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Jess ran her thumb across the scar that ran across her left palm. Promise contracts came with scars, and very soon, she would have a new one on her other hand, binding her to Connor.

How had she gotten here? How had she grown smaller and smaller until she felt trapped, and like she had no choice at all?

Connor was moving up the ranks and would be challenging for Third soon, but to hold a high rank in Sister’s Edge, the males needed to be paired, and open to providing the next generation to the Crew. This was one of the longest standing Crews in the world. They had never been annihilated to the point of extinction, had never lost battles for territory lines, and for hundreds of years had maintained a stronghold here in this dry, desert land outside of Sisters, Oregon. There were many reasons for their longevity, and some of their success could no doubt be attributed to the rules. Alpha, Second, and Third were the strongest and most dominant. Along with their brute strength though, they had to have a sound mind, and clear view of the future for the Crew. She’d been honored when she had been invited to be a part of Sister’s Edge all those years ago, but she’d been young, and desperate to belong somewhere. Desperate to feel safe. Every shifter knew Sister’s Edge was safe from the territory disputes that used to plague her kind. No one had tried them in years. Not since long before she’d come to live here.

To maintain standing here in this Crew, she had to pay her own way, and contribute to meetings, and take care of anything the Alpha needed done. And if she was chosen for a Promise, she had to honor it.

Maybe she’d grown desensitized to the benefits of living in the heart of Sister’s Edge. Maybe she’d forgotten how it was to really be scared, and feel hunted, and so she was taking it for granted. Perhaps that was why she felt like fighting this new Promise Contract. Perhaps she’d grown lazy, and soft, and didn’t remember how scary the outside world could be when she wasn’t under the umbrella of protection that Derek and the others could provide.

At least, that’s what she was telling herself. Maybe if she remembered how she used to live, she would feel better about tethering herself to another stranger.

Kade had ruined everything.

They’d had a deal. They’d had a plan.

He had fought his way up the ranks to Third, and he needed to be paired, and she needed a Promise that made sense to her after she’d been disfigured. She’d lost her animal and was at risk of being shunned.

Only monsters were allowed here, and with the loss of her animal, she wasn’t monster enough anymore.

When her tiger had disappeared after the accident, Kade had offered to secure her place in Sister’s Edge with no strings attached. He’d found an apartment with two bedrooms for them, and promised they could live as roommates. He’d promised never to ask anything of her body. He’d assured her—and she had heard the truth in his voice—that he only needed her so he could maintain his rank and eventually Challenge for Second. He had his eyes on Alpha someday. He could’ve done it too if he wouldn’t have done what he’d done. In exchange for her accepting the Promise, and signing the contract, and taking the cut he’d made across her palm, he would offer her protection always. No one would ever be able to mess with her again. The females who had shamed her after her face was scarred would’ve been reprimanded until they learned her power as the mate of the Third. They would not be able to Challenge her animal anymore, knowing they would win, because her animal was gone during that time. They would have to turn off their predator instincts and stop hunting her in her weakened state.

Kade was going to fix everything, and the best part? He didn’t care about the scars, or her ugly face, or her ruined body. He just needed a Promise, and he’d chosen to give sanctuary to her.

She didn’t know him, but what she did know was that he was a beast, and a fucking hurricane in a Challenge. He was dominant and powerful, but at the center of it, he was merciful. That’s what his Promise had meant, right? He’d chosen a mate he couldn’t be proud of in front of the others. He’d had his choice between beauties, and he’d picked her instead. He’d done it out of pity when she needed a shield. He had tethered his life to hers, and didn’t seem to care that at every meeting, she would be sitting right behind him, disfigured, horrifying to look at, unacceptable in some of the other Crew members’ eyes. He hadn’t seemed to care about that stuff at all.

Kade was terrifying, but when he’d offered the Promise, she’d seen something there. Kade had a heart. At least she thought so, before he murdered one of the members in cold blood. He’d murdered his best friend’s own brother and broken all the rules. He’d brought shame to his entire lineage.

