As Tak neared Starlight Road,he smelled smoke through the open window. It wasn’t the rich aroma of a barbecue or a fire pit. The truck jumped the curb as Tak maneuvered around a traffic jam. Black smoke trailed up to the darkening sky, an ominous sight on such a clear day. When he reached the store, his truck screeched to a halt, and he threw open the door, keys still in the ignition. A small crowd gathered in the street, gawking at the sky behind Moonglow. Tak gripped the door handle and jerked, but it didn’t budge.
With no sign of anyone inside, he turned left and torpedoed up the sidewalk, knocking a man down and leaping over a dog. Before reaching the end of the street, he glimpsed a gap between two buildings and did a backstep. Tak cut through and wound up in an alleyway. Not wasting time to look around, he veered right and slowed down when he saw the nightmare unfolding.
A short wall of flames stood between Hope and another man. He couldn’t tell who it was since the man was facing the other way. If Tak hadn’t known it before, he knew now with absolute certainty that he loved Hope. Loved her with a fierceness in his heart he’d never known, and seeing her surrounded by flames made him want to tear the world apart.
If that bastard moved an inch, the savagery Tak would unleash would be legendary.
“Get help!” he boomed, catching Hope’s attention. He wanted her out of here, and he knew by the brave look in her eyes that she wanted to save her store.
And so did he.
Her dreams were now his dreams.
In a flash, she turned around and took off like a streak of lightning.
Tak stopped, his shoulders squared and head low. When the bearded man turned around, Tak recognized the grizzly from Hope’s store. So much for Breed jail taking care of this guy after the stunt he pulled at Howlers.
Maybe the fates were giving Tak a second chance to give this chickenshit what he deserved.
Tak widened his stance, closing his hands into fists. “You dare attack a Packmaster’s daughter?”
“Not your business,” Dumont fired back.
“What’s going on out here?” someone shouted. But the person was interested in neither Tak nor Dumont, only the intense fire threatening the adjoining shops. Several men sprang into action, fast-moving shadows dancing behind the smoke and flames.
“Stay back,” Dumont warned as Tak advanced. “You don’t want to mess with me, wolf. My bear will eat you for breakfast and pick his teeth with your bones.”
Tak stripped off his shirt and tossed it aside. “Let’s get uncivilized.”
Damn the consequences—Tak was going to annihilate him.
The two men clashed, each trying to muscle the other down. Tak was over two hundred and fifty pounds of pure ferocity—his moves so raw that he didn’t have to think. His knuckles split when they smashed against Dumont’s head like a sledgehammer. Tak suddenly lost his footing, and Dumont battered him in the ribs. Adrenaline dulled the pain, and Tak put the guy in a choke hold. Without something to pin him against, it was difficult to keep a grip on him. All he needed was one minute to cut off the circulation and knock this guy out.
Dumont twisted his body and wrenched out of Tak’s grip before backing up a few steps. He grimaced, his white teeth smeared with blood. With lightning speed, Tak unsheathed his weapon.
“Big man with the knife,” Dumont taunted. “I thought you were an alpha, but all I see now is a pussy. Wouldn’t fight me in the bar and won’t even fight me now.”
Tak’s blade was steeped in centuries of valor—a weapon forged for battle and passed down to great warriors. Dumont’s words didn’t loosen Tak’s grip on his weapon. No man with any honor would ask his enemy to give him a fair fight, and as Tak saw it, Dumont had the advantage of being a grizzly.
Flames licked the sky, growing taller and threatening the building as they painted black streaks against the wall. Local shopkeepers splashed buckets of water at the dumpster, attempting to contain the fire.
Dumont stripped off his shirt, his hairy chest the same color as his bear’s fur. He unlatched his belt and looped one end around his hand, eyes trained on Tak’s knife.
They circled each other, smoke whipping around and showering them with burning embers.
Tak lunged and swiped, his blade leaving an angry red slash across the Shifter’s chest.
Dumont swung his arm, and the leather snapped against Tak’s hand. Tak wrenched away when the belt came dangerously close to ensnaring his wrist.
A gust of wind tunneled through the alley, the smoke stinging his eyes. He didn’t like how the alley boxed them in like two animals caught in a pit.
Body language revealed intent, so Tak focused on every subtle shift of Dumont’s eyes, the position of his feet, and the angle of his stance. When the belt lashed him again, he seized it and gave it a hard jerk, pulling Dumont toward him. Knife in hand, Tak aimed for the heart. But before the blade found its home, the Shifter pivoted away.
Dumont circled behind him like a tornado. Tak dropped to one knee and twisted around, making a downward swing with his weapon. The knife plunged into Dumont’s leg, but not deep enough to bury the reverse hook, which would have ripped out arteries and flesh. The Shifter jumped back, agony splintering his expression as blood poured from the open wound.
Tak rose to his feet, and their bodies moved like an artistry of war. The furry bastard parried each attack with a blow until he knocked the knife from Tak’s hand, the metal skidding across the pavement.
“Tak!” Hope screamed.
