Dazed, Wren sprang back to his feet only to have his wounded leg buckle.
Fang was trying to rejoin, but his shoulder had been ripped open and blood was pouring down his side. Gah, it hurt and burned.
The bears reared before they started toward Wren. They'd only taken two steps when a bright light flashed in the hallway.
Wren backed up, ready to fight, only to pause as he saw Vane and Fury in the hallway now.
In human form, Vane took one look at Fang's bleeding shoulder and growled low in his throat. "Aubert? Have you lost your mind?"
Papa Bear, or Aubert as he was really named, flashed back to human while Etienne remained a bear. "He is marked for death. We took you in, wolf, when you had nothing. Is this how you repay us?"
Vane's eyes were blazing. "No, Aubert. I haven't forgotten my debt to you or Nicolette. But I will not stand by and see this happen to an innocent. Wren has no clan to back him. Therefore I offer him mine."
Fang was stunned as he heard those words. Was Vane out of his mind? To offer shelter to someone wanted by the Omegrion was suicide.
Papa Bear was every bit as incredulous. "You would back him against the Omegrion's decree?"
Vane didn't hesitate with his answer. His face was grim and deadly. "You damn straight."
Fang looked past Wren's shoulder and felt the blood drain from his face as he saw Aimee's intent in her eyes. "Don't you dare get into this," he mentally projected to Aimee.
As usual, she didn't listen. "No!"
They all turned to see Aimee in the middle of the hallway behind them. Only Wren and Fang knew whose room she'd been inside.
She swallowed as she looked from her father to Fang. "Papa, please. Don't do this. This is wrong and you know it. Wren poses no threat to us."
"Are you insane, daughter? He's here to kill your mother."
More doors were opening now. More animals were coming out to investigate the disturbance. This was looking worse and worse for Wren.
"You'll never make it out of here alive," Papa Bear said in warning. "None of you."
Fang looked at Aimee. "What the hell are we going to do?"
"Take me hostage."
That sucker-punched him. "What?"
"You heard me, Fang. We've got to get Wren out of here before they kill him."
"If I do that, I'll be banned from here. Forever."
Tears glistened in her eyes. "I know, baby. I know. But if Wren dies, I won't be able to forgive myself. Please help him."
Fang wanted to scream. She was asking too much of him. And yet when he looked at Wren who was so young . . . and innocent, he knew she was right.
They couldn't let the kid die. And more to the point, now that Vane and Fury were here trying to protect him, they'd be killed too. He had to protect his brothers at all cost even though the demon inside him was laughing at the prospect of watching them die.
Damn it!
A heartbeat later, Fang grabbed her into his arms, manifested a knife in his hand, then held it threateningly to her throat. The irony of this wasn't lost on him. He was about to lose her the same way he'd met her.
"Don't you dare follow us," he warned her family. "I'll kill her if you do." Fang turned to look at the three of them. "Fury, Vane, get Wren out of here."
Wren started to protest, but before he could, Vane grabbed him by the neck and flashed him from the hallway.
Fang leaned his head against hers and wanted to weep at what they were doing. Using his powers, he tracked his brothers and flashed the two of them into a dark room with no windows.