The moon hangs high in the sky, illuminating everything on the path. I drag one foot in front of the other. Behind me, I can hear Vanessa’s out of breath breathing and hope our night won’t get any worse.

“Nate.”

“What,” I snap. I immediately wince after, but don’t bother to apologize. She huffs out a heavy sigh. I stop hearing her soft footprints being pressed in the sand. I glance back, and her eyes have darkened in the sclear, but they haven’t gone all the way, so I guess that’s a good thing.

“Don’t. We agreed not to be short with each other, right?” She lifts an eyebrow, and I know she really wants me to recall the conversation we had after the first time I attacked her. I open my mouth to respond when howling sounds out from behind us.

“Shit,” I mutter. I go over to her and bend down. She hops on without a word. We may be testy with each other, but we both agree that the weres that have been following us shouldn’t be allowed to catch up. I take off and clear the distance back to the car in record speed. It’s right by a small stream and would blend right into the night if not for the moonlight.

Vanessa quickly hops down and strides to the front seat. I gather our clothes we had left lying around and shove them all in our duffle. The minute my doors closed, she’s taking off at a breakneck pace.

I’m listening with my head hanging out the window when suddenly the howling stops. I scrunch my nose up and lean my upper body out the window. There in the distance created dust clouds on the desert floor are two big trucks. Well, that’s not fuckin good. I go back inside and crawl to the back.

“What’s the problem?” Nessa swivels her head and looks back at me. The dim light is just bright enough to create a reddish halo around her hair. I shake my head as there will be other times to admire her. Hopefully.

“Two trucks are followin’ us.”

“What? But nobody else out here has access to cars or fuel. Unless they lied.” She scrunches her nose up.

“Nah, they would have pulled out by now if they had one.” I climb back to the front and press a knife under Nessa’s thigh. She looks down and then back at me. Her eyes are wide and shaky. “If we get caught, get away no matter what and run.”

“What about you?” Her voice breaks, and I know she’s trying not to cry.

“I won’t go down without a fight, but if this comes down between us, I’d rather die.” She opens her mouth, but I go on. “They’ll just put me down like a rabid dog Nessa, but you…,” I bring my hand to cup her face “they’ll torture you, and who knows what and I won’t let that happen if I can help it.” Several gunshots sound off around our car. Nessa swerves the car for a minute before getting it back on track.

“Right.” She shakes her head and gets a determined glint in her eyes. Somehow I doubt Nessa will be leaving me when the time comes. Another shot rings out, but this time, Nessa seems to be losing control of the car.

“Nessa-”

“I don’t know.”

I look in the side-view mirror and see our tire in the back looks out of shape and deflated. I grab the gun and return fire on them. Maybe it’s just some rich asshole having fun in the middle of nowhere. It’s wishful thinking on my part, especially when the closer they get, the better I can see them.

“Definitely the NTSCU,” I shout. Nessa gives out a groan, and I give a humorless bark. You know what they say you have to laugh at your pain, and they’re nothing but pain in our backside. I see them leaning out their vehicles and duck back inside. The last thing I need is a bullet wound. A wheezing sound fills the air before the wheel gives another jerk.

“Is this it?” Her eyes are wet, and I spot a wet trail going down her face.

“Maybe, but I ain’t goin’ down without a fight.”

“Of course. I won’t make things easy for those bastards.”

“Nessa,” I look her in the eyes and edge closer, “you’ve made my life better no matter what happens next.” I lean forward and press a kiss on her forehead.

“Nate.” She softly calls out before the windshield suddenly explodes. I shield her eyes, and the car swivels all over the place. She’s swinging the wheel this way and that. Maybe it would have worked if not for the ditch that comes out of nowhere.

We both jerk forward. My temple meets the dash, but I don’t feel any wetness, so I don’t think my head was injured. Thank the Goddess for small miracles, I guess. Besides being a little dazed, Vanessa seems uninjured. I hear the slam of the car doors closing, and I try to get Vanessa’s attention, but it’s no use. I’m gently patting her on the cheek as several pairs of hands start pulling me out of the car.

