Lena was light, heat, air. Her touch animated me, brought me to life. I hadn’t even known I was dead. For twenty-six years I had walked, talked, breathed, fought. It meant nothing. I thought my freedom had been worth fighting for. It was, but only because it brought me to her. She was the reason. It was if all the pieces of my life aligned in such a way to bring me to Birch Haven last year for her and her alone.

I was not just born an Alpha; I was her Alpha. I had to live through Able Valent’s tyranny so that I could find it in me to break free and help strengthen the rest of the wolves of Mammoth Forest and bring Mac, Lena’s brother, into my life.

Her clean scent filled my lungs as I brought her close to me, loving the solid weight of her in my arms. I felt suspended in time. The stars shone just for her. The churning waters of the Ohio River beckoned. I knew at that moment I would get her across it. Mammoth Forest didn’t matter. The mission to find more Wolfkiller ammo was secondary. Getting Lena safely away where Able couldn’t find her meant everything.

Lena turned to me. I traced a circle around her left nipple. I kissed her there, loving the way she rose to it. Her body tuned to mine. Even now, I could sense the rising heat inside of her. If I dipped my finger between her legs, I’d find her slick with need. God. I longed to plunder the depths of her all over again. She’d come for me, clawing with an eager violence that set my nerves on fire.

She groaned as I let my fingers trail along the slope of her hip. I tilted her body toward mine. We fit. She wasn’t small like most women I knew. She had long, lean legs and the kind of ass I could get my hands around. At that moment, I knew I could kill just to steal a few more minutes alone with her.

“Payne,” she whispered, shifting away from me so she could sit up. She was thinking too hard. Her expression grew sheepish as she fumbled for her top and then her jeans. The beast rose within me, wanting to pull her back down and spread her wide. The urge to mark her burned through me, even though I knew I could probably never act on it. Again, I felt my need to kill Able and make him pay for twisting that part of her from me.

I rose, reaching for my own pants. I stabbed my legs through them and put a hand out to her. Lena stood on shaky legs. Desire roared through me again. Oh, yes, I wanted to make her weak in the knees for days. A vision of taking her from behind slammed into my brain. Even as I thought it, I knew the skin at the base of her neck burned for me. She put a hand flat against her neck and let out a little gasp that tore at me.

“It’s okay,” I said. “You know I wouldn’t…”

“I know,” she said, almost barking out the words. “Payne. I know.”

“You know what?” Did she? Did she really understand what she was meant for?

“I know about...fated mates,” she said, her voice as shaky as her legs. She paid a price for saying it out loud. Again, I tried to bottle my rage and keep it from her.

“You do?” I asked. “Because I’m not sure I do. Not in the way I’m supposed to. What we are...what there is between us...you shouldn’t be afraid of it. And yet you are. That makes me want to kill something for you. I will kill for you.”

Her face went white and she backed away from me. “I thought I could,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “I mean...I thought that would help. If I took something back for myself, it would drive...him...further away.”

I could barely see straight. White rage clouded my vision. In my mind’s eye, I saw myself ripping Able Valent to shreds. I would present his head to Lena if that’s what she wanted.

I staggered sideways, heading for the woods. I shot out one hand and gripped the bark of a maple tree to steady myself. Two things drove me with equally devastating force. Lust and rage. They were wrapped together in my heart. Lena was mine. My mate. My fate. She could turn away from me forever, but I would die and kill for her until I knew she was safe. Even if it meant I had to live with half of my heart. The other half felt torn from me; only marking her would heal it.

“Payne.” Lena came to me. She put a tentative hand on my shoulder. Even that light touch seared through me. My inner wolf bubbled up. I needed to shift, or I needed to fuck. Hovering between both urges brought stars to my eyes. Something similar was happening to Lena. Her pulse raced along with mine. It would be like that now, always. Marking her would make her even more a part of me.

“I want,” she said. There was more to her sentence, but she didn’t seem able to find the right words. In the end, it’s all she needed to say. She wanted. I wanted. But, maybe we were both too damaged to do anything about it.

When I finally came back into myself, I turned to her. She looked at me with wide eyes, her face wet with tears.

“I’m trying to tell you I know what you are to me. I know you’re mine. But Payne, I can’t let you mark me. I just can’t. What if I never can?”

I knew she was asking herself as much as me. My heart bled for her, for us. I went to her, putting one firm hand on her shoulder. With the other, I lifted her chin until she met my eyes. Hers swirled with dark hope and longing, but also pain. I would have given my soul if I could drive it away.

