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CHAPTER NINE

Adrian

I ’m furious that these wolf shifters are here threatening my mate.

I want to skin each one of them alive. My blood is boiling.

I’m squeezing my fists so hard my fingernails are digging into my hands and drawing blood.

I want them all dead for coming here. For looking at my girl.

For daring to be in the presence of my goddess.

And as mad as I am, my rabid bear is even more pissed off.

He’s raging inside, snarling and gnashing his teeth as he paces around, desperate to get out and unleash some carnage on these wolves.

“Last chance, Mace,” I hiss as I stare their leader down. “Leave. Now.”

He laughs at me. Fucking laughs.

I grit my teeth as I stare all thirteen of them down.

Even if they leave now, it won’t be over. I’ll have to worry about them hurting Victoria whenever I’m not around. I’ll never sleep soundly again. My mind will be filled with worry for the rest of my days.

This has to end here. It has to end now.

“Alright,” I say as I let my enraged polar bear come bursting out. “Have it your way.”

My skin tightens as my muscles expand. My teeth extend, my fingertips split in two as long black claws shred their way out. It hurts, but it’s a sweet kind of pain. And it only lasts a split second.

The three Wolfhounds closest to me step back as my polar bear explodes out with a savage roar.

Kill them , I say, urging him on. Kill them all to protect her.

I don’t need to ask him twice. Wild, untamed fury surges through his veins as he charges forward with a snarl.

He leaps onto the closest man and tears his jugular out before he has time to phase.

Someone gasps. Another one curses. My polar bear tosses his head back, mouth stained red with blood, and roars in a bloodthirsty rage.

Men start popping into wolves all around us. I smell Victoria’s grizzly bear and turn back to see her charging into the fight. I hate that my mate is in this position because of me, but that vicious bear looks like it can hold its own no problem.

I take out another wolf with a single swipe, slamming him into the pavement. Blood sprays. Another wolf lunges at Victoria—I charge, intercepting him mid-air, and slam him to the ground so hard his ribs crack under my paws.

They keep coming. We keep fighting. But they’re fast. Vicious. And there are a lot of them.

Vic’s bear crashes into a wolf and sends him somersaulting backward into a motorcycle, then she sinks her teeth into another wolf’s hind leg. He howls in pain.

That’s all I see before my bear is swarmed with wolves. They’re all over me, biting my back and legs and scratching my face.

In all my life, I’ve never seen my polar bear unleashed. I’ve never seen him fight with reckless abandon. With such rage.

These wolves don’t stand a chance. I rip through them like a chainsaw through butter, sending them flying and bloody and limping away. Their whimpers and howls fill the air as I go through two or three at a time.

I keep an eye on Victoria, but she’s tough as nails. Her bear grew up with two older brothers and god, it shows. I fall a little deeper in love when I see her bite the back of a large gray wolf and toss him into the light pole so hard it bends.

Mace stands back, watching his pack get decimated beside Knox who never phases. He’s standing there with his arms crossed, barking out orders to his dogs.

“Get back in the fight,” he screams at a wolf that’s limping away, blood pouring out of his side courtesy of my claws.

He actually gets them organized and they start attacking us as one. The wolves are weaker than we are, but there are so many of them. We’re vastly outnumbered. I make my way over to Victoria as they swarm us, my claws slicing the air in warning as I find my girl in the chaos.

My bear is breathing heavily and so is Victoria’s. I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up.

Forever , I tell my bear. You’ll fight forever to keep her safe.

But they keep coming and now Mace’s giant wolf is joining the fight. His head is low, mouth snarling as he prowls over with the hair on his back sticking straight up.

It galvanizes the troops.

The wolves back away and rally around him, finding their second wind. There are nine left. Three of them are laying on the pavement, not moving, and Knox is still in his human form barking out orders.

“On three,” Knox shouts to his pack. “Swarm the big one. Go for his throat.”

Victoria’s grizzly gives me a concerned look.

I dig my paws into the concrete and growl possessively, ready for anything they bring.

But a part of me is worried. There are so many of them and these guys are tough. They’ve spent their lives fighting and they definitely have the numbers.

I’m not so worried about myself. I’m terrified about what’s going to happen if I fall. What will they do to my girl?

I push that horrible thought out of my head and get ready for the wave of teeth and claws about to come my way.