Jess had thought him merciful, but she’d been wrong.

She closed her fist around her thumb, pressed there against the scar Kade had made.

More scars. More scars. All she knew of life as a shifter was more scars.

Jess looked up at her reflection in the dresser mirror. She’d curled her short hair, and teased it up, and pinned it back, leaving a few waves hanging down in her face. She’d fixed it up. Maybe if she impressed Connor, he would be kind to her. It would be their second date. The first one had been awkward, and punctuated by long silences over dinner, but maybe she would do better with communication when they got to know each other better.

I don’t want to do this . The animal’s voice whispered through her mind.

“Well tough,” she growled out. Angry, she stood and grabbed her purse. Of course, her animal would show up now. She’d barely existed for years, but when Jess was sitting here trying to wrap her head around her new future, she puts her two-cents in. Of course she chooses now to do that. Jess shook her head in frustration. Where had she been when she’d needed her? Where had her two cents been when she’d been falling apart and trying to figure out which way was up?

“No, don’t! Don’t tell her. Shhh.”

Jess froze and listened. That had come from downstairs, but it wasn’t Misty’s voice. It was Samuel’s.

There was murmuring, but she couldn’t make out the words. Silently, she padded to the door and eased it open, so she could hear better. Her brother was home from work early, and he was talking low to Misty downstairs.

“We have to go,” he said.

“But he said it’s all the Crew. I think Jess would want to know—”

“This will be over soon. We don’t need to confuse her.”

“Samuel, she should know she’s in danger—”

“Shhh! She’s not. She won’t even know.”

“Samuel, this doesn’t feel right.”

“You don’t listen. Get outside and stop talking about this. I said no. I don’t know why you think everything is a fuckin’ debate. If I say no, the answer is no, and if you have a problem with that, you can fuck off.”

God, she hated the way her brother talked to his mate. Always had. She would say he wasn’t raised that way, but she had no idea how he was raised. They were both foster kids who aged out of the system, and he’d tracked her down. He was good to Misty sometimes, but sometimes, like now, he was a complete jerk.

“Hey, Jess?” he called from downstairs.

She bristled and opened the door wider. “Yeah?”

“Misty and I are going out for a bit. I talked to Connor. He’s still set to come pick you up.”

“Okay,” she called, utterly confused. What was going on?

The front door closed behind her brother, and she went to the window low, and peeked out at the street. Misty, along with the other two couples that lived in this house, were waiting for Samuel to catch up. They were headed toward Derek’s house. Most of the Crew lived in this neighborhood.

Something was happening. Something to do with her. Something that put Jess in danger.

You can run away.

Her animal’s thoughts startled her.

“What?” she asked aloud.

We could just pack a bag and go. The whole Crew is distracted.

Run away? She wasn’t trapped. Not really. She didn’t think. She could leave whenever she wanted. She wasn’t a prisoner of Sister’s Edge. Right?

Then why are we pairing with him?

Okay, her animal was confusing her. She’d talked more in the last ten minutes than she had in the last six years.

Jess’s hands started tingling, and she clenched her fists hard, and stared at her knuckles. That felt like…that felt like the beginnings of a Change. She hadn’t been able to Change in years. “What are you doing?”

I don’t know , the animal whispered. I feel…I feel…something is happening.

No shit. She was about to Change in the house. She couldn’t do that! She would rip this place down to the frame.

Can you feel him?

Chills rippled up her arms, and Jess peeked out the window again. Was her tiger talking about Connor? Was he here?

“No,” she whispered.

Yes, you do. You do. You do…you do…you…do… The animal’s voice faded to nothing in her mind.

“Hello?”

Nothing. Silence filled her head once more. She hated that feeling—being alone. “Hello?” she asked more frantically. She was upset with the animal meddling, but she didn’t want her to disappear completely again.

She was met with deeper silence. Shit.

