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“They hurt me in the dark.”

Wren’s words pulsed in my ears over and over, each wave bringing a brutal, icy pain. Someone hurt her. Our Little Warrior. Our delicate little bird with her spirit of pure flame.

I needed to know who. What scum had dared to harm a hair on her head? I needed a name so I could hunt them. So I could cause them more pain than they ever thought possible. And then wipe them from the Earth.

There would be no more danger for Wren. No more threats. She would be safe.

“Jesus,” Ender muttered. “Get your beast in check.”

I heard the strain in his voice and knew he had heard Wren’s words, too. They would mark him like they had me. Ender might like to pretend she didn’t affect him, but I knew the truth. She affected us all.

I stalked toward the bathtub, fur rippling over my arms as I took her in. Wren lay curled in Puck’s hold, wearing only a bra and underwear. Her skin had gone pale, making the scars littering her flesh stand out even more.

There were so many I couldn’t count them all. Our Little Warrior had endured pain and torture. Endless amounts of it.

I knew what it was like to feel pain at the hands of another, agony and being left for dead. Death would’ve been a kindness.

But I’d crawled out of hell after the Red River pack’s attack. After their enforcers left me bleeding out on my living room floor at the age of fourteen, only alive because Ender had found me.

As far as I could tell, Wren hadn’t had anyone. She hadn’t had a friend to help her battle back to the land of the living. She’d had to do it all on her own.

But she had.

Because that’s how strong our Little Warrior was. She’d make it through this, too.

I had the bizarre urge to touch her then. To try to soothe her in her half-conscious state. It wasn’t something I’d ever felt, that push for contact, for connection. I didn’t do any of that. And it scared the hell out of me.

“What. Happened?” I demanded.

Locke shuffled slightly, and my gaze cut to him like the predator I was. He swallowed hard. “Everything was fine. We were driving home from her shift at Arcane, laughing and joking. She wants to learn how to pick locks.”

Pain streaked across Locke’s face. “We ran inside, and the rain soaked us. We were still laughing, but then the lights went out. She freaked. It was like she wasn’t there anymore. She was somewhere else. She started fighting me and Puck.”

Puck’s hold on Wren tightened as if guided by instinct. “She said she couldn’t go back. That we’d have to kill her first.”

A growl left my throat, fur rippling as my canines pressed against my gums. In time , I told my wolf. We would hunt those who hurt her. We would make them pay .

“Brixton,” Ender said, voice low and tight. “Control. You can’t give your beast the reins right now.”

We’d been friends practically since birth. We knew each other better than anyone knew either of us. So, he understood that if my wolf took over right now, there’d be no getting my human half back.

Losing my parents, my brother, and nearly losing my life had made my wolf unstable at best. And that was only amplified under threat.

“I don’t know if I can,” I gritted out. It was the truth. Something about Wren set me on edge—far more than anything else I’d ever encountered, even having one of my brothers injured in the field.

Ender’s eyes flashed gold, and I saw shock and worry there. But it was Kingston who spoke. “I’m just going to say it. I’m sure it’s what we’ve all been thinking. We’ve all been on edge lately. Felt a pull toward Wren that is beyond logic. What if she’s our mate?”

The room went silent, and no one said a word as King let that bomb hang in the air. He was right, we had all been thinking it. But I knew the truth.

I couldn’t be anyone’s mate. I wasn’t fit for it. And I sure as hell wouldn’t curse Wren with my fucked-up self. Everyone would be better off if I stayed alone.