“What is going on?” Carrie grabbed Gabriel’s arm. He’d been in a frantic state since he’d arrived at his mother’s. He’d never screamed at her telepathically to meet him anywhere before, which made her nervous enough. Add to that the way he wasn’t making sense, and the hair on the back of her neck stood at attention.

“I’m trying to explain.” Before darting backward, he rubbed the back of her head in the way that made her knees buckle when they were alone. “I can’t touch you. Don’t let me get too close.”

“Gabriel Kane.” His mother, Mary Jo, who had always been the entire pack’s second mother, stared at him straight in the eye. “Have you fallen? Hit your head?”

“Listen to me. Both of you. Dad has done something. With a witch. They’ve cursed the whole island.”

Carrie rubbed her forehead. “Why would your father do that?” Kendrick could be off, but he always had the best interests of Westervelt in his mind.

Lately he doesn’t smell … right.

Her wolf’s words brought all her hidden doubts to the surface. She stared at Mary Jo. Surely Kendrick’s mate would be able to set this all correctly, would be able to explain what Gabriel must have misinterpreted.

“Tell me exactly what he said.” Mary Jo leaned against the counter of her kitchen.

Gabriel took a deep breath. “He told me he’s cursed us to kill our mates, that I’m going to hurt my mate. That’s why, Carrie, you have to stay away from me.” He rubbed his forehead. “I actually feel like my whole body is itching.”

Carrie needed clarification. “I’m sure it’s just in your head.” Kill her? Why wasn’t Mary Jo dismissing this?

“The witch,” Gabe’s mother muttered. “Again. I knew something like this could happen. But not of this scale.”

A pit formed in Carrie’s stomach. “You’re telling me this is possible.”

“Unfortunately, yes. Kendrick’s mind has been warped. I don’t have time to explain it. Damn. I should have seen this coming. We have to act fast. If the curse has started, only killing the witch who cast it will change it. Is that possible? Is she still here?”

“No. She’s gone.” Carrie could feel Gabriel’s anxiety rising. It made her nauseated.

“Damn. We have to thwart him. There still has to be something.” Mary Jo started to pace.

“Gabe. This is going to be okay, my love. You’re not going to kill me. It’s ridiculous. None of the men here would ever hurt their other halves. Nothing matters more than the mating bond.”

“It’s a curse. We won’t be able to control ourselves. He has to be stopped.” Gabe slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a hole where his hand had been.

“Well, that’s enough of a display of testosterone.” If her mate lost his mind, they wouldn’t get anywhere.

Mary Jo clapped her hands. “He’ll never be able to control the unmated men if the unmated women are not here.”

Without the possibility of a mate, the single men of the pack couldn’t be made to obey Kendrick’s commands. It made sense to Carrie even as her wolf howled within her to rage against the world.

“Carrie.” Mary Jo had gone two shades whiter, which said a lot because she had porcelain-colored skin in the middle of the summer. “I need your help. Can you do something for me?”

“Absolutely.” She’d walk through fire for Gabe’s mother.

“Mom.” Gabriel wouldn’t let her finish. “You’re telling me there is nothing I can do, that this is unstoppable. I’m going to kill Carrie. No choice.”

“I’m going to die in this scenario, too.” Mary Jo grabbed her son’s arms. “This isn’t exactly great news for me either. I’m going to never see any of you have kids. My husband for whom I bore seven children is going to kill me. None of this is lost on me. Your father has slowly been going insane for the last century. I’ve been keeping it hidden for a long time. And you know the pack never questions him. Alpha’s word is law.”

“What?” This time Carrie did the screaming. “Why didn’t you say something? You could have gotten him away from leadership. Michael could have—”

Mary Jo slammed her hand down on the table. “Michael is my son. I adore him, but he’s not Alpha and everyone in this room knows it. Gabe could be if he wanted it. He doesn’t.” Gabriel actually flinched. “Every wolf with half a brain knows Tristan Kane is supposed to be Alpha. Everyone but Tristan.” She shook her head. “My loyalty—my mate honor—tells me that I have to take care of Kendrick above all else. And I know that you’re quite aware of this by now so don’t act holier-than-thou, Carrie. You’d do the same damn thing for Gabriel.”

“Gabriel. Whatever happens. You won’t kill me.” He won’t, her wolf confirmed. “Every part of me knows that.”

