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The sounds coming from outside the transport van were unmistakable. A fight had taken place, and I could only assume my traveling companions had been taken out by our attackers. If not, I doubted I would be in the precarious predicament that I now found myself in.

“Stay back!” I shouted at the shadowy figure blocking our only exit as I pulled my daughter behind me. I could feel Jenny’s body tense behind me in fear, and I promised myself that no matter what happened next, she would be safe. She had to be.

The look on the man’s face was hard to make out, but before I could come up with an escape plan, I heard another voice from out of sight.

“I got this one, Axel,” the man called.

Something about the tenor of his voice struck a familiar chord inside of me. It had been years since I had heard it. Almost a decade. But it was burned into my memories.

Those memories swirled inside of me as Colson Marsden came into view.

“Christa?”

His voice was both confused and hopeful as we locked eyes, staring each other down. His voice was the same, but his other features had seemed to harden with age. The youthful glow I had known before was gone, leaving behind a hard exterior. This was a man who had been through more than most. He held himself with an arrogance that I didn’t recognize. The only warmth left was found in his chocolate brown eyes, but I had never been one to make the same mistake twice.

I had trusted him before. Never again.

Of all the places we could have crossed paths, this was the last one I would have expected. No one was supposed to know about our mission to bring this shipment of security equipment back from the Moonstone pack. How had we been ambushed?

“You know her?” his companion asked questioningly.

“She’s… I didn’t think… Christa,” Colson stammered. The sound of my name on his lips was both jarring and familiar. “She’s from Sparkle Hollow.”

I couldn’t get a read on the dynamic between these men, but the mention of my pack brought me back to reality. This hit had been intentional—that much was clear. Somehow, I needed to convince Colson that he had made a mistake, and that he should let me and Jenny go free. Even if that meant giving up the shipment from our trade partners.

“Colson, tell them to step back. Just let us go, and you can have whatever you want from the van. Just let us go,” I entreated.

Another man had rounded the corner, and he let out a loud guffaw at my request.

“Let you go?” he laughed. “I don’t think so. Why don’t you come on out of there so we can get a good look at you?”

Jenny shrank further into the van at the dark undertones in the man’s mirthful laugh. If it weren’t for the fact that I needed to protect her, I would jump into action immediately, but I needed to think this through. So far, I had only seen these three men, but there must be more waiting outside. I couldn’t fight them all off by myself.

“Desmond, that’s enough,” Colson said to the man before turning his attention to me. “Christa, it’s okay to come out. They won’t hurt you.”

Desmond made a scoffing sound, but I could tell from the fire in Colson’s eyes that he was telling the truth. He wouldn’t allow his companions to harm me.

I reached behind me to grab Jenny’s hand and gave it a squeeze, pulling her along behind me as I stepped out of the van and onto the asphalt.

“You’re kidding, right, Colson?” the one named Desmond asked. “They can’t go free. We agreed beforehand—no witnesses.”

“We also agreed that we wouldn’t harm anyone from Sparkle Hollow,” Colson pointed out. “Unless you’re trying to start a war with the most powerful pack in the area—a pack with half a dozen allied packs—then these two are off-limits.”

Desmond growled in response but remained silent. As they argued, we were joined by more members of their group, all talking amongst themselves about their successful takedown and wondering what Jenny and I were doing there. From what I could see, I was dealing with at least ten attackers. There was no way I would be able to fight them all off, especially not while protecting Jenny. If it came down to it, I was going to have to give up my life to buy her enough time to escape.

From my position near the back of the van, I could see the bodies of all four of my traveling companions. They were in their human forms, so I knew they hadn’t even had time to transform when they left the vehicles—if they had even made it that far. I pulled Jenny close beside me and turned her so that she was facing away from the carnage. There was nothing I could do now to protect her from being in this situation, but I could minimize the damage. I cursed myself for bringing her along.

She’s too young for this , I thought wistfully. This was supposed to be a simple transportation job.

Nothing is simple anymore, my wolf, Cassia, reminded me . And we were younger than Jenny when we saw our first battle.

That was different. A different time.

Not so different, Cassia argued.

Looking again at the dead Moonstone wolves, I realized she was right. In spite of all the alliances Alpha Lex had made, our pack was still vulnerable.

The voices of the wolves around me became more animated, and my attention was drawn back to them and away from the death and carnage behind us.

“I’m telling you, we can’t let them go,” Desmond said animatedly. It looked as though he and Colson were in a standoff, both trying to get the rest of their group on their side. I still couldn’t tell if anyone was in charge or if they were all on equal footing. They carried themselves with the self-assurance of alphas, but none were taking command.

“Stop your posturing, both of you,” one of the other wolves interjected. “I’m sure we can come to a solution that benefits all of us, but we need to get the cargo loaded up and get off the road before someone else comes through here. Right, Axel?”

“Alpha Charles is right,” the first man, Axel, agreed. “Alpha Colson, take them to your car. We’ll deal with them later.”

Alpha Colson? Cassia repeated, her ears pricking up at the title.

