Page 41

I grip our baby in both palms. It’s my sole responsibility to keep them alive.

But as Jack aims at Noah, charging from the forest on human feet to come into range, time slows into the slowest crawl I’ve ever experienced. Each of my ragged breaths deepen, and instinct silences me as my fangs extend.

Noah’s ears perk up. Oh Goddess, you’re here. This is my worst nightmare. You can’t die.

Don’t get shot!

Noah bristles. I can’t let him shoot you instead.

I don’t answer; that’s exactly how I feel.

Yasmine, we need backup at the Jensens’ farm. I’m staring down Jack Hart’s barrel, Noah mindlinks Yasmine and me. Aliya, I love you.

My heart shatters as despite his fear, Noah rears up in defense, hardening his resolve to face Jack head-on. Blood-curdling panic blasts through the numbness in our bond, along with the deepest, most rageful sadness that steals my breath.

I knew this day was possible. I just didn’t want to believe it would come true.

Like his father, Noah is ready to die for his pack. His fearful, yet mortifyingly fierce form ripples, and I grieve every inch of his gorgeous, midnight black fur.

Despite our best laid plans, I race toward him. I won’t let him die. I can’t.

But I’m too far. I stumble closer, unable to reach him fast enough even if I were to shift.

I know Noah can feel my panic, raising up in snarling, ferocious defense. Despite our best laid plans, he charges at Jack.

That’s when I see it; Jack hesitates.

That single, fleeting pause sends my wolf ripping through my human skin. My pregnant belly hangs low as she flies through the field, shifting before I can process her control over me. I haven't sprinted as my wolf like this for months, stumbling as my back legs have to widen to give our baby room. But I need to protect Noah and our baby—no, all of our babies.

As Jack raises his gun, Noah’s snarl shreds past my pelt, the desperate sound scraping across every inch of my skin.

Jack lifts the rifle to his eye, taking aim. He’s ready—steely, weathered eyes intending to rip my mate’s life from his wolf’s proud body. To steal the Alpha’s soul, replacing Noah’s title with his.

But Jack is mistaken; this pack has two top Alphas.

And I can run faster than anyone.

Before I’ve taken another breath through my heaving snout, I burst through the brush at Jack’s side, leaping with both paws outstretched. He barely has time to flit his eyes in my direction before one bat of my extended claws slash the entirety of Jack’s face and torso, sending him flying into the treeline. His rifle spins across the forest floor, over fifteen feet from where he lands with how hard I hit him.

Skidding back into the brush to hide and assess the damage I’ve done, I’m startled by how frail Jack felt beneath my furious paws—enough to halt in panic that I’ve actually killed someone this time. But Jack rolls on the forest floor, his hands muffling his screams as he cups what he can of the blood cascading down his shredded face.

Before I can push my anxious body into moving again, a ginormous black blur whooshes past me, ruffling my fur and sending a chill down my spine. My instincts process before my mind, forcing me to hunker down and take cover in the bushes; this is a predator coming in for the kill.

Noah cracks Jack’s ribs beneath his paws as he pins him to the ground, his wolf’s growl is more of a roar. I crouch low, sneaking in to hunt Jack alongside Noah.

But my heart rips as I see Jack’s hunting pelt close up; multiple hides have been stitched into one reeking, pasted-together shape of a wolf.

Oh, Goddess, how many...? Noah mindlinks my exact thoughts, hesitating as he analyzes Jack’s wriggling form. I’m gutted by the aching, horrified disgust in our bond at the sight of the butchered wolf pelts, wishing Noah never had to witness this either. Yet Noah’s poor wolf huffs through heavy, distorted breaths like a snarling dragon, his claws digging into Jack’s skin through every layer of hardy hunting gear.

Instinct takes over my blurred, gray vision; the next thing I know, I’ve gathered the neck of Jack’s prized pelts between my teeth. Tearing the fur coat off Jack, I whine in agony as Noah holds Jack still for me, pinning him tight to the earth as Jack yelps. The stale furs in my mouth wring my stomach at how these wolves’ families must feel. Noah whines between snarls with me, our bond aching as the hides free themselves from Jack’s body with a loud rip . My wolf shakes her head in disgust as she spits them out, their sour taste lingering on my tongue. The furs fall into a discarded heap on the forest floor.

Exposed and cornered, Jack howls in fear—except it comes out scraping and wrecked from his bloody face, like a wolf bleating its final cry. Fur bursts from his skin, his wolf surfacing out of pure panic.

My stomach churns at the thought of Jack’s primal instincts kicking in. Noah has taught me time and time again to never underestimate a wolf’s willingness to survive.

If Jack is given the chance to kill first, our entire pack would be at this man’s mercy.

Deep down, I know Noah trains to defend us from Jack, and Jack alone. He’s fought harder than any wolf he’s met, and it shows—his skill crowning him King Alpha of the world. He’s strong, and everyone knows it. I know it.

I just never expected Jack to crumble so completely against Noah.

With a single flash of Noah’s fangs at Jack’s throat, I yelp, terrified Noah broke his own core rule. But as I blink at the aftermath before me, I’m stunned.

Jack’s frail black wolf lies limp in Noah’s mouth, but he’s not dead; Noah holds him by the scruff like he’s carrying a feeble pup, leaving Jack to whimper helplessly with exhausted, dangling limbs, his tail tucked so tightly that it nestles against his belly.

There’s no question; Jack has given up. A millisecond ago, he represented the unsurmountable fear, murder, and pain he created in Noah for years. All he is now is a heap of an old wolf, stripped of his prized pelt.