by Mia Taylor
“I’m here,” he told her hoarsely. “Don’t be afraid.”
With a drop of her white-grey shoulders, she fell into a quivering pile behind him and Mal turned back to take on the pack, but when he did, he realized they had scattered.
“COWARDS!” he screamed, his voice reverberating through the van. “COME BACK HERE SO I CAN FINISH YOU!”
The squeal of police sirens caused him to clamp his mouth shut and shift back into his mortal form.
“You need to shift, Brynn,” he told her urgently. “You need to shift now before you’re caught.”
She looked at him with exhausted eyes and shook her head.
“Let them take me,” she breathed. “I can’t keep doing this.”
“Damn you, Brynn, NO! Shift, dammit! I won’t let you go!”
The panic he was feeling was visible in his eyes and he willed her to feel what he was feeling, too.
“Brynn, please… don’t do this. Don’t let them see you. I will let you go if that’s what you want, but not like this, not this way!”
Slowly, she raised her head and stared at him, her eyes dull.
“I will do it,” she murmured. “For you.”
With a huge sigh of relief, he watched as she morphed back into her mortal form, her cuts already healing as the first responder poked her head around the back of the van.
“Hands where I can see them!” she yelled and they obliged.
“I’m Detective Barnes, 22,” he told her quietly, his eyes still on Brynn. “She’s the victim here.”
“Oh!” the woman breathed, her brows raising. “Detective Barnes. The whole city has been looking for you. I’ll escort you back to the courthouse after I take your statements. The ADA is losing his mind.”
“That’s nothing new.”
“Are you all right, honey?” the officer asked, looking over Brynn, who remained stoically staring into nothingness. “Do you know who did this to her?”
“I do,” Mal said gruffly. “They work with Jacob Christensen.”
“Mal!” Brynn gasped, finally coming to, but he held up his hand.
“I can give you a description of them all but I have a feeling Christensen will be happy to give them up when I get back to the courthouse.”
The officer looked as confused as Brynn but Mal didn’t bother to elaborate as he reached for Brynn’s hand.
“We’ll come by the division and give our statements later but we need to get to the courthouse now.”
“Uh… okay?” The female officer didn’t stop him and the two disappeared from the scene as other emergency vehicles appeared.
“How… why did you say that? That’s not true!” Brynn hissed. “There are other ways to get a citywide manhunt for these guys… like tell the bears there are wolves in Chicago.”
“It is true,” Mal told her softly. “Jacob Christensen was one of the wolves who took you. He’s responsible for what happened just now…”
He inhaled sharply.
“And it was my fault.”
Brynn paused and looked at him with wide eyes.
“Did you tell him where to find me?” she whispered. “Their den mother told me you did. She told me that you were trying to get rid of me, but if that’s true…”
Mal’s jaw locked in anger.
“Why would you believe anything those animals tell you? All I’ve ever wanted was to protect you, Brynn. But yes… I did tell Christensen about you. It wasn’t my intention, but that’s what happened.”
She gaped at him, more confusion coloring her face.
“I didn’t recognize him, Brynn. I always thought I’d know any of them anywhere, but the years blended them together in my mind. He knew it was me all along, hunting him. He’s based his entire defense on what happened to you in Belize. I had to counter the argument by explaining that you weren’t trafficked at all. And he pieced the rest together.”
Brynn hung her head.
“This will never be over,” she whispered. “Never.”
“It almost is,” he insisted. “You will give your statement on the witness stand and that will lock Christensen away forever. He’ll flip on the others, I know he will. He’s a slimy character, eager to save his own skin.”
Not unlike Stella and Paul, Mal thought with some irrelevance. He didn’t know why those two had played into his mind but he had a feeling that he hadn’t heard the end of them yet.
“So what if the wolves aren’t a problem anymore, Mal? We still can’t be together and you know it.”
“One step at a time, Brynn. You need to start listening to me. I have been at this shifter thing a lot longer than you. I know things.”
Shame flushed through her cheeks.
“I know,” she muttered. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left Lena’s but she didn’t want me there.”
“She wanted you there, Brynn. She was just scared. We’re all scared, all right? She can be a little harsh and Peter can be a little suspicious, but deep down, they have huge hearts.”
“I just don’t know which way is up,” she admitted helplessly.
“I am your compass,” he told her, pulling her up against him and swallowing her trembling frame in his strong arms. “I am the way up. Always.”
She met his gaze with a watery smile.
“How can you have so much confidence when we have no idea what’s going to happen? I’m terrified, Mal.”
“I was terrified for five long years without you, Brynn. The moment I saw you, all the fears I had disappeared and I knew that we could overcome everything together. I had faith. I’m asking you to have the same.”
“I do,” she promised. “I have more faith in you than anything I ever have in my life. If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be mopping Stella’s floors like Cinderella, blocking out my past and never really knowing where I came from. I do trust you.”
“Good. Then let’s get this bastard Christensen and the rest of his pack. Then we can work on getting the hell out of Chicago.”
He couldn’t stop the note of regret from creeping into his tone but if Brynn noticed it, she made no comment.