She slapped her head a few times, trying to wake her back up, but that didn’t help. It never did.

Why did she feel like crying right now?

She took it back! She wanted to Change. “You can have my skin,” she pleaded. “We can Change.”

Silence.

Outside, there was a commotion, and she pushed up from where she was crouching, and peeked outside. Mac and Tawk were arguing as they jogged by, headed in the direction of Derek’s house. A couple of cars that belonged to more of the Crew zoomed by. What the hell was going on?

She checked her phone, but the Crew loop was silent, which meant someone had called a meeting off-loop, excluding her. But why?

Jess pulled on a black hoodie and settled the long strap of her purse across her body. She pulled on a pair of black running shoes and bolted out of her room and down the stairs. She ran past the bedroom doors of the others who lived in this home, and to the back door. She knew a trail through the woods that would get her eyes on the back of Derek’s house.

She had no solid plan other than she had to know what was happening. She had a right to! It had something to do with her. Misty had said so herself.

She checked the yard, but it was empty. Her sensitive hearing hadn’t gone away with the disappearance of her animal, and neither had her hypervigilant instincts. No hearts beat around her except for a small group of birds in the tree branches of the oaks that lined the yard. She ducked under a low hanging branch, and high-kneed it over some brambles, looking for the trail she sometimes took to a creek when she needed time away from the world.

She found it within a minute and kicked her pace up to a jog, headed in the direction of the Alpha’s house.

She could hear yelling, so she pushed her legs into a sprint. The yelling was getting louder, and now she could hear specific voices. Tawk was roaring something about ‘rules,’ and geez, he sounded on the verge of a Change. That was against Derek’s laws. Changes weren’t allowed in the neighborhood. They hadn’t chased all the humans out of these houses yet.

She skidded to a stop and crouched down behind some brush. She looked down at the sound of a rattle though, and there was a rattlesnake coiled right where she was hiding. Crap! She yelped softly and bolted into the yard, then froze, exposed. Her skin was crawling. She hated snakes! But now she was in the back yard, and the back door was one of those transparent sliding glass ones. Someone would see her! She caught a glimpse of Derek’s house, and it was crammed full of people. Everyone had their backs to the yard, thank goodness.

She bolted for the side of the house, not about to push her luck in the friggin’ serpent safe haven woods behind her.

There was a window on the side, but the blinds were down. Crap. She ducked down and loped to the next window, and this one had a little better view. The blinds had been lifted just a few inches. Two guys were standing in front of the window with their backs to her, and were blocking almost everything, but one of them shifted to the side to say something to the other, and she caught a glimpse of a tall, heavily muscled man, with a slicked back mohawk. He stood in a power-stance, his legs splayed, his arms crossed over his chest. He wore a charcoal gray t-shirt, and medium-wash blue jeans.

Can you feel him?

She startled hard at her animal’s whispered question.

Two men were yelling at him, but she couldn’t see who from this angle. The man didn’t even flinch back.

Can you feel him?

She scanned the room as much as she could see with the men blocking most of her view, but she didn’t see Connor.

He’s here. Can you feel him?

Feel what? All she felt was a heaviness in her chest that hadn’t been there before, but maybe she was just out of shape and out of breath? Or her adrenaline was jacked up because of the near-bite from the rattler in the woods, perhaps.

Watch.

“Watch what?” she snapped quietly.

And at that moment, something happened that froze the blood in her veins.

The man with the big shoulders twisted and looked right at her. His glowing frost blue eyes snapped realization right through her. She knew those eyes.

Kade.

It was a knowing glance, as if he had known exactly where she was, and then dragged his attention back to the others.

With a gasp, Jess sank down, hand gripping her hoodie right over her heart.

Can you feel him?

The animal had known Kade was here.

Chills rippled up her entire body.

How? How was he here? Kade was locked deep inside the maximum-security shifter prison in Alaska. He would never see the light of day again. He’d been sentenced to life, but he was here, looking even bigger than she remembered.

