There it was.
With a powerful leap, he took to flight, gliding over the city with his wings outstretched. Evan Wallace’s scent was sharp and pungent, easy to track even from this height. It led him away from the streets and into Central Park. And then it disappeared.
Making sure no one was near, Brady landed and folded his wings. He lowered his head to the ground and sniffed. Nothing.
It took a few minutes for Brady to orient himself. Despite the darkness, he realized that he was in the Ramble, one of the heavily forested areas of Central Park. He was near the lake, close to the Ramble Arch. The smell of bear stopped there, at the edge of the water.
He was still close, Brady thought. Hiding.
He opened his mind to allow his thoughts to be shared with any shifter in the vicinity. Evan Wallace, I will find you.
He waited for a response, but didn’t expect one. Wallace must have closed his mind off to others. Once that happened, there was usually no coming back to the community. If you cast yourself out, you stayed out. You remained an outcast from shifter society. Everyone had the right to keep their thoughts private, blocking out the world, but Wallace had gone farther than that. He was invisible.
With a low growl of frustration, Brady took to the air again. He knew that Wallace was close. He could feel it. But for now, there was nothing he could do.
He glided into the night on silent wings. Back to Casey.
13
Casey
“He did what to my apartment?” Casey shot to her feet, eyes wide with shock and anger. The thought of Evan Wallace in her home was bad enough...but this? “He peed everywhere?”
Brady nodded. He seemed to be avoiding her eyes. “Sorry to say, but yes, he did.”
Casey looked to Zack. “He’s not telling me everything. What else did you find?”
Zack glanced at Brady. Casey caught the almost imperceptible shake of Brady’s head and a flash of warning in his eyes. Zack hooked his thumbs into his rear belt loops and cleared his throat.
“He left a message on your wall. In your bedroom.” Zack glanced from Casey to Brady and back. “In blood.”
“Oh, my God…” Casey sank back down on the couch. Jasmine, sitting beside her, took her hand. Brady’s office was quickly becoming a second home to her. But now I don’t even have a first home, she thought. “What did it say?”
“Casey,” Brady said. “That’s not—”
“What did it say?” She fought the urge to raise her voice. She didn’t like being treated like a damsel in distress. It was her life, her problem, and she had the right to know what was happening.
“It said, ‘you will be with me.’” Brady sighed. “We think he used his own blood.”
Casey fell silent for a moment. “And he destroyed everything?”
Brady nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder. The weight of it was comforting, and when she put her own hand over his, the warmth of his skin seemed to spread throughout her body.
“Why would he do that?” Casey asked quietly. “I don’t understand.”
“Guys like that aren’t thinking right.” Zack leaned against the edge of Brady’s desk and folded his arms in front of his chest. “They can’t handle rejection at any level. You didn’t have to do anything to provoke him. He just fixated on you.”
“Stay with me tonight,” Jasmine said. “He doesn’t know me or where I live.”
“He probably does by now,” Zack said. “Stalkers tend to go after friends and family, too, if they can’t get to their obsession.”
“And how often do they kill their obsessions?” Casey asked, voice monotone.
Zack and Brady exchanged another look. That was all the answer Casey needed.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to go to Jasmine’s tonight.” Brady gave her shoulder a light squeeze. “You’ll be safer here.”
“I need to do something.” Casey shrugged off Brady’s hand and grabbed her purse, heading for the door. “All this cat-and-mouse shit is ridiculous.”
Brady was suddenly between her and the door. “You can’t confront him, Casey. That’s what he wants: your attention. Good or bad, he doesn’t care.”
“Well, he’s got my attention,” she said angrily. “And it’s going to end tonight.”
“You can’t go looking for him.” Brady’s tone was harsh.
“Why not?” Casey’s eyes blazed with anger. “I think if he really wanted to hurt me, he would have done it by now.”
“Have you forgotten about what he did in the library?” Brady fought to control his mounting frustration. “You don’t know what he’s thinking.”
“This isn’t happening to you, Brady!” Casey’s voice rose, but she immediately caught herself. “It’s my life he’s destroying, not yours.”
Brady said nothing for a few moments. The look of concern in his eyes shook Casey. “I just want to help you.”
“You have helped. And I’m grateful. But now I’ve got to do something.”
“I won’t let you go out alone—”
“Whoa!” Casey reared back in surprise. “You won’t let me?”
Brady shook his head. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“This is my fight, not yours,” Casey said as she struggled to calm herself. “I’m not Savannah. I don’t need you to save me.”
Brady flinched as if she had slapped him and she immediately regretted her words. “Brady...I’m sorry.”
Jasmine quickly stood and tried to defuse the situation, joining Brady in front of the door. “Honey, we just want to make sure you’re safe.”
Suddenly, it was all too much for her. She felt a sob of anger and frustration welling up in her chest. Tears of rage burned in her eyes. She was furious with Evan Wallace for doing this to her, but she was taking it out on the only people who seemed to give a damn. It wasn’t fair to them. Not after everything they’d done to help her.