“One!” Knox shouts. “Two!”

He never gets to three.

A booming roar rips through the night sky.

I feel the earth shaking under my paws.

The wolves step back and look around in panic.

And then?—

BOOM.

Magnus’ monstrous grizzly comes charging out of the wilderness like a goddamn wrecking ball.

He heads right for Knox.

The cocky fuck tries to phase, but he’s too slow and Magnus’ grizzly has the drop on him. He doesn’t hesitate.

He launches on Knox from behind, jaws wide, and sinks his teeth straight into his neck. Blood sprays. Knox screams, but it’s already over. Magnus tears him down and spits him out like he’s nothing.

His limp body collapses onto the pavement. Dead.

My polar bear snarls as the odds even up a bit. Three bears versus a bunch of lowly wolves? I’ll take that bet any day.

I charge forward, roaring as I lock eyes on Mace’s wolf. His goons try to stop me, but Victoria and Magnus are all over them, pinning them to the ground, knocking them off their paws, tearing chunks of fur out of their backs.

I find Mace through the chaos, and our eyes lock.

It’s time to end this once and for all.

For Victoria. For our future. For everything.

I charge Mace like a goddamn freight train.

He meets me head-on, snarling through massive white fangs, his pack surrounding him. I slam into two of them, sending them both flying before I connect with Mace. He collides into me with his full weight, but I don’t give an inch.

My bear snarls as the large wolf bounces back. He’s quick on his paws though, and comes leaping at me from the side.

One of his boys tries to distract me, but I don’t take the bait even when he sinks his teeth into my hind leg. I never take my eyes off Mace.

Victoria’s grizzly takes care of the wolf on my leg and I leap onto Mace in a brutal showdown. He comes at me just as hard—claws tearing and teeth slashing, as bodies crash into the pavement all around us with bone-shattering force.

He’s strong. I’ll give him that. But I’m stronger. And I’m not just fighting for pride—I’m fighting for her . For us .

For an incredible future I know is waiting for us on the other side of this brawl.

I just have one last loose end to take care of before we can ride off into the sunset.

Mace’s wolf lunges, trying to sink his teeth into my throat.

I twist and slam him down with my paw, cracking the pavement beneath him.

His claws rake across my side, but I don’t even feel it.

I rear back and drive my heavy paw across his skull— once, twice —until blood pours from a gash above his eye.

He rolls away and staggers back, shaking his head, and then?—

He phases.

Into his human form.

Bloody wolves surround him, even less of them now, as he stands there heaving out breaths, already looking defeated.

“You’re not worth the claws,” he spits, stumbling backward toward his bike. “Should have taken care of you when you were a pathetic cub. You and your mate bitch.”

I lunge at him, shifting in the air. My bare feet hit the pavement and I crash into him as a man, rage pulsing through every inch of me. My fists hit like sledgehammers, each blow a release of everything I’ve been holding in.

“For Victoria.” Crack .

“For my burned home and traumatized parents.” Crack .

“For every life you’ve ruined.” Crack .

Mace stumbles. Bleeding. Broken.

He hits a motorcycle and it falls over.

“Fuck you,” he rasps, blood in his teeth. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

“Wrong, Mace,” I say as I squeeze my hand into a fist. “I’ve seen enough.”

I drive my fist into his chest, feeling his ribcage crack beneath my knuckles. I hit him over and over in the chest, crushing his cruel heart until he slumps down, dead eyed and breathless. His body hits the pavement with a final, lifeless thud.

Silence falls.

The remaining wolves take in the scene with stunned eyes and ears pulled back.

Their eyes flick to Magnus, who’s still in his grizzly form, jaws soaked in Knox’s blood.

Then to Victoria, who roars like a goddess of war, determination and defiance in her eyes.

Then to me—panting, bloodied, towering over the broken body of the alpha they followed for far too long.

“Go,” I say, giving them one last chance to keep their lives.

They bolt.

They flee back to their motorcycles with their tails between their legs.

Some continue on into the forest, not even bothering to collect their bikes.

A few others quickly phase into their human forms and flee on their motorcycles.

No words. No threats. Just a blur of tail lights as they vanish into the night.

We watch them go, knowing this is the end.

Because they know what will happen if they ever come back.

They know who rules this mountain now.

And they know, that I’ll never run again.