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COLE

T here were wolves everywhere. Biting and snapping jaws, growls, snarls, and howls echoed inside my skull as they fought.

Dirt caked my paws as I ran between them, fending off attacks.

My wolf and I had never felt so attuned, so in sync.

I didn’t even have to tell it what I wanted to do—it already knew .

It was like I was more wolf than man, and my natural instincts were running like a machine.

A pair of jaws snapped in the air in front of me.

Without flinching, I dived forward, slamming my shoulder into the attacker’s chest. The wolf tumbled away.

Behind me, another wolf bit at my feet, trying to get hold of my leg, but I somehow sensed him going for me through some combination of scent, hearing, and instinct.

Before he could sink his teeth into me, I kicked out with my hind legs, catching him in the face and flipping him onto his back.

This was what I’d been preparing for. The thing Langston and Trent had been trying to drill into me.

Fighting, clawing, and battling like a monster.

Using my natural strength and speed along with the old skills I’d forgotten.

I’d been a dull, rusty knife when they first got hold of me.

Now, I was a sharp, shiny blade, cutting through my enemies like soft butter.

I was a predator, a protector, an alpha , and I’d show them all exactly what I could do.

Finally, there were no more attackers, no one else to fight.

Bodies lay strewn around me, and my mind came out of whatever battle trance I’d been in.

Every enemy was down for the count, backing off or nursing small wounds.

All but one. He stood before me, a massive wolf with broad shoulders and glittering ivory teeth.

The wolf shifted, and Langston gave me a shit-eating grin. He swept his hand around to indicate all my pack mates and friends who’d been helping me train.

“That was pretty impressive, Cole. Not bad at all. Now for the real test.”

I shifted. “Let me guess? You?”

“Alpha against alpha. We’ll see how much you’ve learned.”

“Bring it,” I said with a smile.

My pack mates moved back, forming a circle around us.

Some as wolves, others shifting back to their human forms. Trent crossed his arms over his chest and looked on with interest, obviously unsure who would win.

I took that as a compliment. A week ago, there’d have been no question who would defeat who.

Langston shifted and bolted toward me, giving me no warning, no time to think.

He struck me just as I shifted back to my wolf form, sending me rolling through the grass, head spinning and dizzy.

Before I could right myself, he was on me again, jaws snapping at my back haunches.

His teeth nipped me, drawing a yelp of pain from me.

The sharp discomfort focused me, and instead of backing away to give myself room, I moved close, pushing my muzzle toward his face, snarling and trying to tangle my feet with his.

The move surprised Langston, and his front paw got caught between mine.

In the next instant, he was on his side.

Before he could scramble to his feet, I was on him, slamming my paws onto his chest. His breath left his lungs in a rush.

I clawed at his side with my paws, trying to wound him while he was out of breath, but in my haste, I didn’t notice him biting at my back leg.

His teeth closed around my right foot, and he yanked me off-balance.

We scraped and clawed on the ground, until we both managed to right ourselves.

Covered in mud, grass, and leaves, we looked like two feral beasts as we circled one another.

Those gathered around cheered us on, but I ignored them, focusing only on Langston.

This was truly an alpha-against-alpha fight.

Compared to the others, Langston was far superior, not only in fighting ability but strength and speed as well.

We lunged, crashing chest to chest. The fight devolved into a chaos of teeth, claws, fur, and kicking feet.

Any of the spectators watching would have a hard time knowing exactly what was happening because we were moving too fast, too ferociously, to keep track.

Langston bit my right foreleg, I bit his ear.

He clawed my belly, I clawed his inner thigh.

Over and over, we battled, and my heart threatened to explode from the exertion. I could barely catch my breath.

Langston tried to move his head between my front legs to bite my stomach.

My heart leapt as I saw his mistake. He was off-balance and exposed while going for the soft spot beneath my ribs.

Twisting around, I shoved my muzzle into his neck, pushing him over onto his side.

As he fell, I wrapped my jaws around his throat and clamped hard enough to cut off his breath, but no more.

He couldn’t move without my jaws getting tighter. It was over.

Langston whined in submission and defeat, and I released him.

Backing away, I shifted, panting for breath.

Holy fuck. I’d beaten Langston, and I’d done it without him holding back.