“I need to be alone,” Casey said as she brushed by Brady and opened the office door. “I’ll be back in a little while.”
Once she was out of the club, she allowed herself to cry.
After walking a few blocks, Casey felt like a total asshole.
Nice tantrum back there, she thought, watching her feet as she walked. Clouds were coming in and the afternoon was growing dark. She shivered. It wasn’t fair that Evan was doing this to her, but it also wasn’t fair to get angry at her friends. And why had she thrown Savannah in Brady’s face? What was she thinking? The words had spilled out before she could edit herself. In the moment, she had wanted to hurt him, and she had.
But Brady had a point. It would be stupid to try to confront Evan alone. All he had to do was shift into bear form and she would be completely helpless to stop him.
Maybe I should just shift into my bitch form and give him a fight, Casey thought with a sour smile. She took a deep breath and slowly released it. They were right. She needed to let them help her with this. It was too big for just one person to tackle alone.
She turned back, retracing her steps to the club. The wind picked up, bringing with it the first sprinkles of cold rain. She kept her head down as the rain picked up until it was coming down in sheets. The club would be opening soon. Maybe she could just bury herself in busy work to take her mind—
“Casey-Case.”
Casey’s head shot up and she stopped herself a half-step before she ran into Evan Wallace. Dressed like a stereotypical professor, complete with a tweed jacket and clip-on tie, he was completely oblivious to the cold and rain. His smile widened.
Casey looked around. The entrance to the club was only a few feet away. If she made a break for it, she might be able to make it.
“Did you like my redecorating job?” he asked, eyes glinting in the fading light. Casey could see his bear form just beneath the surface, a beast ready to attack. “I didn’t like you sending your boyfriend to see it first. I wanted it to be a surprise for you.”
Casey took a step back. “Why won’t you leave me al
one?”
“Why would I do that?” Evan stepped forward, close enough to reach out and stroke her cheek. Casey’s entire body recoiled. “I’ve chosen you.”
“Me?” Casey felt like the whole world had just slipped into insanity. “For what?”
His smile slanted playfully. “To be my mate.”
“No.” Casey shook her head, backing away from him. “Get away from me.”
“Do you know what I want to do to you, Casey-Case?” He took one step forward for every step she took backward. “Yes, of course you do. You know how much I want to fuck you. How I want to hear you scream.”
Casey looked around, desperate for anyone to see her.
“I want to make you beg for my cock,” he whispered hoarsely. “I want to slide it into you one inch at a time until you’re screaming for it.”
“Stop it,” Casey breathed. She felt a wall behind her back and panicked. She was trapped.
Evan boxed her in, his arms outstretched on either side of her shoulders. He leaned in close, smelling her hair, the nape of her neck. Casey grimaced and beat at him, trying to push him back. He ignored her attempts to get away.
“You smell so sweet, Casey.” He nipped at her earlobe. “I could just eat you up. Starting with your tight little pussy.”
He licked the side of her face from jaw to temple, and Casey cried out in disgust. His breath stank of copper and dead things. He raised his head to look at her, and Casey knew that he was enjoying her fear and anger. He moved as if to do it again, but suddenly stopped, his gaze tracking something above her.
He looked back to Casey, a lewd smile on his face. “Another time, sweetheart.”
Before Casey understood what was happening, he was gone, running in the opposite direction. A half-second later, Brady was at her side. She almost collapsed into him.
“Casey! Casey, are you okay? Did he do anything to you?” Brady caught Casey and lifted her up in his arms. He half-ran to the entrance of the club. She felt as if she were floating in his arms.
“How did you know?” Casey asked. Her entire body trembled from fear as much as from the cold.
“I followed you.” Brady shouldered open the club door and carried her inside. “I didn’t want you to see me.”
Casey reached up and cupped his cheek, forcing him to stop walking and look at her. “Brady, I…”
Before she could finish, she felt the world drop away from her as darkness rushed in. She welcomed it.
14
Brady
Brady pulled a chair up to the couch, where Casey slept uneasily. He held her hand and stroked her hair, hoping that she could somehow sense that he was with her. His stomach roiled as he thought of what might have happened if he hadn’t been following her. It had been so easy for Wallace to get to her. He felt like they were managing to keep Casey only a half-step ahead. Someone like Evan Wallace rejected all of the human niceties shifters were expected to conform to in this world. He had somehow managed to carve out a career for himself among the humans, but his bestial side was always close to the surface.
Something within him had to have snapped. When Brady found Casey, he could smell the faint scent of pheromones hanging in the air. Casey still smelled of it. Wallace was marking his territory, announcing his claim on Casey. Maybe he was choosing her to be his mate, although Brady knew that bear shifters never settled down with just one conquest. Male and female bear shifters were both notoriously promiscuous. If he wasn’t stopped, Wallace would do what he wanted to Casey and then toss her away once he was bored. Brady suspected that Wallace had probably done the same thing many times in the past.
