“This is Church.”

“Stay away from Lexi,” Austin growled. “I want you and your men to back off.”

“Hold on, is this Cole?” Laughter on the other end, and it only kindled the fire. “Good God, you are paranoid.”

“You think I’m fucking with you? Try me.” Austin gripped the steering wheel so hard it could have snapped. “Touch her and I’ll break every finger on your hand. Take her, and I’ll break your neck.”

“What is this call about? You’re wasting my time. I no longer have a man assigned to guard her, if that’s what you’re asking. That was her wish, and I will not force myself on any woman.”

“It’s not him,” Austin said, glancing at Denver.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Church snapped, all humor erased from his voice.

Austin hung up and his foot became a cinderblock on the gas pedal. He dialed Prince, but it went to voicemail.

When they arrived at the turnoff, he slammed on the brakes and took off on foot. If someone was there, he didn’t want to tip him off. Every muscle burned as adrenaline rocketed him up the road until the house came into view.

So did another scene.

A gun.

A wolf.

Blood.

A scream.

His heart almost stopped.

* * *

Maizy remained motionless in front of McNeal, sucking her thumb with a vacant stare in her eyes. I kept my focus on the Mage, ignoring my father’s shouts. They got into a heated argument and my arm was on fire from the gunshot, but the only thing that existed in my world was my little sister.

I knelt down and noticed her eyes were fixed on the blood trickling down my arm. “Come on, sweetie. It’s okay. You’re not in trouble. Come over here and let me give you a big squeeze, ’kay?”

“Maybe if I put a little shock into her, that’ll wake her up.” McNeal laughed, holding out his hands.

I had no idea what a Mage could do, but Austin had told me enough that it had me on my feet in less than a second. Before I could lunge, my father looped his belt around my neck and ran the strap through the buckle, yanking me back as if I were on a leash. The cold barrel of a gun pressed against my right temple.

That’s when I saw the big picture. A large black-and-grey wolf bared its teeth at McNeal, stalking forward from the right. I could tell it was Prince from his unique multicolored eyes.

Austin and Denver looked like soldiers charging into battle as they sprinted up the driveway.

The Mage twisted around, and seeing the imminent danger coming at him from all sides, he reached for Maizy.

Prince’s wolf lunged, driving his sharp teeth into McNeal’s arm and thrashing about in violent motions. The Mage put his right hand on the wolf’s head and he yelped, but didn’t let go.

Maizy started to wail.

In a split second, Denver shifted mid-run. Clothes fell to the ground and in a blur of movement, his grey-and-white wolf charged toward Maizy.

I screamed, not able to comprehend seeing my little sister torn to pieces in front of me.

My father could barely maintain a grip as I struggled against him, reaching for my Maizy.

Oh God. Please, no.

My legs gave way, my father called me an ugly name, and that’s when I witnessed the unimaginable.

Denver’s wolf wrapped his body around Maizy, protecting her from the attack that ensued before her eyes between the Mage and Packmaster’s wolf.

Austin approached at a steady pace and his blue eyes were electric.

“Get back or I’ll shoot her,” my dad warned. “All of you freaks get back.”

At the edge of the woods, a pack of wolves stood like soldiers awaiting orders. They watched their Packmaster with the sapphire and brown eyes as he savagely attacked McNeal.

Dizzy and panting, I looked at Maizy and saw Denver’s wolf taking slow steps, pushing her farther away from the violence. He faced the action and bared his teeth, but his sole purpose was to guard Maizy. I’d never seen anything like it. Austin had warned me Denver’s wolf had a vicious and unpredictable nature, one that couldn’t be trusted.

Except with a six-year-old little girl who adored him.

McNeal made a guttural moan as the wolf’s canines pierced into his other arm, rendering them useless for harnessing energy as a weapon. His left arm had been jerked from the socket, and large chunks of flesh were stripped to the bone. The Mage kept reaching for slices of sunlight filtering through the tangled branches that would allow him to heal, but the trees were tall and the sun was low.

“Let her go, Nelson. Lexi’s your daughter, whether she came from your body or not,” Austin said in a steady voice, slowing his pace as he neared. “You raised her, fed her, and looked after her as one of your own. Don’t do anything irrational because of greed or fear.”

