Heartsong (Green Creek Book 3)

I was lost in the dark.

Voices rose around me.

“He’s not breathing, oh my god, he’s not breathing—”

“Carter, would you stand the fuck back? You need to let me help him!”

“What did he do? What the hell did your dad do to him? He doesn’t smell like wolf, he doesn’t smell like—”

“I don’t know, okay? You’ve got to let me at him, you’ve got to let me—Ox! Get your ass over here now.”

“Kelly? Kelly! Come on, man, open your eyes. Please, god, open your eyes, please, please, please—let me go, Joe, you fucking let me go right now or I’ll kick your ass. Let me—Ox! Ox, you have to help him. You have to—”

I felt my heartbeat in my eyes as I drifted away.

My head was pounding as I burst through the veil that had fallen over me.

I blinked slowly up at a bare ceiling.

My mouth was sour.

A human had told me once what it felt like to have a hangover. Alcohol didn’t affect wolves like it did humans. Our metabolism burned through it too fast. But Jesus Christ, did it feel like I’d nearly drunk myself to death.

I groaned, putting a hand over my eyes. The light around me wasn’t bright, but it still hurt.

“Hello.”

I dropped my hand and turned my head.

A woman sat on the floor of a large room. For a moment my vision blurred and I swore it was Alpha Hughes, and I wondered what had happened. What I’d done. If I’d hurt anyone.

But it wasn’t the Alpha of all.

She was older, for one, and so beautiful that it took my breath away. She was dressed simply, wearing loose-fitting pants and a shirt with an oversize neckline that hung off one bare shoulder. Her long, light hair was up in a messy bun, strands hanging around her face.

No, this wasn’t Michelle.

For one, she was smiling quietly, and it looked like she meant it. She was tired, but her back was ramrod straight, her head tilted toward me. Her hands were folded in her lap.

A wolf.

A powerful one at that, though she wasn’t an Alpha.

“Hello,” I said. My voice came out rough and weak. I cleared my throat. I was thirsty.

Her smile widened briefly. “How are you?”

“I don’t know.”

She nodded. “That’s okay. It’s to be expected, I think. Many things have happened. Not knowing is perfectly understandable. Can I tell you something?”

I nodded. If it weren’t for how shitty I felt, I would have thought this a dream.

“Your hair is long.”

“That’s what you want to tell me?”

She chuckled. “No. It’s just… an observation. Different, but not in a bad way. What I want to tell you is that you’re not a prisoner, no matter how it looks at the moment. Do you understand?”

“No.”

“We have to be careful. Precautions. We don’t know how much of a hold has been put over you, and while I don’t think this will be permanent, we need to hedge our bets.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She pointed toward the floor in front of her.

A line of gray powder went from one side of the room to the other, separating us.

I inhaled.

It burned.

I said, “Silver.”

“Yes. So if you feel like attacking me, don’t. It would only end badly for you. And no one wants that. Especially no one here.”

I sat up. I was on a small cot, a scratchy blanket covering me. I pushed it off and put my legs on the floor. My feet were bare. The floor was cool. I only had on a pair of sleep shorts. My stomach grumbled.

“Hungry?” she asked.

“A little,” I admitted begrudgingly.

“I’ll take care of that in a bit. I’d like to have a chat, you and I. Your glasses are on the floor under your bed with your backpack.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “I don’t need the glasses.”

She bit her bottom lip like she was trying to keep from laughing at me. “Oh, I know. Funny to hear that coming from you, though. I always thought they made you look handsome.”

“You act like you know me.”

“It’s not an act, Robbie.” Her smile faded. “No, it’s not an act at all. And though I may not know exactly the man before me, there are still bits of you I recognize. Like looking through a fractured mirror.”

I pulled the blanket into my lap. “Please don’t stare at my bits.”

The smile returned in full force. It took my breath away. “There you are. I wonder… is it like an echo? Somewhere deep inside, locked away. What makes a man when so much has been taken from him?”

“Where am I?”

She said, “In a moment. Firsts things first. My name is Elizabeth. I am a wolf, as you’ve no doubt figured out already.”

