“How are you feeling, son?”

Gabriel blinked, sitting up. The purple haze still surrounded him, pressing down on his head, but it didn’t bother him. If anything, it felt kind of nice to have its presence, like a warm old blanket draped over his shoulders.

“Better.” He stretched his hands over his shoulder. His shoulder cracked, which made it loosen up. “Much more like myself, thank you, Father.”

His supreme Alpha smiled at the woman next to him, who laughed, wringing her hands together. Gabriel couldn’t place this woman in his memory, but it made him thrilled that she made his father so happy.

“I told you I could do it, my love.”

His father stroked the woman’s hair. “I had no doubt. I can’t tell you how nice it is to have him back. He was always supposed to be with me, you know. I never expected they’d hold out this long.”

“Kanes are remarkably stubborn. I should know.”

“Have I been somewhere, Father?”

Kendrick looked at the woman again. “His mind seems gone. Will he even be able to remember all his training?”

“All of it. The only details gone are the ones I wanted removed.”

“Great.” Kendrick tapped the bed. “Stand up, Gabriel.”

Always happy to oblige, he stood. His muscles felt tight but then they unkinked. As if he’d been carrying around the world’s problems on his shoulders. But then again he had no idea why he ever would have felt that way.

Do you know?

His wolf yawned. Not a clue.

Kendrick sat back on a countertop. “We have a problem.”

“Any problem that you have, my Alpha, is my problem.” No one would harm his father while he took breath into his body.

“Your brothers have formed a revolution against me and I need someone to lead my army. I want that someone to be you.”

Something stirred inside him. A thought. He couldn’t grasp it and it floated away into the purple haze. “Yes, my Alpha. As you wish.”

“Good.” Kendrick moved forward. “Let’s go see if you can still do what I need you to do.”

His wolf wagged his tail. They were going to go do some sort of fighting. There was nothing either of them enjoyed more than violence, particularly if they got to wield it on Kendrick’s behalf.

With an ease to his step, he followed his father. Wherever they were—and really

Gabe had no idea where they were located—it smelled funny. He sniffed the air again.

“Where are the woods, Father?”

Kendrick turned around, an eyebrow raised. “The woods?”

“Westervelt. I can’t smell it anywhere.” And he should. He knew that much. Westervelt meant home and home meant … who? An image of a red-haired woman with the biggest brown eyes briefly surfaced in his mind before it poofed out of existence.

“We’re taking back Westervelt. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” It just seemed hard to keep ideas in his head. Oh well. He shrugged. Really, what did it matter?

I don’t seem to care. His wolf hiccuped and a big puff of purple haze escaped through his mouth.

You look funny.

His wolf scratched his side. You do too.

They walked toward the backyard of the house. His father opened the door and after Gabriel walked through it closed behind him with a loud bang.

“Drea.” His father called out behind him and the woman who’d been with them earlier appeared out of thin air. One second she hadn’t been present, and the next she stood in front of him.

“How did you do that?” Was that something he should know?

“I’m a witch. That’s what we do.” She patted him on the shoulder before turning to his father. “Don’t worry. The pressing point here is that he’ll know how to kill a witch when the time is right. And he’ll need to. My sources tell me Rex’s mate Elizabeth Willow is officially living on Westervelt. The haughty bitch will be a problem. But Gabriel will have the tools to end her.”

“Let’s see some of these tools.” Kendrick whistled. For a second nothing happened but moments later, a loud bang sounded and green doors, which he had previously not noticed—because, really, why bother paying attention to things that don’t matter?— opened from the ground. A group of twelve very pungent-smelling male wolves traipsed out of the entrance.

They must have been below ground. That seemed like a funny place to put them. Why would someone hide the foul-smelling beasts down there? They could stay above ground if only they’d bathe.

“Gabriel.” Kendrick’s voice caught his attention. “These are the wolves I have created to help you take back Westervelt. Soon you will use them, but for now I need to see you kill them. It’s important that you demonstrate to me just how strong you still can be.”

Gabriel nodded even as an ache formed at the back of his neck. Are you causing that pain?

His wolf shook his head. No, I’m not sure what that is.

With a shove he pushed the discomfort to the back of his mind. If his Alpha needed him, he’d ignore more agony than a little throbbing caused.

Kendrick whistled again. “Boys, attack Gabriel.”

The men began to groan, a horrid, aching sound that sent chills up Gabriel’s spine. For just a moment the purple haze began to float away. His shoulders felt lighter and he stretched. His mind churned while a million fleeting images flickered before his eyes.

