As soon as he pounced on a startled Irving, who attempted to scurry out of Leidolf's path to no avail, Tynan raced after Cassie. A distraction, Leidolf thought. To attempt to get him to stop the assault on his cousin. Shit, Irving was by far the smaller wolf. The leader, yes, but Tynan was bigger and could easily kill Cassie.

After knocking Irving down, Leidolf whipped around and chased after Tynan, who was still trying to catch Cassie. She was smart, knowing that the wolf would kill her if he caught her. And she was quick. Damn quick. He couldn't be more proud of her.

But for all Tynan's bulk and the injury Cassie had inflicted on his arm at Carver's house, the black wolf was fast, too. And he was catching up to Cassie. Before Leidolf could reach Tynan, Irving attacked his back, biting hard. Leidolf stumbled. If he'd been prepared for Irving's attack from the rear, he could have handled it better. But his action put Cassie at further risk.

Furious, Leidolf lashed out at Irving, teeth flashing, hair standing on end, all of his actions making him appear bigger and more threatening. He didn't need appearances. Standing on his back legs, his front legs landed on Irving's shoulders as the shorter wolf struggled to stand and fight against Leidolf's fury.

Their teeth clashed. Leidolf tasted blood, his and the other wolf's. But before he could swing his head around Irving's to get a good grip on the other wolf's throat as the feisty wolf twisted his head back and forth to prevent Leidolf, Cassie yelped.

His heart in his throat, Leidolf gave up on Irving and whipped around to take care of the threat to his mate. He wouldn't let Irving distract him again.

Cassie was cornered amongst a cluster of rocks, baring her teeth and snarling, but no matter how bravely she postured, she couldn't win against the bigger wolf.

Leidolf lunged at the black wolf as Irving dove for Leidolf. Cassie ducked her head, rather than attempt a futile stand to fight Tynan, and bit him in the chest as Leidolf jumped at his back.

Tynan turned in the confined space and tried to defend himself against a wolf his own size, although Leidolf had much more experience fighting a man, wolf to wolf. Nothing like Tynan's usual fare, beating up on a female wolf or killing with a gun.

That was Leidolf's advantage. Age-old experience in wolf fighting.

Cassie was squished up against the rocks as Leidolf struggled to get a fatal hold on the black wolf. At least neither of the wolves could attack her for now.

She wasn't passively watching, either. As Leidolf and Tynan's killer canines snapped at each other while they did their deadly waltz, front legs on each other's shoulders, prancing back and forth, Cassie bit Tynan. Hard. Had to have hurt, the way he howled. The way he pulled away from Leidolf. The way he attempted to whip around to kill Cassie for whatever she'd done.

In the meantime, Irving had mysteriously disappeared behind Leidolf, who'd been expecting another cowardly rear assault when he heard snarling from close by. Irving's and... hell, Evan's.

Irving yelped, and then Evan did.

Leidolf bit Tynan's backside, once, twice as the black wolf kept trying to bite Cassie. She was crouched low now, unable to move in any direction, her eyes flashing with anger, probably more at herself than at Tynan for getting herself in such a predicament.

Leidolf bit into Tynan's butt again, and the black wolf flipped around, too angry to watch his throat. Leidolf grabbed hold and crushed it, letting go to see the wolf draw his last breaths.

For a split second, Leidolf looked at Cassie, who was standing straighter now that she had some room to maneuver, but her shoulder was bloodied. Then he whipped around to take care of Irving before he killed Evan.

Evan was a wiry kid and taller than Irving. But he didn't have the stockiness that Irving did. As soon as Irving saw Leidolf coming, Evan fatally attacked him. The kill quick and painless, Irving collapsed and expired.

That's when the wound on Leidolf's back stung as the breeze whipped across it, and Cassie limped to join him. He nuzzled her face. They joined Evan, who looked proud with his ears perked and tail raised high but quickly lowered them to show his contriteness for being here without anyone's permission.

Cassie walked over and licked his face, praising him for a job well done. Evan's ears perked a bit until he looked at Leidolf, and then they drooped a little again.

Leidolf joined them, nudged Cassie to follow his lead, and the two returned to their clothes in the woods. After shape-shifting, they helped each other to dress. Cassie's shoulder was bloodied, and Leidolf's back hurt like the devil. So much for making love for a little while.

They returned to Evan, and Cassie checked him over. "His ear's torn, but I'd say he got away without too much of a scrape."

They heard movement in the woods and then shouts, "It's Elgin, Leidolf! Are you all right?" Elgin shouted, still at some distance before they could see him.

"We're all right!"

