Dominant energy abruptly rolled off the man in steady waves. When it hit me, I felt the urge to fold my shoulders inward, but I called upon my magic, erecting a powerful shield spell around myself and gritted my teeth.

My shield wasn’t strong enough to stop all of the energy pulsing from the visitor—shield spells rarely were from wolves this dominant—but it was enough to make me not wilt like a damned flower in his presence. I could still breathe, and I wasn’t lying on the ground belly up. But the bottom line? The newcomer was strong.

The Fire Wolf got to his feet, his movements liquid and stealthy. If he felt anything from the newcomer’s dominance, he hid it like a pro.

The man’s jaw clenched when the Fire Wolf stalked toward him, then his lip curled.

“Brother, how nice to have you home,” the man said sarcastically.

Oh. So this was one of the brothers. Now the question was, which one? Cameron, the oldest, or Gavin the second born?

“Always so welcoming,” the Fire Wolf replied, menace dripping from his words.

“Is this her?” the hunter’s brother said, jerking his chin in my direction. “Is she the reason my top fighters are all hiding around your little cabin in the woods?”

The Fire Wolf’s lips twisted in a brutal smile. “Your fighters? Are you sure about that?”

His brother snarled. “Couldn’t handle the heat on her own, huh?”

The hunter’s smile vanished. “Still so charming, I see.”

He snorted. “Coming from you, that’s rich. So she’s the bitch you’re lusting after?”

In less than a blink, the Fire Wolf’s hand was curled around his brother’s throat. “Pick your next words very, very carefully.”

His brother didn’t look concerned about being choked. Instead, he smirked. “She must be one hell of a good lay to get you back here. She’s certainly gorgeous. I’d fuck that if I wasn’t—”

A terrifying snarl ripped from the hunter’s throat and in a blur of movement he launched his brother through the door and was on top of him outside.

My jaw dropped as I lunged across the room.

“Cameron! Kaillen!” Ocean yelled, also following them. “Stop!”

But it was too late. The Fire Wolf and Cameron were pummeling one another in the front yard, brawling and fighting in movements so swift I could barely see them.

The sounds of punches, grunts, and snarls came next, but just when I was about to call upon two binding spells to break them apart, an explosion of magic erupted.

In the next instant, two huge wolves stood facing one another. The Fire Wolf looked as I remembered him. Beautiful streaks of black, brown, cream, and russet-colored fur coated his body. His brother was of a similar beauty, but held no russet in his coat, and his wolf’s build was a smidge smaller.

Shredded clothing lay on the brown grass around them, and since the Fire Wolf hadn’t been wearing his quick-release garments, his clothes were utterly ruined.

In a flash, those terrifying snarls came from the two of them again as they turned into a flurry of fighting fur.

“Crap,” Ocean whispered. “This is worse than I thought it’d be.”

“What the hell is going on?” My chest was rising and falling so fast. I didn’t know if I should intervene or let them fight it out, but now that they’d shifted, interfering could prove problematic. Dominant male wolves in the middle of a fight were not to be separated, or something like that. I struggled to remember what Carlos had told me about pack rules.

Ocean’s eyebrows pinched together. “There’s a reason Kaillen never comes back here.”

“Is Cameron part of the reason?”

“Yes, him and Gavin are both awful to him.”

“Do they always fight like this?”

“Unfortunately.”

“So this isn’t how it usually goes when long-lost pack members come back to Oak Trembler?” I asked, my tone sharp.

Ocean sighed. “No, I’m afraid this welcome is reserved for my baby brother and him only.”

I scowled. “Does everyone treat him like this?”

She shook her head. “They don’t fight him. They’re too scared of him to do that, but despise him? Most do.”

“But why?”

Ocean gave me a sad smile. “It’s a long story, but it’s not my story to tell.”

I wanted to ask her more questions, to know how any pair of siblings could fight this brutally, but the brothers’ attacks had grown so loud I’d barely heard her last answer, and she’d taken on a sickly color—pale and lifeless. Ocean looked resigned, but something else too, something deeper. Sad maybe? As if seeing her brothers act this way brought her more pain than a thousand deaths.

Swallowing the sick feeling in my stomach, I wrapped my arms around myself and hoped it ended soon. The Fire Wolf and Cameron were fighting so fast now their movements were a blur. Several times they paused long enough for me to catch sight of a swiping paw or the flash of a fang. But then they were locked onto one another again, snarls and vicious growls tearing from them as they swirled as fast as a tornado.

Blood flew, droplets sprinkling onto the dead lawn around them. My heart jumped into my throat when the two turned into a tumbling ball and rolled toward the street.

Curious neighbors drifted out of houses and from backyards, while some still peered through their curtains. A few had ventured to their front lawns as they boldly watched the spectacle. And as the fight wore on, many gathered closer, moving to Ocean’s yard for a front and center view.

Most of the men had their arms crossed, hard expressions on their faces. A few kids were in the mix too. They were either cheering or covering their eyes when the snarls got particularly brutal. The women, however, shook their heads with barely concealed disgust. Disgust from the fighting or the fact that the Fire Wolf had returned to their town, I didn’t know.

My nostrils flared at the thought, but I clenched my hands and didn’t interfere even though my magic was heating inside me. I kept thinking their fighting would slow, that they would tire, get sick of tearing into each other, or just say enough was enough, but they didn’t, and the longer it prevailed, the larger the crowd grew.

I didn’t actually know who was a stronger fighter—both Cameron and the Fire Wolf were holding their own—but I did know that the hunter wasn’t using everything in his arsenal. He wasn’t casting magic, neither weaving spells nor throwing curses. And not once had he called upon his demon side by erupting into flames. Basically, the Fire Wolf was fighting as a werewolf only.

I eyed Ocean. “How much longer do you think they’ll—”

“The bastard’s back, eh?” A man shoved his way through the crowd. Like all the males here, he stood tall and broad. His lips twisted in a snarl, and his features made me do a double take. He and Ocean looked so similar.

“Let me guess,” I said with a sick feeling churning my stomach. “That’s Gavin?”

Ocean’s face turned completely white. “Yes.”

Gavin whipped his clothes off in one move, and in the next, he was shifting. His wolf appeared in an explosion of magic, his fur and coloring nearly identical to Cameron’s.

The Fire Wolf whipped around just as Gavin’s jaws clamped onto his hind leg. A vicious snarl erupted from the hunter before his body bent and he snapped at his other brother. He sank his teeth into Gavin and threw him off, but Cameron was on him again, sinking his fangs into the Fire Wolf’s shoulder, the one that had been left open and unprotected.

My lips pressed into a thin line. “What the fuck is this?”

But Ocean didn’t respond, and her face clouded in grief.

Cameron and Gavin circled the Fire Wolf, lunging and biting as the hunter met their strikes just as fast, but now that it was two against one, the older brothers were landing more blows and were able to tear more flesh between their teeth.

My hands turned into fists, the magic inside me near boiling. “They’re ganging up on him.”