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I ’m not sure how we scrambled down the stairs so fast with Jacob.

Wes and Matias were practically carrying him while Calista took the lead and I followed behind.

The green light lit the stairwell with its ominous glow, while the squealing alarm kept sounding, making it difficult to hear my own thoughts, let alone one of my teammates.

But we hustled down those stairs in just under a minute and out the door that had a giant one painted on it. Back in the familiar, creepy maintenance hallway, I closed the door behind us just as Blondie shouted.

“He’s gone. The dude from the yard is gone.”

“Yeah,” Matias grunted through gritted teeth, “well I hope he had a nice time, because I sure as hell didn’t.”

“Calista, check the yard,” Wes growled.

With a brisk nod, she rested her back against the door leading outside and cracked it open, peeking through. Then she opened it a little wider, poked her head out, before throwing the door open, motioning us onward. “Clear!”

I took the lead, running through, gun in hand, ready to fire at anyone or any thing that came our way.

Unlike the hallway, the yard wasn’t painted in the sickly green light, but the same high-pitched alarm rang throughout the yard, overpowering the sound of the ocean.

At least out here, it wasn’t so deafening.

The guys hobbled through behind me, followed by Calista.

I turned around, looking to the left and right, but the coast was clear.

“Let’s go,” Wes groaned as he marched forward.

Blondie ran up ahead, taking her position.

We didn’t even bother being discreet, didn’t even try to stick to the shadows.

We just ran as fast as we could around the building, back towards the hole we cut in the fence where our climbing gear was waiting for us.

I kept turning around behind me, checking to make sure we weren’t being pursued.

As I walked backward for several steps, I noticed the discoloration on the packed dirt.

The drips and drops of crimson that led all the way back to the door we had just come out of.

I whipped around, noticing that the trail led past me, in front of me, all the way to Matias and Wes.

Oh no…

Then I heard it. The delighted yip, followed by a yap echoing through the night air.

And then another, followed by two more, then several others, all calling and crying out over one another.

It was the most disturbing sound I had ever heard in my life.

The most chilling, excitatory cacophony of animalistic calls that sent my heart racing in my chest and fresh waves of adrenaline pumping through my system.

Because I knew exactly what that sound was. I knew exactly what that meant.

“What the hell is that?” Calista shouted back as she stopped short.

“The hounds!” Jacob screamed.

“Shit,” was all Wes said.

“But why are they—”

“Keep going!” Jacob all but screamed as he tried to limp on his own.

“We’re fucking screwed,” Wes growled. “Matias, take Jacob,” he ordered as he un-looped Jacob’s arm.

“Mara, take point. Calista, follow up the rear.” Matias started moving Jacob forward, not waiting for me to assume my position in front, while Blondie waited for them to pass her so she could take her position in back.

I faced Wes. “Wait a minute. What are you doing?” The words came out of me so fast, desperation clawing up my throat.

Wes pulled the slide back on his 9mm Glock, loading the bullet in the chamber as he let it go and it snapped back into place. “Stop asking questions, Mara. Get your ass going—”

“What are you doing, Wes?” I asked more forcefully, taking several steps toward him. If he was doing what I thought he was doing, he was out of his mind.

He whirled on me, all hard lines, narrowed eyes, and a nasty frown. “Get the fuck out of here, Mara!” he yelled as he pointed after the rest of the team, now out of sight.

His attitude was really getting on my nerves. I scowled. “Last time I checked, we’re both leading this operation. So don’t tell me what to do!”

“Then go lead! ” he yelled as he leaned forward, getting into my personal space. “Go fucking lead, Mara. Get them outta here!”

I glared at him. “Not without you.” I heard several howls join the chorus.

So many cries calling out into the night.

There had to be dozens of them out there.

And they were getting closer. He shot out like a cobra, his hand wrapping around my upper arm and gripping me so tight that it hurt. “Ouch!” I cried. “Let go of me!”

He started marching me forward, a mean scowl painted on his face.

“Get. The fuck. Outta here!” he ordered as he all but threw me forward.

And suddenly, I was five years old again, Belinda gripping my arm, digging her nails into my flesh as she threw me down the basement stairs.

The memory reverberated within me. And then, I was pissed.

My blood boiled. I turned around, pulled my hand back, and slapped him…

hard . My hand made a delicious SMACK sound as it collided with his cheek.

“Don’t you ever grab me like that again!

” I screamed as I pointed my finger at him in a warning.

“Hellhounds or no hellhounds, don’t you ever do that to me ever again!

You got that? My stepmother did that to me, but I’m not in Telvia anymore!

I’m not five! And you can be pissed off at me all you want for not marrying you, but don’t you ever disrespect me like that again! ”

Wes’s eyes flickered with emotions he couldn’t hide from me…

not anymore. There was shock and regret and pain—so much pain—and fear.

His lips parted, but he hesitated to speak, until finally, “ Please …please go.” The words fell from his lips, almost a whisper.

I wasn’t even sure I heard them at all. “ Please , Mara.”

All the anger was gone. His shoulders collapsed, and all that was left in front of me was a wounded boy, filled with hurt and emotional anguish.

And he was begging me. He was begging me to leave him.

And I wasn’t stupid. He knew he was going to die.

There was no way he was going to survive however many of those things were coming.

He was sentencing himself to death, sacrificing his life to ensure the rest of us would live.

That I would live.

“ Please …”

My breath caught in my throat. Because it all hit me like a ton of bricks.

I couldn’t leave him. There was no way I could ever leave him behind.

And at that moment, I realized I was never going to leave him.

I realized that the moment Wes asked me to stay with him on that dance floor at the gala, I meant what I said to him. I truly meant it with all my heart.

Always.

Because I would rather die a thousand deaths than live a single day without him. Because Wes was always there for me, and it was my turn to always be there for him. Without thinking I stepped forward, taking his face in my hands, holding him prisoner, holding his gaze.

“I’m not leaving you.” I offered him a small smile as I repeated to him the same words I said all those weeks ago during the Admin Job, and then again when he wanted to face his father alone. “You stay, then I stay… always .”

Wes stiffened, his eyes glittering, emotions passing through him so quickly.

And then he closed his eyes, a single tear sliding down his cheek.

The sight caused my heart to ache, because I had hurt him so much.

He trusted me enough to give me his heart, to finally bring down the walls that kept him locked inside, and I had destroyed him.

I destroyed him, all in an effort to save him, to keep him free.

But in doing so, I betrayed his trust. And I never should have done that.

I saw that now. I should have told him from the very beginning what was happening, looped him in so he could make his own choices.

But instead, I made the decision for him.

I took away his autonomy because I thought I knew what was best. And that was wrong.

I was wrong.

He breathed in sharply, opened his eyes, and gave one definitive nod. And I knew then that he remembered. He stepped back from me, grabbed my hand, and repeated back to me, “Always.”

I smiled then because I knew Wes was back in the game, ready to fight for his life and mine. Too bad it wouldn’t be enough.