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“I do.” I tucked her hair behind her ear. “Thank you. Really.”

“You’re welcome.” She kissed my shoulder. “You should shower before this meeting.”

“Hawk said the same thing.”

I showered quickly, dressed, then kissed Harley goodbye as I tucked her back into bed. Downstairs, Rome was inside to keep watch on the house, and Hawk was waiting by the door.

“You ready for this?” Hawk asked.

I clapped Rome on the shoulder in thanks, then nodded. “Ready as ever. Let’s get going.”

It was nearly dawn by the time we reached Lola’s. Levi, the lone wolf shifter who used to work for Sean, was already seated at a booth. He was drumming his fingertips anxiously on the tabletop as we approached.

Hawk and I slid into the booth across from Levi.

The waitress brought us each a cup of coffee, as per usual, and gave us a severe look that made it very clear she wouldn’t be tolerating any funny business.

Made sense—soon the gas-station-slash-diner would be busy with the morning rush of exhausted truckers passing through.

“Levi,” I said.

“Ace.”

“What’s this about?” I took a sip of my coffee. I needed it, especially since I barely got any sleep. “You made it clear you were leaving town for good.”

Levi sighed. He looked haggard, exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes and grease at the roots of his dark, messy hair.

“I intended to, trust me. But I still kept in contact with some of my… Well, I can’t say, friends.

Colleagues, I guess. People who also worked with him. I had some business to wrap up, too.”

“As long as you stay out of mine,” I said in a low growl.

“I don’t want anything to do with your business,” Levi said. He wasn’t intimidated by my growl at all, which made me believe he really was trying to keep his nose out of all of this. “I’m only here because I’ve heard stuff that I think you should know.”

“What is it?” Hawk asked. “What are you hearing?”

“It sounds like Sean is showing signs of going feral.”

Hawk stiffened.

I’d always known it was a threat, but if it was reaching Levi, Sean was closer than ever.

A feral dragon shifter was a real danger—and a rare one, too.

A feral shifter was one who had completely lost control of his instincts.

He wouldn’t be able to turn human again.

He’d be trapped in his dragon form. A feral shifter was impulsive, violent, and unpredictable.

If Sean reached that stage, there wouldn’t be a challenge.

He would come into Lakeview filled with a murderous rage, and who knew how much damage he could do before we took him down.

“My guy said he’s always got his fangs out,” Levi continued. “That he’s not always coherent. He seems like he’s checking in and out of conversations. Sometimes present, sometimes not.”

“Jesus,” Hawk muttered.

“And there’s confusion there, too,” Levi said. “Hostility. All the tell-tale signs of the dragon starting to take control.”

“When did you hear this?” I asked.

“Recently,” Levi said. “I thought you should know this sooner rather than later. I’m not a part of this mess anymore, but I don’t want to see Lakeview destroyed, you know.”

“This is bad,” Hawk said. “If he loses control, he’ll do something crazy. He’s an alpha, Ace. His need for territory will outweigh everything. If he can’t take the clan from you, he’ll try to destroy it.”

“Vengeance,” I murmured, staring down at the table.

“Sean’s not the man I knew,” Levi said. “He was never a great guy, sure, but he was never like this. He’s been ranting about you, too, Ace.”

“He’s always doing that,” Hawk said.

“It’s different this time,” Levi said.

“Levi—” I interjected.

“You need to hear this,” Levi said. “He’s been saying he should’ve killed you when he had the chance. When you were kids.”

“What?” Hawk asked, wide-eyed.

Fuck. I hadn’t wanted Hawk to know this. I wasn’t going to keep it from him forever, but I’d planned to tell him about this over a few beers out by the lake when it was all over. I knew it would hurt him, probably even more than it hurt me. I rubbed my forehead.

“Ace?” Hawk asked. “Why don’t you seem surprised by this?”

“He told me,” I said. “I’m the one who pushed him over the edge. I taunted him, egged him on to try to get him to issue the challenge. In his anger, he told me he’s always wanted to kill me.”

“Always?” Hawk asked.

“You remember that boat trip on the lake? When I fell in?”

“Yeah, of course I do. You almost drowned.” Hawk paused. “You don’t mean…”

“He pushed me in,” I said. “God knows how many other instances there were like that. Or how many times he imagined doing it.”

“Fuck.” Hawk pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “That’s our brother, Ace. Our brother!”

“Not anymore,” I said. “I don’t think he ever truly was.”

Hawk trembled, and I gripped his shoulder and squeezed once. Seeing him so torn up twisted my stomach. Sean hadn’t only hurt me with his words—he’d hurt my whole family. My whole clan.

I looked at Levi. “Why come to us with this now?”

Levi leaned back in the booth and frowned.

“You know, when I first started working for Sean, it wasn’t really working ‘for’ at all.

He needed some backup, and he was a friend.

