Blood.
And Violet’s name whispered like a warning in the scent trail.
“I’m here to surrender, not fight. Give me your word you won’t touch the human woman, and I give you mine that you can live.”
Every member of their pack stiffens.
A tremor ripples through the grass as my wolf shoves against my skin. My bones vibrate with the pressure. My vision tunnels. Heat races under my flesh.
Thorne feels it.
Talon feels it.
Every wolf in the circle feels it. Their hackles rise. Their growls die in their throats. Because this isn’t a threat. It’s a promise.
“You have our word,” Thorne declares, voice like iron dragged across stone. “Our beef is with you, not a defenseless human.”
If only they knew there is nothing defenseless about Violet.
“It’s time,” Talon roars. “Kill!” The executioners surround me, and I let them. They chain me again and I let them.
A distant roar of an engine, too big, too angry, too impossible for this quiet stretch of woods, suddenly breaks through the tension in the air.
Every wolf whips their head toward the ridge.
“The fuck?” Talon snarls.
The sound crescendos, like a beast made of metal and fury. Tires tear through mud and dead leaves. Something massive hits the hill.
A car.
A classic monster of steel and reinforced bumper and pure murderous horsepower flies over the ridge. Wolves scatter like startled birds. The car lands with a seismic crash, spraying dirt in every direction. And there, behind the wheel, an elderly woman that can only be… Meemaw?
Wild hair whipping like storm flags, jaw set in the grim determination of a woman who has seen the apocalypse and told it to shut up.
One hand is on the wheel, the other has a shotgun cocked and ready.
“Move, assholes!” she bellows. The pack recoils like she hit them with silver-infused water. And then, hanging out of the passenger window… Violet, brunette hair flying just as wild as Meemaw’s, expression furious and terrified and so heartbreakingly brave I feel something in my chest break.
What the hell is in her hands?
Barking sounds over the chaos. Buff. The crazy idiot. And Hattie sitting beside him, not looking at all surprised that she’s sitting next to a wolf. What in the hell is happening? A grin all but splits my face. My smile is short-lived as one by one the wolves turn. The alphas turn, shifting instantly, bones cracking, fur exploding outward. The two hulking monsters charge toward the vehicle.
A second blast echoes—buckshot peppering the air, ricocheting off trees in a spray of sparks.
The car slams down in a spray of mud and dead leaves, suspension screaming but holding because whatever this hell-beast of a vehicle is, it was built for violence.
Violet lifts the mystery object to her lips, and I can’t help but laugh. It’s a megaphone. “You furry little bastards picked the wrong family!”
The car skids sideways, forming a barrier between me and the alphas with a perfect, show-off drift.
I shift too, instinct blazing, fur ripping through skin, teeth baring. But an ungodly sound erupts through the clearing. A shriek. So loud wolves clamp their paws over their ears.
“Stop hurting my boyfriend, you soggy toilet rolls!”
Fuck, I love her.
Beau howls dramatically.