Her heart was pounding out of her chest. She wanted to ease up and look again, but he’d only glanced at her. It was an I-know-you’re-there acknowledgement, but he wasn’t trying to draw too much attention to her. The heaviness she’d felt in her chest was pulsing. It was reaching inside of Derek’s house. It was reaching for Kade.

Kade the stranger.

She couldn’t breathe. Short gasps took her lungs, but they wouldn’t fill with oxygen.

“What are we looking at?” someone asked from right beside her.

Jess whispered a curse and pitched herself to the side, away from him. A man with dark hair and gold eyes was kneeling beside her, eating…sunflower seeds.

“Wh-who are you?” she whispered under her breath.

“Name’s Cash.” He held out his hand for a shake, but she just stared at him in horror. He wasn’t a part of the Sister’s Edge Crew. “Oh, I’m best friends with Kade. Although,” he said a little louder to be heard over the yelling inside, “I’m pretty sure he will be mad at me for being here, and also for telling our Alpha about this. Shall we go? Do you need to pack anything?”

“Pack…anything?” she repeated dumbly.

“Well, I don’t know Kade’s plan, but if I was abducting someone, I would want to be nice about it and let her pack some clothes and tampons and stuff.”

What. The fuck. Was happening?

“I should go,” she murmured, and struggled to her feet clumsily.

“Right, lead the way.”

“Alone,” she whisper-screamed.

“Okay, so I’ll just follow you with ten feet of space between us, so that you’re comfortable. Raynah says I make people uncomfortable.”

“If you’re Kade’s friend, maybe you should go in there and save his life.”

“Oh, he’d be really mad at me if I did that,” he said as they penetrated the tree line. “He can probably handle them in there, and if not, he’ll die doing something he loves.”

“What could he love about going against Sister’s Edge?”

The man shrugged beside her and shoveled another handful of sunflower seeds into his mouth. Around the bite, he said, “Kade always came off as a man who wants to go out fighting.” He frowned. “No wait, I think that’s me I’m thinking about. You know, I actually don’t know Kade that well. He’s a bit of a mystery.”

“Please stop following me,” she murmured a little louder now that they were farther away from the house-of-confusion.

“Do you want some of these?” he offered, holding out the package of sunflower seeds. She read the label. “Ew, no. Who eats pickle flavored sunflower seeds?”

“A simple no thank you would’ve worked. I’m beginning to wonder what Kade sees in you.”

“Kade doesn’t see anything in me because Kade doesn’t know me, and I don’t know him.” The pressure in her chest was growing uncomfortable the farther she got away from the house.

“So, you’re going to let him fight all those guys in there and you don’t even want to see the end result?”

“Why would he fight them?” she asked, rounding on him.

Cash shrugged. “So he can take you home?”

“Home? I am home!”

“There’s a snake.”

She yelped and jumped high as a jackrabbit, then skittered away. Indeed, a rattlesnake slithered across the deer path between them.

“Why is your home trying to kill you?” he asked.

“Am I in danger here?” she asked, needing to hear the truth in his voice when he gave her some kind of reassurance.

“Probably.”

“What?”

“You’re a member of the Sister’s Edge Crew. You’re probably a psychopath and also probably your animal is poisonous. Puffer fish?”

She slowly blinked, then did an about face and speed-walked back in the direction of her house.

“My mate is probably going to be waiting for me.”

“Oh, Connor? He sounds lame.”

“How do you know Connor?”

“I don’t know him. I did look up his social media though, and after I waded through the thirst-traps he posts for the probably thirty women he’s private-messaging on there, I found a picture of him eating an entire bag of pickle flavored sunflower seeds.”

“Wait, really?” How had he even found his social media?

“No. He did say he doesn’t like cats on one of his posts though, so fuck him. He probably has a micro-penis.”

She pursed her lips against a grin because this crazy stranger didn’t need encouragement. “Are you here to kill me?” she demanded, rounding on him again, and pushing him back.