“All right,” she agreed. “Let’s do this.”
~ ~ ~
“So nice to have you back, Detective Barnes,” Judge Kyler said sarcastically. “Should we expect any more theatrics this afternoon?”
“I should hope not, Your Honor, but duty calls, even when court is in session.”
“I certainly hope it was worth risking a contempt charge.”
“If Your Honor sees that punishment fit, I will humbly accept it, but please, reserve your judgment for after my testimony. I assure you, it was pertinent to this case,” Mal said, offering the judge an apologetic smile.
“You may be charming to some, Detective, but if you disrupt my courtroom again…”
The justice trailed off threateningly and Mal nodded.
“Understood, Your Honor.”
“Mr. Yates, your witness again.”
Yates rose from the defence table, appearing smug.
“Before you disappeared, Mr. Barnes, I asked for a recess to see if I could find any evidence to back up your claim that Ms. Alexander, your girlfriend from five years ago, was not a victim of sex trafficking as you claimed.”
Yates stared at him and Mal looked sheepishly at the judge.
“I’m sorry, Your Honor, was that a question?”
“Mr. Yates?” Judge Kyler grunted in exasperation. “Is there a question?”
“I was just wondering if Mr. Barnes has anything to add to said claim.”
“Aside from ask what Ms. Alexander has to do with this case? No, I think I answered that question already.”
“You did. You said that Ms. Alexander was found, unharmed and not a victim of human trafficking, is that correct?”
Mal leaned forward to the microphone.
“Yes. It is.”
“Then why is it, Mr. Barnes, that I can’t find one single piece of evidence to state that Ms. Alexander was
ever found?”
Mal blinked and sat back.
“What kind of evidence do you need?”
Yates scoffed.
“How about a news report? A police file?”
“What about Ms. Alexander herself? Will that suffice?”
Yates gaped at him and turned to look at Jacob Christensen, who suddenly went pale.
“I assume that will convince you that she’s been found?” Mal continued, trying not to openly mock the lawyer, lest he be found in contempt.
“I… yes… of course, but I don’t suppose you can produce her, can you?”
“As a matter of fact…”
Mal nodded toward Cory, who sat at the back of the courtroom. All eyes turned toward the door and Brynn slid inside, her eyes darting about uncertainly.
Christensen’s gaze nearly popped from his head as he stared and Brynn ambled forward.
“Mr. Yates, may I present Brynn Michelle Alexander?”
Lowry seemed as amused as Mal felt, but Yates was struggling for composure.
“Y-you have no proof this is her!”
“You can run her DNA through CODIS if you want to waste even more time or you can do a facial recognition scan,” Mal offered. “Or maybe you can just ask her?”
“Miss, are you Brynn Alexander?” Judge Kyler demanded.
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Why is there no record of you being found?” the judge demanded.
“I’m sorry, Your Honor, I don’t have an answer for that. Perhaps whatever paperwork went missing over the past few years?”
“You were never a victim of trafficking, Ms. Alexander?”
“No, sir.”
Brynn met Mal’s eyes but they both moved their gazes toward Christensen, who sank so deeply into his chair, it was clear he was trying to disappear.”
“Ms. Alexander isn’t on the witness list!” Yates squeaked and all eyes moved to him in thinly veiled disgust.
“Your Honor, defense counsel is the one who started this idiocy,” Lowry reminded the judge. “He’s got some gall claiming she’s not on the witness list now.”
“I agree,” Judge Kyler said. “Ms. Alexander, you may be seated. If you’re needed, we’ll call on you.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” she murmured, turning away.
“Your Honor, in light of Ms. Alexander’s appearance,” Lowry began, “I would say that the defense’s argument is moot since Detective Barnes had no previous bias against traffickers. Unless, of course, Mr. Yates has another wild theory he’d like to present.”
“Mr. Yates?” The judge stared down at the lawyer with contempt.
“I-I-I-” Yates sputtered and for a moment, Mal thought he might be having a heart attack.
“Nothing further, I assume?” Kyler sighed and Yates sank shamefully into his chair.
“You may step down, Detective.”
“Am I free to leave, Your Honor?”
“Mr. Lowry? Will you be recalling Detective Barnes?”
“Not at this time, Your Honor. I wonder if defense counsel might not want to discuss a deal.”
“That is your prerogative. We’ll break for the day and reconvene at nine a.m. if no deal has been struck.”
Mal rushed out of the courtroom ahead of everyone else and found Brynn pacing nervously around the doors.
“What happened?” she breathed. “Is it over?”
“It will be very soon,” he promised her. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
He grabbed her hand in his and they scurried from the courthouse before anyone could corner them.
“Where would you like to start anew, Brynn? I know some places have less bear populations than others but they’re usually in hotter climates and I don’t know how you feel about—”
“Mal…”
She tugged on his hand and he lifted his head to look where she was pointing.
Lena stood at the doors, craning her neck like she was searching for them.
“Dammit,” he muttered. “Come on. We should at least say goodbye.”
“Maybe you should do that alone,” Brynn suggested. “I don’t think she wants to see me.”