Gabe paced the room. “You have to run away. You can’t be near me. Go. Don’t tell me where. If it’s safe, I will come and get you.”

Carrie shook her head. “I don’t run. That’s not how I’m built. I may not have much magic, but I’m strong and I fight with my pack.” She lowered her voice because she wasn’t sure she could get her next words out. “You taught me that.”

“Carrie.” Mary Jo’s voice held an edge of desperation that hadn’t been there earlier. “I need you to take Angel, go to the boats. Tell Captain Jim that I need him to do what we once discussed. Can you do that for me?”

“He’ll know what that means?”

Mary Jo nodded vigorously. “But tell him that he’s going to have a boatload of passengers tonight. In less than an hour.”

Carrie turned toward the nursery to grab Angel before Mary Jo latched onto her arm. “Darling. I’ll see you on the other side. Thank you for being Gabe’s.”

A lump formed in her throat. It couldn’t be time for that. They’d only just gotten together. The other side could wait its turn.

“Ah, Gabriel. That was fast. I would have thought your mother would have taken twice the time to decide what to do. Intellect has never been her strongest feat. Perhaps that’s where you get your issues. Ah, well. Nothing to do about it now.”

Gabriel leaped at his father. He might not win this fight but he would give it his best shot, and no one could be better prepared than he. In sparring sessions, he’d been the only one strong enough to ever take down Kendrick. Even if his former Alpha, and it was former now, refused to acknowledge it.

He snarled while he ripped into his father’s side. Seconds later his dad had shifted into his own wolf state. Kendrick had always been huge, which accounted for at least part of the reason the pack fell in line behind him so easily. From his sheer size alone he could make half the pack cower.

Not Gabriel. Not ever again.

“You want to be Alpha, boy?” Kendrick’s voice banged through his head.

Somehow he’d have to figure out how to keep his father out of his head. “No. I just want you dead.”

They circled each other. Gabriel’s wolf had good timing. He didn’t need to interfere with his other half’s instincts. He’d attack when the right moment occurred.

“If you kill me, you end your mother’s life.” Kendrick sneered, his upper lip curling.

“This doesn’t get put on me. You did this. And the second you did you became a dead wolf.” Gabe growled, lunging forward.

His father backed up a step. Neither he nor his wolf had any idea what his father played at. Kendrick didn’t back away from a fight.

“Think about it, Gabriel. You have two options. You can kill me and then still destroy your mate. Or you can save her.”

Gabe stopped moving. He wanted his father’s throat; he craved Kendrick’s death in the primal ways that made him part beast and not fully human. Yet even the animal inside him—perhaps because of the love the wolf carried for Carrie—ceased moving to listen to his father’s explanation.

“You lie.” In all things, in all ways.

“This is unstoppable. The pack needs to be cleared out. It has to be controlled. Whether I live or die matters not. Westervelt has run its course.”

His father didn’t know about his mother’s plan. There’d be no handling the pack after the destruction. The women would be gone.

“I thought you wanted to rule the new pack.”

“I want it saved. I believe I can bring it back from the ashes. Without me it will disappear, but perhaps that is how it should be. If a wolf doesn’t want to rule humans, there is something wrong with the shifter.”

Gabriel snorted. “Gods, you are a megalomaniac.”

“Big word for you, son.”

He growled. Enough was enough. His dad must not really have a way to save Carrie, or he would have shared it by now.

“Prepare to die, old man. You won’t ever see what happens to Westervelt.”

In the distance, the ferry boat dinged its departure. Gabriel took a deep breath. The unmated women would be gone. Whatever happened now, at least part of what Kendrick wanted would never happen. Maybe Carrie had the sense to get on the boat with them and run far, far away.

Let’s hope. His wolf panted. He wanted Kendrick’s blood in his mouth.

Kendrick’s head rose and swung toward the retreating ship. “Why is that vessel departing? What have you done? You couldn’t have emptied the island. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. They’ll still kill their mates.”

“We didn’t empty the island.” Staying vague seemed like the best option; the witch might have left, but his father could still have her at his beck and call somehow. Gabriel didn’t want Kendrick realizing Mary Jo had sent the women away until the ship was as far away as possible.

“If you want Carrie alive, you’ll do as I say.”