“No. Like I said, just abduct. I’m assuming that’s why Kade is here. He wasn’t really specific. He was like, don’t follow me, bla, bla, don’t tell our Crew, bla, bla. I don’t know, my mate had just sent me tit pictures like ten minutes before, and I was still riding the high from that. Plus, I got stuck on the part where Kade said he was paired.”

“Was paired. Was. Our contract is up. He came here for nothing. Those guys will kill him in there.”

“Mmm, well then they would all die by fire.”

“What?” she asked. “Fire. What does that mean? Do you have a dragon?” she asked. “Because we have a dragon. You will be the one to die by fire.”

He spat a sunflower seed and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, then pulled a twenty-dollar bill from it. “I bet you twenty dollars our fire-maker will beat your fire-maker.”

“Did you hear me? I said we have a dragon?”

“Whoopy-whoo.” He shook the twenty-dollar bill, but she slapped it out of his hand.

“You’re crazy.”

“I’ve been called worse,” he said as he stooped to pick up his money. He spilled a bunch of sunflower seeds on the ground and uttered a cuss word. “Do you have a suitcase?”

“For all my tampons?” she spat out. “You freakin’ weirdo. No, because I’m not going with you, or Kade, or whatever imaginary dragon you think you have.”

“I didn’t say we have a dragon.”

“I can’t do this,” she said, her voice shaking as she veered to the left and headed for the back door of her house.

“Where the fuck were you?” Connor yelled as she reached for the door handle.

She jumped hard as he charged her from the side of the porch. She threw her hands up defensively on instinct, but he stopped himself just inches away. “I’ve been waiting here for ten minutes for you, and then you come sneaking in the back door? Where were you?” he asked again.

“I…I…”

“A bit of advice for you? Don’t lie to me.”

Oooh, Connor was different than he had been on their dinner date. He scared her a little. Everyone scared her. She didn’t have access to her animal to protect herself.

Her attention darted to the woods, but Cash was gone, like he’d never existed at all.

“I was curious.”

“About the meeting you specifically weren’t invited to?” He jerked his chin to the back door. “Go pack.”

“For what?”

“Do as I say,” Connor growled, and she could see it. She could see it in the glowing blue of his eyes, and the scent of fur and dominance that clung to the air. His polar bear was ramping up. “Pack for a few days.”

“Is this about Kade?” she asked, trying to calm him down.

“Don’t say his name!” he yelled, and she hunched at the volume of his voice.

“But I’m not doing anything with Kade. That contract is done—”

“I said not to say his name!” Connor roared in her face, pinning her against the sliding glass door. He slammed his fist against it and shattered the door. She had to catch herself, but an instant stinging sensation consumed the back of her arm as she ducked down and covered her ears.

She dragged air into her lungs as glass rained down around her, and when she looked up, Cash stood in the middle of the yard, eyes gold and trained on Connor. “You drew blood,” he barked out, and all the friendliness was gone from his voice. Now he sounded gritty, and deep.

“Who the fuck are you?” Connor demanded.

“A messenger.”

“A messenger,” Connor said. “What’s the message.”

“You’re going to die.”

Connor laughed a humorless sound. “Oh yeah? Are you going to be the one to kill me?” he asked, stalking forward slowly.

“Nah,” Cash said easily. He backed up slowly, and then pointed to the woods in the direction of Derek’s house. “He is.”

Jess followed where he pointed, and stood slowly, confused by what she saw. The treetops were shaking, and there was a vibration that rattled through her feet.

“Oh my God,” she whispered as she realized what was coming for them. She knew what Kade was. She knew it. But knowing and seeing were two totally different things. When the enormous rhinoceros barreled right through the trees and charged right for Connor, she didn’t wait to see Connor Change. She didn’t wait to see the fight. She was in the path of destruction. She turned to go inside, but she was ripped from her path.

