In the beginning, Loren was practically vibrating with a smug, insufferable level of confidence. He moved with the slow, deliberate swagger of a man who had already won the game before the pieces were even set on the board. He truly believed his own hype, figuring that between his superior wolf senses and his vast network of human informants, he would have Lilith back in his grasp within a week at most. To him, she was just a woman driven by panic, and panic made people messy. He convinced himself that her escape was nothing more than a temporary inconvenience, a brief interruption in his dominance that would only serve to make the final capture more satisfying.
He spent his nights in roadside taverns, nursing drinks and smiling to himself as he imagined the look of defeat on her face wh