Elgin, Carver, Fergus, and a handful of other men rushed out of the forest with rifles. Fergus's mouth dropped when he saw Evan in his wolf coat, bloodied, and Irving at his feet. "Damn, Evan, didn't Leidolf tell you not to take that Jag out for another spin?"

"He had another really important date," Cassie said, slipping underneath Leidolf's arm.

Elgin motioned to the other men. "Get their bodies. Bury them in the woods. Are you all right? Hell, Fergus went to take the last meal down to Irving and Tynan and had a two-man guard escort, Pierce and Quincy. Irving and Tynan had shape-shifted. They tore up our other men and knocked Fergus out. By the time Fergus came to and raised the alarm, it had been several hours."

"Are Pierce and Quincy going to be all right?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah. They wanted to come, but we didn't need any more injured men out here."

"How in the hell did you get here so fast?" Fergus asked his son. "Forget it. I know how. You raced that Jag here, didn't you?"

Carver shook his head and patted Fergus's shoulder. "At least he got away with it. The sheriff gave us a ticket, which is why we're so late getting here. You have a son to be proud of. And Leidolf? Watch out. The kid may be taking your place one day."

Leidolf shook his head. "Just took over, and already someone's trying to best me."

"Is Aimee all right?" Cassie asked.

"She's worried about you. I persuaded her to stay with the girls and make sure they remain behind. She wanted to tell you that she hasn't had any luck with finding any sign your family still exists," Carver warned.

"We'll keep looking then," Cassie said, but Leidolf could tell the news was not something she wished to hear.

"Let's go." Leidolf was glad that this business with Irving and Tynan was behind them. Then he stopped. "Hell, if you're here, Fergus, and Quincy and Pierce have been injured, who's watching Sarge?"

Elgin turned a little pale. Fergus did, too. Just what Leidolf thought. No one.

Hell. He took Cassie's hand. "Are you all right, Cassie?"

"My bite doesn't look half as nasty as yours. I guess I won't be going anywhere for a while." Cassie sighed. "That means I'll miss my magazine deadline."

"Where were you planning to go, Cassie?"

"North Carolina."

"We'll stop over in Colorado. See my family. They have a hospital there specifically set up to cater to injured werewolves. Then we'll continue on to North Carolina where we can extend our vacation. No mate of mine is taking a vacation without me."

She raised her brows at him. "I'll be working."

He kissed her forehead. "I'll be vacationing then."

She shook her head. "If I work, you have to work. You can hold the camera."

"You sure you trust me? I'm liable to focus on one subject only. A little red wolf, lupus garou variety, the love of my heart."

Some of the men chuckled behind them. Yeah, he was sure Cassie and he could work things out just fine with a little give-and-take now that his sub-leaders were almost ready to take the reins while he was away for an extended time.

When they reached their vehicles, Leidolf gave Fergus permission to drive the Jag while Evan slinked into the passenger's seat still in his wolf form. "No claw marks on the leather," Leidolf warned. "Have to sell the Jag one of these days. Maybe that will help us with the financial mess we're in."

The rest of the men got into an SUV, and Leidolf drove Cassie to the ranch in the Humvee while she slept soundly the whole way. As soon as they arrived home, Quincy and Pierce, their arms bandaged, most likely from defending themselves against Irving and his cousin, were waiting with most of his other people. They looked half relieved that Cassie and Leidolf were all right but half worried that Leidolf would be furious that they had let Tynan and Irving escape when he had entrusted the safety of the pack to his people.

As everyone piled out of the vehicles, Laney handed a roll of medical tape to Leidolf for his and Cassie's wounds and then hurried to embrace Elgin. Alice and Sarah squealed to see Evan lope toward them, and both wrapped their arms around his furry wolf neck. Tears in her eyes, Aimee gave Cassie a careful hug. Satros sauntered out, the ancient old guy, casting Leidolf a nod as if he knew Leidolf had finally proved he had what it took to be the pack leader.

Sarge ran outside, and Leidolf was damned thankful they didn't have to chase him down for once. He was waving a stack of papers. "I figured out your mess!"

Several groaned at hearing Sarge's words.

Quincy strode forth. "Didn't I tell you to watch what you say to the boss?"

Sarge scowled back at him and then grinned at Leidolf. "We're not broke after all. Half of the receipts for cattle sales just hadn't been figured in. They were buried under a bunch of romance books in the bottom of one of your desk drawers. Looks like my being a finance clerk in the army was worth something after all."

"You were a finance clerk?" Leidolf asked, incredulous.

"Yeah."

"Why the hell didn't you say so in the first place?" Leidolf growled.