Gabriel shook his head. “You’ve told me that’s impossible. Why should I believe you? All of this is probably bullshit anyway.”

“Use your ears. Does it sound like bullshit to you?” The sun had started to rise on the horizon. Gabriel didn’t want to be distracted, but his wolf had always been capable of doing more than one thing at a time. His father wouldn’t get the jump on him just by making him listen to the world around him for two seconds.

The wind ripped by his head. He could hear the birds in the trees awakening, the fish in the water whipping by the island, a horn on the mainland beeping in the distance, and … screams.

He gasped before turning in the direction of the sound. Not just one scream. No. Many. Women fighting for their lives and men hollering to the gods for relief from what they’d done.

The Alpha in him needed to go to them, to help, to protect what he still could. His father’s laughter brought him right back to where he stood. Others would have to intervene. Right here and now he had something to do.

“Now I have your attention and your belief.”

Gabriel swallowed, calling his shift back onto himself. If he had to negotiate with this scum, and his stomach turned even at the thought, he had to do it as a human. His wolf didn’t understand these kinds of deals. Shades of gray didn’t sit well with his canine half. Killing Kendrick and then somehow not killing Carrie made the most sense to the beast inside him.

“You do.” He wouldn’t speak to his father telepathically anymore. That right went to pack members and loved ones. Not his dad, who had single-handedly brought down Westervelt around them. “Change if you want to talk to me.”

His stomach rebelled. Now that he’d listened to what happened in the valley and in the homes on the island he couldn’t turn it off. Dear gods, how would any of them ever live again? Tears threatened to pool in his eyes. He hadn’t cried since his tenth birthday. He wouldn’t let his father see him do so now.

“I can keep Carrie alive. All I need to do is send a telepathic message to my witches. They’ll do as I like.”

“And what do you want for this?” Gabriel didn’t even really need him to answer.

The answer could be nothing short of his soul. And he’d gladly give it up for Carrie.

Be careful. You know there’s always a catch. His wolf sighed.

His father changed back. “I want you, Gabe.”

“Want me how?” Asking seemed always futile. He’d give Kendrick whatever he wanted. Still, he hadn’t been able to help himself.

“I wanted you to come with me. But now I suspect you and your bitch mother have somehow managed to thwart my plans a bit.” Kendrick shrugged like it didn’t matter one way or another, but Gabe could smell his distress. The lemon-scented sourness brought a momentary happiness to the otherwise dire event. Kendrick hadn’t foreseen everything they’d done.

“And now you don’t want me.” That suited Gabe just fine. He didn’t want to go anywhere with his father. Ever.

“I want you here. Reporting back. Telling me what’s going on. Keeping me in the know. And then when it’s time, we’ll come together and you’ll lead my army to take back this island.”

He’s asking us to be a traitor. His wolf howled. Against our pack.

There is no pack. Our pack is dying. He closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them he could feel a cold steel infusing itself into his spine. He didn’t want to contemplate what that meant. And any other scenario has me killing Carrie either by my own hands or by the act of killing myself.

The joy of the Westervelt mating ritual, the sharing of the souls, hung heavily around his neck. How could there be no way out other than her death? How could that be when he’d sworn to make her life’s happiness his only goal in the universe?

“You’re asking me to choose between Carrie and the pack. Is that it?”

“Exactly.” Kendrick smiled so broadly his teeth glinted in the light of the newly rising sun.

“There’s no choice. There is only Carrie.” And her bright oranges, reds, purples, and golds that she’d brought to his life. His love. His mate. She mattered most. “But I can’t just be walking around with my mate. You’ve not thought this through.”

“Oh, but I have.” He walked toward Gabe. “Carrie goes with me. And if she makes any attempt to kill me, you die.”

“What?” Gabriel didn’t care so much about his own death—except in the ways that it would affect Carrie—but the idea that she would go and spend time with Kendrick alone? No. He growled, barely containing the urge to spring onto his father and tear him apart.

“This is the deal. I’m going to alter my curse that I’ve already planted on everyone. Or, to be more exact, that my witch has donned on this pack. The new curse is going to include a Carrie clause. Your cooperation, and Carrie comes with me. Alive. Everyone forgets about her. No one knows you’ve done this. Except you and me. I’m safe. You’re safe. She’s safe. And then eventually I win.”