“We do everything together,” Mal growled, tightening his fingers around hers. “And you’re wrong about Lena. She came all this way probably because she’s worried sick about you.”
Brynn didn’t argue but she could read the misery on her face as they neared Lena.
“Oh!” his sister gasped, relief coloring her face. “You’re here! Both of you!”
Lena threw her arms around them and squeezed tightly, a small cry escaping her lips.
“I’ve been so worried and you—” She drew back to punch her brother in the arm. “You didn’t tell me you found her.”
“It was a whirlwind,” Mal replied, rubbing his arm where she’d hit him. “I was going to call you.”
“Where are you going? Are you done for the day? I have some incredible news.”
Brynn and Mal exchanged a quick look.
“Actually, Lena... we’re leaving. For good,” Mal told her gently. He waited for her protest but she shook her head, yanking on his arm.
“That’s what I’m telling you. You don’t have to go anywhere. I’ve figured out a way that…” She lowered her voice and looked around. “I’ve found a solution to the problem.”
Mal eyed her skeptically and he could see that Brynn shared his sentiments.
“How’s that, now?” he asked.
“Let’s go home and I’ll show you.”
Brynn frowned.
“Lena, I’ve already endangered you—”
“Stop. I should never have made you feel so alone. I will always have your back, Brynn. You are family and when you were missing, I was just as worried as my brother, even if my worrying ended up sounding like nagging. But trust me—I have something for you that will end this once and for all.”
“What is it?” Mal demanded, not wanting to get Brynn’s hopes up for nothing. “Tell us.”
Lena grunted.
“Fine,” she muttered, reaching into her purse. She withdrew a syringe and the couple drew back.
“What the hell is that, Lena?” Mal growled, pulling Brynn toward him.
“It’s a vaccine,” she said excitedly. “I’ve been working on it for years and when Brynn came back, well, let’s just say this kicked my research into high gear.”
“A vaccine for what?”
“It will keep her from shifting.”
They gaped at Lena in disbelief.
“What, now?”
Lena nodded eagerly.
“It works, trust me. One dose and she’ll be set for life. Eternity. She’ll still be a wolf in terms of immortality but she won’t ever shift. No one will ever know she’s a wolf.”
Excitement lit Brynn’s face and her head whipped toward her mate.
“Can this exist?” she whispered. “A vaccine?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Lena said quietly. “There’s a full moon in three days. The vaccine should take full effect by then. If you don’t feel the urge to shift, you’ll be cured and no one will be the wiser, Brynn. You won’t have to run and no wolf or bear will ever detect you.”
“The pack is about to be disassembled,” Mal said, his eyes growing wide with hope. “No one is looking for her now. If this works…”
Brynn inhaled sharply.
“Stick it in me!” she cried far too loudly and people walking by tittered as she blushed.
“Why don’t we go home and do that,” Lena suggested dryly, nodding toward the door. “I’ll meet you at Mal’s.”
The pair watched Lena move away and Mal saw Brynn’s shoulders sag with relief at the realization that it might actually be over, despite all her worries.
“I’m afraid to get happy about this,” she whispered.
“Me too,” he replied, gathering her in his arms. “But if it works…”
He didn’t want to finish his sentence but he knew his
expression said it all.
“We won’t need to go anywhere,” Brynn said for him, a warm smile touching her lips.
“And we can finally begin our lives,” he concluded, gently pressing his mouth to hers.
Epilogue
“Room service!”
The knock at the door caused them to fall out of each other’s arms and reach for the sheets to cover their nudity.
“I didn’t order room service. Did you?” Mal asked. Brynn shrugged and shook her head.
“Complimentary champagne for Detective Barnes!” the prepubescent voice screeched through the door.
“Oh, hell,” Mal grumbled, rising to wrap the sheet around him. “This is getting to be too much.”
“I say enjoy the fame while you have it,” Brynn giggled. “Fifteen minutes, right?”
Mal grunted again and opened the door. The waiter looked exactly like he sounded and he ambled through the door with a silver cart, laden with champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries.
The kid tried his best not to gawk at the nearly-naked duo but he failed miserably as Mal scoured the ground for his pants to tip.
“Thank you, Detective,” he squeaked before ducking out, his cheeks as red as his uniform.
“I can’t say I’m opposed to this treatment,” Brynn said, rising to sneak a piece of fruit. “I have to say, Stella and Paul didn’t treat me like this.”
“They’re treating me like some kind of celebrity for doing my job.”
“No,” Brynn corrected, accepting a champagne flute filled with bubbly from his outstretched hand. “They’re celebrating you for going over and above in your job. You’ve taken down two traffickers this year. Most people go their entire careers without having that kind of success.”
“I guess. Still, it feels a little… much.”
Brynn smiled at him.
“You’re too humble,” she told him, clinking her glass to his before sauntering toward the window.
Outside, the world was a winter wonderland of snow and ice, gently capping the mountains in the distance.
“Whose idea was it to come to a ski lodge when neither of us knows how to ski?” Brynn asked, staring at the beauty outside. She felt like she was in a fairy tale.