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EMME

T he roar of the engine was loud, but it didn’t drown out the sound of my own thundering heartbeat.

There was no sign of Slade’s dragon in the air, which hopefully meant this wasn’t a worst-case-scenario situation.

The discomfort through the bond was mild, but I couldn’t stop rubbing my hand over my bites as I silently urged Finley to hurry.

Even though he was already foot to the floor.

Further along the street, shifters came into view, gathered in a huge group. Finley hit the button to open his window, and his scowl deepened as he sniffed the air. “You’re right, it’s magic,” he bit out. “Fuck.”

My wolf lurched forward, but I managed to block her before she forced a shift. In her form, I was better at fighting and had some resistance to magic, but I didn’t want to change yet.

Not until we assessed the situation. Though I did wish I had a weapon.

“I need my blades,” I said, hands flexing in my lap. “I know I’m still learning, but they’re infused with metals and stones that help deflect magic.”

“There’s no time,” Finley said shortly. “If Slade’s dragon isn’t loose, then they’re holding them with a spell. We have to get to our pack.”

He slammed on the brakes when we were a dozen feet from the motionless group of shifters, most of whom had their backs to us. We were out of the car in seconds, and while there were at least thirty shifters in my line of sight, I couldn’t see my pack.

But I felt them out there.

With a growl, Finley shifted into his bear, the force of the change shredding through the clean jeans he’d just put on. I waited for him to approach, and when he was at my side, his bear paw wrapped around my shoulders.

“I won’t run off,” I promised, easily understanding his beast. “Let’s find our guys.”

We set off toward the main group, who remained stationary, and I didn’t need that roiling stink of sulfur in the air to tell me magic was involved.

I could feel it in the churning of my gut.

My body and wolf were sensitive to magic, and it only grew stronger with each day I spent in the cities. And each alpha I bonded.

Maybe it was a normal part of being in a quintet, and if we all lived through this, I’d ask one of my alphas. No. Not if. When we lived through this, because any other option was unacceptable.

Sliding through the gaps in the crowd, I noticed a few familiar faces including Kellan’s brothers, and Kassidy. My panic spiraled when I spotted children too. If any of those precious little ones got hurt… No. They weren’t after the kids. Everyone here would be okay; I’d make sure of it.

Finley’s growl stole my attention, and I focused on what had drawn his wrath. “Is that fucking Sorenson?” I snapped, familiar orange hair coming into view.

Along with the rest of our pack.

The tiger shifter was an entitled alpha, but he had nothing on even the weakest alpha of the Reeves pack. Yet here he stood, holding all of them in stasis.

Including Slade, who was the only one bound by a shimmering silver rope, wrapped from his throat down to his ankles. As he struggled, burn marks shone on his skin under the bindings. Whatever was in those ropes was both painful and debilitating.

As my gaze ran across my pack, I finally understood why I’d gotten a sense of discomfort but not injury through my bonds. They were being held, and fighting the spell, but except for Slade, none of them looked injured.

Sorenson, who’d been pacing back and forth and ranting at Hunter, took a few seconds to notice we were here.

At his growl, Finley took off at a speed no normal bear could achieve, and the tiger shifter turned quick enough to flick a small glass vial at the bear’s feet.

When it cracked, a spell rose and coated Finley’s fur.

In his bear form, he held some resistance to the magic, which slowed him, but he managed to make it a few more feet to slam against Sorenson, knocking them both down.

Sorenson cursed, and his expression turned thunderous. From where I stood, he didn’t look well, with haggard features and dark rings under his eyes. He was weakened too, trying to shove the bear off, but not moving him at all.

His fury blasted in a surge of heat as he shouted, “You’re going to die, Finley.”

Finley remained limp, and the irony was that it was Sorenson’s spell holding him as a dead weight on top of the tiger shifter.

Sorenson continued to shout. “The witch will be back in seconds, once she’s obtained her leverage. I just need you to give them to me, or they’ll kill my whole pack!”

He roared and wiggled, but the giant bear was too heavy.