You can’t seriously be considering this. There has to be another way. If we go to Tristan right now, maybe he can help us.

He’s not Alpha. He’s overwhelmed by what is happening. He could feel the wolves in the pack; their pain pelted at his skin like bullets assaulting him.

He will be Alpha.

Gabriel shook his head. He’s not yet.

“For how long?” He rubbed his temple. If he made this decision, he made it for Carrie and for him. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—be consulted. She’d never agree. In the same way that he would always place her first, she would do the same for him. She’d kill herself to spare him this. And even though he’d gladly follow her anywhere, he didn’t want her to have to make that decision. As her mate, he spared her every burden he could.

“For as long as it takes or until you break.”

“I’ll never break.” He spit out the word. “Ever.”

Neither would he betray his brothers. There had to be another way. A line he could walk to keep Kendrick at bay, keep Carrie alive, and save Westervelt. He would find it.

“We’ll see.” His father sneered his words.

The wind brought Carrie’s scent to his nose seconds before she arrived.

“Gabriel. My gods. I cannot believe it. It’s happening.” Her voice held an edge of desperation he’d never heard before.

He turned to regard her as a red haze filled his gaze. Blinking, he tried to clear it.

“Kill her.” Kendrick’s voice spoke to his wolf. “Kill her and obey me.”

“Ah. So you’re already feeling it. One sound of her voice on your ears, one glance at her, and now you want to kill her.”

Gabriel closed his eyes, wishing his father’s words were less true. He did want to kill her, to take her neck between his hands and snap it or choke the life out of her. It would be so easy…

“Knock it off.” Carrie’s snarl made him open his eyes. “He’s only making this worse. If anyone can resist this, you can. You’re the strongest wolf I’ve ever known. Don’t let Kendrick confuse the situation.”

“If only it were that simple, my love.” His voice sounded strange to his own ears. A sneer that hadn’t been there earlier presented itself. Had he uttered those tones?

Carrie heard it. Her pupils dilated slightly and the wolf appeared in her eyes. That was right. She should be afraid of him. Killing her wouldn’t even take him ten minutes.

Maybe she’d even make it fun and run for a while. He loved a chase.

We can’t do this. And yet I want to. So badly. His wolf shuddered.

“Kendrick.” He looked at his father. “You have a deal.”

His father clapped his hands together, whirling around like a child who had just been given his favorite toy. “Good choice, son.”

“What did you do, Gabriel?” Carrie charged toward him. “What did you agree to?”

A jolt shook his body and he hit the floor. The world spun above his head. The sun had risen completely in the sky while he had answered his father. It shone brightly on Carrie’s head, making all the colors in her hair shine down like a halo sent from above. She’d been given to him to cherish. How could he do anything else?

Carrie’s hands shook when she pulled him up. “What have you done? Something has happened. I can feel it inside of me.”

“I’ve saved you.” He took her face in his hands. “I cannot kill you, Carrie. I’ve agreed to stay here. To work for Kendrick.”

“I think I’ll let you two say good-bye.” Kendrick sauntered by them. “I have to go kill your mother.”

Gabriel closed his eyes. He didn’t even have the energy to shift. His mother. He’d never see her again. Would she understand what he’d done? If anyone could, it would be her. Why else but for the love of her mate would she have hidden Kendrick’s sickness from all of them for so long?

Carrie shook him. “Tell me what you’ve done.”

“In order to save you, I’ve agreed to Kendrick’s demands. I’m going to work for him. Or he thinks I will. I won’t. I’ll find another way. For now, we have to do what he says. You have to go with him.”

She gasped. “I won’t. How can you ask it of me?”

“My love.” He pulled her into his embrace. Would this be the last time he ever got to hold her like this? Why hadn’t there been more time? “This gives us a chance. Otherwise, I kill you and he wins anyway. And that can’t happen—I won’t allow it. Not if there’s a choice.”

“You can’t have done this.” She pushed back, slamming her fists against his chest. “You’ve sold yourself to him for me. That is not okay. Better death and the great beyond. I’m not worth this. I’ll end it now. Then he can’t have you.”

She took two steps back before he grabbed her arm. “If we die, if we are both gone; no one will be able to stop him. Do you understand? There won’t be anyone strong enough to keep him at bay. We have to try. I need the chance to do this, to save us, to save Westervelt, and I cannot do it in a world where you no longer exist.”

