How much time had passed?

  No one knew. Not really.

  The color had completely drained from Noah’s and Micah’s faces.

  The Chief and Kael understood the situation all too well.

  Nico, although not fully informed — or fully capable of understanding anything he heard — still noticed the tension in the room.

  Tension thick enough to slice through with a knife.

  There was already enough going on:

  Micah’s entire family was in Noah’s house.

  Kael — the weirdo who sniffed Noah like a bloodhound — was lurking in the corner.

  And then there was the obvious tension between Micah and Noah.

  The I love you but I’m too emotionally damaged to say it out loud tension.

  The I want you to be mine but everything is on fire tension.

  What more could possibly go wrong?

  Well… the Chief, Kael, and Nico had been in town for, what, two days?

  And they already had a bounty on their heads.

  Because Noah was sheltering them, he was technically a conspirator.

  Someone who could rot in jail.

  Meanwhile, the werewolves would be dragged to a lab and poked with needles for the rest of their lives.

  Noah honestly couldn’t say all the trouble was on him.

  Micah had his entire pack in danger now.

  After that broadcast.

  After that horrible broadcast.

  But whose fault was all of this?

  There was an answer, of course.

  Micah broke the deafening silence.

  “…What are we going to do?”

  Great question.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Great question indeed.

  What were they going to do?

  What was Noah going to do?

  “I—I don’t know,” Noah admitted.

  The Chief and Kael exchanged a look.

  “We must flee immediately!” the Chief declared dramatically.

  That was it?

  That was his grand plan?

  Flee.

  In Noah’s house.

  With a bounty on their heads.

  Why were werewolves so gullible?

  And how was Noah even in love with one?

  The best course of action would be to kick them all out.

  Because werewolves only brought trouble.

  But… Micah wasn’t the same.

  Micah wasn’t someone to get rid of.

  Was he?

  “So… guys,” Nico said innocently. “What does being wanted mean?”

  “It means the police want you and you’re in trouble,” Noah explained.

  “That sounds so cool!”

  “No, Nico. That is definitely not cool!” Noah groaned.

  His house was literally full of fugitives.

  “We need to hide,” Noah said firmly.

  The Chief looked like he wanted to fight an entire herd of humans.

  Great.

  This was the worst possible group to be stuck with.

  Kael sighed dramatically. “Can we get food now?”

  Noah’s eye twitched so hard Micah had to physically hold him back from attacking Kael.

  ---

  30 Minutes Later

  “Okay. Here are the rules,” Noah announced.

  He had made an entire board.

  A whole presentation.

  He pointed at Rule Number One.

  “Number one: Avoid unnecessary destruction.”

  Everyone looked at Kael, who was licking something that looked suspiciously like a pillow.

  Noah pinched the bridge of his nose. “Number two: Don’t touch each other inappropriately.”

  Micah smirked — far too attractively for someone whose entire family was currently wanted by the police.

  “Does that include you?” he asked.

  Noah’s face burned. “Micah!”

  Micah grinned, and Noah couldn’t help smiling back.

  “Numb—”

  Nico raised his hand. “Can I eat this?”

  He had somehow stolen Noah’s strawberry?scented marker and was about to bite into it.

  “No! Nico — that’s not food!”

  Noah continued listing off the rules one by one.

  No sniffing strangers.

  No breaking windows.

  No eating markers.

  No fighting the police.

  No fighting anyone, actually.

  Finally, he finished and looked around.

  “Any questions?”

  The Chief raised his hand.

  “What’s a rule?”

  Everyone stared at him like he had just said the worst possible thing.

  Hiding was going to be impossible.

  Absolutely impossible.