She screamed at the steel grip of the bird of prey that lifted her skyward. She glanced up to see a massive snowy owl. Just one glance and then she was headed for earth again. He dropped her at the front door of the house just as it was impacted by a deafening crash out back.

The owl beat his wings to lift himself upward and looked back at her. She knew what he was saying.

Pack! Everyone kept telling her to pack.

Well, this house was about to come down if the sound of war in the back was anything to go by, but she did indeed need some of her things. Her locket was upstairs. She had to have her locket.

That was Cash. That was Cash! That snowy owl was Cash, and he had Changed so fast! He’d got her out of the way. He was here to help. He was here to help her, right? Her mind was racing as she yanked the front door open. The rhino had pushed Connor’s bear right through the outer wall and into the living room, and it was pure violence.

No time! The back side of the house was collapsing, and she needed her locket!

She bolted up the stairs, screaming as the polar bear flew across the stairwell and cracked through the railing. He roared and charged the rhino, and that had been so close! He could’ve swiped her with his massive paw if he’d noticed her here!

The house was being absolutely destroyed, and the rest of the Crew would be here any second. She shoved her bedroom door open and ran across the room, fell to her knees, and skidded to a stop in front of the back wall. She pried the loose baseboard off the wall and reached into the space she’d cut years ago. She pulled out the little velvet jewelry pouch and shoved it into her pocket just as the frame of the house buckled. She yelped as the floor she was sitting on dropped by three feet suddenly. Her stomach dipped with the movement. The stairwell would be gone. She looked around the room frantically for anything else she would need, because Derek would take all of this out on her. He would. He would make this her fault. He always needed someone weaker to blame, and she’d been weak for so long.

The floor dipped again and angled toward her door steeply. She fell on her stomach, but clawed her way toward the window, pulled herself up to it, and pushed it up. It shattered with the next buckle of the house, and she flung her arms over her face to protect it. When she opened her eyes again, she was barely able to register the snowy owl, his wings outstretched, trying to slow down, his talons reaching for her.

Jess didn’t think. She just reacted.

The floor was collapsing, and she pushed herself out the window and reached for the owl as she fell.

He caught her by the upper arms.

A cuss whooshed out of her lungs as she was saved from colliding with the earth and launched upward. From up here, she could see what was happening below. Others in the Sister’s Edge Crew had reached the backyard and were Changing. The rhino wasn’t fighting Connor anymore. Was he dead? Instead, Kade was charging right for a pair of grizzlies. That was the last she saw before she was whisked back down toward a black pickup truck parked down the street.

The owl dropped her by the passenger door, and frantically, she yanked the door open, climbed inside, and slammed the door beside her. She shoved the jewelry pouch even deeper into her pocket for safekeeping and averted her gaze as a very naked Cash slid behind the wheel.

He started it up, threw it into drive, and hit the gas.

Panting, she turned to see some of the Crew were sprinting their way. Miles Changed into his wolf and immediately started gaining on them.

“They’re going to kill us.”

“They won’t.”

“You don’t understand. Yes they will! If anyone leaves, it’s only with the blessing of the Alpha.”

“Well, you aren’t going back there, lady! That dude broke a glass door over you. He didn’t care if you were hurt. Even if you wanted to stay out of some abuse-victim loyalty to this place, Kade won’t allow it.”

“Kade doesn’t have anything to do with me!”

“Tell that to Kade, who went berserk the second someone drew blood. From you.” He jammed a thumb to the back window. “You want to have a sit-down with him now?”

She looked back, and Miles was running neck and neck with Kade’s enormous rhino. He slung his head, and the werewolf went flying into a neighbor’s yard.

This was definitely going to make the news.

“You’re bleeding.”

She took her attention off the powerful animal gaining on them just long enough to witness the concern on Cash’s face.

“I’m fine.”

“Can you make that stop?” he asked, pointing to her arm.

Confused, she looked down at the sleeve of her hoodie, but it was soaking wet, and warm. “Shoot,” she murmured as she twisted to look at the back of her arm. There was a huge piece of glass lodged into her arm.