“You’re mine,” I said. She flinched, but I didn’t let her go. “But, I would never...never...mark you if you didn’t want it. And if you never want it, so be it. Know this: I’ll protect you no matter what.”

She tried to pull away. I wouldn’t let her.

“Lena,” I said, my voice deep with emotion. “No. Matter. What. Do you hear me? The Pack will never make you do anything against your will again. They’ll never even get near you.”

“But, he’s still there!” she shrieked. I finally pulled my hands away from her. “It won’t go away.”

I set my jaw. She might hate me for what I had to say, but I had no choice. “No. It won’t go away. Left the way it is, Shelby’s mark is permanent and Able inherited it. It’s not as strong with Able, but it’s there. It’s there until somebody kills him. Or unless you let me mark you.”

I wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t already know. But now, since she’d let me inside her, she understood it fully. My mark would free her from the Pack, but it would bind her to me. For now, she couldn’t have it. The agony of her choice etched deep lines in her brow.

She was about to say something. Perhaps she meant to explain again why she couldn’t go through with my marking. I understood. Though it ripped my guts apart not to be able to be with her the way we were meant to be, I understood. She was my mate. I would take her however I could get her or not at all. As long as I kept her safe, nothing else mattered.

Lena’s words died on her lips though as a keening howl rose behind us. We’d stayed too long. The border patrols were closing in.

“Shit,” I said, reaching down to grab the backpack. No sooner had I done it than I cast it aside. Where we were going, we wouldn’t need it.

“Payne, it’s Able. I can feel him.” In a panic, she clawed at the scar on her neck. I went to her, pulling her hand away.

“Stop,” I said. “You’ll only make yourself bleed. It’s going to be all right. I’d hoped to take the bridge, but we don’t have time. Can you swim?”

“What? Of course...but now? Payne, it’s half a mile across to Banchory. I’m strong, but I’m not fast.”

“You don’t have to be either,” I said. “You just have to hold on and keep your head above water.”

No sooner had I said it than three Pack betas ripped through the woods. Their eyes blazed killer red. It meant either Able or one of his top generals was close by.

“Come on!” I yelled. I lunged for Lena, picking her up and throwing her over my shoulder. I took the cliff at a dead run. The Pack wolves nipped at my heels, tearing through flesh. For an instant, I thought one of them had torn my Achilles tendon in half. I kicked back as Lena screamed.

I jumped.

Lena dug her fingers into my back. I would never let her go. As we tumbled through the air, I twisted my body so I would hit the water first. It was a long enough drop that landing could kill her.

The water felt like concrete as I hit it dead on. My ribs cracked, but I pushed past the pain. They would reknit themselves within the hour. Water sliced through me like a thousand tiny knives. Even in midsummer the river was cold. Lena slipped from my grasp.

The brutal current threatened to throw us miles from where we needed to be. It pulled Lena under, leaving only her auburn hair swirling above. I tore through the water and grabbed her by the wrist. Coughing and sputtering, she surfaced. Fierce determination gripped her as she fought against the raging waves.

Gathering her in one arm, I tore through the water with the other. Lena managed to reposition herself and slide her arms around my waist.

We didn’t just have the current to fight. Two of the Pack wolves had dived into the water with us. In their wolves, they were faster than me, rocketing through the water toward us.

“No!” Lena cried and I instantly knew her heart. She would let go. She’d let the water take her before she would succumb to either of them or the Pack again. I nipped her ear and let my thoughts and words fill her.

“You’re not dying today,” I hissed. “Hold on!”

She did. She sensed the change in me as my wolf struggled to get out. If I shifted with her this close to me, it would hurt her, maybe kill her. God, who was this woman to have put all her faith in me? There were a hundred ways she could die because of it. The Pack wolves gave chase because of me. The unforgiving current clawed at her as she hung on to me and kicked for all she was worth. The riverbank loomed ahead. There were no guarantees about what might await us on the other side.

There were no shifters native to Ohio. It was No Man’s Land between Michigan and Kentucky. Still, I knew the Pack often sent border patrols over the line in violation of a long-standing treaty between them and the Wild Lake wolves. And, no matter what else I was, I was a Kentucky wolf. A rogue shifter might try to shoot me on sight.

I kicked back hard as one of the wolves tried to sink his fangs into my leg. The blow caught him square in the jaw and down he went. He might drown. I hoped he did. But, it was just a distraction. His companion came around the other side. As I fought off one wolf, the other made a grab for Lena.