I try to fight them, but all I got to show for it was my head being banged on the roof of the car. I’m thrown on the ground, and a guy leans down on me, his knee on my chest with a forearm pressed to my throat, keeping a knife pressed there. I growl and get a gun pointed at my head for my efforts.

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“What’s the situation.” A voice breaks through the silence. It’s muffled and has a static quality to it. Someone unhooks a black object from their hip.

“All targets have been acquired and subdued.” The answer has an apathetic tone to it that makes me want to groan. You’ve already messed up our day. The least you can do is act as though you care.

“Good work, Cat. Your squad’s job will soon be over. Give us five.”

“Copy that, sir.” They hook the walkie talkie back up and walk out of my view. The pressure on my throat increases, and I focus my eyes ahead. There are goggles over the assumed man’s eyes, and they’re all once again wearing those gas masks. I hear groans and flicker my eyes towards the car as Vanessa is dragged over.

“Eyes over here abomination.” When I fail to listen, he angles his chest up to pistol whip me against the temple with the blade’s handle. My head turns with the motion. A small drip of blood creeps down my forehead. I smirk and bare my fangs at him.

“I’ll be killin’ you before the night’s over.” I feel the shudder that goes across his body.

“You shouldn’t go making threats you can’t keep.” He glares at me and edges as far away as possible while keeping me down.

“Huh, good thing my promises have a pretty good record then.”

“Yeah, whatever you say, monster.” Vanessa looks over to me, and I see the look in her eye. She chose not to run. We’ve seen it enough times. For some reason, people underestimate witches. She seems sheepish as I gaze at her, but I can’t be amused. There is no getting out of this situation.

Dust starts to pick up as yet another car stops at our spot. Man, we are just so popular tonight. The back is opened by the woman who had been on the walkie talkie, and a man steps out. Probably a little older than Vanessa and I, looking to be in his mid-twenties perhaps a little older.

I recognize him by the scar on his face. He’s the one who was leading the squads chasing us back when Vanessa first barged in my life. Don’t tell me this guy has been after us this whole time. He walks straight to Vanessa and turns her head either way before continuing to his subordinates.

“What’s the status?”

“We caught sight of the Nightmare Terrors an estimated two hours ago. Would have made contact earlier, but another group of Nightmare Terrors had been making trouble.” She stands with her back straight and chin up. Still, no emotion is in her voice. Wonder if those rumors about the NTSCU are true?

“Are they allies?”

“Not from what we saw, Sir. If anything, it seems they were hunting them.”

“Hmm, so they’re good at making enemies.” He walks towards me, and the man who is still holding me down lifts a hand to my hair. He gets off me but pulls me by my locs until I’m on my knees and presides to jerk my head back. “What about this one?”

“From what we’ve seen, he’s a Nightmare Terror of the class Shape-shifter.”

“He’s a werewolf? I thought there was evidence back in California that he’s a ghoul?” I don’t react, but I want to raise an eyebrow at his words. Most NTSCU have apparent animosity for Terrors, but here’s this man reminding everyone I’m a person too. Suspicious. Though it makes the man behind me tense up and those are my set goals for tonight, so who cares.

“That’s correct, Sir. But Sloth thinks that was the wrong classification.”

“Sloth,” he calls out. A lean man comes out from around the car. He has a butterfly knife in his hand and is constantly flipping it around. His face gear is all removed, but the man just seems bored and like he rather be elsewhere.

“Yes, sir.”

“Explain.”

“The scanner won’t give an accurate reading, but several others and I have seen the blue of the wolf shape-shifters shining in his eyes.” Not for the first time, I’m thankful for the poor eyesight of humans. Otherwise, the drip of blood on my temple would prove the wrongness of that statement though I don’t understand how that can be true. To my knowledge, no Bobby has ever had blue eyes. What the hell does this mean?