“Not an Alpha.”

“No, though I’ve known a few in my time. Most of them are good. Some… some were not.”

“I know you.”

She looked startled and strangely hopeful. “You do? Tell me.”

“You look like him.”

“Who?”

I swallowed thickly. “That… man. On the bridge. The Alpha.” I frowned. “And the other man. The one who….”

I found you.

I bent forward, sure I was going to vomit. I gagged, my nose bumping against my knee.

The woman watched me.

The dizziness passed. I coughed and grimaced. “Shit.”

“Shit,” Elizabeth agreed. “The Alpha is my son. Joe. And the other man you refer to is also my son.”

“Kelly.”

“Yes. In fact, my eldest was there too, though I don’t think you got to meet him properly. There will be time for that later. Why did you help him?”

I snapped my head up. “What?”

“Kelly,” Elizabeth said. She looked down at her hands. Her nails were short and neat. “You helped him.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

She laughed but didn’t say anything else.

“You’re a Bennett.”

“I don’t know that I appreciate the derision in your voice. It’s a nice name. One I’m proud of despite everything.”

“Joe is your son. Which makes him a Bennett.”

“Yes. That’s usually how it works.”

“Which means Kelly is a Bennett.”

“It’s good to know your talent for stating the obvious remains remarkably intact,” she said dryly.

I stood quickly, the blanket falling to the floor.

She didn’t flinch as she looked back up at me. She wasn’t scared. If anything, she was curious.

“What do you want with me?”

“Ah. I want many things with you, Robbie. But we’ll get to that in time. You’re under a sort of thrall. Or so I’m told. You do stink of magic. It’s almost unbearable.”

I took a step toward her.

She remained still.

“You want to kill my Alpha.”

She said, “Michelle Hughes.”

I nodded.

“Then yes. I do.”

I snarled at her.

She shrugged. “I’m not sorry about that. Alpha Hughes has taken something that doesn’t belong to her. Many somethings, in fact.”

I rushed toward her.

The silver line burned. “Ow, ow, motherfucker!” I hopped back, looking down at my toes as they blackened before beginning to heal. “That hurt!”

“I should think so,” she said. “You’re a wolf. It’s silver. It’s supposed to hurt.”

I glared at her. “You said I wasn’t going to be harmed!”

“Yes. I did. But I can do nothing when you do it to yourself. You always were a little eager.”

“Lady, I don’t know who the fuck you are, and I don’t know who the fuck you think I am—”

“You’re Robbie Fontaine,” she said. “Born January 21, 1991. You’re twenty-nine years old. Your father was a hunter. Your mother was a lovely woman. She died protecting you. In fact, her last act was to ensure your survival.”

“Oh, so you can read a file. I’m sure you’ve got all that shit on me—”

“You hate Brussels sprouts,” she said, and I gaped at her. “You think they stink. Same with pickles, though you do like cucumbers because of the way they crunch in your teeth, especially when you’ve shifted. You like to read. Weirdly, and endearingly, you have an affinity for romance novels from the eighties. You’re computer smart and a little real-world stupid, though it comes from your desire to see the good in everything and everyone. You like trees. You can spend hours lying underneath one, just staring up at the sky through the leaves.” She blinked rapidly against the sheen in her eyes, but she never looked away from me. “You’re a good man. A lovely man. And I’ve missed you so.”

“What is happening?” I asked hoarsely.

“Something that should have happened a long time ago. And I’m sorry that it didn’t. We were… we were confused. Angry. At what, I don’t think we knew. Not exactly. But….” She sighed. “I can’t promise you it’s going to be easy. I fear the days ahead will provide us with more questions than answers. And with all that we have to face, I don’t know if we have the time.”

“Where am I? Why are you keeping me here? What the hell do you want from—”

A door opened.

Another woman walked through and closed it behind her. She was muscular and tan, and her head was shaved on one side. On the other, her brown hair was parted over the top of her head, hanging in sharp spikes on the shaved side. Her green eyes were bright and wide as she glanced at me before looking at Elizabeth on the floor.