Meanwhile, I was fighting the sort of rage I’d never experienced before. How. Fucking. Dare this piece of shit put my entire pack in danger again to protect his weak bitch of a mate. Stepping into the open, I strode right over and booted him in the side of the head.

“You have two seconds to tell me what you want,” I snarled, “or I’m shifting and ripping your throat out.”

His expression didn’t calm, but he stopped struggling as he stared up at me.

“You,” he finally choked out. “You’re the one I need.

You and the dragon. Alpha Fletcher has Chelsea and the rest of our pack in his compound, and he’s…

experimenting on them. I struck a deal that if I return with you both, he’d let us go.

He knows I can get in and out of this city without detection, and decided it was worth it to get you back. I’m sorry, but I had no choice!”

“Who is the witch?” I asked, trying not to let my panic show that one of those evil bitches was somewhere in this city, getting leverage . “How did she get in undetected?”

His eyes bored into me as his lips curved into a mocking smile. “Yeah, you’ll find out soon enough. I’m not going to be the one to spoil the surprise and get myself killed via magic. I’m just trying to survive. Trying to ensure my pack survives.”

Crouching down near his side, I let my voice lower until the true fury in my soul spilled out.

“There’s no surviving for you or your pack,” I whispered, the even-tempered part of my omega essence long gone.

Fuck with my pack and I would channel the goddess herself to take you down.

“Chelsea signed her death warrant the second she used me to keep herself safe. It’s not my fault she expected the devil she bargained with to honor their deal. There’s no help for her… or for you.”

A scuffing behind us had me turning to see Hunter fighting the magic, his face bright red as his eyes glowed gold. He opened his mouth, and I swore I heard, “Kill him.”

Sorenson confirmed it when he let out a mournful, purring sound. “You can’t mean that, Hunt. We’ve been friends since we were young.”

Hunter’s face only grew darker, and redder, as he fought the hold.

I found myself rising and hurrying toward him.

When I touched his chest, a sticky residue clung to my hand as the magic coated him like slime.

To contain this many powerful alphas took strong magic, and I wondered if we were about to meet one of these ancient Termaine witches?

“Kill him,” Hunter managed to rasp again, louder this time.

Slade’s roar filled the air and he burst free from the ropes binding him. A piece of the magical debris hit me, and I flinched at the burn. Slade had been enduring that pain… Now I really was going to follow Hunter’s command and kill Sorenson.

As the dragon tilted his head back and roared to the sky again, the burns were already healing. With a flash in his glowing green eyes, he strode forward and rolled Finley off Sorenson. He wrapped his hand around the traitor’s throat and lifted him from the ground.

“How dare you threaten us,” Slade thundered, his voice guttural and brimming with his dragon’s rage. “Say your goodbyes, tiger.”

Sorenson couldn’t say anything as his eyes bulged, and with another squeeze of his hand, Slade crushed the shifter’s throat.

He didn’t stop there either, lifting his other hand to palm the tiger’s face.

With a sickening crack, he ripped Sorenson’s head right off, not letting go until the jerking of the tiger’s limbs ceased.

Feeling satisfied but slightly ill by the graphic death, I faced Hunter, unsure how he’d take the death of his friend once it was too late to go back. He’d told us all that they would die for what they did, but it might have only been his anger talking.

I hoped he didn’t regret the decision now. Not that anything would have stopped Slade in that rage-filled moment.

Hunter’s expression remained cold and indifferent, and when he finally burst through the spell, he scooped me into his arms and held on protectively. “Baby,” he growled, “are you okay?”

Tilting my head to examine him, I was relieved to find none of that sticky magic on his skin any longer. “Of course I am. I didn’t even get touched. Are you okay?”

He buried his face against my neck. “Yeah, I am now.”

Slade dropped the tiger’s body and head, which rolled a few feet away to sit there like a macabre trophy. “Will that kill the rest of his pack?” I asked, unsure how it all worked for semi-complete quintets.

