“Good,” I said.  “I wouldn’t want you getting tired of it.”

“Does that mean—”

“I’m not going anywhere.  I’ll keep my Claim.”

*    *    *    *

The next morning I woke alone and shuffled into the kitchen, looking for Carlos.  Instead, I found a bowl of cereal waiting on the counter and our bags next to the door.

Our time was up.  Not cool.  The group’s uncertainty over what would happen next worried me.  I mean, look what had happened so far.

I ignored the cereal, grabbed my bag, and closed myself into the bathroom.  Ten minutes later, I reappeared, clean, fresh, and repacked.

Carlos sat at the island, waiting for me.  A smidge of worry drifted from him.

“You should be worried,” I said.  “I saw what you did.  Who folds underwear?  Seriously.”

He shook his head slightly, clearly amused as I’d intended.

“We’ll have company soon.”

Someone knocked on the door before he even finished speaking.

“Come in,” Carlos called.

Grey opened the door and stood aside as everyone poured in.  My gaze found Bethi’s.  She looked tired and sad but wasn’t broadcasting like she had the night before.

“What’s going on?” I asked when Sam shut the door.

“Gabby’s been tracking Olivia,” Bethi said.

“Olivia’s not alone,” Gabby said.  “Someone’s with her.  Urbat.  I can’t tell who beyond that.  But I’ve been watching and think they might be heading toward the Compound.”

“First, what’s the Compound?  And, second, why do you think they are going there?”

“The Compound is where we live,” Charlene said.  “A collection of buildings in Canada that we’ve made into a home for any werewolf.”

“Canada?”

Gabby nodded.

“And I think that’s where they are going because they are consistently making their way west.  Sometimes they detour, but they always correct and return west.  What else is up there for them?”

“But why the Compound?” I said.

“Because he knows we need to be together,” Bethi said.

He.  Blake.  He wanted us together to do that Judgement thing she’d mentioned.

“What exactly are we supposed to do together?”

“Make a Judgement.  Change the world.”

“And how do we do that?”

“I’m not sure yet.  But the dreams keep coming.  I’m sure they will give me the answer.”

*    *    *    *

Grey, Carlos, and I rode together in the car.  As we slowly made our way out of the city, Grey kept us informed on Urbat movement.

“Gabby’s reporting that most of the Urbat have scattered, and their movement appears random.  However, they are generally heading toward the southern and west coasts.”

“Makes sense.  We announced where their home base is.  They’ll want to move in the opposite directions,” I said.

Carlos glanced at me in the mirror.  He did it often, not liking that I’d insisted that Grey ride shotgun.

“Eyes on the road,” I said.  “Any word on Bethi’s mom?”

“Nothing,” Grey said.

It was a good thing they were a couple of cars ahead of us so I couldn’t pull in what she was feeling.

We rode in silence for several minutes before I unbuckled and reached forward to turn on the radio.

“You could have asked,” Carlos said, annoyance lacing his words.

“But then I wouldn’t have been able to brush up against you.”  I continued to search for a station with good music or interesting news.

“Isabelle, buckle up.”

Grinning, I found a station talking about the possibility of werewolves and then sat back.  Carlos watched me in the mirror until I clicked in again.

“You’re such a worrier.”

“Only with you.”

He said the best things.

The two men on the radio claimed our attention for the next hour as they took numerous callers with opinions on the subject.  It was entertaining, for the most part, until one man came on over the air breathing heavily.

“I got one,” he said to the host.  The thrill and vindication in his tone sent chills through me.  “I woulda thought it was just a big dog running through the alley before that white one showed herself on the news—”

“Grey,” I said, getting worried.

“I’m telling the others to listen,” he said.

“But when I saw it, I knew.  I shot it and it turned into a f—” an annoying bleep covered the speaker’s word, “man as it fell down.  Butt naked.  I called the cops, said what happened, and they said they’d send someone over.  Only it wasn’t just the cops who showed up.  It was the Feds too.”  The man was talking so fast and in the background, his steps echoed.  He was running.  Why?

“They circled him, guns drawn.  The guy pulled himself off the ground and growled at them.  Dumb sh—.  He didn’t even try to hide what he was.  They shot him up, but not to kill him.  When I saw them dragging him into the back of one of their vans, I bolted.  I’ve got pictures of this sh—.”  The radio’s censors bleeped it out again, then went straight to commercial.

Neither Grey nor Carlos spoke.

“Is it one of your kind?” I asked.

“We don’t think so.  No one has reached out to us.  We’ve sent a call to report any injuries and instances involving humans.”

A minute later the radio host came back on air.

“Our anonymous caller has sent over his photos.  They’re on the station’s website.  Check them out, but hurry because I don’t think they’ll be there long.”

Talk turned to government conspiracy, and Grey reached over to turn the radio off.

“Winifred and Gabby checked the images.  They believe it was an Urbat, one of the few remaining in the city, according to Gabby.”

Grey spoke with quiet regret, an emotion I didn’t share.

“They killed Ethan,” I reminded him.  “They tried to take Gabby and me.  Don’t expect me to pity them.”

“Not them.  You.  The six of you.  If your purpose is to maintain balance between humans, werewolves, and Urbat, I think we’ve just made your job a lot harder.”

I sat back against my seat and looked out the window.  He was right.  We’d started a crap storm, and it was only going to get worse.

Appendix

The Judgements:

Hope — Gabby, recently reluctant mate to Clay  [Book 1:  Hope(less)]

Prosperity — Michelle, mate to Emmitt, son of Charlene  [Book 2: (Mis)fortune]

Wisdom — Bethi, mate to Luke [Book 3: (Un)wise]

Strength — Charlene, Emmitt’s mother, wife to the werewolf leader Thomas [Book 4, (Un)bidden]

Peace — Isabelle [Book 5: (Dis)content]

Courage — [Book 6: (Sur)real, anticipated release early 2016]

The lights Gabby sees:

Werewolf — Blue center with a green halo

Urbat — Blue center with a grey halo

Human — Yellow center with a green halo

The Judgements:

Charlene — Yellow with a red halo

Gabby — Yellow with an orange halo

Michelle — Yellow with a blue halo

Bethi — Yellow with a purple halo

Isabelle — Yellow with a white halo

Olivia — Yellow with a brown halo

Note from the Author

One more book.  Yep, that’s it.  Then the series is over.  If you’re not ready to say goodbye to the characters you’ve fallen in love with, be sure to check out the Judgement of the Six Companion Series, written from each man’s point of view.  Thank you to all of the readers to demanded more!  The Companion Series was written just for you.  :)