Etienne yanked the T-shirt over his head and pulled the fly of his jeans up before kicking his duffel bag behind a dumpster next to the bar.

It had taken all of his self-discipline to shift back to human rather than flying in, crashing through the doors and disemboweling his enemy.

But that wouldn’t do anyone any good and that would only call more attention to him, which he’d already done enough of, if Mina’s sudden appearance was any indicator.

He bit back a snarl as he thought back to the previous few hours.

It had started out perfect.

He’d woken up with Taya in his arms, her scent on his skin and filled with a sense of hope. Which was clearly where he’d gone wrong.

There were far too many things outside his control for him to have been so optimistic. Not only did he have to take care of the immediate problem of Taya’s canine assailants, now he had to manage the Council and their own attack dogs, who, according to Mina, were already en route.

But hey, at least once he dealt with all that, he would only have to fight thousands of years worth of laws and tradition in order to make her his for a lifetime.

No problem.

He stepped up to the door of the bar and pushed his way in, doing his level best to look unassuming and casual. Just a regular guy going in for a drink.

He made his way to the bar and offered the brunette bartender a practiced smile. “I’d like a Bud and a shot of JD.”

She returned his smile in a way that he was all too familiar with.

“Sure thing handsome.”

He ignored her flirtation and took a surreptitious glance around the room as she lined up his drinks. He didn’t see his target, but there…right at the very edge of his senses, he could smell him. Not as if he was here now, but as if he had been here recently.

Son of a bitch.

He swallowed a snarl as he downed his shot, relishing the burn of the liquor as it coursed its way to his stomach.

In spite of his captive’s deteriorating physical state back at Drake’s keep, it had taken Etienne three hours to “convince” him to give up Mikhail’s usual haunts. Apparently, he should’ve been more aggressive because it seemed like he was too little, too late.

“That’ll be six fifty,” the barmaid drawled.

He pulled out a twenty and dropped it on the bar before downing his beer in three long gulps and turning away. He was about to head out and see if he could catch his scent when a door on the opposite side of the room caught his gaze.

“What’s that lead to, there?” he asked the bartender, shaking his head curtly when she gestured to the shot glass, as if to ask if he wanted another.

“The game room. We got pool tables and—”

He didn’t bother waiting for her to finish. As he crossed the sticky floor toward the entrance to the next room, his senses roared to life as that stench wrapped around him.

Grimy, mangy, greasy dog. Plain as day, strong as a skunk.

Apparently, his day was looking up.

He pushed the door open with his toe and flexed his fist as his eyes adjusted to the low light of the room.

He didn’t have to seek Mikhail out. When a man bent over the pool table suddenly froze, mid-motion, Etienne knew he’d been scented just as clearly as he had scented his prey.

If he’d wondered just how far stupid the rogue wolf was, he wondered no more as Mikhail set down his pool cue and leveled a cocky smile in his direction.

“Well, hello again, stranger,” the other man said, in a low drawl. His hair hung around his face in dirty hanks, but he didn’t look as emaciated as he had the last time Etienne had seen him.

The realization made the rage burn hotter in Etienne’s belly. Mikhail had clearly made a meal somewhere and Etienne could only hope that his prey had been the four-legged kind.

“I was wondering when you’d show up.”

The two other men that had been playing darts a few yards away had stopped playing and cleared their throats as they gathered up their pint glasses and belongings.

The tension was as thick as cotton and it didn’t take a genius to realize trouble was brewing. They obviously wanted no part of it, which would make Etienne’s job way easier. They vacated the room wordlessly, leaving he and Mikhail alone.

Etienne took two steps closer to Mikhail, but the other man stood his ground. They locked gazes until Mikhail held up a staying hand.

“Not sure you want to do this here, though, buddy. I know how much you love those humans.” His tone was mocking, and there was no hint of fear in his soulless eyes.

“You have the nerve to say that?” Etienne said, cracking his knuckles. “You attacked Taya right out on the street.”

“Unlike you, I have nothing left to lose.” A grim smile tugged at his thin lips and he bared his yellowing teeth in a facsimile of a smile. “It doesn’t really matter what I do. My life is basically over so I’m going to enjoy the time I have left.”

He cocked his head, studying Etienne with a thoughtful gaze.

“The question is, what do you stand to lose by coming in here and causing trouble?” Mikhail leaned back to rest his ass on the pool table.

The son of a bitch thought he was safe because Etienne wouldn’t want to make a scene. And his assessment wasn’t that far off base. The second he’d walked into the place, that had been his own thought.

What Mikhail hadn’t counted on was exactly how hell-bent on revenge Etienne was.

Just as he was about to explain it to him, another man lumbered into the room holding two pitchers of beer, a goofy smile on his face.

