Then he was on top of another wolf, clamping his paws around his neck and wrestling him to the ground, where he slashed open the intruder’s belly.
The sight was too much for her wolf, who was suddenly thrown back to all those years ago when she and Jaime had been surrounded and attacked. In her confused, enraged, fearful state, the need to surface was worse than ever for her wolf. She struggled madly within her cage—she clawed it, leaped at it, slammed into it over and over. Calling on everything Dante had taught her, Jaime ignored her wolf and slipped into that zone where the only thought in her mind was survival.
Each time another wolf came at her, Jaime fought using every technique she knew—she fought dirty, she made them bleed, she broke bones, she even attacked from behind when she had to. This wasn’t a moment when fairness counted. These wolves shouldn’t be there and would hurt or kill her pack if she didn’t hurt them first. That was all there was to it. Naturally, it would have been a lot easier to battle in wolf form. Thank God Dante had trained her for this, should it ever happen.
All around her there was growling, barking, yelping, the sounds of bones breaking and bodies slamming into one another. She was covered in scratches, bites, blood—some hers, some not—and was pretty sure that she’d fractured her wrist and had a few broken ribs. She ignored all of it—the noises, the agony, the worry, the struggle that her wolf continued to put up. But there was a certain noise coming from behind her that she couldn’t bring herself to ignore, particularly when it was accompanied by her name. Turning her head slightly, she saw Shaya clutching a screaming Kye tightly in her arms.
“Taryn told me before she shifted that when the number of wolves was low, I should ask you to escort Kye and me back to the caves.”
Damn it. She couldn’t ignore what was, effectively, an order from her Alpha female, but Jaime didn’t want to leave the fight, didn’t want to leave her mate’s side. Looking around, she noticed that the number of intruders was now at eight. Although Rhett, Cam, and Marcus were badly injured, they were still battling hard, totally high on adrenaline. The intruders were therefore outnumbered, and there was no excuse to wait any longer.
Suddenly it felt as though a car crashed into her back, and she found herself flat on her stomach while sharp teeth dug deep into her shoulder. She screamed through her clenched teeth. Breathing and thinking through the pain, she reached back with her good arm, gripped a foreleg, and yanked hard. It was enough to make the wolf above her release her shoulder with a yelp. This time she yanked even harder on the leg, unbalancing the wolf, who ended up sprawled at her side. Growling, he looked ready to sink his teeth into her other shoulder when a huge gray—and very feral Alpha male—wolf barreled into him. Then the gray wolf was on top of her attacker, ripping out his throat.
“Jaime, come on!” pleaded Shaya.
The feel of a cold nose nuzzling her face made her turn her head. Her mate nudged her with his head, growling. He wanted her gone.
“Fine.” Besides, Kye and Shaya needed help. Dragging herself to her feet, she ran to the panicky redhead. Lydia, Grace, Hope, Greta, Leif, and Bitch Face—did she really have to help that venomous woman?—were also waiting. “Come on. Laurie, stay at the rear.” She was a dominant female after all, so she should have joined the fighting. Jaime went to lead them out of the circle, but stopped dead as three of the intruders gathered near the path that Jaime intended to take.
The normally playful salt-and-pepper wolf—Dominic—followed closely by a jet-black male wolf—Tao—and their creamy blonde Alpha female charged at the three wolves blocking Jaime’s path. Not bothering to stick around to watch the intruders be ripped to shreds, Jaime took advantage of the situation and led the group of females and two pups through the trees toward the caves.
Conscious that going too fast would quickly tire Greta and Leif, Jaime kept at an even, doable pace.
But that soon became a problem when she heard the sounds of menacing growls closing in on them.
“Shaya, you know the way. Go.” With that, she hung back as the females continued to run toward the caves. Jaime stood in wait, determined not to let the approaching wolves pass. Bitch Face, strangely, remained with her. Well, whatever. Common enemies and all that stuff.
