Fear finally punched through the fog still clinging to her head. Her ears rang. Heat flooded her face.
“Merritt,” Luca said hoarsely. “This is a mistake. It’s bad for the Slate Pack and it’s bad for the Ravencalls. We had a plan.”
“I changed it.” Merritt leaned in closer to her. “Your sister and father. Dead or alive?”
Nadia couldn’t breathe. She had one hand free. “You’re full of shit. Where are they right now?”
His hand slid up her calf. The touch was wrong.
Her gaze dropped just enough to see that the knife strapped to his thigh sat loose in its sheath. Poorly secured. Arrogant. He’d assumed she was helpless.
“Philip’s on a cruise,” he said. “Emily’s in Granite territory. I’ve got snipers on both. So choose carefully.”
Her stomach went cold. “If anything happens to my sister,” Nadia said softly, “Jackson Tryne will tear you apart inch by inch.”
Merritt smiled, one jagged canine flashing in the firelight. “If my sniper takes Emily, he takes Jackson too. I’m not stupid.” His hand pressed harder into her knee.
Panic roared through her body. He knew exactly where Emily and Philip were. Did he really have snipers on them? She turned her head and sneezed hard.
Merritt leaned back a fraction. Just enough.
She lunged, wrenching the knife free from his sheath and driving it into his ribs in one brutal motion. The blade sank deep. Hot blood spilled over her fingers.
Merritt snarled, the sound tearing from his throat as he staggered backward and crashed into the fire. Flames roared upward, sparks shooting into the air. Then he shrieked.
Nadia didn’t wait.
She sliced through the rope on her left wrist too fast, too deep. Pain crackled as the blade cut into her skin, and warm blood spilled over her fingers. She bit back a cry as Merritt howled.
The other two males dragged him out of the fire, slapping at the flames.
She slashed through the ropes at her ankles, freeing her boots, and scrambled toward Luca. She was behind him in seconds, sawing through his restraints just as Merritt lunged for her.
A massive black wolf exploded out of the trees.
Caidrik!
He hit Merritt mid-shift, the impact sounding like bone on bone. The Alpha’s roar ripped through the clearing, primal and furious, shaking snow from the branches overhead. They rolled together across the frozen ground, claws and fists and teeth flashing in the firelight.
Nadia was thrown aside by a shockwave of power when Merritt shifted fully.
The other two males shifted and attacked Luca.
Nadia tumbled across the snow, breath knocked from her lungs, rolling dangerously close to the fire.
A smaller wolf darted between her and the flames, skidding sideways and slamming its body into hers. It grabbed her arm gently but firmly and dragged her back.
“Taryn?” Nadia gasped.
Taryn nodded once, eyes blazing, then turned and launched herself at the wolves attacking Luca. They collided in a snarl of teeth and fur, bodies crashing into the snow as Luca finally freed his feet and joined the fight, still in human form.
Nadia tried to shift.
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