Human. She was a human.

But she smelled like wolves. Overwhelmingly so.

She crouched next to Elizabeth, their shoulders bumping together. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going,” Elizabeth said.

“That good, huh?”

“He thought about attacking me but burned his toes.”

The woman shook her head. “Men. They never learn.”

“No, I don’t suppose they do.”

“I’m standing right here,” I snapped.

“Observant,” the woman said. She eyed me up and down. “He’s bigger. Wider, I think. Looks like he’s finally gotten some muscle. Still short, though.”

For reasons I didn’t care to think about, I covered my bare chest with my arms. “Would you stop ogling me!”

They ignored me. “Needs a haircut,” the woman said.

“Eh. I kind of like it long.” Elizabeth frowned. “Huh. That’s not the first time I’ve said that. Interesting.”

The woman slowly turned to look at Elizabeth. “Did you just make a sex joke? Oh my god, I’m going to tell everyone.”

“Robbie,” Elizabeth said, “this is Jessie Alexander. You met her brother, Chris, during your little bridge adventure. One of the wolves.”

I scowled at them.

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Jessie said. “Good to know that dipshit look on his face hasn’t changed. Kelly’s asking about him.”

That caught my attention. “He’s awake?” I demanded. “Where is he? What happened to him? What did Ezra do to him?” The silver was once again singeing my toes, but I didn’t care. There was a pulse in my head, and it was Kelly, Kelly, Kelly.

Elizabeth cocked her head. “Interesting. Yes, Robbie. Kelly’s awake. He has been for a while now. We were waiting on you. It’s been six days since the bridge.”

My knees weakened, and I took a stumbling step back. “No. That’s not… that’s impossible.”

“I think you’ll find many things you thought impossible are now reality,” Elizabeth said, not unkindly. “I don’t know what will happen, Robbie. I don’t know if anything can ever go back to the way it once was. This… world. This life. Sometimes I think we’re cursed. After everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve done, there’s always more. Mistakes were made, and I—”

And then I said, “To my beloved. Never forget.”

The wolf mother moved quicker than I could follow. Her eyes blazed as she stood before me, just on the other side of the line of silver. Her claws were long black hooks that gleamed in the low light. “Where did you hear that?”

My shoulders slumped. “There was a book. In Michelle’s office. I found it.”

“What is it?” Jessie asked. “What’s he talking about?”

“A gift,” Elizabeth said. “To my late husband. It would seem Alpha Hughes has kept something else that doesn’t belong to her. Good to know.”

She turned and stalked from the room.

“Well, shit,” Jessie said, staring after her. “Way to go.”

“I don’t know why I said it.”

“Yeah. You usually don’t. It’s part of your charm.” She shook her head. “Look, Robbie, I know you have questions. Probably a lot of them. And we’re going to answer them. I swear. It’s just….” Her expression hardened as she looked at me. “It’s just a lot to take in right now. We never thought we’d see you again.”

“You’re lying,” I whispered, even though her heartbeat was even.

“I’m not. And you know it. This is your home. We’re your pack.” She took a deep breath. “Thirteen months ago, you were taken from us. Stolen away by the man you call Ezra. His real name is Robert Livingstone, and he took your memories. Of this place. Of all of us. Of the man you love. The man you’re mated to.”

“No,” I told her as the room grew brighter. “No. No. No. That’s not real. None of this is real. You’re lying. You’re all fucking lying. You’re Bennetts. You are the enemy. You are—”

“If I’m lying, then why do you have a mate mark on your shoulder? Mystical moon magic bullshit.”

My hand went to my neck. “Are you out of your goddamned mind? I don’t have a—”

My fingers traced over bumpy scar tissue, ridged and hard.

I turned my head.

There, between my neck and my shoulder, was the imprint of fangs in my skin.

“It was a glamour,” Jessie said quietly. “Gordo was able to destroy it, though he can’t do much more right now, given all the energy he expended in the last week. It’s like it is with the Omegas. He thinks there’s a door. It’s locked, and we don’t have the key.”

My fingers shook as I pressed down into the scar tissue.

