Presley, for the stench he left behind in the cells, for what he wanted to do to me.
Ferocious focus fills both my wolf and me, and we nip at Tyran, who’s finishing off another attacker, to tell him to come with us. We follow the scent my wolf has latched onto, dodging fighting wolves and dead bodies strewn across the ground. Twin Rivers is suffering mass casualties, but I can’t find it in my heart to care. Not when their scents cover that bunker. Not when they all helped to run this pack with fear and force.
Burke and his boys systematically destroyed everything that this pack, our people, were supposed to stand for. Too much of this pack let a monster call to their own, while the rest of them turned a blind eye, thinking the depravity and destruction wouldn’t come for them.
They were wrong.
I can see the realization on the faces of the people and wolves huddled off to the side in fear as they take in the carnage and our demand for retribution. My wolf and I fly past them, past the alpha house, with Tyran on our heels right as we spot Burke, Conrad, and several other betas throwing bags into a van. Kill kill kill, my rabid beast bays.
The males’ eyes are frantic and wild, their movements hurried and reeking of cowardice. They brought all of this down upon them, and now they’re going to run? He doesn’t deserve to call himself an alpha.
I’m sure Burke thought he had the upper hand, had the numbers. It’s clear by how he and his sycophants are scrambling that they’ve quickly learned that one wolf with heart, one beast fighting for who they love, for what they believe in, that’s worth more than a whole pack of honorless animals.
As we race forward, I suddenly smell Hess and Britton, but I don’t see them anywhere. My wolf throws her head back and howls out a declaration to our packs that I’ve picked up the scents. Answering howls reach us on the wind, and then Tyran and I are purely speed and power as we leap at the Twin Rivers’ hierarchy. We slam into them, sending them toppling over like bowling pins.
Some of them try to shift, try to put up a fight, but by the time they can even call to their wolves, Tyran has ripped their throats out. Conrad steps in front of Burke to shield him, but that’s fine by me. I’ve already shown Burke that I can best him, and I have no doubt I’ll do it again. But first, it’s time to bathe in the blood of the fucking scumbag beta who hurt Presley.
I snap at him, but his brutish arms shove my wolf and I away, our teeth unable to tear into him like we want. We redirect our efforts and feign a leap, but instead of putting all our power in it, we turn it into a small hop and snap at Conrad’s legs. Blood explodes into our mouth as we sink our fangs into his meaty thigh, and we start to snarl and shake our head, ripping away at the muscle and skin as he screams and tries to pry us off.
Conrad lands blows to our head and body, one slamming into us so viciously that it disorients my wolf and me. We’re forced to let go and back up to shake off the haze. Tyran darts for Burke, but the gutless weakling pulls a gun from behind him and aims it at my mate.
Everything slows.
My wolf’s howl is my inner scream. We know judging by the distance that we’ll never be able to reach them in time, but we try anyway. Tyran’s eyes narrow with rage, a threatening snarl tearing from him as he stares Burke down. Time seems to speed up again as soon as our paws pummel against the ground, but Burke squeezes the trigger.
A bang pierces the night and my soul, simultaneously.
But faster than a blink, a light brown wolf appears out of nowhere, and the bullet meant for Tyran tears into her instead.
Harlan and her wolf slam to the ground, a crimson blossom blooming quickly out of the wound in her side. Another howl tears from my wolf, but huge, angry hands clamp down on my neck, cutting the sound short. Our focus is ripped away from my mate and his wounded Third as Conrad yanks my wolf off the ground, mercilessly crushing her throat. He leers at