Steiner loomed close, face inches from mine. “Last chance. Tell me where your boyfriend is, and I’ll make this quick. Lie to me, and I start breaking bones.”
I spat in his face. “You’re gonna die today.”
He backhanded me again, harder; the ring rattled my teeth. I tasted air and blood, and this time I fell.
He let me hit the floor, then planted a boot on my spine. The heel ground between my ribs, steady pressure at first, then more and more until something gave with a sickening crack. I screamed; couldn’t help it, and the sound echoed off the metal walls.
Brie screamed too, shrill and desperate, her hands gripping the bars of the cell.
Steiner leaned down, whispering in my ear. “That’s one. Only twenty-three more to go. He kicked me, lifting me from the ground.” This was it; he was actually going to kill me this time.
Through the pain, I scanned for weapons, anything—a pipe, a shard of glass, a loose bar. There was nothing, but I locked onto a hunk of steel pipe sticking out from under the mat. If I could reach it…
The guards threw me against the bars, the pain in my side white-hot. I gritted my teeth, forced my vision to clear.
Steiner stared down at the two other women. “This is what happens to heroes.”
The women pleaded, but he just motioned to the guards, who pulled them from the cell. I saw the dark-haired woman mouth “I’m sorry” before they dragged her out.
Steiner was back in my face as his hand clasped my throat. “I was good to you, Harper. Gave you everything.” He growled. “And you repaid me by running. I’m going to enjoy punishing you. You think taking Maltraz’s demon dick was bad? Just wait. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” His fist landed under my ribs over and over. Pain exploded. I struggled for breath from his large hand choking the life from me, and the relentless blows to my gut; had me start to lose consciousness.
One of his men called out. “Boss, we got trouble.”
He released my throat, and I fell to the ground, but he kept his foot on my back.
I coughed, blood spattering the floor.
He leaned down to me and laughed. “Don’t get your hopes up, slave. Your boyfriend is probably already dead. The French wolves will never let a foreign pack disrupt their territory. My guess is they already took him out.”
All at once, the front doors of the warehouse banged open so hard they shuddered on their hinges. For one perfect instant, every wolf in the place froze, then broke for cover as a shape in black tactical gear strode into the light. Arsenal. He looked like a nightmare out of an action movie, every line of his body rigid with intent. Doc had his six, looking just as deadly.
Every cell in my body came awake at once. The bond between Jess and me lit up, urgent and wild, like a wire sparking in water. But I couldn’t move—Steiner had his boot on my back, pinning me down with enough force to keep me from evenraising my head. Brie cowered in the cell, shaking so bad I thought she might seize.
Steiner didn’t even flinch. He watched Arsenal approach, the smirk back on his face. “You came,” he said, voice flat with glee. “I knew you couldn’t stay away.”
Arsenal’s gaze was all murder. “Let them go,” he said, and his voice was so cold it seemed to freeze the air between them.
Steiner shook his head. “I just took back what already belonged to me, mutt.”
He planted his foot harder on my ribs, making me gasp. “You want her, you come and get her.”
Arsenal didn’t hesitate. He moved forward, gun up, and at the same moment, all hell broke loose.
From the back of the warehouse, the door crashed open and Wrecker with the French wolves—Marcel and Etienne—stormed in, guns blazing. Wolves fell everywhere, some dropping immediately, others shifting mid-run, teeth and claws flashing in the gunpowder haze. Overhead, the skylight exploded, and a member of the French team dropped through in a rain of glass, landing with a shotgun already up and firing.
The guards by the cell scattered, but Steiner kept his weight on me. Through the chaos, I heard him laughing. “This is your cavalry, Harper? I’m disappointed.”
I twisted, desperate for leverage. The pipe was still just out of reach, and my left arm hurt but had already started healing thanks to my wolf blood heightened by the proximity to my mate. Steiner had turned toward Jess, and that gave me wiggle room. I used every ounce of pain to drag myself closer.
Brie huddled against the bars, eyes shut tight. “Harper, please—” she whispered.
“Get down,” I told her, voice raw.
The shooting intensified. Wolves dropped left and right, the French team moving with the efficiency of men who’d donethis a hundred times. Marcel took a bullet in the arm but kept moving; Etienne knifed a wolf through the eye, then used the corpse as a shield while he reloaded.
For Doc to be a healer, his penchant for death was uncanny. He used the Glock in his hand as though it were an extension of his arm. He flew through the warehouse, dropping wolves as fast as he could shoot.
Parker took up position by the office stairs, picking off any wolf who tried to circle behind Arsenal. Wrecker made it to the catwalk above, then threw himself over the rail, landing on two wolves with enough force to shatter bone. I heard a neck snap; the sound crisp as a carrot.