“Gabriel.” She shook her head. “None of us know what comes next. The gods might be kind. Maybe we’ll have another chance.”

“I won’t risk it. You cannot die and be taken from me. Would you do any less?”

She stayed silent for a long moment before she spoke. “No. I’d do anything for you. I believe that if anyone can stop him it will be you.” She let go of his hand and the world iced over around him. Or maybe it just felt like it did. “Where is he taking me?”

“I don’t know. He won’t hurt you. You’re his leverage over me. If you die, he loses what hold he has to keep me loyal.”

She stood on tiptoe to kiss him. Her mouth was soft and the salty tears on her cheeks rubbed against his skin. The embrace lasted only a few seconds before she pulled back. Kendrick had rejoined them. His happy whistles filtered in, infecting the quiet peace of Carrie’s lips on his.

His love whispered in his ear. “I believe in you. Save them. Come and get me when the time is right. This is not our end.”

“Whatever touching things you two are saying will have to wait. It’s time to go.” Kendrick held out his hand. “Come with me, daughter-in-law.”

His father had blood all over his hands. He’d clothed himself in the garb they kept strewn around the island for shifts, and that had red stains all over it too. His mother. She must be gone. He sucked in his breath. Mary Jo hadn’t run. She’d known Kendrick would come for her and she hadn’t left with the women. Gods! How would he mourn her? How would he ever say good-bye to any of them? Could there ever be a time when this moment, this day, this hour wouldn’t haunt every breath he took?

She took a step back before turning to Kendrick. “You’ll die here someday.”

“Do you suddenly have powers of foresight you’ve never had before?”

Carrie growled. “You don’t know anything about my power. And you never will.”

She looked at Gabriel. “I’ll see you.”

He could barely breathe. “Soon.”

“Well, we’ll see how long it takes him to fall apart. I give it a decade.”

Kendrick took Gabe’s mate’s hand. The sight made his hands tingle to grab her and yank her from his father’s grip. One second they were there; the next they had vanished.

“The fucking witch,” Gabriel yelled to the sky, as if someone would hear him and actually care.

What do I do now? He spoke to his wolf.

Silence met his query. Hello?

Nothing. How angry must his wolf be? His canine half hadn’t uttered a word during Gabriel’s good-bye with their mate. Together they could work this out. Whatever needed to be done. He closed his eyes to bring his wolf to the forefront of his thoughts.

Where his wolf should have stood only emptiness remained. Gabriel gasped, stumbling backward like a falling comet had slammed into him.

His wolf had left him. No. He couldn’t believe it. The gods wouldn’t take him back. He couldn’t be left alone in this world without Carrie and without his other half. Could he shift? Had he been left … human?

Exhaustion tainted his every move. All he wanted to do was fall to the ground and not move until the sun and moon left the heavens above. Instead, he called his shift to himself. The white light came, less beautiful than before, subdued in its glory. His wolf body remerged. He could walk like a wolf, howl like a wolf, smell like a wolf—but only in body. His wolf soul had left.

“Gabriel.” Tristan ran up the hill toward him. His brother lived. That had to mean something. Didn’t it? Couldn’t Gabriel make Tristan see he was Alpha? Wouldn’t that fix things?

He called his human body back. This time he knew he’d shifted once too many times that day. Soon, he would collapse and there wouldn’t be a damn thing he could do about it.

“Brother.” Gabriel reached out for him and Tristan caught him as he stumbled.

“Gabriel.” Tears streamed from Tristan’s eyes. “Are you hurt? Did you try to stop one of the mated men? What has happened? How could this be? Who could do this to us? The pack is destroying itself.”

“Tristan, tell me something.” He could barely form the words, but he had to know if his father had done what he’d said he would do. “Do you know someone named Carrie?”

His brother blinked rapidly. “Gabriel, did you hear me? The mates are all dying. We are all that is left. Unmated males. Mom, she got the unmated women off the island. But she’s gone now. Father butchered her.”

Tristan continued to ramble on, but Gabriel couldn’t hear him. The world spun and blackness took him over. One thing was for certain; their should-be Alpha had no idea Gabriel was mated or that Carrie even existed.

His father’s spell had worked.