained. “I got a call from Primacare saying you missed your lab work this morning.”
Hazel blinked.
“No, I didn’t,” she started. “And my appointment was yesterday. I went.”
There was a pause on the other end of the phone. “No, Mrs. Carrington. Your appointment was at nine a.m. this morning. Are you sure you went yesterday?”
Hazel scoffed.
“I still have the needle mark in my arm,” she replied, rubbing her inner elbow for confirmation. “There must be some confusion.”
“I suppose there is.” Rebecca didn’t sound convinced. “I should have been clearer with your husband, but he seemed to know when we spoke.”
“I’m sorry, my what?”
“Your husband. He stopped by yesterday to pick up the lab paperwork.”
Hazel’s blood ran cold, and her breath caught in her throat.
“I don’t have a husband,” she muttered. “What time was this?”
Rebecca inhaled sharply. “You’re not married? Maybe I misunderstood.”
“You gave my personal medical information to a stranger?” Hazel choked. “Who was this man? Did he provide you with ID?”
“No… oh, God! I’m so sorry, Mrs. Carrington—”
“I’m not a missus! I’ve never been married! When have you ever seen me come into the office with a man?” Her rage was almost palpable.
“He seemed to know all about your condition, Mrs.—Ms. Carrington. I’m so sorry. I would never have—” Rebecca inhaled and stopped speaking.
“What did he look like?” Hazel demanded, her eyes slowly moving back toward the inner office where she had left Lev.
There’s no way it was him. He doesn’t know anything about me.
“Handsome. Tall, dark hair and eyes.”
That could be anyone. Hazel didn’t want to admit that it fit Lev’s description to a tee.
“I got a call from the labs myself for the appointment,” she insisted. “You must be mistaken.” She knew that denial wasn’t going to help her in this—it was just too much to process.
“You got a call from Primacare?” Rebecca sounded dubious.
“No… it was another lab… Henderson…” Hazel trailed off trying to remember, but Rebecca finished her thought.
“Henderson-Villers?” she demanded. “That’s not a public lab. It’s used for testing. Anyway, the lab would never call you. It’s all done through doctor referrals.”
“What about the MRI?” Hazel demanded. “Where is that?”
“I’ll email you the information. Can you confirm your address?”
Through gritted teeth, Hazel recited her information and hung up with Rebecca. She stood in the back hallway, trying to collect her thoughts.
“Are you okay?”
Her eyes fell on Lev. He knew about my memory loss before I told him about it. How? Suspicion clouded her vision.
“Yes,” Hazel lied. “I’m fine. We should get back to work.” She brushed past him, feeling betrayed, but her logical side willed her not to jump to conclusions.
“Who were you talking to?” Lev asked, joining her at her desk, and she turned her head away.
“Ortiz.” She could feel Lev’s entire demeanor change as he watched her grab her badge and gun. He knew she was lying to him.
As Hazel tried to connect the dots, to figure out why Lev would care about her health when he barely knew her, her head began to throb. She didn’t want to believe that she’d let her guard down for a man who may be using her. Why, though? What did he want from her?
The memory of his hot kisses on her body filled her with woeful shame. Had it all been an act?
Stop it! she snarled at herself. You have no idea if any of that is true. Since when do you accuse someone without evidence?
“Actually,” Hazel said suddenly, pausing abruptly in her tracks. Lev almost collided with her. “I need to speak with Welbourne before we go.”
“I’ll walk you down,” Lev volunteered. Hazel shook her blonde mane.
“No, just pull your car around the front. I’ll be out in a minute.”
Lev looked like he was about to argue, but Hazel didn’t give him the chance as she hurried toward the basement level to find her team member. She located Frank in his rabbit hole, surrounded by half a dozen screens and eating a small bag of Doritos. He instantly sat up, a guilty look on his face as she entered.
“It’s not what it looks like,” he fibbed, and she shook her head impatiently.
“Never mind,” she sighed. “I need you to do me a favor—off the books.” Frank’s face paled slightly, and he looked around nervously, like he feared being overheard.
“What do you mean by ‘off the books’?” he muttered, wiping his salt-crusted hands on a paper towel.
“I mean it’s personal and no one can find out about it.”
Frank’s mouth twitched, and the tech seemed to be debating a refusal. “What is it, Carrington? You know it’s against the rules—”
“Before you start with your holier-than-thou rhetoric, don’t think for a second I don’t know about the surveillance you put on your ex last year.”
Frank’s complexion was almost opaque. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I bet.” Hazel looked over her shoulder toward the entranceway before sauntering closer to the IT tech. “You’re good, Welbourne, but I always know what’s going on with my team.”
Frank swallowed visibly.
“What do you want me to do?” he muttered.
“I need you to hack the security system of an address from yesterday. Do not look at the footage, Frank, just send it directly to my email. Am I clear?”
“What’s the address?” he asked miserably. “God, Hazel are you going to rob a bank or something?”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the question. “Yeah, Frank. I’m going from FBI agent to conman. Here’s the address. I cannot stress enough that you’re not to look at the footage. Download it and send.”
�
��Just for yesterday?” Frank sighed, sounding defeated.
“Yes. Let me know when you’ve sent it.” She turned toward the stairs.
“Hazel…”
“What?”
“Are you okay?” The query bothered her a great deal more than she wanted to admit.
“Of course I am,” she snapped. “Why are you asking me that?”
“Because you’ve been different the last few days—stressed out.”
“I’m hunting a serial killer, Frank, so forgive me if I’m not all smiles, shits, and giggles.” Hazel turned back and headed up the stairs toward the lobby, shame flooding her.
I have no right to be doing that, she thought. I shouldn’t involve Frank in my mess, whatever it is. This paranoia is out of control. Lev is your partner, a decorated FBI agent with a stellar record. He’s not here with some ulterior motive.
Regret filled her. She suddenly wanted to run back into the basement and tell Frank to forget the entire affair but, before she could pivot, her heart stopped.
Lev had pulled up in front of the building. And he was driving the very same truck that she was sure had been following her for the past two days.
11
What is taking her so long? Lev glanced at his watch for the third time in three minutes, stifling a groan of exasperation. Craning his neck back to look into the lobby, he thought he caught a glimpse of Hazel hurrying back toward the elevators. Had she forgotten something?
He reached for his phone to call her, but when he dialed out, he only got her voicemail.
Because she’s in the elevator? Lev speculated. He decided to give her five more minutes before going back in after her. In the meantime, he was left alone to his own devices. He had to figure out what was going on with Hazel and how to make it right.
He reached for his cell again and called Fern.
“I was just about to call you,” Fern said quickly. “I put a rush on that bloodwork. You’re right—she’s a Lycan.”
“I knew that!” Lev grunted. “What else did you find?”
“Nothing. There are no abnormalities, no signs of disease, but there wouldn’t be, would there?”