As a large wolf came darting toward her, she forgot about Bitch Face and dropped into an offensive stance. But she didn’t have the opportunity to attack, because no sooner was the approaching wolf leaping in the air than a black wolf with creamy markings—Ryan—smashed into it, sending it colliding into a large oak. Then suddenly two gray-brown-yellow wolves—Marcus and Trick—joined him, growling at her and Bitch Face. Jaime understood; they wanted her to concentrate on protecting the other females and the pups while they took care of the remaining intruders.
Nodding, Jaime raced toward the caves, conscious that Bitch Face was close behind her. It was as she reached the foot of the mountain that she smelled a familiar scent that both she and her wolf instantly recognized as a threat. She immediately halted and watched as a dark-skinned, curvy female appeared out of the shadows. Glory.
“You took your sweet time,” the female said, huffing. Turning her attention to Bitch Face, she grinned. “I wasn’t sure if you’d really come through for us. I guess you must want her dead as much as I do.”
Jaime flicked her gaze between the two females. “What does she mean?” she demanded, snarling at Bitch Face.
Glory answered for her. “I mean that she agreed to create an opening in the perimeter fence so we could get inside pack territory. Your ceremony provided the perfect distraction.” Jaime shook her head at the female who was edging away from her. “You weren’t satisfied with betraying Dante once? You had to do it all over again?”
“It would have been a lot easier if you’d just died from that bullet,” she replied.
Suddenly it all became clear. “You were the one who hired that lone wolf.”
“I want Dante, and you’re in my way. As Glory and I had a common interest—getting rid of you—we decided to band together.”
Jaime frowned, incredulous. “How can you band together with someone who also wants him?” Glory gave Jaime a pitying smile. “No, honey, I don’t want Dante. Not really. But nobody gets to disregard me the way he did. It seemed a fun idea to put my brothers on his tail. Then I saw him with you and realized that an even better mode of revenge would be to scare you off. That was all I’d really wanted. But instead, you attacked me. You drew blood. What kind of dominant female would I be if I let the shifter community believe that a submissive wolf could take me? I’d be targeted for the rest of my days. That can’t be allowed.
“Once everybody hears how my brothers, my cousins, and I all penetrated the Phoenix Pack’s defenses and I killed their Beta female, I’ll be basically untouchable. And admired. And wanted by just about every alpha male around. Maybe I’ll even earn myself a position as Alpha female of a pack. Imagine that.”
Jaime’s tone was dry. “I can’t. It’s too unrealistic.”
“Glory, just get on with it already before the others come,” urged Bitch Face, glancing around.
“Your relatives aren’t going to keep them distracted for long.”
“You do realize that if I’m killed, it’ll kill Dante too, right?” Jaime asked Bitch Face, who waved a hand dismissively.
“The bond isn’t complete, Dante will easily survive it. Especially when he has me to pick up the pieces. He still loves me, he never stopped. But he’s too honorable to admit it and leave his mate.”
The woman was insane. “What is your damage?”
“I still can’t work out what it is about you that made him move on,” she said, looking at Jaime like she was a bug. “You’re nothing like me.”
“What, you mean someone who would betray a guy they’re partially mated to and then relish the idea that this guy is hung up on her?”
Ire flashed across her face. “There was no way I could’ve resisted that pull to go to Blane.”
“Bu
llshit. Being partly mated to Dante meant there was no way you could have felt that pull.
You cheated on him because you wanted to, because you’re selfish and wouldn’t know the meaning of loyalty if it bit you on your conceited ass.”
“You never would have kept him anyway, you know. Dante needs someone like me. Someone who won’t fight his need for control despite being a dominant female.”
“You and Blane aren’t together anymore, are you? That’s the real reason you’ve showed up.
You thought you could get Dante to take you back.”
Bitch Face growled. “He was mine before he was ever yours.”
“Now, see, that’s where you’re wrong. He’s been mine since the second I was born. It just took a while for us to figure it out.”
Her smile was ugly. “Just think how easily he’ll recover from your death when he finds out about Leif. Dante would fight to stay alive for his son.”
Jaime gave her an “Oh please” look. “He’s not Dante’s, and we both know it. He would have scented the pregnancy before you skipped off with Blane.”
