‘I …’ Tom took his hands away from Jicaque’s and placed his palms on Kate’s shoulders. ‘I can’t.’ He looked into her eyes. ‘This thing isn’t over yet. We’ll never be free until it is.’

‘But this could be your only chance,’ she insisted. ‘You want to throw that away? You want to throw your whole life away?’

He shook his head. ‘There’s more than just my life at stake, though, isn’t there?’ She said nothing. ‘You know there is.’

‘This isn’t about me, don’t bring me into this!’ Kate yelled, gesturing at the livid welt down his neck, at the bruise on his chin. The photo of Ramone’s bloodied body flashed back into her mind. ‘I won’t be responsible for your death too! Look at you! You were nearly killed tonight. And so many people have died …’

‘I wish I could just walk away.’ Tom shook his head. ‘I can’t.’

‘Wait.’ She stared at him. ‘You enjoy it now, don’t you? Lupine power. You’ve got used to it. You like it.’

‘It’s not that!’ Tom stormed. ‘How can you even think that?’

Kate turned away. ‘You don’t know what I think, Tom.’

‘While I’m ’wolf, I can protect us, till we’re both out of this mess for good. Together!’

She wanted to shout at him: If you weren’t ’wolf, maybe we could really be together. Maybe we could stand a chance.

But how could she, now?

Without looking back she set off for the locker rooms. She’d forgotten she only had one sneaker. It was hard to keep your dignity when you were walking lopsided.

‘I should go after her,’ she heard Tom say.

‘Perhaps she needs a little space right now, huh?’ the old man said gruffly.

I don’t, Kate thought desperately. I want you here with me, Tom. Come after me. Stop me acting like a freaked-out little kid.

But her own uneven footsteps were the only ones echoing around the freezing arena.

Chapter Twenty

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CHAPTER TWENTY

That night, Tom’s thoughts were heavy with what Kate had said. He knew she was just upset, knew that she’d been through a hell of a lot. But he knew too that what Jicaque had said in that little coffee shop was dead right. Takapa had to be stopped, whatever the risks –or none of them could ever rest easy again. If Tom could make more of a difference as a ’wolf, then he’d have to stay that way until this thing was over. Once and for all.

He caught up with Kate the next morning at Park East Hospital, feeling nervous as hell. She was lying on her side on the couch in Stacy’s office, cleaned up from her ordeal in the meat net and dressed in grey hospital pyjamas like an in-patient. She looked like she’d been up all night, crying.