Hunter’s shoulders lifted in a brief shrug. “It’s different for every pack. It depends on who the heart is, who holds the strongest bonds, and how weak their beasts are. I personally hope they’re all gone now. It’ll save us tracking their disloyal asses down later.”

Slade strode over to us, wiping his hands down his black pants, which only removed a fraction of the blood coating the dragon. He examined me as closely as Hunter had, and appeared satisfied that I was okay. “What happened?” I asked them. “How did Sorenson even get in here?”

“He called for a meeting,” Slade said shortly, “then ambushed us with magic. There was no sign of the witch when he entered, and no unauthorized magic came into this city. I still can’t feel them.”

Hunter growled, and his hold briefly tightened on me. “So, how the fuck did they do this?”

Slade’s lips thinned, and it was clear that he not only didn’t know, but he was pissed about it.

As I peered around Hunter to check on Kellan and Finley, who were starting to stir also, there was a surge of magic in the street once more.

Slade’s eyebrows drew together as he glanced above the heads. “Jewels,” he murmured. “She must have felt the spell?—”

He broke off, and I wondered if we were all struck by the same thought. Jewels was in the city, but hadn’t come until the attack was over.

“What if the witch helping is Jewels,” I bit out. “That might be how they made it into the city without any detection. You all consider her an ally, and she’s in and out of this fucking place like she owns it.”

Hunter opened his mouth as if to deny the possibility, but he couldn’t voice the words. If there was any witch in the world he trusted, it was Jewels. Well, as much as one could trust a witch.

“I always wondered why she put up with our shit for years,” Slade rumbled. “But I could never find anything damning on her. If she’s a traitor, she played her game well.”

Too fucking well.

Jewels strode into the crowd, using magic to drag a shifter along beside her, while keeping one hand wrapped around her captive’s throat. A captive I knew very well: Cora.

My lungs seized as I frantically examined my friend, only breathing again when I noticed the small rise and fall of her chest.

Hunter stepped forward, angling himself to hide me from witch view. Slade did the same, and I felt the rise of their beasts. “What are you doing, Jewels?” our entitled alpha called, his voice carefully modulated.

From the sliver of view left to me, she didn’t look very happy.

“Fletcher made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

I’m sorry, but if I had to choose between a future where magic rules or one where shifters use and abuse our power, then I know where my loyalty lies.

” She met my gaze from where I peeped between the alphas.

“Just hand the dragon and the omega over. She never deserved you anyway.”

“Not a chance,” Slade said, casually. As if he wasn’t concerned at all. “You’ll have to kill all of us first, and we won’t go down easy.”

No! I would throw myself at Jewels in a heartbeat before I let any of them get hurt. We all just needed to live to fight another day.

Jewels’ faked sadness morphed slowly into annoyance. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, dragon. I have the power to kill you. I mean, how do you think I managed to keep you all in stasis like this? Hmmmm.” She tapped her chin. “It might be thanks to that energy I took from you four.”

Slade slammed his hand against his chest. “It returned to us. I felt it.”

Her snort was a tad deranged. “You felt the touch of energy as I pretended to slip it back, but you were too distracted to realize I never truly returned anything. You’re too freaking powerful to notice the small loss, but for me it was immensely useful.

It also allowed me to cater my spells specifically for you all.

It was clever of me to enhance that spell on Kellan until he was too weak for any other option than you all to consider sharing your strength.

It worked out even better than I planned, except I hoped he would die.

Little shit.” She did a fake bow, as if we’d given her a round of applause, and my heart lodged in my throat as my gaze shot to Kellan, who was glaring and moving his arms, though the rest of him remained locked in place.

“The cost of doing business, I’m afraid,” Jewels continued.

Hunter’s fury sent heat pouring from him, scorching my face, and he kept shuffling back to get us further away. He probably thought I was about to sacrifice myself to save Cora and my alphas.

Most likely he was right.

She was my best friend, and they were my heart—no one was fucking dying for me today.

If Fletcher wanted me this badly, then he’d get me.

I had too much to lose.