I’d wanted to do that, but deep down I hadn’t been sure I had the ability.

The adrenaline pumping through my system made my hands shake, and I couldn’t even hear the men cheering around us.

Langston shifted and rubbed his throat. “You’re ready, my man.”

Suddenly tired beyond belief, I sank to my knees, a goofy smile on my lips. The pack members rushed over to congratulate me.

Trent patted me on the shoulder. “Took you long enough, didn’t it?”

“Oh, fuck off,” I said with a laugh.

It had been a grueling couple weeks of training, but for the first time, I truly believed I was ready to fight Kyle. A sense of pride and accomplishment washed over me, and I knew that Langston was right. I was ready.

The happy mood vanished as Farrah came barreling out of the house.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She sighed and shook her head sadly. “There’s been another incident. This time, there’s an eyewitness.”

Langston, Trent, and I piled into a truck and headed to town.

The call had come in from Chief Milbanks while I was training.

Whatever had happened had gone down only a few minutes before he’d called.

He said he needed us at the station as soon as possible.

As we drove, my stomach clenched and unclenched.

What could Kyle have done now? What awful travesty had he committed this time?

Milbanks met us on the front steps of the police department, looking even more put out than he had at my house.

“Cole,” he said as I got out of my truck.

“I heard there was another attack,” I said, reaching out to shake the man’s hand.

Milbanks ignored my hand. “This is getting to be a hell of a mess, Cole. I’ve got a sedated wolf in one of my lock-up cells, along with a distraught boy and his mother in an interrogation room.”

“Shit,” Langston hissed. “Another human was turned?”

“Looks that way,” Milbanks said. “Come on in. We’re about to question the boy, and the mayor says he wants you to watch.”

“Can we talk to him?” I asked.

Milbanks’s left eye twitched. “This is already more involvement than I want you to have, but I’ve got my orders. You can listen in through the observation window, and that’s it.”

Without another word, we followed him into the office and down a hallway. As we walked, I nudged Langston.

“Has Zayde found anything?” I whispered low enough so Milbanks couldn’t hear.

Langston was already texting with Zayde. “Not yet. Once we can get an idea of the exact time and place, he might be able to pull up any footage from the area.”

Trent snorted behind us. “I’m getting real tired of Kyle. I can’t wait for you to rip his throat out, Cole.”

“Here’s hoping,” Langston said.

Milbanks ushered us into a small room before closing the door. It was sparse—three chairs, a table, and one large two-way mirror looking into the interrogation room. We could see the young child and his mother, but they couldn’t see us.

“Jesus,” Trent said. “The kid looks like he’s barely twelve.”

He was right. The kid leaned against a worried-looking woman who bore a faint resemblance to him. His mother. Milbanks and one of his deputies stepped into their room a few seconds later, and an intercom on the wall allowed us to hear what they were saying.

“Hey there, big guy,” Milbanks said, grinning at the boy. “Can I get you anything? A Coke, maybe a candy bar or something?”

The kid licked his lips but shook his head.

“All right,” Milbanks said with a smile. “What about you, ma’am? Water?”

“Can we please get on with this?” she said. “I’d like to get my son home soon.”

“I understand.” Looking at the boy again, he said, “You’re Billy Ellis, correct? And this is your mom, Melinda Ellis?”

The kid nodded. “Yeah.”

“How about you tell me what you saw today?” Milbanks asked.

I leaned closer to the glass as if I could hear better if only I got a little closer.

Billy licked his lips again and said, “I think it was the guy in the hoodie who did it.”

“Did what?” Milbanks probed.

“Stabbed that guy in the neck,” Billy said. “It happened real fast, though.”

“Oh, jeez,” Langston hissed.

“What?” I said as I glanced back.

Langston smirked. “Zayde’s in Milbanks’s security files. He thinks he’s found something.”

“Keep me updated,” I said, turning back to the glass to watch.

“You say this man stabbed someone in the neck?” Milbanks asked. “What did he stab him with?”

“Well…” The boy shrugged awkwardly. “I didn’t see it happen. I caught it on my phone camera. I like to take pictures of butterflies and caterpillars and stuff to show my little sister. She likes that stuff.”

Milbanks nodded. “We’ve got those pictures already. Is it this one?” he asked, sliding a set of printed photos across the table.