“What the fuck?” Thin Man cursed.
Her eyes flew open. Her solid steel door was busted down, and Lucas stood in the middle, his face full of rage. Baldy had his gun pointed at him. “No!” she screamed.
“Sofia!” Lucas shouted. “I—”
A loud, deafening roar filled the air, and she felt a strange force knock her off her feet. She hit the floor with a thud. She lifted her head and gasped. “Lucas?” But he was gone. And in his place was a humungous black dog.
No. Not a dog. A wolf.
The wolf’s head was probably three times the size of her own. Its jaws opened, letting out a deep growl, its hateful gaze directed at the two men.
Baldy was slowly getting up, as was his companion. “Motherfucker … what is that?” He still had the gun in his hand. He began to raise it toward the wolf.
Big mistake. In a flash, the wolf leapt toward him. As it was in the air, it glanced briefly at Sofia, but it was long enough for her to see its eyes. One blue and one green. Like Lucas’s.
The gun went off, and Baldy screamed when the wolf—no, Lucas—landed on top of him. On her left, she saw Thin Man reaching into his jacket. Fuck! She leapt to her feet and tackled him before he could fire his weapon, knocking it out of his hand and sending it skidding across the floor. Thin Man fought, his fist reaching out and connecting with her jaw. The pain shot through her, but the adrenaline rushing through her body dulled it. She shoved the heel of her palm into his nose, just as she had been taught in self-defense classes at the Academy. The sickening crack of cartilage and the scream of pain told her she had broken his nose. When she looked down at him, he was curled up in a ball, his hands on his face as blood flowed from his nostrils.
“Sir!”
She looked up and saw Reyes in the doorway, his face pale as he stared at the black wolf. The animal raised its head, blood dripping from its jaws.
Sofia could only describe what was left of Baldy as carnage. She was used to seeing dead bodies and murder scenes, but this made her stomach turn. There was nothing left of Baldy’s head.
“Sir, please,” Reyes cried out.
The wolf let out a deafening roar, and Sofia felt that shockwave again, sending her staggering back and flat on her ass. Reyes too was knocked down to his knees. What the fuck was going on?
Reyes attempted to stand up, but the wolf’s snarl kept him down. The wolf took a step forward. And another. And she realized it was heading toward her.
The wolf stalked toward her, its massive jaw dripping with foamy blood. It was snarling and growling, its blue and green mismatched eyes focused on Thin Man.
Sofia realized what it wanted. Really, she should have stepped aside and let him kill the bastard. But she didn’t want that. Not for Lucas.
Slowly, she got to her knees, putting herself between Lucas and Thin Man. “Lucas,” she called out. “Are you … there? Can you hear me?”
“Detective, no!” Reyes cried out. “He can’t hear you. Not in this state. He’s dangerous!”
This whole thing was absurd, but it was really happening. Lucas had turned into this wolf and now she had to calm him down. “Shhh … Lucas. It’ll be all right. Please. Don’t hurt him.”
The wolf snapped its jaws at her.
“No, I’m safe, see?” She glanced down at Thin Man, who was still clutching his bleeding nose. “I’m going to arrest him and put him away. It’ll be all right.”
But it was like the wolf wasn’t listening to her. Its focus was on Thin Man. “Lucas!” she shouted, reaching a hand out. “Lucas …”
Tentatively, she placed a hand on his head. The fur was surprisingly soft and very thick. She rubbed her palm in a soothing manner, all the while her heart beat a mile a minute. No, she told herself. Lucas would never hurt me. She just knew it.
The wolf went still, then closed its eyes. It let out a soft whine, then lay down. She continued to stroke him, her hands running down its neck and back. She gasped when she felt the fur recede under her fingers.
Slowly, the wolf shrank. Fur disappeared under tanned, muscled skin. She let out a cry of relief and threw her arms around Lucas.
“Detective, please.”
She looked up. Reyes stood next to her, offering his hand. But she didn’t want to be away from him.
“He needs help, Detective,” he said. “Please, let me help him. I know how.”
Lucas’s skin ran hot under her hands. He was also very still, his breathing shallow. The reality of what happened hit her. Lucas had turned into a wolf. It made her head ache, and a wave of nausea passed over her. She took Reyes’s offered hand and allowed him to help her up.
“What’s going on?” she whispered. “What is he?”
“I’m sorry, Detective.”
“Sorry for what?”
She felt a small pinprick in her neck. Her hand immediately went to the spot. “How did you do—” Dizziness buzzed in her head and her legs felt like jelly. Then, the world went dark.
Chapter Eighteen
When she woke up, the first thing she thought of was the strange dream she had last night. There were two men threatening to kill her and then Lucas burst through her door and turned into a—
She shot up and glanced around her. Her hands fisted into the unfamiliar scratchy sheets underneath her. A prickle ran up her ramrod-stiff spine. Where the hell was she?
She looked around. The room was like a jail cell. White and sterile. She was sitting on top of a cot, still wearing the same clothes from … last night? Her head was foggy, and with no windows in this cell, she didn’t know what time it was or how long she was out. Fucking Reyes. He’d drugged her.
She got to her
