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making me shiver. 
    I grabbed a flashlight from my bag and held it tight in my
fist.
    We had helped bring the killer into custody.  He remained a
ward of a pack therapist, living in the werewolf equivalent of a halfway
house.  There was nothing to be afraid of.  No psychotic werewolves out here. 
    Just me and a smelly ghost.
     

Chapter 22
Simon
     
    “T roublesome
girl,” I muttered. 
    I wiped a piece of stinking refuse off my custom leather
boots and dropped the soiled handkerchief into a dumpster.  Most werewolves
disdained material things, preferring a simple back-to-nature lifestyle.  I
shuddered at the thought.  I may enjoy a good run through the woods while in
wolf form, but as a man I appreciated the nicer things in life. 
    Unfortunately, the residents of this street seemed to have
an overzealous appreciation for cheap wine and fast food.  The place reeked of
grease and garbage.
    I was in another alley.  This one ran behind the Gas N Gulp,
Douggie’s Fried Chicken, and Wok On In, a Chinese takeaway.  I searched beneath
the piles of damp cardboard boxes and plastic milk crates, but all I found was
a cockroach and an old coat soaked in urine.
    No Yuki.  For that, I was grateful.  I may be mad at the
girl, but I didn’t want to find her here in the alley strung out on drugs or
the latest victim of the Graduation Grabber.
    I was, however irritated that while I searched for Yuki,
Emma was left unprotected.  I wanted to be by her side, keeping her safe from
this killer.  But Calvin had requested my help in the search for Yuki, and Emma
had insisted on looking for her in the library. 
    At least Emma wasn’t alone.
     I had waited for her to meet up with Gordy and Katie before
beginning my search for Yuki.  They promised to stick together.  I had to trust
that there was safety in numbers.  Otherwise I’d become insane with worry.
    I swallowed the howl that rose up in my throat.
    Emma would never forgive me if I let her best friend die
because I was too worried about her own safety.  They may be fighting at the
moment, but Emma’s worry for Yuki was real.  I suspected that if something
happened to Yuki now, Emma would never forgive herself for allowing her friend
to suffer the after effects of her abduction alone.
    No, I had to find Yuki before anything dire could happen to
the girl.  Knowing Yuki’s luck, I better hurry.  That girl attracts trouble
like I attract women.
    I exited the alley and ran to my motorcycle.  I needed to
ride to the outskirts of town where I could shift into wolf form.  Trying to
catch Yuki’s scent in a sea of sweating humans, vehicle exhaust, and rotting
garbage was getting me nowhere.
    I kicked the bike into gear and hit the throttle.  It roared
and jumped out into traffic, leaving a strip of black rubber behind.  I wove
between cars and around trucks hauling boats and campers.  I cursed at the
summer traffic that came early with this week’s heat wave.
    At the next light, I used the empty turning lane to pass half
a dozen vehicles waiting their turn.  Horns blared and more than one driver
sent up a one fingered salute.  I rode on without responding in kind. 
    I didn’t have time to waste.
     

Chapter 23
Emma
     
    T he library is
my favorite place in Wakefield, but today the shadows between shelving, and
behind desks and work tables, felt ominous.  I never realized just how many
places there were to hide, or disappear. 
    “OhmygoshIcan’tbelieveit,” Katie said, for the thousandth
time.
    I liked Katie, but her nervous tendency for rapid speech was
making me twitchy.  I jumped as an older man turned the page of his newspaper. 
    “Believe it,” I said. 
    Great, that sounded bitchy.  I pinched the bridge of my
nose, wincing at a growing headache and took a deep breath.  I didn’t mean to
take my frustrations out on Katie.  Her babbling was annoying, but it wasn’t really
her fault.  We were all worried.  Katie just showed her emotions more