It sounds like they’re all alphas. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, though.

Colson seemed pleased that the warriors’ attention was on the gear and not us, although Axel was still eyeing me warily.

“Let’s go,” Colson said to me sternly, nodding in the direction he wanted us to take.

I obeyed silently, thankful that no one else seemed to be accompanying us to the waiting vehicle. Jenny and I were safe for now, but who knew what the rest of the wolves would decide once they were done looting the van? We would have to make a break for it, and this was going to be our only chance.

We crossed the road, and I saw that Colson was leading us into the trees. If we could get out of sight for just a moment, we could run. I would only need a few seconds head start to transform and get Jenny to climb on my back. She couldn’t transform, but I knew I was fast. I was fairly certain I could outrun Colson. I would have to.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the only thing I was carrying—a tube of lip balm—and tossed it toward the road. It made a light clattering sound that drew Colton’s attention.

“What the—” I heard him say.

It wasn’t much, but it was the only distraction I was going to get. I took off at a run, tugging Jenny’s arm to encourage her to run with me, and headed toward the trees. Our feet thudded against the compacted soil, finding purchase in the tough weeds that littered the ground. My heart beat quickly as adrenaline coursed through my veins, fueled both by fear and the sudden exercise.

As we reached the trees, I started to believe we were going to make it when a solid mass hit me squarely in the back. I released Jenny’s hand so that the force of my fall wouldn’t pull her down with me, but I was too late. We both went sprawling, tackled by Colson. He was faster than I remembered.

“Run, Jenny!” I yelled, hoping she would be able to get to her feet quickly and escape before anyone got their hands on her. I attempted to roll to my feet, but Colson had a firm grip on my arm.

“Don’t!” Colson shouted at her, something like panic bubbling up in his voice. “If you run, the others will catch you before I do.”

White-hot fear burned my throat as I looked between Colson and Jenny, pleading with my eyes for him to let us go. He pulled me to my feet and held tight to my elbow so I wouldn’t escape again.

The sounds of our struggle had drawn the others. With a skittering of pebbles, they slid to a halt a few feet away. As they arrived, Jenny shifted to stand beside me again, unwilling to take her chances on running away.

“Dammit, Christa,” Colson cursed, shaking me slightly. “Why did you run? What are you even doing here?”

His frustration was obvious, but I couldn’t bring myself to give him the satisfaction of a real answer. “Bringing the transport back from the Moonstone pack,” I said. “I thought that was obvious.”

“Don’t be sassy,” he said harshly. “You’re an elite member of the Sparkle Hollow pack. Why are you running errands like some low-level minion?”

“Why do you care?” I asked.

“If you want to live, you’ll answer his questions,” Alpha Charles pointed out.

I gulped, knowing I would have to put my pride aside to save us. “What do you want to know?” I asked.

“What is the purpose of the transport, why are you the one delivering it, and who’s the girl?” Colson asked.

There was no way I was going to tell Colson about why I had fallen out of favor in Sparkle Hollow, but at this point, I didn’t think it mattered if he knew what the equipment was for.

“The tech is a delivery from the Moonstone pack for Alpha Lex in Sparkle Hollow,” I explained. “I volunteered to ensure that it was delivered safely. It includes surveillance equipment because Alpha Lex wants to monitor larger areas of our territory and help our allies in Pinedale. With all the attacks against our packs lately, security has been a pretty important topic of conversation amongst the alphas.”

“We saw a crate of drones as well,” Axel pointed out. “Is Sparkle Hollow going on the offense?”

“I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me,” I answered truthfully.

“And the girl? Can she shift?” Colton pressed. I could see in his eyes that he had been wondering about her the entire time. Now that I was answering his questions, he wasn’t going to stop until he got the answer he was looking for. The one answer I couldn’t give him.

“No, my daughter can’t shift. She’s half-human,” I explained. It was one truth followed by a lie, but it was necessary to protect her. I never wanted her to find out who her father was.

Colson inspected her, and I could tell he was looking for similarities. Ashy-blond hair framed her round, delicate face atop a slim frame. Aside from her brown eyes, which were common enough, all Colson would see was a reflection of me.

“What’s your name?” he asked her.

“Jenny,” she answered quietly.

“Since when did Sparkle Hollow have an alliance with the Moonstones?” Desmond interjected.

“That’s not really any of your business, is it?” I countered, my hackles raising up in response to his domineering tone.

“Colson,” Desmond said, turning his attention away from me, “come on, man. They’re just going to keep running off until we deal with this problem. You know what needs to be done.”

Jenny’s dark brown eyes widened in fear. I was tempted to fall to the ground and beg for their mercy, but it would do no good. All I could offer my daughter now was a steady presence as we faced whatever fate awaited us.

“Get in the car,” Colson said suddenly to Jenny and me.

“You can’t be serious—” Desmond began.

“We’ll talk in a minute,” Colson snapped. “You two, get in.”

He held the door open for us, and we climbed into the back seat. As the door shut behind us, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had just signed our death warrants.