“Welcome home, Robbie,” she said as she turned toward the door.

But she stopped with her hand on the doorknob.

Her shoulders were stiff.

She didn’t turn to look at me when she said, “And I know you won’t understand, but I’ve waited a long time to tell you this. If you ever lay your hand on my brother again, it’ll be the last thing you do.”

And then she was gone.

I paced back and forth around the room, looking for weaknesses. There were none.

The line of silver was absolute. The walls were made of thick concrete.

I listened for the sounds of anyone above me, but I heard nothing—not because no one was there, but because there was an absence of sound. The room was soundproof.

It didn’t stop me from yelling until my voice was hoarse.

I sliced the walls with my claws, causing sparks to shoot out around me.

I threw my weight against the line of silver.

I prowled the edges of the room.

“It’s a trick,” I muttered to myself, refusing to look at the mark on my shoulder. “That’s all this is. A trick. They’re trying to trick me. Trying to get in my head.”

And fuck, did it make me angry.

It was while I was making yet another path around the room that I saw it—a blinking light up in the far corner near the ceiling.

A camera.

I was being watched.

I glared up at it. “Is this what you want?” I shouted. “I don’t know who the fuck you think I am, but you’re wrong. Let me out!”

Of course, there was no response.

Which made me angrier.

I overturned the cot, throwing the thin frame against the wall, where it snapped and fell to the ground in pieces.

It wasn’t enough. I needed to break it more. Except I tripped over my backpack, which had been underneath it.

I landed on the ground, hard. I groaned as I rolled onto my back.

I hoped whoever was watching me got a good laugh out of that, and that they choked on it.

I sat up, pulling my backpack toward me. My glasses sat on top of it, thick frames with nonprescription lenses. I put them on, brushing my hair back off my face. I unzipped the main pocket of the bag, sure that most of my hastily packed belongings would be gone.

They weren’t.

Everything still seemed to be there.

In the bottom left corner was my mother’s driver’s license.

Next to it was a stone wolf.

The journal I’d found in Michelle’s office sat underneath them both.

I grimaced as the mark on my neck pulled.

I pulled the backpack into my lap, hugging it close.

And then I did the only thing I could.

I waited.

Time became elastic. I didn’t know if it was day or night. I was disoriented. The room around me was large, but it felt like the walls were inching closer and closer.

It might have been only minutes or it could have been hours and hours before the door opened again.

The Alphas walked in, followed by the witch.

I hugged my backpack closer in case they were here to take it from me. If they were, they were in for a fight.

The witch shook his head at the sight of me. “I should have broken those damn glasses while I had the chance.”

I snapped my teeth at him. “I’d like to see you try.”

Gordo rolled his eyes. “Sure, kid. I’ll get right on that.”

The Alphas didn’t speak. The bigger one stood with his hands folded behind him, a grave look on his face. The other one—Joe—was next to him, their arms brushing. It struck me then that they moved in sync with each other. Even their breathing was in unison. I didn’t know how there could be two Alphas in a pack, but here it was, right in front of me. They were a pair. Mated. It should have been impossible.

And yet here they were.

Another man came in behind them, closed the door, and leaned against it. His head was shaved to the scalp, and he had a thick beard, but it didn’t completely cover the tattoo on his neck. A raven, the wings spreading out over his throat, tail feathers disappearing into the collar of his shirt.

The same raven that was on the witch’s arm.

So that’s how it was. Witch and wolf. Alpha and Alpha.

I’d have to remember that if I got out of here. Michelle and Ezra would want to—

Grief.

A wave of blue, a riptide pulling me under.

Ezra. The way he’d smiled at me. The way he’d held my hand. Touched my hair. Cared for me. Protected me. Loved me.

But he wasn’t Ezra at all.

They’d called him Robert Livingstone.

He’d called himself that. And if Michelle didn’t know, then she was in danger.

Unless.

Unless she did know.

I’d never felt more lost.

“Where am I?” I asked miserably, not expecting an answer.

“Green Creek,” Gordo said, crouching down to inspect the line of silver.

