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Time silenced and she heard the exact moment his scream cut off. Life flashed before her eyes. Childhood. Joy. Sorrow. Grief. Pain. Longing. Loss. Escape. Her son. Love. Juniper.

She jerked her son’s hand away from her eyes as Cerberus’s body collapsed, his head rolling toward her, his eyes blindly staring.

The furred creature landed in a hunched pose, his body that of a man, but his back and shoulders heaving under ropes of muscles and sinew where pelts of hair grew. A low growl purred through the cave as he turned his green eyes on Adriel.

Cerberus’s fingers twitched, and the warrior spun, punching his clawed fist through Cerberus’s chest and ripping out his black heart. Adriel flinched and screamed, as did Gracie. The creature, unbothered by his display of savagery, tossed the heart into the flames where it sizzled.

Juniper lifted a trembling hand and pointed a finger at Cerberus’s headless body. “In…s-s-sig….nia.”A blaze lit the cave, engulfing the corpse.

The green-eyed creature reached for the head, grabbed it by the hair, then lobbed it into the fire beside the burning heart. He turned,towering over them as he growled and flashed a mouthful of fangs that were unmistakably canine.

“I wish you no harm,” he said in a thickly accented voice with a Nordic lilt. Holding up his palms, he displayed dark pads beneath tufts of fur, then his claws retracted and his flesh lightened from dark grey to tan. He glanced back at the burning body and to Adriel. “That thing was adraugr.”

Weary and depleted, the last of her strength gave out. Juniper dragged herself closer, her fingers weakly stretching toward Adriel’s. Dane coughed, and Adriel’s father grunted as he tried to crawl to them.

The beastly warrior growled and stepped between them, withdrawing a vicious dagger. “Do not come any closer to my mate.”

Mate?

Adriel looked up at him in horror. His was neither wolf nor man. He had no mate here.

“They need…blood.” Her father swayed to his side, hardly able to crawl.

The armed wolf warrior growled, aiming his blade at the males. “Move any closer to her, and I’ll end you.”

“There must be some mistake?—”

“There’s no mistake. I’ll collect my mate. Then, you may carry on as you wish.”

Cold dread settled in Adriel’s stomach as she turned her sorrowful gaze to the others. There was no joy in this moment. Only desolation,shock, and a sense of permanence that could not be undone.

As she looked at Juniper, her heart drowned in empathy. But the warrior spoke with absolute certainty. There had been no mistake. He was not here to fight. Only to claim what was irrevocably his.

CHAPTER 35

Pain radiated from Dane’s skull through his spine when he coughed, blood spilling from the deep grooves scored across his chest as his throat pulsed and burned. His eyes could hardly open. Fear sparred with feebleness as a blade angled toward him in the misshapen hand of the stranger glaring possessively at Gracie.

Lazarus lurched closer only to still when threatened by the heavily armed man. “Move any closer to her, and I’ll end you.”

Lazarus stilled his intent to offer Dane his vein. “There must be some mistake?—”

“There is no mistake. I’ll collect my mate. Then, you may carry on as you wish.”

Dane’s blood chilled to ice. The gash at the back of his head was deep and in need of attention. Words were jumbled, and he must have misunderstood what was being said.

Lashes heavy with blood, he scanned the cave. Juniper lay in a puddle of carnage on the floor. Adriel panted in a heap only a few feet away, her arm outstretched to reach her. Lazarus huddled before him, and Gracie stood between him and this dog-like creature.

What are you doing here, Grace?

Fury bubbled up inside of him, but a brutal cough seized his lungs the moment he tried to speak. Gracie stood in front of the man as he bared a wicked blade, her shoulders heaving as she caught her breath and stared at the dagger.

Gracie!Dane couldn’t get into her head.

Her dress was covered in blood. Was she hurt?

“Grace…” Dane sputtered through the gurgling coughs choking him. His damp shirt clung to his body, soaked through with his own sweat and blood. Weakness slowed him as much as pain, but he had to pull her back. “Gracie.”

A growl snapped from the man’s throat as his glowing green stare locked with Dane’s.