The dumb bitch blushed. “Dante will still raise him as his own.”
“Sure, sure. I almost feel sorry for you. I say almost.”
“All right, all right,” interrupted Glory. “As much as this is fun, Laurie’s right—the others will soon get here. Let’s get this over with, Jaime.”
Jaime really didn’t like that Glory was so confident that she’d win. “You didn’t say pretty please.”
She smirked. “Since you’re already badly injured, I’ll go easy on you.”
“Your kindness overwhelms me.”
She shot at Jaime like a bullet out of a gun. If her senses hadn’t been so attuned to Glory, Jaime might not have been able to sidestep her in time. Just that one simple dodge left Glory skidding along the ground in an effort to halt her forward momentum. Jaime smiled sweetly at her.
Glory came at her again, this time with a series of backflips. Heaven knew what she intended to do once she’d reached her. Jaime didn’t wait to find out—though she was curious. Her timing just right, she darted at her so that in that small millisecond when Glory’s body was upside down—
midflip—Jaime wrapped an arm around her waist and slammed her down, face-first, onto the ground.
To Glory’s credit, she recovered quickly, jumping upright, flexing her facial muscles, and wiping away the blood that trickled from her nose.
“You’re fast,” Glory admitted through her teeth.
“Please don’t follow that up with some sort of cheesy line like, ‘But are you fast enough?’”
“I don’t need to ask you that. I already know the answer.”
“Does that mean you surrender?”
She curled her upper lip at Jaime. “I’d sooner fight to the death than surrender.”
“Do your brothers know about this suicidal streak of yours?” Glory flew at her with such speed that she almost clipped Jaime with that big fancy kick, but her movement was fueled by anger, and Dante had taught Jaime that acting on anger always resulted in mistakes. Dodging the kick, Jaime slammed her balled-up fist into Glory’s jaw and followed it up with a kick to the knee.
Looking dazed, Glory staggered and easily lost her balance when Jaime then swept out her foot and took both of Glory’s legs out from under her. She hit the ground with a loud thud, cradling her knee. Seconds later, however, she sprang upright and lunged at Jaime with a flurry of punches, kicks, strikes, and overhands.
As much as Jaime hated to admit it, Glory was good. Just as Dante had predicted, the female had moves of her own and liked to fight dirty. Jaime managed to block or dodge most of the blows aimed at her while landing plenty of blows of her own, but it was fair to say that they were evenly matched. Although Glory was tiring, so was Jaime. If it hadn’t been for Dante’s training, the female would have easily overpowered her.
After a particularly hard palm-heel strike from Jaime, Glory stumbled backward and blood gushed from her nose. The sight pleased Jaime’s wolf, who was lunging at her confines, wanting the freedom to defend and attack. Growling, Glory rocketed at Jaime and again delivered punch after punch, kick after kick, and dirty move after dirty move.
A fast, hard uppercut sent Glory staggering backward and into a tree, but quickly she righted herself and dealt a hard blow to Jaime’s solar plexus, right where her broken ribs were. Jaime sucked in a breath and fell to her knees, gritting her teeth against the pain. Almost failing to notice the kick aimed at her face, Jaime quickly captured the foot and unsheathed her claws, slashing at Glory’s Achilles tendon. With a loud, stunned cry, Glory swayed on one leg and quickly ended up flat on the ground. With effort, Jaime got to her feet, taking a moment to regulate her breathing.
“Glory, they’re coming!” declared Bitch Face. “Fine, I’ll take care of it myself.” Jaime turned in time to grip the hand that had been aiming for her throat. Bending it backward and ignoring Bitch Face’s squeal of pain, she demanded, “Retract your claws.” But that distraction cost her big time. The breath whooshed out of her as a hard, painful impact smacked into her body, making her back hit the ground hard. Then Glory was on top of her, shimmering as bones cracked and her body reshaped. Milliseconds later a russet wolf was growling down at her, eyes fixed on her throat. Knowing what was coming, Jaime did the only thing she could do. She shifted.
