"Maeve!"
Cora's voice carried from behind her, but she barely registered it. Her vision edged with gold, her lioness demanding release, demandingblood.
"They marked your territory." Callum appeared in the doorway, Dante close behind him. Her cousin's blue eyes flashed amber with barely contained rage. "Hector's rogues. Has to be."
Dante's jaw clenched, a muscle ticking as he surveyed the destruction. "This was meant as a message."
"Message received." Her voice came out too calm, too controlled, the kind of quiet that preceded violence.
She stepped over broken glass, each crunch beneath her feet stoking the fire building in her chest. They'd poisoned her shipments, manipulated the Council, suspended her license. And now this. Now they'd violated the one place in Hollow Oak that washers.
"Maeve." Dante moved toward her, hands raised like he was approaching a cornered predator. Smart man. "We need to?—"
"They attacked my home." Gold bled into her vision further, her lioness clawing for dominance. "In the middle of my town. Where anyone could have been hurt."
"I know." His voice gentled. "But shifting here, now?—"
"Will show Hollow Oak exactly who they're dealing with." She met his amber gaze, let him see the predator rising in hers. "Hector wants to prove I can't hold what's mine? Fine. Let's prove him wrong."
The sound of multiple, heavy, deliberate footsteps echoed from the alley behind the tavern.
Her lionessroared.
"Maeve, wait—" Cora started, but she was already moving.
She burst through the back entrance into the alley, and there they were. Three massive lions, all male, all radiating the kind of arrogance that came from thinking numbers meant victory.The largest was a scarred beast with a notched ear. He bared his teeth in what might have been a grin.
"Little Maeve Cross." His voice rumbled, thick with mockery.
Magic rippled across her skin as she let the shift take her. Bones realigned, muscles reformed, and pure, primal power exploded through her body. Her clothes shredded as she transformed, and then she was all golden fur and lethal grace, smaller than these males but infinitely more dangerous.
The rogues charged and she met them.
The first lunged, jaws snapping for her throat. She twisted beneath him, raking her claws across his exposed belly. He howled, crashing into the snow. The second came from her left, trying to box her in, but she was smaller, quicker and knew these streets.
She knew every inch of this alley. They didn't.
She used their size against them, dancing between attacks, landing blow after blow. Blood stained the snow crimson and gold. Her lioness sang with the violence, with the rightness of defending what was theirs.
"Maeve!" Callum's roar cut through the chaos, but she didn't need his help.
The third rogue finally landed a hit, claws tearing through her shoulder. Pain blazed, sharp and immediate, but it only fueled her rage. She whirled, sinking her teeth into his foreleg until bone crunched. He released her with a shriek.
"Enough!"
The voice boomed across the alley. Elder Varric stepped into view. The Council Glade must have sensed the disturbance. Behind him, half the town had gathered, drawn by the sounds of battle.
The rogues hesitated, blood dripping from their wounds.
"You dare bring violence to Hollow Oak?" Varric's stormy eyes flashed with ancient power. "In direct violation of sanctuary law?"
Notched-ear shifted back to human form, gloriously unconcerned with his nudity or the gashes marking his torso. "We were defending ourselves. She attacked first."
"Bullshit." Twyla pushed through the crowd, her fae blood making her eyes glow with otherworldly light. "I saw the whole thing. They vandalized her tavern, then waited to ambush her."
"Is hat true?" Varric's gaze locked onto the rogue.
Before he could answer, Emmett appeared with Katniss at his side, both looking like they'd run from across town. The wolf shifter's stormy eyes swept the scene, taking in the destruction, the blood, Maeve's lioness form still bristling with aggression.
