Chapter Twenty-four

"Werewolf!" another guard calls, and the four who surround me move in closer.

I look around, my head swiveling this way and that, but I already know there's no escape. I'm in the middle of a border checkpoint, surrounded by guards, not to mention all the Lycans who are just there on routine business. Every single one of them stopped what they were doing at the first cry of "Werewolf."

If I make any sudden moves, I'm going to be attacked. And though I may survive the assault – and only because they'll want to question me – my child might not. I have to project calm. I have to stay still, even as my nerves jitter and jangle.

Obedient. That is what I must be. For the sake of my baby.

I hold up my trembling hands, a universal gesture of surrender.

"Come with us," says the guard who commanded me out of the truck.

"Where are we going?" I ask, but they ignore me.

The squat, concrete building they manhandle me into fills me with fear, and when the door slams shut behind me, it feels like a de