Dante sensed the exact moment that Jaime changed into her wolf form; he sensed her wolf’s rage, pain, anxiety, and determination, and knew she was battling someone and battling hard. He looked at Trick, who was helping him hold up Tao—although back in human form, the Head Enforcer was passed out and had a broken leg. “Can you hold him up without help?”
“Sure. Whatever it is, go.”
Dante wasn’t sure what it could be. The intruders had all been defeated, and most of them were dead, except for the three who had surrendered. So who was she—?
Glory! How could he not have considered that she might have sneaked in too? Fuck.
Remaining in human form and ignoring the shards of pain knifing through him from his wounds, he sprinted ahead and let the bond lead him to Jaime. Clearly sensing that something was happening, Trey, Taryn, Ryan, and Gabe followed behind him. He caught a glimpse of two balls of fur wrestling when suddenly Laurie launched herself at him from nowhere.
“Oh God, Dante, I’m so glad you’re here. I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to leave Jaime behind, but—”
Forcibly he pushed the female away and handed her to Ryan, only concerned for the black wolf with a tail tipped with gray. His mate. He watched as she slashed the muzzle of a russet wolf, spraying blood onto the ground. The bleeding wolf leaped at the black wolf, attempting to clamp her paws around her neck. Dante stiffened in fear, knowing that if she managed that, she would wrestle the black wolf to the ground, and his mate would then be vulnerable.
But the russet wolf didn’t manage that. His mate bit down on her ear and yanked hard enough to make the russet wolf whine loudly and jump away. Relief filled him, but he didn’t relax. Then the two wolves were leaping at each other, bodies slamming, claws clashing, teeth sinking into fur and flesh. Dante wanted nothing more than to intervene and help his mate, but he couldn’t. This was her fight, and he couldn’t take this from her. “Come on, baby,” he murmured.
Finally the black wolf was able to get her opponent flat on her back on the ground. Quickly she straddled the russet wolf, but before she could pin her down, claws came swiping at her muzzle.
Feeling her pain, Dante winced, but she didn’t react to the pain at all—she was too focused on her need to kill her opponent.
His mate sank her teeth into the offending foreleg, wrenching a loud yelp from the other wolf.
Dante sensed his mate’s satisfaction—a satisfaction he shared until the russet wolf used her other paw to tear a strip into his mate’s shoulder. The pain and surprise of it made the black wolf bounce back, inadvertently givin
g the other a chance to right herself. “Little bitch,” he muttered.
Dante clenched his fists and ground his teeth against his wolf’s constant attempts to resurface.
His wolf wouldn’t involve himself in the fight, he understood the dynamics, but he wanted to be near his mate now that she was finally in wolf form. He wanted to bring her back from the dark place she was in right now. Both his wolf and Dante could feel her emotional state through the bond. It wasn’t good at all.
The black wolf was so far gone it was actually frightening. He remembered Jaime’s fear that if her wolf got control again, she wouldn’t let Jaime come back. He hoped to God that her fear was unfounded, but as he looked at the black wolf now, he realized that calming her was going to be the main battle tonight.
He inhaled sharply as a well-aimed body slam from the russet wolf sent his mate sprawling.
“Get up, baby.” To his relief, she was quickly on her feet again. Growling, she bounded at her opponent, crashing into her hard. He winced, flinched, snarled, cursed, and grimaced as he watched the two wolves continue to battle.
After a series of struggles, the black wolf again forced the other to her back. “That’s it, baby, end it.” His mate pinned the wolf down by pressing her paws down onto her shoulders. Then, in one sharp move, his mate slashed open the other wolf’s belly at exactly the same moment that she clamped her jaws around her throat. With an abrupt yank, the black wolf had ended the fight. Won.
Thank God for that. His wolf’s relief was just as profound. But the hard part had only just begun, Dante knew. “Jaime? Jaime?”
The black wolf swerved, hackles raised and ears flattened outward, growling threateningly at him with her lips peeled back, showing teeth and gums. Not good.