We’d shot pool together. I could tell he was going through a hard time.

But as time passed, he started getting more and more…

” Levi wrinkled his nose. “Psycho. All he could talk about was how much he hated you, Ace.”

“Great,” I muttered.

“Look, I know what it’s like to need a pack.

That’s what I was looking for. I thought since Sean was an alpha he might be able to put one together, but he was never focused on becoming a good alpha or building something on his own.

He was only ever fixated on getting revenge.

It’s been so long, and all he’s got left is his hate.

It’s been festering. Turning him into…” Levi waved a hand.

“This. Whatever he is now. And the dragon he is now is capable of…”

“He’s capable of killing Ace,” Hawk said coldly. “Of doing what he’s wanted to do since we were kids.”

“Take care of it soon,” Levi said. “Or else we’ll all be in trouble.”

As the first truckers began to filter into Lola’s, Hawk and I stood up. I shook Levi’s hand firmly. “Thanks for this information.” It wasn’t anything I didn’t know, but if it was bad enough for Levi to reach out, it was getting really bad. That was information on its own.

Hawk and I climbed on our bikes and rode back to Lakeview. When we drove into the town, Hawk waved at me and split off to his own house. He’d probably have Mia before bringing Dylan home. I was so tired I felt it in my bones, but I knew I wouldn’t be getting any sleep.

I slipped into the quiet house. Rome was asleep on the couch, and I left him that way.

I crept up the stairs, then pressed my ear to the door of my bedroom.

Harley was still deeply asleep, her breaths slow and rhythmic.

I opened the door a crack and took a moment to just look at her.

She was curled under the blanket, her face buried in my pillow.

The sight of her soothed the worst of my nerves.

I closed the door gently, then went into my office.

Without thinking, I walked to my bookshelf and pulled a leather-bound book from the top corner.

I wiped the dust from the cover, then sat on the couch and opened the old photo album.

It had been years since I’d looked at it.

What was I looking for?

I wasn’t sure.

I picked a random page, and it fell open to a series of pictures from a camping trip.

We had driven out to the woods, deep upstate, far from any form of civilization.

That was the kind of camping Mom liked to do.

I smoothed my thumb over a photo of Sean and me.

We couldn’t have been older than ten in the photo.

We looked exactly the same at that time—anyone other than me and my parents couldn’t have told us apart.

We were both smiling, arms thrown around each other’s shoulders, and Sean was holding up an enormous fish he’d just caught in the creek.

In that moment, I’d thought we were happy.

I expected to feel pain. Grief. Anything. Instead, I just felt numb. I flipped through the photos. Birthdays, vacations, school photos. I kept staring at Sean’s younger face, looking for a trace of the malice he’d told me was there.

I didn’t see it. All I saw was my brother.

Sighing, I closed the album. There was no point in doing this. I could go through every memory with a fine-toothed comb, searching for signs of his cruelty and his hate. But why? I’d only drive myself crazy trying to understand.

What’s done was done. He had told me his truth, and I believed him.

A soft knock on the door shook me out of my thoughts, and Harley peeked into the room. “You’re back?”

“Sorry,” I said. I put the album aside. “Knew I wasn’t going to sleep.”

“It’s still early,” she said. “Come to bed. Catch an hour or two.”

I frowned slightly, and before I knew it, I had a lap full of beautiful woman. She was wearing a T-shirt, a pair of my boxers, and a loose bathrobe.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

I slid my hands over her thighs and squeezed. I was so grateful to have her here with me. My mate. My family. The only reason I was still sane through all of this was because of their support.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen during this challenge. I’m afraid if something goes wrong?—”

“It won’t,” Harley said, and she sounded so sure.

“But if it does,” I said, “I want to make sure you and Dylan are safe. I’ll need to put a plan in place for next steps if I lose.

I’ll probably reach out to Suri again and let him know what’s happening.

In the event that I do lose, I’ll need you and Dylan to go with the Vahdat clan, if Suri and his father agree to that.

You’ll need to be with someone I know can keep you?—”

“Steph.” Harley took my face in both hands and met my gaze. “It’s not going to come to that.”

There was a slight waver in her voice, though, and my dragon sensed her fear.

“What happened?” she asked again. “Did you learn something new about Sean?”

“No. He’s unpredictable. You know that.”

“He is. And you’re strong. Confident. You know how to handle him.” She kissed me. “Don’t let him get under your skin, Steph. That’s what he wants.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s all just getting to me.”

“You need to sleep.” She kissed my cheek. “That’s all. Catch a few hours, and I’ll be here when you wake up, okay? I’ll be here when all of this is over, too. We’ll get through this, Steph. Together.”

I buried my face in her neck and breathed in the soothing scent of her skin. She was right—we’d get through this together. I had to believe that. I had to end this, no matter how much it hurt.