She gritted her teeth and pulled it out with a grunt, then dropped the dripping glass on the floorboard by her feet.

“Sweet, that was disturbing and now I’m traumatized,” Cash griped. “Now can you heal it faster or something?”

There was a duffel bag in the back, and she turned in the seat and rifled through it, then pulled out a T-shirt. “I don’t heal fast.”

“Come again? You’re a shifter, right?”

“Kind of. I lost the animal, mostly.”

Cash’s eyebrows were nearly to his hair line. “That’s a lot of blood, lady.”

“Why don’t you worry about the rhino charging toward us instead of a little cut,” Jess muttered as she peeled her ruined hoodie off.

The truck dipped with a heavy weight, and in terror, she turned to see if the rhino had hit them with a powerful swing of his head or something, but there was a man in the bed of the truck now.

His back was wide, and tanned, and every muscle in his body was tense as he looked behind them. Kade was a man again. His massive hand gripped the tailgate as Cash took a right, and when the truck had straightened out again, Kade swung a glance back at her. His eyes were such a light blue, they almost looked white. He looked terrifying like this.

Behind them, no one was following anymore, but Cash didn’t ease off the gas. He sped right out of town. Jess buckled her seatbelt and tried to keep her panic stifled in her chest.

“Can we slow down now?” she asked as they reached the outskirts of Sister’s Edge territory.

“No,” he gritted out.

His eyes were still bright gold.

“I need you to slow down.”

He frowned at her and swung his attention back to the road. “Are you trying to get us caught? You want to go back there?”

“No.” She tried to drag air into her lungs. “I was in an accident,” she admitted fast.

“In a car?” Cash asked. He still wasn’t slowing down.

She held onto the oh-shit handle and tried so hard to breathe.

“Is that what happened to your face?”

“Fuck you,” she wheezed.

A banging sounded on the window behind her. “Slow down, Cash! She asked you to slow down, so do it.”

And Cash did. He eased off the gas and then a few miles later, he pulled over on the side of the road. This was a long stretch, dotted by an occasional farmhouse and not much more. She scanned the road both ways, but they were the only car here right now.

Kade hopped out of the back and opened her door. He was naked, all tensed up, and looked enormous. The man blocked the entire world out.

“Are you okay?” Kade asked her.

“H-hi,” she answered him lamely.

He searched her face, his eyes so intense.

“That was awesome,” Cash said, a smile in his voice.

“Oh was it?” Kade barked over her. “I wasn’t there to brawl, Cash. I had it under control.”

“Wait, don’t blame me for that mess. Her boyfriend was the one who broke glass around her, which, by the way, she’s probably going to pass out soon, so you can sit here griping at me with your whole dick hanging out, or you can get dressed, and administer some first aid to the girl you stole, and we can leave this place and go home. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“You were supposed to stay home and cover for me!” Kade said. “It was simple instructions, and here you are.”

“Driving your getaway car.”

“He pulled me out of the window before the house collapsed,” she told Kade, her eyes downcast. He made the air so heavy right now.

Kade blew out a breath, and paced away, then back. He locked his arms against the frame, and she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t. Jess glanced over at his body. He had chiseled abs, and powerful legs, and his dick was huge and half-mast right now. Maybe he was one of those shifters who got worked up after a Change. He…was…perfect.

“Can you hand me some clothes from the duffel bag?” Kade asked low.

“Sure,” she answered, and reached into the back. “I used one of your T-shirts to wrap my arm. I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. I always hated that you did that.” He yanked the bag out of her grasp and tossed it to the ground, rifled through it quickly and then dressed as Cash helped her tighten the T-shirt around the gash on the back of her arm.

A couple of cars passed, but Kade was already dressed. He made a gesture to her that she didn’t understand. She shook her head, confused.

“Turn in the seat,” he ground out. “Let me see it.”

Oh. Right. She swallowed hard and then turned and angled her arm for him to see it.

