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The Sparkle Hollow pack was on the move again. For the third time this month, a transport was heading between their sleepy little town and the reclusive Moonstone pack. It was suspicious behavior, and I was determined to get to the bottom of it. Which was why I found myself sitting in a dark sedan with the other alphas of the Dark Alpha group in the dead of night.

“It still doesn’t make sense,” Julian said. “They don’t even have an active alliance. What can they possibly be sending to each other? And why so frequently? And in secret?”

“If I knew the answers to your questions, we wouldn’t be doing surveillance out here, would we, Wentworth?” I sighed in displeasure at Alpha Julian Wentworth’s verbal barrage. We had been watching the road for hours now, and hardly a moment had passed when it was quiet. “Just focus, okay? If our scout’s information is right, they should be heading through here any minute.”

Julian opened his mouth to say something else, but with a glance from Alpha Axel Vitali, he seemed to change his mind. Of all the alphas in our uneasy coalition, Axel was the one I felt the most kinship with. I rolled my eyes in the rearview mirror and saw him muffle a laugh behind his hand. Julian had been irritating to all of us from the get-go, but he was still a part of the group.

In lieu of speaking, the young alpha began to drum his fingers on the car door. I pinched the bridge of my nose in irritation and reminded myself that we were on the same side here. As much as his quirks irritated me, the services of the Dark Alpha group were necessary.

I had only been a member of the group for a few months. I had Franco Stone to thank for that. The presence of his violent, cursed pack had caused too many problems that I couldn’t ignore. Alpha Franco had assured me that their presence near our town wouldn’t cause me any problems, but I didn’t trust him—especially after he tried to erase his wrongdoings by rebranding the Forsaken Shadows pack as the Redeeming Light pack.

I scoffed at the memory of receiving his invitation to “celebrate” with him and their allies. Having a strong pack like Sparkle Hollow at my doorstep had hardly been grounds for jubilation. Especially considering my history with them. I couldn’t take that risk without having some serious firepower behind me.

Which is where the Dark Alphas came in. It had been Axel who initially approached me and offered his pack’s services to keep my pack and lands safe from interference. They had even gone so far as to help me expand my territory somewhat. It wasn’t an alliance, necessarily. Each of us knew that the ties that bound us together were weak. But at least for now, it was in my pack’s best interests to keep them intact.

“You sure you want to interrupt whatever this shipment is?” Julian interjected.

“Yes,” I replied simply.

Sooner or later, Sparkle Hollow would know about me. It was of paramount importance for that to happen on my own terms. What I needed was to get as much leverage as possible first. Intercepting this transport was the first step in seeing what exactly we were up against.

“I see headlights,” Axel said. “Let’s go.”

We got out of the car quietly, signaling to our companions to get out of their vehicles as well. All six alphas were present tonight, as well as a dozen of our strongest shifters.

“You remember what we discussed,” I reminded the other alphas as we watched two pairs of headlights come ever closer to our concealed position.

“Kaleb will pretend to be injured on the road. As soon as they stop, the rest of us will jump into action. If we’re quick, we should have control of the vehicles in less than a minute from when they engage their brakes,” Axel recited.

“Just remember—we don’t want to incur the wrath of Sparkle Hollow just yet,” I said. “So if any of them are a member of Lex’s pack, leave them alive.”

“Yeah, yeah, we got it, Alpha Goody-Two-Shoes,” Alpha Gage said derisively. “But as long as they’re not from Sparkle Hollow, they’re fair game. I’ve been itching for a chance to wet my teeth on some shifters.”

“Didn’t you just do that this morning?” Kaleb asked. He had positioned himself in the road and sat down, taking a position of helplessness as he grabbed his leg in a feigned injury.

Gage grinned in a wide, manic smile. “Yeah, but that was hours ago.”

I gritted my teeth and held back a retort. Killing pawns in the larger game of enhancing our packs’ territories was no issue for me. What I did take issue with was the joyous tone Gage Desmond always used when he talked about murder.

We take the good with the bad, my wolf pointed out. Focus. We need to stop this transport.

You’re right, Orin.

The headlights from the lead car flashed across Kaleb, and a loud screech met our ears as they engaged their brakes. The silver four-door came to a stop about ten feet from him, and the matching cargo van behind it swerved to the side to avoid rear-ending the rest of their contingent. The driver’s side windows of both vehicles rolled down as the dust from their abrupt stop settled.

“You alright, man?” a voice called from the car’s open window.

“Nah, I think my leg is broken,” Kaleb said, pointing at it. “I’ve been waiting for over an hour, and you’re the first person to come by. Think you can give me a hand?”

The sound of car doors unlocking was immediately followed by growls and roars as we all converged on their location with our fangs bared. Within seconds, the four men had been completely decimated.

“Come on, that one was mine!” Gage whined, pointing at the dead shifter by Kaleb’s feet.

“You snooze, you lose,” he quipped back, wiping blood from his palms.

I ignored them and headed to the back of the cargo van with Axel. This was why we were here—for the shipment. Violence was merely a means to an end for me.

Axel arrived at the doors first and yanked them open. “Well, well, well,” he said with a smile. “What have we here?”

At first, I thought he was impressed by whatever Sparkle Hollow had been shipping back from the Moonstone pack. But then I heard a female voice shouting at him.

“Stay back!” she yelled. I could hear panic in her voice alongside an obvious strength and determination. Whatever she was guarding, it was obviously worth her giving her life for it.

Fuck. It’s about to get way too messy for my taste, I complained to Orin.

He was silent, but I sensed he agreed with my assessment of the situation. So far, only Axel and I knew she was here, but there was no telling how long it would take for Gage and the other alphas to realize things hadn’t gone entirely to plan. It was best to make her death an easy one, rather than allow them to prolong her suffering.

“I got this one, Axel,” I murmured as I came around the open door of the van.

But when I peered inside the open compartment, I saw the last face I ever expected to see.

“Christa?” I asked in disbelief.

“You know her?” Axel asked suspiciously.

“She’s… I didn’t think… Christa,” I repeated with a stutter. “She’s from Sparkle Hollow.”

I had no idea how to explain to the other Dark Alphas what my connection to this woman was—Christa Lionel, my ex-girlfriend. The woman I had left behind long ago. Her ashy blond hair and gray eyes were unmistakable, even in the darkness. She was exactly the same as I remembered her.

It had been over ten years since I had seen her, but here she was. In our territory. Transporting goods between our enemies.

And cowering behind her was a smaller female. A child, with the same blond hair as her mother.