mate’s eyes. “Come here, baby.” He pulled her onto his lap and held her tight while his wolf strained against Dominic’s skin so that he could rub up against her. Greedily sucking in her scent, Dominic kissed her hair. “You okay?”
“Been better,” she choked out. Her throat thick, she let out a shuddering breath. “Don’t ever put me through that again.”
“Right back at ya.” Gently rocking her from side to side, Dominic looked around. Although the air was hazy with smoke, he could see that they weren’t the only people taking a moment to give or take comfort. Many were cuddling or, like Adele and Joel, were helping to clean each other’s wounds. Trey was forcing Taryn to sip water, berating her for overexerting herself. Sadly, there were also some people who were holding limp bodies, their faces creased with grief.
The battle was officially over, and the ground was covered with bodies, bullet shells, weapons, and puddles of blood. Although thick plumes of dark smoke still wafted from the building, it also looked as though the fire was no longer out of control.
“Hey,” said Dante as he came toward them, a bunch of clothes in his hands. “Got your stuff. You two all right?”
“Yeah.” Dominic took the clothes gratefully. “The rest of the pack?”
Dante’s brows lowered as his expression turned grim. “They’re fine, but there were a lot of casualties on both sides of the fight. Luckily, none were from the Mercury Pack or Mila’s pride. Ryan came about an inch from death, though, so Makenna’s gonna give him hell.”
Dominic and Mila quickly dressed, wincing as each movement pulled at their barely healed wounds.
“Given how well armed they were,” began Dante, “I think the extremists figured that some of us would get out, but not all. They were counting on smoke inhalation to do most of the job for them. If we weren’t shifters and tougher than humans, it might have.”
Taking in the sight of the charred building, Mila swallowed hard. “Harley must be devastated.” The place had been special to Mila, but it had meant so much more to the margay shifter.
“She is,” confirmed a new voice as a powerful figure approached. Nick. “But we’ll fix it up,” the Mercury Alpha added, a grim twist to his mouth. “It’ll take time, but we won’t let the extremists shut us down.”
Mila gave him a weak smile. “Still, I’m sorry this happened.”
“The extremists did this because they’re assholes—you and Dominic were just the excuse.”
Lightly squeezing her shoulder, Dominic tugged her closer. “Tell us what you need,” he said to Nick.
“There’s really nothing for you to do,” replied the Alpha. “The fire’s almost out. The survivors have been, at the very least, partially healed. And we’re not moving the dead bodies. The police will soon be called, because I want them to see exactly how much damage and suffering the extremists caused. Those firefighters were human, which means the police can’t and won’t ignore this.”
Nick’s gaze slid to Mila. “I told Vinnie to take your pride and go. Humans don’t know your kind exists, and it’s best that it stays that way. We’ll deal with the police.”
Sidling up to Dominic, Luke cleared his throat. “Before I leave . . . I thought you might want to know that there was a guy hiding in a swanky car in the parking lot.”
Dominic stilled, and his wolf’s ears perked up. “Was there now?”
“Yep. My pride noticed him when we first arrived. I slung him in the back of Dad’s van; a few of the pride are keeping watch over him.” Luke pursed his lips. “Now, I’ve never seen Emmet Pierson in person, but I’ve seen his picture. I’ll bet good money that guy in the van is him.”
“Really?” Dominic drawled.
“Yeah. I figured, since this shit was all about getting at you and Mila, that you both should have the honor of dealing with him.”
Dominic nodded his thanks at Luke. “I got this.”
“We’ve got this,” corrected Mila.
Since Dominic had no wish to part from her for even a little while, he didn’t ask her to remain behind. Instead, with his mate at his side, he stalked down the alley toward the parking lot.
Mila pointed at a navy-blue van. “That’s Vinnie’s.”
Reaching the vehicle, Dominic pulled open the rear double doors. And yes, there was Emmet Pierson. His wolf peeled back his upper lip.
The human was huddled against the wall, trying to keep his distance from the hissing, snarling pallas cats. The felines seemed to be toying