He flattened his palm against Casey’s temple, gently brushing his thumb along her cheekbone. There was not a damn thing delicate about this woman, but now as she slept, he realized how fragile she really was. Especially against a bear shifter. It would be so easy for Wallace to hurt her if he wanted. Brady sensed the time was coming that would see Wallace wanting to do just that. Once he realized Casey was rejecting him, he would have to destroy her in order to preserve his own pride.
Brady’s jaw clenched at the thought of it. He would never let that happen. He couldn’t save Savannah, but maybe he could save Casey.
“Brady…?” Casey’s eyes fluttered open.
“Right here.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “How are you feeling?”
“Did that really happen or was I dreaming?” Casey struggled to raise herself. Brady helped her sit up, moving to sit beside her on the couch.
“It happened.” Brady slipped his arm around her shoulders. “And I’m sorry.”
Frowning faintly, Casey shook her head. “You didn’t do anything.”
“I should have gotten to you faster.”
“So, you followed me?”
Brady hesitated, then nodded. “I did.”
Silence settled between them. Brady urged her to lean back against him, wrapping his arms tightly around her shoulders. He stroked her hair, haunted by the memory of her lying so helpless and weak in his arms. What would he have done if Wallace had managed to snatch her away?
“The things he said...” Casey whispered. Brady could feel the warmth of her breath against his chest.
“Don’t think about it now,” Brady whispered, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head. “He can’t get to you here.”
Casey took a deep breath, and before Brady knew what was happening, she was crying. He pulled her closer, letting her get it all out. He wanted to make all of it disappear, to fix everything and give her back the normal life that Wallace had taken away.
“I’m sorry,” Casey sniffled, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. She laughed humorlessly and sat up again. “I got snot and makeup all over your shirt.”
“It washes out.” Brady smiled. He gently brushed a strand of hair from her shining eyes. “Please don’t go running away again, okay?”
Casey nodded, slowly returning his smile. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “For being there.”
He nodded. “Any time.”
“Can we just sit here for a while? I can’t…” Her voice trailed away for a moment. “I just need to stay here a little longer.”
Brady pulled her close again and she curled up beside him, her head on his shoulder. He rested his cheek against the top of her head and felt her slowly relaxing.
“I’ll give you all the time you need,” he said softly.
15
Brady
It took a few hours, but after a shower and a change of clothes, Casey eventually roused herself and shook off the shock of her encounter. Against his better judgment, Brady gave in to Casey’s insistence that she help out at the bar. Maybe some normalcy would help her...although he didn’t know how ‘normal’ being in the middle of a room full of shifters might be.
He stuck close to the bar as he made his rounds, keeping a close eye on her while she served drinks and talked to the patrons. If he hadn’t seen it himself, he would have never thought she had just been accosted by her stalker. Her smiles came easily, her laughter light and untroubled. Whenever he managed to catch her eye, he grinned and held up a hand in greeting. She would smile and give him a small wave back, allowing him to hold her gaze just a bit longer.
He thought about the afternoon they had shared. He had never been treated so tenderly by a woman, not even Savannah. When she touched him, he felt total acceptance. And he knew that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
But for now, there was too much going on. Making love in his office had been spontaneous and extremely unexpected. If he tried to seduce her now, like he wanted, he would feel as if he were taking advantage of her. She was going through one of the toughest times of her life. She didn’t need the complication.
It didn’t mean he didn’t want to, though. Every time he had the opportunity to touch her, he wanted more. Keeping that part of himself controlled was getting almost impossible. Maybe it would be best if he let her come to him again in her own time, if tha
t's what she wanted. Let her work through all of this so she would be able to think clearly. He didn’t want her to feel as if she owed him anything, or that she was obligated to repay the help he’d given her. If, one day, she chose to be with him again, he wouldn’t hesitate. If she decided she against it…
Well, he just didn’t want to think about that.
The sound of bells suddenly rang out through the club, tolling twelve. Midnight. The crowd went crazy as the lights flashed brighter and faster and the music ramped up louder. In an instant, it seemed like the mob of clubbers had doubled in size, a mad frenzy of thrashing arms and wild dancing. Brady looked back to the bar. Casey was deep in conversation with one of the regulars, Sally, a cat shifter who always ordered rum and milk drinks.
Everything’s okay, he thought, trying to make himself relax. Every muscle in his body felt as taut as a violin string. He’d never thought of himself as having any kind of sixth sense, unlike some shifters, but all night he’d felt an annoying buzz in the back of his mind. Something wasn’t right.
He scanned the crowd.
And there he was.
Evan Wallace stood near the back of the club, staring at Brady as if he’d just been waiting to be noticed. He smiled and held out his drink in a mocking toast. Then he looked over to the bar, where Casey laughed, blissfully unaware of his presence.
Brady fought his way through the crowd, trying to keep one eye on Casey and the other on Wallace’s position. He’d underestimated his arrogance. Brady had put the bouncers on notice about Wallace, but somehow he’d slipped past them. He looked like a perfectly ordinary man, nothing threatening or violent about him at all. No one would have noticed him.
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