“I don’t know where that—”

“Oregon.”

My eyes bulged. “What?”

The Alphas didn’t speak. The man against the door frowned.

The witch stood again. He glanced down at the stump of his arm, scowled at it, and then glanced back at the Alphas. “You sure about this? We don’t even know if it’s going to work. It probably won’t. Aileen and Patrice think it’s gone too far.”

That didn’t sound good. “Then maybe you shouldn’t even try.”

Gordo laughed. “Yeah, sure, kid. We’ll keep that in mind.” He shook his head. “I’ll be damned if it isn’t good to hear your voice, though.”

“He’s different,” the man against the door said. “Holds himself differently. Moves differently.”

“That’s what happens when your mind is wiped,” Gordo told him. “There’s a difference between destroying a specific memory and taking years’ worth. My father went too far. It’s like a blank slate. Or close to one. You notice the little flashes, though? The glimpses peeking through?”

The man nodded.

“He couldn’t take everything,” the witch said. “Though I’m sure he tried. I bet he even tried to put in new memories, but that’s probably beyond even him. And I don’t think it would’ve worked on Robbie.”

“Why?”

“You heard what he said at the bridge. He underestimated the bonds in the pack.” Gordo glanced at me. “He didn’t know just how strong Robbie was. He had to have fought like hell against my father. He wouldn’t have made it easy to do what he did.” His voice held a note of pride, and it took me a moment to realize it was directed toward me.

“I don’t believe you,” I told them helplessly. “Ezra wouldn’t… he’s not like that.”

Gordo snorted. “You keep telling yourself that. The stories I could tell you would make your toes curl. Let’s just say I’m not sending him a card for Father’s Day this year. And the name Ezra is fake, kid. He’s Robert Livingstone. Try to keep up, all right?”

The man against the door covered a smile like it was a secret.

The Alphas still didn’t speak.

“Okay,” Gordo said. “Let’s get this shit show on the road. Mark, the others ready?”

The man stepped away from the door, pulling it open behind him. A burst of sounds and smells and color filled the room. He raised his voice and said, “You guys good?”

“Yeah,” a male voice called from somewhere above us. “But I’d hurry up if I were you, bird neck. We’re getting antsy up here. Carter’s shadow is trying to hump his leg—”

“He is not!” another voice cried. “Rico, for fuck’s sake, would you keep your goddamn mouth shut?”

Mark’s lips twitched. “They’re ready.” He closed the door again and stepped forward until he was behind Gordo, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Gordo took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The tattoos on his arms burst brightly, and the room filled with the ozone smell of magic. I hissed at it, and him, but he ignored me.

Mark’s eyes began to glow.

Violet.

And I was distracted by it, distracted by what it meant, what was happening to me here, in this place. The raven on his throat fluttered its wings, and then—

Gordo kicked his leg out, foot scraping through the line of silver, breaking the barrier. “Ox, now.”

The big Alpha was moving even as the silver parted.

He was on me before I could react.

He wrapped his hand around my throat, pushing me back. I fell to the ground as he landed on top of me. I tried to knock him off me, but he was too heavy. His face was inches from mine. I whimpered as his eyes filled with a swirling mixture of red and violet. They were endless pools of Alpha and Omega, and I couldn’t look away.

And then he roared as loud as I’d ever heard.

The call of an Alpha.

I seized underneath him, an electrical shock rolling through me. My head snapped to the right and I was

(in a clearing the moon bright and full and and and)

screaming at the force of it, screaming though no sound came out, and I couldn’t fight it, couldn’t fight the

(stars all those stars like ice like bright ice)

strength of the Alpha above me, and he was tearing me apart, shredding me into tiny pieces and there was

(a door there was a door a door a door a)

I stood in the clearing under a brilliant night sky.

I wasn’t alone.

Behind me was a door, an old metal thing that didn’t cast a shadow.

In front of me was a group of people. The Alpha called Ox. The Alpha called Joe. Gordo. Mark. Elizabeth. Jessie. Four men I didn’t recognize, though one looked like a bigger version of Joe and and and—

Kelly.

