females and the monster with them. Gunner landed and approached Luna from the side. “Love, I’m here,” he choked out when he got a good look at her.
Bloody tears ran down her face, fangs extended, shaking with emotion, with pain and anger.
“You stole my life from me, my brother’s life. Now I’m going to do the same to you.”
Azel's gaze slid to Gunner, then back to Luna. “You kill me and Diemos will only find someone else to do his bidding. You can’t stop him. This will never end, not until he’s free to leave Hell. You will lose. You will all lose,” he said.
Gunner reached for the knife Luna was holding.
She jerked back. “Don’t try to stop me, Gunner.”
He looked into her bright violet eyes and shook his head. “Not trying to stop you, love, just adjusting your hold so when you slice, it goes nice and deep.”
Azel struggled and Gunner walked behind him, gripped him under the chin, planted his knee in the fucker’s back, and wrenched his head back farther. “You’re lucky it’s Luna with the knife and not me. I sure as fuck wouldn’t make it quick, motherfucker.”
Gunner wanted to be the one to end him, to fucking torture him. The mated male, the demon inside him, demanded it. But he wasn’t the one who had been hurt most by this twisted fuck. Luna had.
Azel stared up at him. “She may be yours now, knight, but I had her first,” he said through gritted teeth. “It was my blood she drank first, and my cock she took first. Nothing you can do will ever change that.”
Gunner tensed to snap his neck but didn’t get a chance. Luna cried out in rage, and fueled by all the pain Azel had caused her, she slashed the blade she held across his exposed throat.
The fallen angel gasped, his mouth opening and closing as blood bubbled up and poured from him, eyes still locked on Luna in shock.
She got in his face, almost nose to nose. “I’ve already forgotten you, asshole.” Then she plunged the knife in his heart and twisted.
Gunner let him go and stood back, letting the fucker’s body fall to the ground. He had no idea if angels needed their heads removed to stay dead, but he didn’t stop his female when, in a frenzy, she crouched over Azel's unmoving body and sliced and hacked until his head was removed from his shoulders.
When it was done, she stood, the knife clattering to the ground beside her. His mate was breathing hard, shaking from the adrenaline, the fear, the anger.
Gunner scooped her up, holding her close. “It’s over, love. He can’t ever hurt you or Ronan again.”
He looked around him. The fighting had stopped, and the ground was covered in the ashy remains of the demons who dared to attack their home. Their females, warriors all, stood with their mates, or in their arms, the way Luna was in his.
Chaos was striding to Grace who was crouched beside Willow. The witch was trying to move but failing. Willow and Chaos had been occasional lovers before he found Grace, she was also their friend, and she’d been hurt because of them. But before Chaos could reach the females, Warrick, the hellhounds’ new alpha, strode over and scooped Willow up.
The hound growled when Chaos got close. “I’ve got her.”
“Willow?” Grace said, asking Willow if she was okay going with the hound.
The witch nodded. “Warrick will take care of me.” Her gaze slid to Chaos. “I’m sorry. I tried to stop him. He was…he was just too strong.”
“You did nothing wrong,” Chaos said. “Jesus, we should have done more to protect you.”
“No shit,” Warrick barked, then he turned and carried her away.
Grace flew at her mate instantly and Chaos caught her, burying his face against her throat.
Gunner looked down at Luna. “Okay?”
She looked up at him, eyes bright and tinged pink, bloody tears smearing her cheeks. She had Azel's blood on her hands, her clothes.
And fuck him, she was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.
Luna gripped his shirt. “He’s really gone, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, love, he’s gone,” Gunner rasped.
“He can’t ever hurt Ronan again. He can’t hurt anyone I love.”
It didn’t surprise him that she put everyone ahead of herself. “You did that, Luna, and I’m so fucking proud of you.”
He kissed her then because he couldn’t hold back another moment. His mate clung to him and kissed him back just as fiercely. Without a word, his wings sprung from his