text: "Explain it to me again," Cooper said.
  
  He and Reggie were seated in plastic chairs in the large, group exercise room. In here, just yesterday, Cooper had realized he wanted to get married. That felt like years ago now.
  
  Mutya stood to the side, observing on her own insistence. "I wouldn't want my human mate alone with a confessed killer," she'd said obstinately. "I won't interrupt, but I'm not just going to turn my back and walk away, either."
  
  Behind them, rain whipped against the window so fiercely you could only catch glimpses of the waterfall. "You killed Lee Llcaj. Sliced him with your claws because after you hooked up, he found out you were wolf and you panicked. Then you poisoned Nielsen and Beck...because they were onto you?"
  
  "That's right," Reggie said confidently.
  
  "And what about Kreuger?"
  
  "Him, too," she said.
  
  "I mean, did you poison him? Or did you cut him?"
  
  Reggie glanced at Mutya nervously. "I, um—poisoned him."
  
  "With what?"
  
  "I stole some pills."
  
  "How could you be sure they'd all drink the dosed coffee?"
  
  "I watched. Made sure," she said.
  
  Cooper leaned back in his chair and exchanged a look with Mutya, who looked vaguely impressed by the trap.
  
  "This stuff doesn't matter. I did it," Reggie said harshly. "Are you going to turn me over to the cops? The BSI? Or will the Shepherd deal with me himself?"
  
  "Who are you trying to protect, Reggie?" Cooper asked.
  
  "No one!" Her voice was angry with an underlying edge of panic. "I did it. You don't think I can? Llcaj treated me like shit. You think I don't know he just used me to spy on the Claymonts for Montclaire? Kreuger was a creep and a loser. Always hanging around the spa, making jokes about whether I give 'happy endings' and then totally freaking out when I hooked up with Lee. Beck was a bully who would have done anything to take this place away just because he could. And Nielsen? So desperately bitter he wasn't a wolf that he was going to fuck over his only family? As if we have it easy. As if my life's been so great, being thrown out and living on the edge of society, lying to survive. Nielsen's own sister couldn't look him in the eye. Do you think I even hesitated over wiping out one of these pieces of shit? Or do you think I don't have the means?" She flexed her hand, extending her claws and then retracting them.
  
  "They all sound like assholes," Cooper said, taking the blunt approach. "I bet a lot of people thought so."
  
  She shook her head, staring down at her lap. "No, I—" She bit her lip. "But it was me who did something about it."
  
  "Beck and Nielsen were killed by injection, not dosed drinks. And as shitty as they sound, I'm having a hard time believing you went on a killing spree because of that alone."
  
  Reggie's shoulders slumped. "Please, you can't let the Shepherd shut the retreat down. It saves people. It saved me."
  
  "Why would he want to shut this place down?" Cooper asked, but Reggie didn't respond.
  
  He studied her indecisive twitching and considered the facts. Vanessa Claymont nee Nielsen. Runs away at sixteen. Joins a rebel pack. Tries to escape a few times and gets her fangs pulled. Finally gets out and studies under Joyce to become a counselor specializing in trauma recovery. Legally changes her name so no one can track her down. When her father dies, she gives it all up to return to the place she'd run from all those years ago. She hires staff members who only stick around a few months at a time. They don't work under their legal names, either.
  
  "Were you in a rebel pack, too?" Cooper asked, gently.
  
  Reggie covered her face with her hands and then dragged her thumbs under her eyes, wiping at the beginnings of tears and smearing the liner there. "Yeah. Yes, I was. I couldn't leave. I couldn't... You don't understand. I had nowhere to go. No money. No pack. But Vanessa had helped a friend of mine last year. It was the first time I thought maybe things could be different for me, too. She helped me leave. Gave me this job. A home. A chance to get on my feet. I was safe here. She's helped so many of us. I don't know where I'd be without her."
  
  "What about Kreuger? Did she save him, too?"
  
  Reggie nodded. "Yeah. But he was different from the others. He resented Vanessa. Was angry that someone with such a low AQ had been the one to get him out. That he was so dependent on her here."
  
  Outside there was a flash of lightning, and they all waited for the rumble of thunder to follow. When it came, low and angry, Cooper felt the vibrations in his throat.
  
  "And Paul? How is he involved?"
  
  "Oh, Paul," Reggie said dismissively. "He knows everything and claims to support Vanessa no matter what. But he freaked when Llcaj disappeared. Was convinced Kreuger killed him, of all people. It's his fault De Luca's here. Dr. Joyce always said Paul's not good enough for her and he was right. Now the De Lucas are trying to take our home away and they don't give a shit about helping ex-rebels. Mutts."
  
  She looked boldly at Cooper and let the silence sit meaningfully for a moment. "No one does. No one except Vanessa."
  
  "And Dr. Joyce," Cooper said, thinking out loud. "Or did he just care about Vanessa?"
  
  Reggie looked at him, surprised. "It's not like that between them. Dr. Joyce is just here for the work."
  
  "The couple's counseling?"
  
  "No, Dr. Nielsen's work. Vanessa's father. He was one of the developers of the AQ, you know. Joyce is sorting through all his old research to work on an updated, more accurate test."
  
  Cooper stood abruptly, and Reggie and Mutya both jumped a bit. "I need you to both go find Park. Tell him I need him right away while I go talk to Vanessa."
  
  "Are you sure?" Mutya asked worriedly. "Maybe I should—"
  
  "I'll be fine. Please, just hurry."
  
  "But you can't turn Vanessa in!" Reggie cried. "I confessed. Please!"
  
  "But you didn't do it. And if I'm right, neither did she."