The low, setting sun cast strange shadows on the bedroom wall. Knight West lived on the top floor of his building, so there were no trees outside. Still, the dark and shadowy figures twisted like tree branches, dancing, clashing in a sinister way.“It looks like two wolves fighting,” Sue said to him in a whisper. He hadn’t heard Sue come in, which was unusual. He didn’t know why, but something didn’t feel quite right.He turned and looked at his girlfriend and gasped when he saw the human. There was a huge gash across her throat and blood was gushing out of it, pumping and spraying onto the shadowy figures on the wall.“Sue,” he shouted, his hands clutching at Sue’s throat in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.“It’s no use,” Carlos, the man Knight had believed to be his father, said to him from across the room. “She’s human. She’s weak.”Knight let out a ferocious snarl and lunged at Carlos, shifting into his wolf form as he flew through the air. He launched at the other werewolf

Knight hadn’t been able to shake what had happened, what he had done to Sue. Perhaps it wasn’t a bad injury and perhaps Sue really didn’t blame him for it, but Knight certainly blamed himself. A few inches higher and he could have taken an eye. Knight had struggled with control his entire life. He had spent years believing that he took after his father that way, but now he knew he couldn’t blame it on genetics. Carlos, the man who had disappeared when Knight was nine, who had bullied and beaten his mom, had always been the ghost haunting Knight.As a teenager, he had struggled not to fly off the deep end over every little thing. His control was something he had worked hard for, something he took pride in. He had never felt more out of control than he did now.He let himself into his grandparents’ house without knocking, as was the norm. He had called ahead to make sure that he and his grandpa would be alone.“In here, Ev,” his grandpa called to him from the living room.There was a se

Sue didn’t wake up in the best of moods. She missed the snoring werewolf beside her and had woken up several times through the night feeling as though something were missing. It was the monthly release day of the magazine and Sue’s first article for it was going to be in there. Writing for a magazine hadn’t exactly been her dream job, instead wanting to take on more serious journalism, but she found herself feeling proud. On the surface, her article looked like a simple piece on the rise of werewolf-focused hotels, but Sue had delved deeper than that, getting into the history of segregation and how vital it was that they not let themselves, as a society, slip backward.It wasn’t until she had her glasses on and was shuffling out toward the kitchen that she remembered her brother was there.Joey was asleep on the couch, his arm thrown up over his head and his mouth open. Like that, Joey looked younger. All his usual bravado was gone. Creeping a little closer, Sue allowed herself to ta

After what was supposed to have been a nice, celebratory dinner, a moment of peace after the chaos, Knight drove them back to his apartment. It had been eerily quiet in the car. Sue usually found it hard not to talk continuously, especially when she thought Knight was tense about something, but tonight Knight had found it hard to get two words out of Sue.“Blair’s a bitch,” Knight finally said to fill the silence as he let them into his apartment. “She’s the stereotypical, superficial model type. That’s why I broke up with her.”Sue just nodded and went straight through to the kitchen to get a drink. Knight hung back in the doorway, watching as Sue pulled a bottle of wine out of the rack and opened it.“Are you mad at me?” Knight had to ask. “Do you think I should have handled that differently?”“No,” Sue finally said before taking a long sip of her wine. “I’m not mad at you. I’m not mad at all. I’m sad.”Knight felt a pang in his chest knowing that someone from his past had caused S

Knight wasn’t antisocial, no matter what Sue said. He loved Sue and he loved his family, but it was a Tuesday night and he really just wanted to be at home with the game on, not meeting Jared and Sarah for dinner. It had been a few weeks since that trashy magazine had printed photos of him and Sue, and Knight’s anger over it had only just started to abate. Those at work who hadn’t known about the relationship before certainly knew now.“She’s my best friend and he’s your cousin,” Sue pointed out as they made their way into the building. “Can you at least pretend that you’re having fun?”Knight shot her a big, fake grin, which just made Sue roll her big doe eyes. “Honestly, anyone would think I was making you eat a salad the way you’re acting.”Knight had to admit that it wasn’t quite that bad. At least the place Jared had chosen had good food.“Okay, I’m sorry,” Knight said, taking hold of Sue’s hand. “I promise not to be…”“Grumpy?” Sue helpfully supplied with a wry grin.“Right. Th