Kelly.

Kelly.

I screamed for him as my back arched off the ground, but the Alpha on top of me held me down, his hand tightening around my throat, and he roared at me again, and in my head, I heard thunderous voices, and they said BrotherSonLoveFriend hear us hear us because we are pack and pack and PACK—

The door behind me groaned in the clearing as I turned toward it.

A hand folded into mine.

I looked over. He was faint, a thin outline, faded.

He said, “I see you. I’ll never—”

He was torn away as the door behind us screamed in metal. It pulsed, the surface becoming liquid glass, and a hand shot out of the door, covering my face and pulling me toward it. I cried out as I slammed into the door and began to sink into it.

I reached for the pack, begging them to save me.

They didn’t.

None of them.

I

(would you hear me dear)

(would you hear me)

(even in this place i can find you)

(because i love you i need you i can’t live without you)

(they are trying to keep you from me)

(but they don’t know do they)

(just how strong you are)

(and you’re mine you’re mine you’re)

I gasped as the clearing disappeared. The weight holding me down shifted as the Alpha slid off me, collapsing to the floor. I blinked against the light overhead.

“Shit,” I heard Gordo mutter. “Goddammit. Goddammit!”

“Hey, hey,” Mark said, and I turned my head to see him cupping Gordo’s face. “It’s okay. We thought this would happen. At least now we know. You did what you could.”

Joe knelt beside the Alpha, the one they’d called Ox. “All right?”

“More than I expected,” he mumbled. “I can’t—” He shook his head. “It was different. The door. It wasn’t like it was before with the Omegas. I couldn’t break it. Hell, I couldn’t even touch it.”

“That’s because dear old dad learned a few tricks,” Gordo said tiredly as Mark dropped his hands. “But fortunately for us, so have I.”

Now.

Now.

Now.

I rolled back, bringing my legs up and over me, my hands flat on either side of my head. I pushed forward as I kicked my legs out, flipping up and landing on my feet.

They barely had time to react before I was through the silver line. I crashed into Gordo, shoving him into Mark before heading for the door.

I threw it open just as Joe shouted, “He’s coming up!”

A set of stairs rose before me. I climbed them as quickly as I could, muscles stiff but holding. Another door at the top was partway open. Before I reached it, a face appeared—a man with dark skin and bushy eyebrows. “Mierda,” he breathed, eyes wide. “This is gonna suck.”

He slammed the door shut.

It didn’t matter.

I threw myself against it, and it cracked in its frame before the wood splintered, exploding outward as I stumbled through it, managing to stay upright. The man at the top of the stairs was knocked off his feet, but I paid him no attention.

I was in a house.

A goddamn house. Sunlight streamed through the windows.

People were shouting all around me, but I ignored them. I charged toward one of the windows and crashed through it, the glass slicing into my skin.

I landed on the ground, curling into myself and rolling to absorb the impact. I was on my feet even as the glass continued to fall.

There was another house in front of me, a blue house next to a dirt road surrounded by an old forest. It all felt surreal, like I was caught in a dream. It smelled different, more potent, the scent in the air filled with wolves and magic, causing my chest to burn with each breath I took. I was so far from home. I looked around wildly before deciding on the road.

I made it three steps before my legs were kicked out from under me. I barely had time to make a sound before I hit the ground again, this time flat on my back.

A woman stood above me, pointing a crowbar at my face.

Jessie grinned. “Hey. This is fun.”

I snarled at her as I knocked the crowbar away, gasping as my skin began to burn. There was fucking silver in the goddamn metal. Before I could even begin to think who the fuck would do something like that, she attacked.

I jerked my head to the right and the crowbar hit the dirt. She grunted when I kicked her in the hip, but she was already moving again by the time I sat up. She raised her thigh to her chest before kicking out toward my face.

I caught her foot.

She barely looked surprised.

I twisted it, intending on breaking her fucking ankle, but she moved with it, throwing herself to the side. She landed roughly, the crowbar bouncing from her hand.

“You dick,” she groaned. “I’m going to kick your fucking—”

I was already up and moving, heading for the road.

