Page 74 of Bad Blood Bear

But Brother Damien was not defeated yet.

Ropes of crimson magic seized her from behind, like vines of fire strangling her. Lissa shrank down to human form, trying to get away from it, but the coils shrank with her, red as flame against her skin, burning everywhere they touched. She screamed.

Jasmin, Xander and Sloan were fighting the men from the People of Ursus, all of them Changed into their animal forms. Several bears lay on the ground, bleeding and roaring, hamstrung and crippled by the claws of the three cats.

They were still trying not to kill.

Flynn’s voice thundered through the clearing. “By my power as alpha, I command that all outsiders leave this territory!” He dropped to one knee and slammed his fist into the earth.

His words shook Lissa to her very soul. A shock wave blasted through the clearing, knocking Damien’s remaining bears off their feet. The Bad Blood Crew seemed unaffected, except for Lissa, still containing some of Brother Damien’s magic. She stumbled and lost her footing.

She felt a jerk on her bindings, and she was pulled against Brother Damien’s hard body. “Half his, half mine,” he said. “Who will win? Or shall we pull you to pieces between us?”

“Leave this territory!” Flynn shouted again.

The bears started to slide along the ground, toward the wall of blue fire that marked the territory boundary. Brother Damien was trying to go too, but Lissa was fighting him, fighting to stay with her crew, inside the territory where she would be safe.

Tank was crawling toward her, but he was so weak, and he couldn’t move fast enough. He desperately tried to get to his feet, but his limbs wouldn’t obey him.

Sloan, Xander and Jasmin ran to circle her, trying to get between her and the border. Xander leaped at Brother Damien, and he surrounded himself and Lissa in crimson magic that burned. Xander fell back, yowling, and the smell of singed fur filled the air.

Lissa could see a network of faint blue lights connecting the crew, all leading back to Flynn. The lights pulsed as her crew tried to fight Brother Damien’s magic with the strength of their bond.

The bears were starting to stir once more. Flynn looked from them to Lissa, and his face went grim.

“Leave this land!” he called a third time, slamming his hand into the ground once more.

Lissa dug in her heels. The other bears flew outside of the boundary, landed, and didn’t get up. Lissa felt herself and Brother Damien sliding toward the border, and her guts felt ripped in two as Flynn and the others pulled her back.

They were almost at the border, and if Damien broke her bond with Flynn and the Bad Bloods and took her out under his control, Lissa knew she would be his for good.

She saw the same realization in Tank’s eyes. He was still trying to struggle to his feet, but he couldn’t. She could see the defeat in his eyes, his soul breaking apart, knowing that once again, he couldn’t save his mate.

The cats were leaping at them, burning themselves, but they couldn’t get through Brother Damien’s magic. Flynn was putting everything he had into fighting Brother Damien’s bond with Lissa. She tried to fight too, but her head was splitting apart, and blackness was coming on.

Tank! She yelled through her bond. Hulk Bear! SAVE ME!

Slowly, slowly, Tank lifted his head. Lissa could see the blue wall of magic, inches behind Brother Damien. With the last of her strength, Lissa braced her legs, pulling Brother Damien to a halt.

With a mighty roar, Tank rose to his hands and knees, and called out his bear.