“Problem here, Mikhail?” he asked as the grin faded.

Etienne stared at him, letting the scent of this new male penetrate his consciousness.

Bear shifter.

He’d met his share back in Europe. Although, not grizzlies like this one. Their scents were similar but this was darker. Earthier.

The other man flicked a questioning glance between he and Mikhail and Etienne tensed, body at the ready to make a move if need be.

Mikhail shook his head slowly at his companion and pushed himself away from the pool table, straightening. “I think we’re all good here. This asshole was just leaving.”

He moved the cue ball to the spot in the center of the table and then bent low to line up his shot before drawing his arm back and letting it fly.

The white ball never had a chance to touch the rack of colored ones as Etienne whipped out a hand, plucked it in mid-motion and hurled it at Mikhail, hitting him right between the eyes. The resulting crack echoed through the room, bouncing off the cedar walls.

Mikhail dropped like a stone, as if felled by an unseen sniper.

The bear shifter let out a muffled oath, set his pitchers of beer sloshing down onto a nearby table and faced Etienne, arms akimbo.

“What the fuck was that about?” he demanded, his voice a menacing growl.

Outwardly, Etienne didn’t react. Inside though, his pulse jackhammered as the adrenaline rushed through him.

The bear was just an unforeseen speed bump. He didn’t want to have to kill him but if he was going to stand between Etienne and his prey, he’d do what he had to do to get to Mikhail. The man who had attacked Taya. The man who had intended to use her, kill her and eat her like she was nothing.

Etienne didn’t wait for the bear to come at him. Instead, he strode toward the other shifter, letting loose with a punishing blow to his jaw. The bear reeled backward, almost hitting the deck before steadying himself on a barstool.

He straightened and rushed headlong at Etienne, breath sawing in and out of his lungs, eyes glazed over with a wild fury. Luckily, he was all bulk and brawn, but no brains like so many of the bears Etienne had met, and when Etienne sidestepped at the last moment, he barreled straight into the wall behind him with a sickening thud.

Before Etienne could check to see whether his new friend was out of commission for a while, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

He turned to see Mikhail pushing himself to his feet, blood dripping down his face and landing on the dirty floor in thick, crimson droplets. There was a two-inch deep dent in the center of his forehead where his skull had caved in from the force of the cue ball.

He smiled, a twisted sense of glee coursing through him as he observed the gruesome injury. It would heal soon enough, but for the time being, it was like a balm to his vengeful soul.

“You stupid motherfucker,” Mikhail grunted, swiping at the blood in his eyes and blinking furiously. “You said it yourself, there are people in the next room.”

“And you told me you didn’t care. It sure didn’t seem to bother you before, remember? When you attacked Taya on a public street?”

He crossed the room until they stood toe-to-toe again and he reached out to close his hand around Mikhail’s neck.

“Do it. You’re going to regret it, though,” Mikhail choked out with a gasp. “My pack might not want me, but they find out what you’ve done, they’ll come for you. As will all the other packs who know the truth. Humans are nothing. If we continue to allow them to run the earth we will become the orchestrators of our own demise. Many of my kind still know this, and if you kill me, there will be dozens that will come to repay the debt.”

His foul breath washed over Etienne’s face and he swallowed a wave of revulsion as he tried to separate his emotions from his intellect. He wanted to kill him—God, did he want to kill him—but was that the right move? Would the fallout cause more trouble than it was worth for Taya, despite Etienne’s thirst for revenge?

He could hear the bear struggling to his feet behind him, and he knew it was decision time.

His path was clear.

Mikhail was a rabid dog and he needed to be put down.

“This is for Taya.”

He snapped the other man’s neck with the flick of his wrist, nearly decapitating him before letting him slump to the ground at his feet.

Wolves, like dragons, healed fast and lived extraordinarily long lives, but they weren’t immortal. If the connection between brain and body was severed, healing would be impossible.

“You’re crazy.”

A nervous, mirthless laugh bubbled behind him and Etienne looked around just in time to see the bear shifter backing toward the door, hands raised in surrender.

“Look, I’m not in it. The guy was kind of an asshole anyway, but just a warning. The wolves are serious around here and I think you’ve done rung a bell you can’t un-ring, stranger.” He wheeled around, his boots thundering as he strode through the door back into the bar.

Etienne considered following him, but common sense prevailed. First and foremost, he had to get Mikhail out of here ASAP. He had no doubt that word would get around in the shifter world fast, but there was no point in alerting the humans or causing a scene.

Bending low, he tossed Mikhail’s slack body over his shoulder and made for the fire exit at the back of the game room. He’d almost made it out when a low voice called out to him from the door that led to the bar.

