The men sat down. “Not exactly, but we need to tell you a few things,” Liam said.
“Before you do, Zach can you show us your back?” Tawny asked.
“You mean my wonderful carving?” Zach’s jaw hardened.
“Yes. Has it faded at all?”
“You tell me.” He stood, unbuttoned his shirt, slipped it off, and then turned around.
He might be a werewolf, but his body hadn’t been able to completely erase the warning. “It looks…better.”
Her brother put his shirt back on and sat down. “See? No need to worry. I really want to go back into the woods and do my job.”
“About that.” Tawny looked over at the men hoping they would do a better job explaining what might happen if he did.
“You can’t,” Liam said. “Not yet. There is a target not only on your back, but on all of the Grangers.”
“Oh, shit. You figured that out from the carving?”
What did he think it meant?
“Let me explain our best theory to date.” Liam told him about the group of people who attack werewolves. “Your dad’s friend General Armand mentioned that several other incidents have occurred in which humans come to a town and somehow learn who the werewolves are.”
“That sucks. But why target our family? Or are they going after all shifters? If that’s the case, aren’t you worried someone will find out about you two?’’
She was curious how Liam would answer that question.
“When we catch them, we’ll ask them. However, something similar happened in the town near where Alex and I lived. This vigilante group targeted a very prominent werewolf family.”
“They killed them?”
“They did some. These vigilantes were eventually caught, or at least most were. I never did hear why they attacked that particular family, though.”
Zach leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes for a moment, looking tired. He then sat up. “At first, I thought these two people were shooting at something else and happened to hit me.”
“Twice?” Tawny asked.
“I was in shock for a moment. The first bullet propelled me forward. I might have been able to escape, but it was like I was paralyzed. That’s when I realized they meant to hit me. I guess the second bullet was for insurance.”
“Thankfully, they failed,” she said.
Liam nodded. “If they coated the bullet in something, it would have to have been very strong in order to render you immobile. My question is how did they know what to use? Not all sedatives are effective on werewolves.”
“Good question. All I know is that I’ve never felt anything like that before,” Zach said. “Then again, I’ve never been shot either.”
“I hope you were unconscious when they carved the symbol in your back.” The thought of it still made Tawny sick.
“Mostly. I remember them slicing open my jacket, and it being cold. Really cold to my human body. I wanted to stop them, but I couldn’t even move.”
“Can you describe these people?” she asked.
“Not really. They were pretty covered up. Both had on ski caps, and both wore a scarf over the lower part of their faces. As I said, it was cold, so I didn’t think much of it.”
“Could you tell their age or hair color?” Alex asked.
“I’d say my age. To be honest, I was more interested in learning about their friend who had been injured. I wasn’t memorizing what they looked like.”
She didn’t want to push him too hard. “They don’t know that, which is why we are telling everyone other than our relatives that you are still missing.”