The purple haze plummeted downward and the weird images disappeared. He blinked and it seemed like they’d never been there at all.

“You wish for me to kill the creatures, Father?” His palms itched to begin the attack.

“If you can.”

Gabriel laughed, a long, hard sound that vibrated over the screeching of the pathetic wolves who couldn’t even manage to get their shifts right. “If? Give me just a moment.” He shifted, calling the white light onto himself and in seconds his body had taken on his wolf shape.

Feels good to be back in my form. His wolf showed his teeth.

It does, Gabriel agreed. He’d always been able to cause destruction like this. No one had ever been able to really beat him. Not even Kendrick. The thought jolted him and he stopped his forward momentum. What? Had he just remembered something he needed to know?

The purple haze swarmed his body.

It doesn’t really matter, his wolf reminded him. All that we need to care about is killing these monsters. That’s what the Alpha wants.

Gabriel leaned back on his hind legs waiting to move forward. He liked a good fight. But if the creatures didn’t move forward he wasn’t going to have one. By default he’d be left slaughtering them, and not much else.

He waited a bit. The wolf in front of him growled, but didn’t move. Gabe rolled his eyes. His father wanted him to prove himself like this? Fine.

Gabe leaped forward, his teeth bared, and ripped the skin off the neck of his first opponent. The wolf squealed before blood splattered all over Gabe’s face. The wolf dropped dead on the ground. The taste of the foul thing in his mouth made Gabe’s stomach turn. He spit out the skin, knowing little could be done about the blood short of jumping into the river. Maybe he’d do that after.

Two wolves pounced on him but they jumped more like puppies than full-fledged wolves. He was really going to have to train them. But not these twelve—now eleven— they were going to die.

But two attacks were better than one. He lunged right, tearing into the stomach of the first wolf. For a second he smelled the pork that the creature must have eaten earlier as it poured out of its now exposed intestines onto the grass.

The second wolf backed up in retreat. Oh well.

He’s practically cowering. His wolf didn’t like fear, didn’t like to smell it, didn’t like how it tasted in his mouth.

There would be no retreat, no letting him go. Kendrick said kill. Gabriel loved to obey.

He ripped the throat out of the scared wolf before turning to the next crowd of opponents.

One by one Gabriel ended the lives of the wolves his father wanted dead. At some point his father started to laugh. He had no idea what was so amusing, but he always preferred to keep his Alpha happy rather than upset.

When he finished, he took a breath looking at what he’d done. The nasty things were all gone. His father’s wishes had been fulfilled. He turned to his father, calling the shift onto himself to change back into his human shape. His body cracked and pulled onto itself until his wolf vanished within him.

He rubbed his forehead. “How was that?”

His father grinned. “Magnificent.”

“Do you really think those things can be trained? They’re pretty pathetic.” Drea disappeared in the way Gabriel wasn’t certain he would ever get used to seeing. A few seconds later she reappeared holding out some clothes.

“Put these on. I don’t want to look at you naked.”

Kendrick laughed, patting Gabriel on the shoulder while he dressed. “She’s not a wolf. We can cut her some slack. Can’t we, son?”

“I suppose.” Drea the witch didn’t bother him one way or the other. Only Kendrick mattered. “I’m sorry, my Alpha. You didn’t answer my question.”

“Do I think they can be trained? Yes, I’ve been able to do a little. Some of the people I employ have been able to get great results from them. But you, no one has ever been

able to train wolf troops like you. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Then I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t.” Kendrick nodded toward the house. “Why don’t you go rest for a while? When you get up you can work with the wolves again. I don’t want to wait and let Tristan have time to get ready for us.”

“As you wish.”

He walked toward his father’s home listening to Kendrick and Drea speak behind him. Their words didn’t make sense and he couldn’t focus on why that was.

“It’s good that you sent him to rest. It’ll let the curse settle back down.”

His father whistled. “This is better than I ever could have imagined. You are a genius.”

“I know.” Gabe hated the sound of Drea’s voice. “Do you think you should have let the girl go? Won’t she be a risk for us now?”

“No.” Kendrick moved farther away, his voice fading. Gabriel only caught one last remark before he could hear no more. “If Carrie makes the mistake of speaking about any of this to Tristan, he will kill her. In fact, if she steps onto Westervelt she’ll likely not live another minute. They’re going to call her traitor the same way they’ll label him.” Who were they talking about? Should he know?

Do we know any women that would get killed by Tristan? He took the steps two at a time while waiting for his wolf’s reply.

I have no idea who that is. I still have blood all over me.

Gabriel shrugged. Who cared? It was just blood.