“Shit.” His eyes flickered to hers, and they were darker now. “Is your animal still gone?”

“Mostly.”

He opened the back door and lifted the entire bench seat to reveal a hidden storage compartment. He pulled out a big, red first aid kit. It wasn’t one of those small ones for minor cuts or burns. This one had been assembled custom. Without a word, he offered his hand to help her out of the car. She unbuckled and slid out, refusing his hand. “I don’t need anyone’s help.”

“Cool, you want to sew that up yourself then?” he asked testily.

“Why are you mad at me?” she snapped. “I didn’t ask you to come here.”

“No, Seth did.”

The mention of Seth washed away her anger. “He did?”

“Yeah.” He gestured back in the direction of Sister’s Edge territory. “Connor’s not it, Jess.”

“It’s not like I had a choice.”

“I know.” He blew out a breath and repeated it softer. “I know. That’s the reason I’m here. I’m not trying to extend our contract, Jess. I’m not taking you so I can force you to be with me. This isn’t some overprotective if-I-can’t-have-her-no-one-can move. You were supposed to leave, Jess. You were supposed to free your damn self. I don’t want Connor for you. I want to set you free. When you settle down someday, and your animal picks a mate, it shouldn’t be because you let some guy cut your hand and signed away your freedom.”

Her eyes burned. She struggled to break his gaze, and dropped her eyes to her lap, afraid he would see the tears building in her eyes. That was probably the only damn thing she’d heard in years that made sense.

She’d heard the truth in every one of his words. He really was here to set her free.

“I don’t know what I’ll do,” she said thickly. “My whole life is back there. My job, my clothes, my friends, my Alpha. I was never meant to be rogue.” She shook her head and dared a look up at him, hoping for understanding there.

“You’ll do it a day at a time.” He offered her a mini bottle of whisky.

“What’s that for?”

“For the pain. I need to clean your arm.”

“I don’t need it. I’m tough.”

Kade nodded and tossed the pocket shot back into the first aid kit, and then he poured hydrogen peroxide all over the cut. It burned so badly, she winced her eyes closed, but she refused to make a sound or move away from his work.

“Is Connor dead?” she asked. She had to know.

“No. I have control now. He’s hurt but he’ll live. No one died.” The assurances of a murderer. He was telling the truth though. She could tell.

“He won’t come for me,” she said softly. “They won’t leave the territory. Derek has rules. It’s how Sister’s Edge had stuck around for so long. All of the Alphas follow a list of rules. They protect the territory, that’s it.”

“Mmm,” Kade said blandly as he pressed on the cut, feeling for more glass. She didn’t feel any more in there. It just burned from the slice and the peroxide.

“Oh. I totally just forgot you lived here before. You already know this.” He probably knew the rules better than her. He’d been Third, after all. He’d been under Derek for years before he’d done what he’d done. “Um, I’m a little overwhelmed right now. That was my home. It’s nothing but dust now. That was a lot.”

Kade didn’t say anything else. He stitched her up shockingly fast, and she focused on staying very still for him. Where he’d learned to do that, she had no clue. Maybe it was from Cold Foot Prison, or maybe it was from his old life. She didn’t know about either one.

He wrapped a bandage around the injury and then put away the first aid supplies as she climbed back into the passenger’s seat and buckled up.

She hated riding in cars. Probably always would.

Cash switched to the seat in the back and Kade got in behind the wheel, and they were off.

To where?

She had no clue.

Her entire life had been ripped out from under her, and she was in shock, perhaps.

The guys were acting like this was totally normal. Cash was talking to someone on the phone in the back, and Kade was surfing radio stations, and she was just sitting in this freefall, her mind going in a million different directions. And her animal…her animal…she must’ve been broken or something because all she kept whispering through her head on repeat was, Can you feel him?

Yeah.

Yeah, Jess could feel him.

Kade had felt big years ago, but now?

Now, Kade was a different animal altogether.