She was strong, but no match for a shifter, even a beta. I turned in the water, bringing her in front of me before the wolf got his teeth into her back. Lena kicked out and struggled to keep her head up. We locked eyes and she knew instantly what I had to do.

Gasping, she gave me a nod as best she could as she tried to swim. Treading water, I grabbed her waist and threw her forward as hard as I could. I prayed the wolf I’d kicked hadn’t had a chance to recover yet. If he got to Lena before I dispatched with the other, he’d kill her. I knew it in my heart. The Alpha wanted me. He was in my head enough to know hurting her was the best way to level the playing field between me and two betas.

“Fucking coward,” I yelled. “You’re too weak to face me yourself!”

No sooner had I said it than I felt Able’s presence. It was like a shotgun blast to the center of my back. Heat spread out and the pull began.

“No!” Lena screamed. She felt it the same time I did. Water filled my nose and sprayed in front of my eyes. I couldn’t see.

“Go!” I yelled to her. “Get across! Keep swimming!”

She did. She kicked her legs in a fury. Lena was maybe ten yards away from the shoreline. The other beta resurfaced maybe twenty feet from her. She dove beneath the water. My Lena was a strong swimmer. Thank God!

As I fought off the other wolf, she emerged near the foot of the Banchory Bridge. Covered in mud, she clawed her way up the embankment. She was safe for now.

The pull grew stronger. I felt nearly overcome with an overwhelming urge to just let go. It would be so easy to just stop swimming and float. The current would carry me far from Banchory. Maybe that was better for Lena.

You were born for me, Payne. The best you ever were was in my service. You know it’s the truth. Give in to it. No more suffering. No more fighting. Be who you were meant to be!

“No!” Lena’s scream cut through the air. It fueled me and gave me purpose. I kicked back once more. My foot hit one of Able’s betas square in the chest. I felt his ribs crack as he swirled away. Lena’s heartbeat reached me. Her pull was even stronger. I found the strength to cut through the water and reached the other side.

“Payne!” she cried. Sliding through the mud, she lost her balance twice then fell against me in an ungraceful heap. I pulled her to me. We both staggered to our feet. I pushed her behind me and turned toward the water.

He was there. Standing on the opposite shore, Able Valent loomed like a colossus. His hands on his hips and his legs parted, his blue eyes cut across the distance like laser beams.

“Let’s go!” Lena shouted. I could feel his pull on her as well. Her knees buckled. I held her close. Turning, she came to my side. With her hair slicked back, I could see her mark plainly. It was jagged, raw, flaming red. Able was trying to use it against her.

I could end it. Right here. Right now. I could mark her right in front of him. Focused on Lena and me, his betas had dropped back. The current took them far downriver. I could barely see one silvery wolf head bobbing like a cork in the churning water.

She’ll never be yours. She’s tainted. Scarred. Impure. The best gift you can give her is death. She even wants it. Can’t you feel her pain? Do what you’re best at, Payne. End it for her.

I closed my eyes. There was such power in death. It was an intimate dance. Like sex. Able was right about that. It had been my calling. Or so I thought.

As my eyes snapped open, a green haze clouded everything as my wolf stirred. Lena met my stare. She put a hand to my cheek then kissed me. My heart started to beat again in perfect synchrony with hers.

Once again, I knew the truth. Lena was my calling.

“Come on,” I said, my voice ragged.

As I pulled her with me and we climbed the soft embankment, something broke inside of me. A dam burst and my heart soared. Able’s grip on my mind receded with each step I took with Lena at my side.

I’d told her I could set her free from him. But, her power to set me free from him was even stronger. The mark didn’t matter. My past didn’t matter. I held her close as we made our way to the top of the ridge.

The lights of an oil refinery blinked ahead of us. Banchory. It wasn’t pretty, but it meant freedom. We had crossed the border. If I had my way, Lena would never have to go back.

“We’re almost there,” I said, gasping for air. Lena’s legs were like rubber. I wanted to carry her, but she wouldn’t let me. Her stubborn strength propelled her forward as she tasted the first breath of a new kind of freedom.

With each step we took, the next became easier. Fighting through the woods, we nearly made it to the highway. From there, we’d head into town and try to find one of our old contacts. This was as far as Mammoth Forest intel would likely take us.

As a semi rolled past, and the woods grew eyes.

“Payne?” Lena said, her voice filled with new terror. “Payne, we’re not alone.”

No sooner had she said it than ten pairs of wolf eyes surrounded us. There was no mistaking the threat in their low growls as they drew nearer. As I spun around with Lena in my arms, the wolves came from all directions and closed in.