I made it three steps before I was stopped again, a hand on my shoulder. I bared my fangs as I whirled around. The man didn’t seem scared. “Hey, Robbie. I’m Chris. Good to see you again, dude.”

I shoved him hard, sinking my claws into his chest, but he grabbed my hands as he grunted, pulling me down with him. He kept the momentum going as we fell back, his legs folding between us, feet pressed against my chest. He kicked me up and over him, and once again I landed flat on my back.

I really fucking hated this pack.

I was up on my feet again when a strangled yell came from behind me and some douchebag landed on my back, causing me to take a stuttering step forward. Legs wrapped around my waist and arms went around my neck, cutting off my airway.

“Hey,” he panted in my ear. “It’s me, Tanner. And honestly? I really didn’t think this through. So if you could not hurt me, that’d be—”

I grabbed him by the arms and yanked as I bent forward, throwing him over my back. He landed with a jarring crash on the ground in front of me. He was older but strong. Another fucking wolf.

I went for his throat.

Jessie was there again, silent and deadly, crowbar forgotten on the ground. She cocked her fist back, broadcasting her next move a mile away. So imagine my dismay when, instead of punching me in the face, she wrapped her other hand around the back of my neck and pulled me forward, her knee going into my stomach.

She laughed as I bent over, my breath knocked from my chest. “I’m enjoying this far more than I expected. No offense.”

I flashed my eyes at her, but she wasn’t intimidated. I didn’t know who the hell this human was, but I was pissed.

The man who called himself Tanner picked himself up off the ground, wincing as he did so. “Jesus. I thought being a werewolf meant I would be all badass at everything I did. This is frankly embarrassing.”

From behind me came the telltale click of a gun.

I turned.

Standing on the porch was the man who’d been at the door near the top of the stairs. His eyes were cold, mouth set in a thin line.

Another human.

And he was pointing the gun at me.

“Yeah,” he said. “Lobito, you don’t want to fuck with me right now. I swear to god I’ll shoot you in the fucking balls if you—”

My hand burned as I stooped down and picked up the crowbar, then hurled it at him. He barely ducked in time as the crowbar flew over his head and embedded itself in the side of the house.

He stared at me. “Oh, I am going to shoot you so fucking much—”

Ox burst through the doorway, pushing the man’s arm down as he started to raise the gun.

“Oh, come on,” the man said. “Just a little. Just a little gunshot. I won’t aim for anything important.”

“Your bullets are silver, Rico,” Ox said.

The man frowned. “I know that. Oh. Right. It’ll kill him.” He squinted at me. “Are we sure that’s not a good idea? I mean, if I hit him in the leg, we could always amputate it before—”

I snarled at him, keenly aware of the others moving slowly around me, circling.

Hunting.

Joe appeared behind him, followed by Gordo and Mark.

The odds were absolutely against me.

Good.

Fuck them.

Fuck them all.

They wanted to see what I could do?

Fine.

I grabbed Tanner, as he seemed to be the weakest of the wolves. He squawked angrily as I hurled him at the man named Chris. They fell back in a tangle of limbs.

I turned toward Jessie.

She was still smiling.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I demanded.

She shrugged. “I missed having someone scrappy to spar with. The others tend to be all brute strength. It’s pretty insufferable when you think about it. Men.”

“Chris,” Rico said, “your sister is being mean again.”

“She’s got a point,” Ox said mildly, as if they hadn’t just kidnapped me and weren’t trying to kill me.

“Tanner, would you get off of me?”

“I’m trying, but your foot is in my asshole!”

Joe sighed. “This isn’t going like I thought it would.”

“Come on,” Jessie said, beckoning toward me as she bounced lightly on her feet. “Let’s see what you got.”

She wanted it?

Fine.

I went left.

She fell for it. Again.

I jerked right, grabbing her by the arm, spinning her around until her back was against my chest. And still she laughed like she was having the time of her life. I wrapped my arms around her and began to squeeze as hard as I could, intent on breaking her ribs.