“The scanners aren’t working?”

“No, Sir, it’s been malfunctioning since we came this way.”

“Why has nobody said anything before this?”

“We had connected HQ.”

“And…”

“Nothing they can do, and we’re to deal with the issue to the best of our abilities.”

“Of course.” His tone is tight, and a scowl is etched onto his face. “Well, nothing to be done about it, not that it changes much. Kill the man, and bring the woman with us. The Commander likes to take care of those cases personally, especially after what happened to the Lieutenant .” He lets out a dark chuckle and whips to face Vanessa again. “You know no other witch has caused this much trouble; you should applaud yourself.”

“I’ll applaud myself when we’ve escaped you again.” She tilts her face to meet his gaze. Goddess, this woman is so fearless I don’t know to shake her or give her a whistle. In the distance, I can once again hear the howls of the weres. I sit perfectly still but glance up to Vanessa and wait for her eyes to fall onto mine.

Her eyes widen, and luckily her hair hides that from anybody that would otherwise know that trouble was coming. She’s blocked from my view as the man holds a gun to my forehead. I tense and prepare myself for the pain that will happen.

“Any lost words, Shape-shifter?”

“Don’t I get to know the name of the man ’bout to kill me.” I lick my cracked lips as I glare into his eyes.

“I’m known as Marcus, not that it will help you any. Have a better afterlife, Terror.” Vibrations ring throughout my forehead as he pulls back the safety.

“Witchy, you ready to have some fun?”

“Oh, yeah.” She smirks, and I can see her muscles tightening to get ready to jump away—the man’s eyebrows bunch before he’s knocked away by a dog-shaped figure. Chaos completely takes over the situation. All the goons are scrambling trying to handle the new Terrors, but they’re obviously not prepared.

One of the weres comes over and starts to walk around me in a circle. He then comes closer and jerks his muzzle. I kneel, and a growl can be heard from him as he sniffs my temple. I run my hand down his head, and somehow I sense his emotions. It’s a jumble of worry, rage, and relief. His ears prick up before knocking me to my back.

“Don’t think we forgot about you, an abomination.” The NTSCU that had been holding me down is stalking toward me, a gun smoking in his hand that he tucks away. In turn, he draws out his knife that he flips around before lunging forward. I quickly dodge and gain the upper hand. I grip his vest and bring him towards me before I sink my hand in his stomach. I don’t stop until I feel his blood spilling out and his guts in my hands.

“Looks like I get to kill you after all,” I teasingly whisper in his ear. I look in his face, and I know my eyes have changed as he looks shocked.

“You’re no shifter; you’re a-” he cuts off when I yank my nails across his abdomen, ripping him wide open. Before slipping my hand out, I grip his intestines and make sure they hit the ground. He falls with a silent scream. He presses his hand to his stomach as though that would fix the gaping hole I left in him. The were comes back over to us, and chills break out across my body at the thought that I overreacted. When by myself, I had to kill those that threatened me, but I’m by people again. Dammit there I go acting like a monster again.

The were bumps against my leg, and relief floods my body. That’s a good sign, right. I’m taking it as a good sign. The man starts reaching for his walkie talkie, and before I can do much more than tense my muscles, the were springs forward and gouges out the man’s throat. I walk away knowing that even if someone comes across him, my species will be a secret even if for a little longer.

The were rushes away to help out some of his comrades. I see Vanessa running from Marcus and quickly speed up, and bum rush him from behind. He goes flying once again, but before I can catch up to Vanessa, she’s veered further up, trying to get away from another NTSCU goon. I growl and run after them. Vanessa pauses for a second and looks behind her. The man, Sloth, tries to grab at her, but it just ends with her falling. As I come to the top, I finally see the cliff they were on, and without thinking it through, I jump in after her.