Her?
“Camilla Hollis is out of my blood link range.” Liam’s voice was hard as bone. “Now, why would someone flee Beaver Creek in the middle of the night?”
I choked on my inhale as it hit me. Sputtering, I looked back toward Grant, caught him exchanging a look with his dad.
“Shekilled Lori?” I whispered.
Grant’s gaze slammed back into mine, fear sparking in his eyes.
The crowd began to whisper, heads swiveling, eyes rounding.
David snarled, “Here you go accusing my daughter! You really have it in for us Hollises, huh? What’ll we be guilty of next? That my son’s motorcycle crash wasn’t an accident but an attempt on Nicole Freemont’s life?”
All the soft tissue inside my body toughened. Not because I actually believed it was staged, but because it was such a hateful thing to say.
Liam stepped in front of me. “Leave Nikki out of this, or I’ll make sure the entire Hollis line dies out today.”
Grant’s face drained of color while David’s filled with it.
“What an Alpha you make; taking a whore’s word over—”
Nolan slammed his elbow against the man’s temple, then whispered something I didn’t hear but which made David’s eyes burn with more hatred.
My mother shoved her way to the front of the crowd, rounded on David, and punched him square in the nose. “How dare you, David. How fucking dare you.” She shook out her fist as blood dribbled down his lip and chin. “Rotten to the core.”
Then she stalked toward me but stopped halfway there and whirled around. “Oh, and, David, if Liam doesn’t kill you today, I will.”
Whoa.
She took my hand and pulled me toward the cabin. “They’ve got this handled. You don’t need to be here for the rest of this.”
A snarl rent the air, and then Lucas was lunging past me. I turned just in time to see David sinking his fangs into Nolan’s forearm. Blood splattered everywhere. Onto my stunned brother’s face. On the snow beneath their feet. Nolan paled and started to fall. Nate released David to catch Nolan. Amidst the chaos, Grant’s father shifted and then leaped past Lucas, shooting straight for Liam, bloodied fangs bared.
I screamed; Mom screamed, then released my hand and raced back toward Nolan while I stayed planted there, watching David’s lupine body bullet toward our Alpha.
Liam dropped onto all fours, his clothes ripping from the speed of his change. And then he lurched straight for Grant’s crazed father, slamming into him so hard they both went down and the very earth beneath my boots quivered. A soft whine rose, followed by the wet snap of a tendon or a vein or Lycaon only knew what Liam’s fangs had sectioned.
He released David’s neck, and the ash-brown wolf thudded onto the ground, blood oozing and steaming off the snow. I palmed my stomach, trying to keep its contents from fleeing my gaping mouth while Grant yowled and his catatonic mother dropped to her knees.
“Go.” Lucas stepped over to Nash, whose skin had gone as gray as Nolan’s, as though he were experiencing his twin’s pain on a physical level.
“Thank you,” Nash whispered, moving as soon as Lucas took ahold of Grant’s bicep.
Viscous blood trickled off Liam’s muzzle as he unhurriedly strolled over to Grant.If you don’t want to be next, tell me where your sister’s hiding.
“Fuck you, Kolane.” Grant’s green eyes shimmered. “You’re gonna kill me anyway.”
“He won’t. Not if you give up Camilla,” I found myself saying.
Liam eyed me, probably deeming me nuts to think he’d let Grant live, but didn’t contradict my claim.
“I’m not like you, Nik. I’d never betray someone I love.” My ex’s gaze draped over his father who was shifting back, a chunk of flesh dangling awkwardly from his throat. “I always thought it was a miracle you’d survived the crash, but now I see what Dad always saw. That it was a great, fucking misfortune.”
I gasped.
His body jerked, and sweat poured down his blond sideburns. “Yeah, well fuck you too, Kolane.”
Liam stared at my brother.