Austin’s eyes flicked briefly to my bleeding arm and he flexed his jaw. Strange things drifted in my head. Like, why was he shirtless with wet pants? What was the story behind his tattoos? Had he ever thought about me in the years since Wes’s death? Did he still like to eat Cheetos with cheese dip? Would I ever get to know these things, or was the gun against my head the last thing I’d experience in my life?

And when his frosty eyes lingered on me, I wanted to tell him I loved him. Loved him since I could remember, and now I knew without a doubt what I felt was more than a childhood crush or an attraction to my own kind. Austin didn’t feel the same way, but it didn’t erase how I felt. He had once vowed to kill the man responsible for ordering Wes’s death, but Austin didn’t flinch as a wolf took the honors and tore that man apart.

“I just want to get out of here,” my father said. “Let me through and you can keep the fucking diamonds. I only wanted to get this guy off my ass. It’s more trouble than it’s worth. Now that you have him, feel free to take him out for me. That bastard killed my boy.”

Austin inched forward. “I’ve spent the last seven years wanting to find the person responsible for killing Wes, and it led me to you. That Mage ordered his death, but you brought him into the dark corners of our world without a clue of how immortals perceive humans as disposable goods. You put your family in the line of fire by sending your son to work for a Mage!”

It was then I realized what Austin was doing. He was trying to get my father to turn the gun on him.

“Austin,” I pleaded, trying to distract him. “No. Please don’t do this. The Mage is the one you want. Wes wasn’t given orders to kill just anyone, Austin. You were supposed to be his first hit.”

He blanched as the words speared through him, and I had him for just a split second. The more Austin confronted my father, the more I feared for his life. My dad could shoot a cherry off a tin can, and Austin stood at point-blank range. But his eyes were resolute, and he never backed down.

Prince’s wolf yelped as the Mage threw another burst of energy into him. They weren’t sorcerers but powerful immortals who harnessed energy like a weapon. Blood was everywhere, and Denver’s wolf was almost out of sight. Suddenly, Maizy wrapped her arms around his neck and I scarcely breathed. My heart skipped like a stone across the water until Denver’s wolf slowly trotted out of sight with her safely on his back.

“Wes is in the ground because of you,” Austin continued.

“You don’t know jack shit,” my dad shouted. “I should have known you were one of them. You think I wanted my boy growing up and struggling like I did for so long? The job paid well and he was willing.”

“He didn’t want money, Nelson. Wes wanted immortality. That’s why he bartered with the Mage. He was star-struck with our world—wanted to be one of us. Let your daughter go; there have been enough casualties.”

I’d never been in a situation like this before. I was just a girl who worked at a candy store and had a regular life.

Something flashed in Austin’s eyes… something dark and bottomless. My dad must have seen it too, because he pulled me to the right side of the porch using the belt. He was going to make a run for it.

Out of nowhere, Lorenzo appeared from the side of the house and seized my father’s wrist. He jerked his arm away and the gun went off. I stumbled forward and Austin caught me around the waist before I fell.

“So you are the human who killed my aunt?” Lorenzo said, holding my father by the throat. “You’ve caused us much grief over the years, and it’s time to face the jury.”

“Wait,” I started to say.

Two men held my father while Lorenzo confiscated the gun and set it on a small table. I’d never seen him look so fierce. He had his hair tied back and wore the same black tank top with writing on it as he had when we first met.

Lorenzo’s malevolent eyes darkened. “You may have some sentimental bond to this man, Alexia, but if he plays in our world, then he plays by our rules. This human committed a crime against my family by taking a life and stealing a child. He’s going to face my family and serve his sentence. There’s nothing you can say to convince me otherwise, so don’t waste your breath.”

He walked over and angrily removed the belt from my neck. “Shift, and heal yourself.” His eyes flicked to Austin. “You have things under control here,” he stated, more than asked. “I’ll take my prize and go my own way.”

“Just one minute,” Austin demanded. He eased me into a chair and his heavy boots stomped across the porch until he stood in front of my father. Without warning, he threw a hard fist into his face, delivering two more brutal punches until blood poured from my father’s broken nose.