Ryker sighed, his focus on the woods beyond. “Then we’ll keep fighting. You’re my mate and I will protect you until my last breath.”

The back door opened and Sebastian sauntered out. “That’s good. It takes the pressure off of my job.”

“No one said you had to keep protecting her,” Ryker challenged.

“No, but I’ll stay by her side until she tells me to leave.” He took the seat beside me and lifted my sleeve. “Wow, you’re already healed. That’s amazing.”

I looked at him and smiled. “The joys of finding your mate.”

He rolled his shoulder and hissed. “Maybe I should find mine. My shoulder would feel a lot better if I did.”

“You don’t have to be my protector anymore, Sebastian. I release you of those duties. You’ve spent your whole life protecting me. It’s time you went out and did something on your own. Maybe even find your mate.”

“You could try a dating site,” Ryker teased.

Smirking, Sebastian leaned forward. “I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten more play than you, my friend. I don’t need any help. Besides, I kind of like giving you a hard time. I think I’ll stick around for a while. That is, if you’ll still have me?” he asked, turning to me and grinning wide.

Rolling my eyes, I sat back in my chair. “Is it always going to be like this with you two?”

“Worse if I didn’t have you,” Ryker replied. “Two unmated, alpha males constantly together isn’t a good thing for anyone.”

I glanced over at Sebastian who smiled, blinking innocently. “Still want me to join your pack?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I’m probably going to have to rethink my decision.” I elbowed him in the arm and smiled. It didn’t last long because coming from the west side of the woods, a group of wolves approached.

Tate came outside, his body tense, eyes focused on the land. “It’s time.”

Everyone started for the woods, but Ryker stood back and took my hand. “When the fighting starts, stay as far back as you can. They’ll be gunning for you.”

“I know. I’ll be okay, I promise.” We caught up with the other wolves just in time to see the Yukon pack filing in. There were twelve of them and only eight of us. “We’re outnumbered.”

Ryker leaned in to me. “Yeah, but we have four alphas. We can beat them.”

We could, but not without casualties.

“Where is she?” a voice demanded. Immediately, I recognized his voice and gasped. Sebastian glanced back at me, his expression torn. It wasn’t just any wolf, it was Darius Whitehill, the father I had known for most of my life. What the hell was he doing leading the Yukon wolves? “Come forward, Bailey. It’s time to go home.”

Ryker tried to hold me back, but I pushed through, my body shaking with rage. “I will not go anywhere with you ever again.”

His gaze found Ryker’s and he snarled. “And now I see why. You chose the wrong brother,” his focus landed on Sebastian, “and also a traitor. This doesn’t look good at all, Bailey. You sure did leave a mess for me to clean up. I almost didn’t get out of it with my life.”

Ryker and Sebastian moved to the front of the group. “The only mess that’ll be left will be your rotten corpses. I’ll make sure to send your head to my uncle,” Ryker growled.

Darius grinned, his fangs growing longer. “We’ll see about that.” Then to his men, he nodded toward us. “Kill the traitor, but leave the young alpha to me. I want my daughter to watch me rip off his head. Maybe then she’ll learn obedience.”

After that, everything moved in slow motion. The men shifted, except for Darius, who watched on in amusement. The Yukon wolves gunned for Ryker and Sebastian. Howls filled the air, along with the smell of death. I couldn’t tell who had fallen or which side everyone was fighting for. There was one howl that rose above the rest. My heart shattered as I watched Sebastian fall to the ground with a fatal wound to his belly. His eyes found mine and I screamed out his name.

There was another wolf about to finish him off, but I grabbed a tree limb off the ground and threw it like a spear, piercing it through his gut. Ryker ran over and ripped out his throat. Darius’ laugh could be heard echoing through the trees. Sebastian growled low, but he couldn’t get up. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I tried to lift him, but he was too heavy.

“Dammit, Sebastian, don’t you dare die on me. You hear me?” More howls filled the night, more death. Tears ran down my cheeks, but I wasn’t about to give up on him. I had to get him away from the fight. Grabbing his legs, I pulled him as far as I could until an arm grabbed me around the waist.

“It sure is good to see you again, darling,” Darius whispered into my ear. “I’ve missed you.” He jerked me away from Sebastian, holding me tight around the neck.

“You’re a lying son of a bitch,” I hissed, digging my claws into his arms. “Let me go.” His hold was so tight, I could barely breathe. Then, he injected something into my neck and my claws retracted.

I tried to shift, but nothing came. “What the hell did you give me?”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s not enough to kill you. Just a subtle dose of wolfsbane mixed with a sedative.” Panic consumed me, especially when I could feel the serum burning like acid in my veins. “Be a good girl and stop kicking. I thought I raised you with better manners.”

I got one last look at Ryker fighting off the wolves and Sebastian lying still on the ground before he hauled me over his shoulders. “Ryker . . .”

Darius only had time to take two more steps until the loudest growl I’d ever heard echoed through the air. He dropped me to the ground like a sack of potatoes, and I hissed in pain.

Out of the twelve Yukon wolves, only two were barely still alive. We were faring better, but still had one dead and two injured. Sebastian was nowhere to be found. “Where’s Sebastian?”

Ryker responded, his voice tense. “I don’t know.”

My head felt fuzzy and my vision started to blur. Darius stood his ground and clapped, but blocked me from Ryker’s sight. “Well done, my friends. You’re a lot stronger than I gave you credit for.” He was too confident, especially with being outnumbered.

“Ryker . . . h—he’s up to something.”

“What the fuck did he do to you?”

The edges of my vision turned dark. I was about to lose consciousness. “Poison.”

Darius slowly reached behind his back and pulled two liquid vials from his pocket. Even though my vision was blurry, I could still see the blue petals of wolfsbane inside. His muscles tensed and I knew what he was about to do.

“No!” I screamed. Grabbing the first thing I could find, I grasped the tree limb and hurled it right at Darius, at the man I thought was my father. It pierced him in his belly and the sound of him choking on his blood made my stomach curl. Falling to his knees, he looked down at the limb and then over to me. The darkness crept in, but I was able to watch as Sebastian came from out of nowhere, baring his fangs. The last thing I saw was him ripping Darius’ head off and watching it roll onto the ground. I went under with a smile on my face.

Sebastian was alive and the enemy was dead.

Ryker (Three Days Later)

I poured myself a cup of coffee, and watched Sebastian gulp his down as if it wasn’t steaming hot.

“When do you think she’ll wake up?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.” Seraphina had said there was only a small amount of wolfsbane in her injection, just enough to keep her capacitated for a few days. We’d just have to wait for her body to flush it out.

“Do you think she’ll be pissed at me?”

“For what, pretending you were about to die?” He nodded. “I don’t know. From one alpha to another, it was brilliant. But she was terrified when she watched you go down. I didn’t realize she liked you that much.”