“Not a victim,” I heard her whisper before she kicked her legs up off the ground, throwing her entire body back against me. I couldn’t stay upright, and for what felt like the millionth time in the past five minutes, I found myself on my back, staring up at the blue sky.

She was up before I could even consider moving. She stood above me, head cocked. “Huh,” she said. “That was easy. I expected more from—”

She grunted as I returned the favor, sweeping my legs against her, sending her to the ground.

“Oh,” Rico breathed from the porch. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

Jessie wasn’t smiling anymore.

I turned, planning on running from these idiots, but I came face-to-face with another woman, this one smiling serenely. I hadn’t even heard her approach. She was barefoot.

“Hello, Robbie,” Elizabeth Bennett said. “You’re looking less pale today. All this exertion is doing wonders, I think.”

I punched her in the face.

Well, I tried to punch her in the face.

Except she caught my fist with one hand before I could connect.

“You really shouldn’t have done that,” Rico said from the porch. “I’m going to enjoy this. Destroy him, mamacita.”

She squinted at me. “I don’t know if all this violence is necessary.”

I threw another punch.

She caught that one too.

She shrugged. “Okay, maybe a little necessary.”

A bright flash exploded in my skull as she fucking head-butted me, her forehead crashing into mine. I gasped as stars shot across my vision. I staggered back, blood trickling down my face. Before I could recover, I bumped into something big. Something hairy.

I turned slowly as I wiped the blood away.

A gigantic timber wolf stood there, jaws open, fangs bright in the sunlight. Its eyes were violet, and before I could get a handle on the fact that there was yet another Omega, the large blond man standing next to the timber wolf said, “Hey. My mom just fucked your shit up. That’s hysterical.” He tried to take a step toward me, but the timber wolf moved between us, crowding against him. The man turned his blue eyes toward the sky as he sighed. “Dude, we’ve talked about this. Boundaries, okay? Just because you’ve got this stupid idea in your wolf brain that you need to be my shadow doesn’t mean you can stop me from punching Robbie. Everyone else has gotten a chance. I want a turn.”

The timber wolf growled.

The man scowled. “Don’t you take that fucking tone with me. I don’t need you to—”

“Robbie.”

Grass.

Lake water.

Sunshine. So much sunshine. As if the world was on fire.

Kelly stood on the porch. His skin was pale, eyes sunken in his head. He stood between Ox and Joe. But he wasn’t leaning on them. He was standing on his own, and even though he looked exhausted, he wasn’t letting that stop him.

I’m your mate.

He wasn’t like he’d been at the bridge.

Because he no longer smelled like wolf. Oh, the thick scent of packpackpack still poured off him, and he was theirs just as much as they were his, but it wasn’t the same.

He was human.

Ezra had taken his wolf away.

The others disappeared.

I only had eyes for him.

He nodded slowly.

He said, “I know.”

He said, “I know you’re scared. Confused.”

He said, “But we’re not going to hurt you. You’re safe, Robbie.”

He said, “You’re home.”

I took another step toward him.

“That’s it,” he said, stepping away from the Alphas. Joe looked like he wanted to stop him, but he kept his hands at his side. “Hey. It’s okay, Robbie. It’s okay now. You’re here.” He smiled, though it was broken. “You’re with me now.”

It would be so easy.

To go to him.

To let him fix all of this.

To have him take me away.

And part of me wanted to. Part of me believed him. A quiet part, whispering in the dark, but there nonetheless.

But it was a trick.

It had to be.

They were Bennetts. And they were the enemy.

He knew then. The moment before I made my decision. I didn’t know how. But he did.

Even as my muscles coiled, the skin around his eyes tightened.

There was an opening to my right. Chris and Tanner were spread too far apart.

The secret part of me whispered for me to stop. To stay. To listen.

I ran.

“Gordo!” Ox shouted.

The ground cracked under my feet. I zigzagged just as a column of rock rose from the split earth. Dirt hit my face. There was a loud whoosh as the rock grew, but I spun around it, heading for the forest.

As I hit the tree line, howls rose up behind me. And I swore there were Omegas running through the woods around me, eyes violet and hungry.

The chase was on.