He flashes his teeth at me. I draw him away, switching opponents with my mate.

At last, I face Lorne one on one. This time he doesn’t have an unfair advantage.

He pins his ears, growling with bluster. My wolf thinks he’s a joke. She doesn’t want to play games, springing into the air with devastating speed and strength. He tries to avoid it, but I land on his side, taking him down. We skid across the floor.

I close my teeth around his throat, pinning him. He’s not going anywhere. I won’t kill him, only hold him for Caden.

He releases a violent bark. Calling for help won’t help him. He’s lost. I put pressure on his neck to silence his plea.

My jaw stiffens against my will. I couldn’t bite down fully if I wanted to. My limbs don’t obey, not working when my wolf struggles to move. She doesn’t like it. She feels trapped, jerking hard to free herself. A jolt of fire licks up my spine and she shrieks.

Magic burns in my veins.

I writhe, unable to fight it off. What the fuck is this? What’s happening and who’s causing it? My gaze darts around but all I see are shifters, unable to find the witch casting the spell.

It’s terrible. Pinning down my will, bending me to its command. Urging me to submit. No, no, no. I refuse to succumb, panting heavily. It gags me, twisting my mind.

Lorne knocks me over with much more force than before. I fly back, slumping motionless. The magic stops abruptly and something explodes overhead. My wolf shakes her head, scraping her snout with her arm at the intense taste of magic crackling on her tongue.

Someone screams. I can’t focus on it, returning my attention to fighting Lorne.

He tackles me when I stagger to my feet. I go down again, the wind knocked from me. Shit, how did he get that powerful?

Lorne stands over me, a murderous gleam of victory in his eyes.

I snap at him with my teeth, not giving up. He plants a paw in my chest, crushing me to the floor. I yelp in pain, clawing at him. It’s useless. I’m not able to get enough leverage to do more damage than feeble scratches. He tosses his head with a whuff, grinning with his maw like he’s laughing at me.

Fuck him.

I plant my hind paws in his stomach and kick with all my might, my wolf growling brutally. He doesn’t budge. Shit.

Changing tactics, I scratch his face, managing to catch his eye with my claws before he rears back with a bellow. He peels his lips from his teeth. My heart thuds.

A barbaric noise to our left distracts him before he attacks. Caden and Cormac are locked in a remorseless battle. Both of them are bleeding from bite marks and angry slashes on their flanks and sides. Cormac adds another to Caden’s chest, dragging his claws with a ferocious swipe.

Caden turns the tables, jumping on his uncle’s back, sending him to the ground. His jaws squeeze the scruff of his neck. Cormac wrestles to free himself, seizing when Caden jerks his head.

The snap of Cormac’s bones breaking resounds over the cacophony of fighting. His wolf’s eyes bulge, then fade to a dull gray as he falls with a resounding crash, lifeless. Lorne releases an enraged howl and goes for my throat, intent on taking me away from my mate.

Caden locks his deadly gaze on Lorne and charges.

His wolf tackles Lorne with a feral roar, getting him off me. I roll to my feet as they crash beside me, the floorboards splintering beneath Lorne from Caden’s force.

There’s no hesitation in him when his jaw clamps down. He’s merciless, tearing out Lorne’s throat with a wrenching bite. Blood pools beneath Lorne, matting his fur. He gurgles in agony and panic, limbs flailing as he struggles to breathe.

Caden growls thunderously as he bites down again, spitting mangled pieces of tendon and furry flesh aside, ripping Lorne to shreds. He’s unrelenting even when Lorne stops fighting for his life, eventually going still. He’s not satisfied until the head severs with a terrible crack of bone.

I have no sympathy for Lorne. He got what he fucking deserved. So did his father. Neither of them will ever harm my mate or my pack again. I bump into Caden’s side, resting my snout over his back.

Standing over Lorne’s dead wolf, Caden howls in victory.

41CADEN

Avery’s wolf licks Lorne and Cormac’s blood from my jaw, nosing at my wounds with faint whines. I headbutt her gently, reassuring her we’re okay. I’ll always protect her and our pack. Together we stopped the coup attempting to claim it from us.

My wolf stands proud over his fallen challenger.

The chaos ended the minute I finished Lorne. Any denouncers left alive who followed him fall to their knees before Liam and my other most trusted lieutenants, abiding the law of challenges. They’ll all be dealt with in time. I won’t have anyone slipping through the cracks to stir unrest amongst the pack again.

Victory is mine. By our laws forbidding interference in rank challenges, it was mine the minute Cormac attacked me.

We shift back. I pull Avery into my arms, pressing my lips to my mating mark. The setting sun casts long beams of light through the windows, illuminating her from behind when I rake my gaze over her, checking for injuries.

“I’m fine. Nothing as bad as this.” She brushes my chest where the deep gashes from claws are slowly closing.

“I’ll heal. As long as you’re okay. That’s all that matters to me.” My brow creases. “How did Lorne get you?”

Her gaze falls. “I freed my sisters. I’m sorry, but there was no way I could leave them. Sylvie came to lure me into a trap.” She swallows, clinging to me. “She was waiting for us. They sent her and she followed us to Liam’s cabin. We got my sisters out, but before we could get away Dane and Trent captured Liam, then me. They injected me with something and it blocked off the bond.”

My forehead rests against hers, my throat thick. “I thought I’d lost you when I saw you lying there.”

“You didn’t,” she promises. “Never.”

A rumble builds in my chest and I kiss her. She cups my jaw, mouth opening for me.

“We did it,” she murmurs.

“We did. And I’ll never allow anything like this to happen again.”

“We,” she corrects. “I don’t care what shifter law dictates. If anyone else tries to challenge you, I’m fighting by your side to stop them.”

I nod with an amused huff at my mate’s fierceness. “Together. Always.”

Someone passes us clothes. I dress her first, tugging an oversized sweater over her head to cover her. Then I jam my legs into a pair of pants and survey the room.

Liam and Hodge direct the guards to round up the rest of the traitorous Blackburns who survived the fight. Tobin restrains a spitting-mad Eugene, dragging him outside. I spot Ford kissing the hell out of Gabe and checking his mate over for injuries once more.

After a few minutes, Liam makes his way to us with a chagrined frown. He’s worse for wear, favoring his right leg, a gash oozing from his forehead, and a tooth missing from the numbers he fought to keep at bay from backing up Lorne and Cormac.

“A few ran before you finished Lorne off. We’ll send out scout teams to track them down.”

“Good,” I say. “They don’t get to choose their own exile. They’ll all face me for this.”

Liam bends his neck, his tone somber. “I failed you, Alpha. I couldn’t protect Avery. They captured us.”

I exchange a look with my mate, kissing her forehead before dragging my beta close for a one-armed hug.

“All that matters is that you fought with everything you had. I’m glad both of you are safe.”

He relaxes. “I’ll take care of everything and report to you when we’re done.”

I nod in gratitude. “Be careful. Don’t let your guards down until we’ve got them all.”

Jade and the witch who helped me liberate the patrol cabin come up to us, dragging a dark haired girl between them. Her arms are bound by a spell and she gives them a scathing look.