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“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I screamed. I thrashed in my captor’s grip again, but it was like trying to bend iron.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Sean asked. “I’m claiming my heir.”

“Mom!” Dylan cried out. “Mom—mmph!” His words were silenced by the man’s hand slapping over his mouth.

Sean strolled over to Dylan and toyed with his blond hair. The sight made me nauseous. “Sometimes,” Sean said, “in this life, you have to simply take what’s yours. The Lakeview clan is mine. It was meant to be mine from the moment I was born. And I will no longer wait for it to be given back to me. You’ve given me the perfect opportunity, and I won’t let it pass me by.”

“My son is Stephan’s heir, not yours,” I snarled.

“That’s right,” Sean said with a smile. “When my dear brother Ace dies, your kid here becomes the alpha. But a nine-year-old can’t lead a clan, can he?”

The pieces clicked together in my head. “You’re crazy if you think that will work. You’re going to, what,brainwashhim?”

“I think it’ll work beautifully,” Sean said. “It’ll be easy, in fact. I’ll make Dylan hate Ace the way he should. The way I do. Then, when I kill Ace and make all this right, Dylan will simply hand over the pack to me. Ta-da.”

“Even if that worked,” I hissed, “which it won’t, Hawk would never let you get away with it.”

“You think a beta’s opinion matters in clan business? Don’t make me laugh. He can’t question the alpha. With Dylan under my control, and you out of the picture, Lakeview will finally be mine for the taking.”

He looked so fucking smug. It disgusted me, and it pissed me the hell off. He thought he could take my son away from me? And from his dad?

I was done being scared. This idiot had another thing coming.

I slammed my heel down hard on my captor’s foot. He shouted, and his hold loosened enough for me to jerk forward. I kicked my foot up and nailed him right in the balls, and that made him drop me with a howl of pain.Good.

Sean whirled toward me, eyes glowing with that dark, burnished gold. Rage pinched his features. I knew I couldn’t beat him.

But I could distract him.

I charged at Sean like a wild animal. My shoulder collided with his gut and he stumbled back in shock, then hit the ground hard.

“Bite him, Dylan!” I shouted.

Dylan’s eyes widened. Then his eyes glowed gold like his father’s, and he pulled his brows together. The man holding him screamed, and blood began to pour from his hand. He tried to pull his hand away, but Dylan’s sharp dragon fangs were embedded in the palm of his hand.

“Go, Dylan!” I lunged at Sean and slashed at his face with my nails.

Dylan shoved his captor away. The man moaned in pain, grimacing at his mauled hand.

“Mom!” Dylan shouted.

“Shift!” I cried out. I struggled forward and managed to pin Sean to the ground, but I wouldn’t be able to keep him there long. “Shift, now! Get out of here! Find Steph!”

“You’re going to pay for this,” Sean hissed. He caught my wrist in his hand and wrenched me to the ground.

“Now!” I screamed. “Go!”

Dylan stumbled backward. He eyes darted from me, to Sean, to the two men who were recovering from their wounds and turning toward him. “I’ll get help,” he said. “I promise!”

Then, with an exhale, he shifted. It wasn’t as smooth as Stephan’s shifts, but it wasn’t as rocky as his first. Green scales rippled over his skin, wings burst from his back, and he reared up onto his back legs, teeth bared and claws extended. The two men lurched backward, surprised. Dylan beat his wings and took off into the sky, lingering for a moment overhead before flying higher.

Sean’s claws extended and dug into my wrist. Pinpricks of pain shot through me as he dragged me to the side and tossed me like a sack of potatoes onto the grass.

“Get him!” he shouted as his lackeys.

The guy I’d kicked in the balls bared his teeth at me, then shifted. His shift wasn’t elegant. It was slow and stuttering. When Stephan shifted, it was like watching a Ferrari turn on and start speeding off. This guy’s shift was more like watching a beat-up old Jeep rattle to life. With some creaking and cracking, he finally transformed into a bulky gray dragon. With a roar, he took off into the sky.

All I could was pray that Dylan was faster than him.