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With the paper peeled back, Colin held the soup bone out to Titan. As expected, Titan stopped a foot shy of Colin’s outstretched hand. “Yum, yum. Lots of meat on this one. I picked it out, especially for you.”

Titan stilled and lowered his massive head. His upper lip curled, revealing powerful teeth, and a throaty growl rumbled deep in his chest. Spiked fur rose along his spine, like the dorsal fin on a circling shark.

Colin blanched and eased to his feet. “That’s…new.”

“Easy, boy,” Jericho ordered in a firm voice.

“What the hell is wrong with your hound? He suddenly become a vegetarian or something?” Colin frowned, sniffing the package in his hand.

“Dammed if I know,” Jericho replied. “I thought this thing between the two of you was just a game.” Except he’d come to trust the dog’s instincts. Was Titan picking up something he wasn’t?

He studied Colin’s restless posture, watching him shift from foot to foot. While Colin shifted, Titan’s silver eyes remained locked on the window behind Colin’s—

Gunfire shattered the quiet. Glass shattered.

Blood sprayed from Colin’s shoulder, the bullet’s impact hurling him to the floor while Titan bolted for parts unknown.

“Take cover,” Jericho roared, reaching for the 9mm concealed at his back.

At the window, a dark figure loomed.

Another gun blast.

Jericho dove, sliding on his stomach through broken glass. The front door exploded inward, kicked back on its hinges. Jericho rolled to his side and took aim.

Too late.

The male in the doorway leveled his rifle at Colin’s head.

“Drop the gun, or pretty boy here will be picking lead out of his teeth,” Adam sneered, his expression twisted with hatred.

Jericho lowered his gun. There were hundreds of ways he could eviscerate Slade’s former partner. All of them slow and painful. Unfortunately, the barrel aimed at Colin left him with limited options.

“Slide it to me,” Adam demanded.

Jericho shoved his 9mm across the glass-covered floor. Adam stopped its momentum with the toe of his grimy boot before kicking it out of his way.

Colin lay on his side before him, hand clutching his bloody shoulder.

“Now yours,” Adam said, waving the rifle in Colin’s face. Glaring, Colin reached for the gun at the small of his back and gave it a shove.

“Jericho!”Alex’s voice echoed in his mind. Through their mating bond, his Bride’s fear permeated his thoughts, rousing his darker instincts.

“Stay where you are.”He backed the command with a powerful compulsion.

Pain splintered his skull. His headstrong mate resisted his will.

“But I can hear him. He’s planning to kill us all. Let me help.”Alex’s need to protect matched his own. He’d never allow this male to harm her. One way or another, Adam would be dead before he set foot on those steps.

“Get dressed and stay in the room. If Adam so much as twitches his finger, Colin dies.”He sensed her uncertainty over whether she could control Adam. It was too great of a risk. If something were to go wrong, she’d never be able to live with herself. Neither would Jericho.

“Look who’s come for a visit. My favorite Boy Scout,” Colin taunted, lips pulled back in a pain-filled grin. “Seems we’ve uncovered the identity of our mole. How much is a soul worth these days, anyway? Bet Zion got yours pretty cheap.”

The rifle in Adam’s hands trembled. “Fuck you, Colin,” he snarled. Dark shadows circled his eyes. His usually immaculate fatigues were wrinkled and smudged with dirt.

“Wait. Don’t tell me.” Colin held up a blood-coated finger. “Next, you’ll say,Zion will lead us to enlightenment,” he intoned in a squeaky voice.

Adam’s nostrils flared. “You don’t know a damn thing. You and Jericho, you’re nothing but a couple of lap dogs blindly following your master’s orders. Your antiquated clan leader is part of a dying breed. You’re too stupid to see it.”