him. Then they ran until they were far enough away for their presence not to matter. When he slowed, he immediately dropped all contact. Together they wiped their palms against their pants.
âWhy are you coming with me?â he repeated.
âIââ Her gaze dropped to her feet. âI donât know how to live like this.â
âAnd you think Iâll teach you?â
She met his eyes. âWonât you?â
Of course.
The words whispered through his brain. The combination of fear and hope in her eyes pulled at him. The scent of her enticed him.
âI should leave you here,â he ground out. âLet you run wild until the cops lock you up. If youâre lucky, Mandenauer will arrive before the next full moon.â
She blinked. âWho?â
âIâm not a moron,â Julian snapped. âI checked you out.â Though he hadnât come up with much. âYou were born. You lived for a while in Nebraska, even started kindergarten. Then your mother disappearedââ
He lifted a brow, waiting for her to explain, but she didnât.He figured disappeared meant âdeath by monster,â especially considering what happened next.
âYou and your father fell off the grid. Since only Edward has the connections to make someone disappear like that, either one or both of you was a Jäger-Sucher once upon a time.â
She shrugged, giving up the pretense. âI donât work for him anymore.â
âI know.â
The Jäger-Suchers had rules, and Alexandra Trevalyn did not follow them. One of those rules was: Wait until they shift to shoot them .
As Alex had proved with Jorge, she didnât believe in rules.
âWhat else do you know?â she asked. âAbout me? About them?â
âNot as much as Iâd like,â he murmured. He and his kind stayed isolated from the world. It was the only way to live the way that they wanted to. Which meant information was hard to come by. Not that he didnât come by it. It was just hard. And expensive.
âThe Jäger-Suchers are in disarray,â he continued. âThere was aââ Julian paused, searching for the word. âA purge. Many of them died; the rest are in hiding.â
Her brow creased. âWhen did this happen?â
âNearly a year ago. The werewolves banded together and began hunting the hunters.â
âThey never cared before.â
Most werewolves only cared about themselves, which was how the Jäger-Suchers had so much success.
âThere were whispers of a cure,â Julian continued. âBut werewolves donât want to be cured. They like what they are.â
âDo you?â she asked.
âYes.â
She appeared to think about that for a minute, then nodded. âSo the werewolves went on the offensive.â
âIn more ways than one,â Julian agreed. âNot only have they gone after the Jäger-Suchers instead of waiting for the Jäger-Suchers to come to them, but theyâve made a concerted effort to replace whatâs been lost and purposely increase the number fighting on their side.â
âA werewolf army,â Alex said faintly.
âItâs happened before.â
Â
Barlow knew about the werewolf army. However, according to him, he wasnât the one behind it.
Except he was a werewolf. Killing? Lying? Both came as easily to him as eating.
Why hadnât Edward told her heâd been losing agents? That he was on the defensive rather than the offensive for the first time in more than half a century?
He was a big believer in imparting info on a need-to-know basis, and heâd no doubt say if questioned that Alex hadnât needed to know. She was no longer one of them.
Maybe Edward thought Barlow was behind the whole thing. Although if that was the case, it was something she definitely needed to know.
However, sheâd learned in the few years sheâd worked for