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I ducked as another wolf came at me from the left, its claws flashing. I barely had time to sidestep before I slammed the butt of my rifle into its snout, then turned and fired two rounds into its chest. It staggered, but it wasn’t dead yet.

I gritted my teeth, raising my weapon again, but before I could fire, Sorin was there, moving like a goddamn shadow, her knife slashing across the wolf’s throat.

Blood sprayed, and the wolf collapsed at my feet.

“You’re welcome,” she muttered, stepping past me.

I exhaled, the sound harsh in the quiet, flicking blood off my rifle. “Thanks.”

The battle raged on.

I fired at another wolf lunging toward one of our men, my shot hitting its shoulder. The bullet barely slowed it down, but Sorin was already moving, and finishing the job. Silas was tearing through another wolf, but I hardly had time to look before another wolf was on Sorin and me. We worked together to take it down, but I realized something in that moment: the tide was finally turning. The wolves that had attacked us were dying.

They knew it, too.

I caught a flash of movement, a group of them, the remaining survivors, breaking away from the fight, vanishing into the trees.

Cowards.

Silas snapped his head up, golden eyes locking onto the retreating figures. He let out a powerful howl, and his wolves responded immediately, a handful of them breaking off to give chase.

One of the wolves shifted back into his human form, breath ragged. “They’re fast,” he gritted out. “We might not catch them.”

I turned to Silas just as he shifted back, his transformation almost instant, his body twisting in the moonlight as he rose to his full height. He didn’t say a word at first, just watched the tree line, jaw tight, body rigid.

I already knew what he was thinking.

If those wolves got away, if they made it back to whoever the hell had sent them, then this wasn’t over.

Not by a long shot.

CHAPTER7

Silas

I stared into the trees long after the last of the wolves had vanished into the darkness. The blood in my veins still ran hot, my muscles coiled tight, my wolf pissed that we hadn’t torn them all apart.

Jax limped toward me, blood streaking down his arm, his breathing uneven. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

I drew in a breath, rolling my shoulders. “That she was followed?”

Jax nodded grimly. “Yeah. Doesn’t feel like a coincidence, does it? She shows up, and suddenly we’ve got an elite strike team crawling up our asses?”

My guts twisted. I hated that he was right.

“We’ll handle it later,” I muttered. “For now, I’ll deal with Lia myself.”

Jax’s brows lifted slightly, but he didn’t argue. “Good luck with that,” he muttered, rubbing the dried blood from his jaw. “She doesn’t seem like the ‘easily handled’ type.”

He wasn’t wrong, but I had my ways.

Unable to help myself, I smirked, remembering the way the sweet little vise of her pussy had clenched around my cock, milking me dry of every drop of cum. I couldn’t wait to have her flat on her back in my bed again when this was all over.

I turned toward the battlefield, scanning for her.

Sorin and Lia stood near one of the burning wrecks of a supply cart, the fire casting stuttering light over them. Sorin still looked calm and alert, always calculating. But Lia…

Lia lookedtired.