“Everything okay, there, Mister?”

Etienne slowed to a stop, worked up a rueful grin, and peered over his shoulder at the bartender who had waited on him.

“Yep, all okay here. Our friend had too much to drink and face-planted on the floor. Just going to get him home safe so he can sleep it off.”

To his everlasting relief, the bartender’s frown melted away and she nodded.

“I hear you there. He was hitting the whiskey pretty hard.” She glanced at the overturned chair in the corner and the spilled beer, and waved Etienne toward the exit with a shooing motion. “Go on, I’ll take care of this. You get him home and tell him not to come back at least for the rest of the week. I’m sick of cleaning up after his drunk ass anyway.”

He kicked the fire door open with one foot and crossed the parking lot, ears and eyes attuned as he made his way into the woods.

Once Mikhail’s partner had given up the information, he’d dispatched him much the same way. That was two down, now. And if it was yesterday, he would’ve called that a win.

But Taya had gained so many new enemies in the past twenty-four hours, he was going to need help. He wouldn’t be able to protect her alone. If he could get Mina to stay the course, along with the help of Drake and Willa, they might have a chance.

By the time he dumped Mikhail’s body deep in the woods and got back to the château, night had fallen. His scraped and battered knuckles had already healed and the adrenaline had drained from his blood, leaving him calm and clear-headed for the first time in days.

When he stepped into the house, all was quiet.

So quiet, a ripple of fear shuddered through him. Surely Mina wouldn’t have betrayed him and taken Taya out of the house?

He was just about to bellow her name when he heard it.

A low grunt in the distance. He closed his eyes to focus on the sound as it came again, followed by an answering feminine groan. They were downstairs.

A sense of relief washed over him, but it was fleeting. Mina was unpredictable on her best day, and Taya had reached the end of her rope. He only hoped they weren’t trying to kill each other down there.

He let out a muffled oath, taking a moment to yank on a pair of gym pants and a shirt before heading toward the stairs and taking the steps two at a time.

He stopped short of going in and stood just outside the gym door to see Taya standing there in a pair of his boxers and a T-shirt. The shorts were clearly too large for her waist, but she’d folded them in a way that had them resting on her rounded hips. The shirt should’ve been swimming on her, but she’d knotted it at her side, baring a two-inch swath of flesh that had his mouth watering and his dragon breathing fire.

Those plain-ass clothes had never looked so good.

And while you stand here like an idiot drooling over the shape of her breasts, she remains in mortal danger, asshole.

He swallowed the rush of bile that rose in his throat at the thought and stepped into the room.

Just as he was about to call her name, Mina came into view, moving at a steady clip and then launching herself into the air, right leg extended toward Taya.

His whole body went into fight mode as a rush of fury swamped him, but before he could react, Taya had lifted her arm and let something fly that hit Mina right in the gut. She dropped to her feet with a muffled “ooph”, before breaking into a wide grin.

What the fuck was going on here?

“Well, shit. Finally,” Mina said, clapping her hands together with a glee that he’d rarely seen her display.

She wheeled around to face him and offered a wave. “You’re just in time.”

While Mina had clearly sensed his presence, Taya had not, and her whole body seemed to stiffen as she turned slowly toward him.

Her arm was still extended, and in her hand was clutched a crossbow, the likes of which he’d never seen. The puzzle pieces clicked into place and the instinct to commit murder began to recede.

“Training, yes?” he asked Mina, tearing his eyes from Taya’s face.

Jesus, that hurt. Just seeing the pain in her eyes when she looked at him made him want to howl at the moon and he wasn’t even a fucking wolf.

“You bet your ass we’re training. She’s got to be able to protect herself. She’s scrawny,” Mina wiped her damp forehead and eyed Taya, “but she’s scrappy. And if Van Helsing could do it, I figure it’s worth a shot.”

Taya lowered her arm and cleared her throat. “Wait. Van Helsing was a real person? Does that mean vampires are real too?”

Etienne scowled at Mina and stepped further into the room, closing the door behind him.

“Don’t listen to her. She’s messing with you.” He crossed the room until he and Taya were just a few feet apart. “But the basic idea is a good one.”

He tried to shut off the emotions swamping him as he breathed in her scent. Warm and sweet, mixed with clean sweat and, now, as he drew closer, fear.

Of him?

His stomach clenched and he reached out a hand for the crossbow, determined to diffuse the emotional turmoil.

“What have you got there?”

She wet her lips and shrugged, focusing her gaze somewhere over his shoulder.

“Mina says if we load it with poison-tipped arrows, they’ll stop most shifters in their tracks long enough to get away.”

