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.”