He nodded, running a finger over the lines of the stealthy little weapon. He knew as well as Mina did that it sure as hell wouldn’t stop them for long unless she managed a heart or head shot, but it was something. At the very least, it would serve to make Taya feel empowered and a little more secure.

It was a start.

He sent Mina a nod of thanks before turning back toward Taya. “Good idea. I have some more stuff in my study I can show you how to use.”

She seemed to hesitate and sent Mina a desperate stare, a silent May Day.

“It’s for the best,” Mina said quietly, her face as soft as he’d ever seen it. “We’ll be able to teach you a lot faster if Etienne is here to help.”

She didn’t need to add that time was of the essence. Everyone in the room had to be able to feel it breathing down their necks, like the grim reaper, just an arm’s length away.

Taya’s eyes clouded with indecision but then she squared her shoulders and nodded.

“Whatever you guys think is best.”

She didn’t need to add the “for now”.

They would need time to talk, and soon. There was too much left unsaid between them. But for the moment? They would put that on hold and work together to prepare for the fight ahead.

Which reminded him…

“Mikhail is dead. And so is his partner.”

“Oh my god.” Taya’s face went bone white but then she seemed to center herself, a grim acceptance falling over her face. “I’m sorry. Thank you, Etienne. I don’t mean to seem ungrateful. It’s just…hard to get used to all the violence.”

Mina sauntered over, stretching her arms high over her head before cracking her neck, readying herself for more action. “Got to get past that. Those bastards would have killed you the second they got the chance and you wouldn’t have been their last victims. It was them or you, and many more of your kind.”

To Taya’s credit, she didn’t dwell. She seemed to take their words as truth and nodded curtly, squaring her shoulders. “Agreed. And again, thank you, Etienne.”

He opened his mouth to respond and then let it close with a snap. There was no point in telling her that he would kill for her a thousand times over. She wasn’t ready to hear it. Not yet.

“Okay, so now what?” Taya asked, flicking a glance between he and Mina. He took that as a sign of trust and he vowed to make certain she didn’t regret it.

“Now, we prepare for the first wave of assassins and say a little prayer that it takes the wolves some time to figure out that we’ve taken out two of theirs. One set of enemies at a time.”

“Those two were rogues, though. Nothing but trouble,” Mina all but spat, her eyes going icy. “Why would the area packs even care if something happened to them? Seems like you did them a favor.”

Etienne nodded his agreement. “Right. That’s what I would’ve thought too, but there is already a lot of dissent here in Montana. According to Willa, skirmishes between packs have been breaking out left and right. The elder alphas of some of the packs are trying to hold on to old ways. If they see wolves being slain in retribution for attacks on humans, they will revolt if only out of principle. What I did wasn’t sanctioned by the wolves here or by the European Council. This could be viewed as an act of war. A line drawn in the sand.”

Mina bit out a curse. “Yeah, well, let them come, then.” She turned her attention to Taya. “Reload and let’s try again.”

Taya bent and retrieved one of the rubber-tipped arrows Mina had given her, and loaded it into the chamber.

Etienne watched as her eyes narrowed in concentration. Already, she looked stronger to him. Like she had a purpose and it was lending her an extra jolt of confidence that she’d been floundering to find since the initial attack. He made a mental note to thank Mina.

“Ready?” Mina asked Taya, her features growing fierce as she jogged lightly to the far side of the room.

Taya’s throat worked, and she sucked in a gulp of air before nodding. “Yup.”

Etienne watched, breath suspended, as Mina came toward Taya at a dead sprint that topped the speed of any human on earth by a mile. It happened so quickly, he almost missed it, but right as Mina flicked out a fist that would’ve knocked Taya out cold, she feinted left and fired.

The blunted arrow hit Mina in the shoulder, just left of center, and she stumbled back. Her feet flew out from under her and she hit the ground for a second before rolling to her feet in one smooth motion.

“Yes. Yes!” she crowed, pumping her fist. Her long, sure strides brought her toe-to-toe with Taya and she leaned in to grab her. “That’s it. You’ve got it now.” She shook her by the shoulders to punctuate each word. “If you can fine-tune it, just a little, and hit the heart of something coming at you at that speed, we’re in business, sweets.”

Taya’s face went pink at the praise but Mina didn’t let it sit for long.

“Again!” she demanded.

Taya shot him a hooded glance and he gave her a thumbs up before backing out the way he’d come to collect more weapons, his step just a little lighter than when he’d walked into the house.

He might be a sky king, and he had swagger to spare, but he wasn’t stupid. A collective of shifter assassins was nothing to fool with. If they could get past this first wave, though, just maybe…

He shut down those thoughts and focused on the now.

Because if they had even a prayer of making it out alive, it was going to be a very long night.