Payne got to the fence first. He pushed his fingers through the chain link and ripped a section down in an instant. Turning to me, his eyes were pure emerald.

“She did it,” he said, panting.

“I know.”

Gunnar tore through the fence next. I followed close behind, adrenaline shooting through my veins. We had to keep our wolves in. Not yet. We had to hold on. I felt Rowan’s steady pulse beneath mine. If I closed my eyes, I knew I could see what she saw. Power surged through her as she took down each of the outer guards. She’d been ruthless, efficient. With Rowan’s mind and Jett’s bullets, not a single one had been able to call to the Pack.

“He’s in there,” Gunnar snarled. “I can feel him.”

So could I. It was like a magnet pull right between my eyes. Able was moving slow, but every sense I had dialed into the yellow house at the top of the hill.

“Let’s go,” Payne yelled. His fangs bared, he took a ready stance. Knees bent. Fists curled.

Two lethal growls pricked my ears. Gunnar turned first, ready to strike. I reached and grabbed him, holding him back. Liam and Mac burst through the broken fence, their wolf eyes blazing.

“What are you doing here?” Gunnar shouted. “We need you back at the caves.”

“No,” Liam said, stepping forward. “Not this time. We’ve got men and women we can trust, fully armed at every entrance. We started this together. It’s time to finish it. I’m not sitting on the sidelines.”

I gave him a wry smile. “Molly threw you out, did she? Let me guess, you were driving her nuts.”

Liam’s eyes narrowed, but he couldn’t keep the hint of a smile from playing at the corners of his mouth.

Mac stepped forward. Of all of us, he had the most to lose. He locked eyes with me. “What about Daniel?” I asked.

Mac stood tall, determination making hard lines in his face. “If this goes wrong today, Daniel will be in even more danger. He’ll be the most hunted, most vulnerable shifter in Kentucky. You need all the strength you can get.”

He was right.

No one would say it. Maybe they didn’t think about it the way I did. But, I was the one that had set us all on this path. It was my love for Keara that had made me brave enough to break away from Able’s Pack. The others had reasons of their own, but one of us had to go first and that was me.

Sensing my mood, Liam came to me. My cousin. He’d been the first to join me. We’d found the caves together. He persuaded Mac to break from the Pack next. It had been an easy choice for him because his sister, Lena, had been abducted. Gunnar and Payne soon followed.

The five us. The last of the true Alphas of Kentucky. We were not pack. But, we were brothers in arms. We stood shoulder to shoulder as we turned to face Able’s hideout.

Rowan’s strength reached me. For now, she was safe. I felt strong arms wrapped around her as Jett and Lena pulled her back toward the river.

I love you.

I didn’t know if she could hear me. But, admitting it gave me a different kind of strength. Whatever happened today, she’d brought me through to the other side in every way that mattered.

“We win the day, we win the war,” I said.

Liam dropped low and growled. His ears pricked. I put a steadying hand on his back. We needed to keep our wolves back as long as possible. It would be easier for Able to mess with our heads if we went purely feral. Hold. Steady.

“Shit,” Mac said. “You hear that?”

I did. Far to the north, a chorus of howls and wild barking started.

“He’s called ‘em!” Gunnar shouted. “Time to mount up!”

Alarm flared through me. I hoped the strongest of Pack were all headed this way. We had other betas stationed in Shadow Springs and near some of the tunnels we used to travel undetected. They were strong enough to pick off lesser Pack members one by one if Able sent them in to fight. But, good men would likely die today.

“Go!” Payne shouted.

We spread out. Mac and Liam headed east and west, circling the outer edges of the property. Gunnar and I headed straight for the house. Payne watched our six.

Shots echoed across the valley. It was Jett’s girls. They’d taken positions all along the edge of the forest.

“He’s called them down on our fucking heads!” Mac shouted.

As we drew closer to the house, I knew it would end here today, one way or another. Jett’s troops with their wolfkiller ammo could pick off plenty of shifters. But, they would keep coming until the bullets ran out. Taking out Able was the only way to stop them from slaughtering whoever was left standing when the bullets stopped flying.

I saw the terror etched on Gunnar’s face. Every instinct in him was screaming out to go to Jett’s side. Payne’s too. He didn’t have to say it, but Lena had been hurt. I saw it go through his eyes just before he tore through the fence.

I covered the ground at a full run. My claws came out and dug into my palms, drawing blood. Soon. I could let the wolf out soon. For now, I had to keep my wits about me.

Gunnar went left, circling around the back of the house. This close up, it struck me how small the place really was. Just a two-story farmhouse with a wraparound porch.

Gunnar ripped open the steel doors of the basement egress. He growled a warning, letting me know Able wasn’t there.

I could see him in my mind. Able stood in the living room. Two wolves stood in front of him, their eyes blazing red. He’d given the order to kill.

To the left of me, six wolves streamed out of the woods. The lead runner leaped through the air at Liam. He ducked and rolled, shifting into his wolf in the span of a heartbeat. He drew first blood, splitting the smaller one open with one swipe of his deadly claws. Every instinct in me wanted to tear off and join his fight. But, I had my own ahead of me.

To the right of us, more of the Pack tore around the corner, crashing through the fence, bearing down on Mac. His infant son’s sleeping face flashed through my mind. I prayed he’d get the chance to see him again.

Ear-splitting yelps echoed across the yard as Mac brought down two wolves at once. One of them managed to sink his fangs into Mac’s shoulder before he died.

“Let’s go!” Gunnar shouted. I knew it tore at him not to go to Mac or Liam’s aid as much as it did me. But, if we didn’t go after Able, he’d get away again. The rest of our people would be at risk. The Alphas like us might be able to fend off Able’s mind control. But, the beta refugees who’d come to join us couldn’t. Able would be able to peel away their mental defenses. They would lead him straight to Mammoth Forest. There would be nowhere to hide.

I crashed through the front door of the house, wild with rage. Able’s guards bore down on us. They were strong. Able had brought one of the last of his Alphas in to protect him. It was a risk. They were harder for him to control.

I felt Able’s command rip through me. My legs buckled.

Kneel!

I took a stagger-step sideways, but righted myself. Payne howled next to me. The command hit him square in the chest as well. He fell against the wall. Able’s guard pressed his advantage. He was a huge, black wolf with gleaming red eyes. Payne got his arm up just in time as the wolf sank his fangs in.

Gunnar shifted. He lunged at the other of Able’s wolves. They two of them tumbled end over end, tearing through a couch against the wall. Stuffing exploded like snow, obscuring my vision.

Able retreated further into the house.

“Jagger! It’s an ambush!”

Payne called after me. I heard bones crack and muscles stretch as Payne gave in to his wolf. Able’s black wolf guard was giving him a fair fight. Pressing my back against the wall, I ventured further into the house.

I threw out my senses. Able was moving. He’d stepped into darkness, putting me at a disadvantage. I couldn’t trust my eyes.

Were there more? Was Payne right? The house felt sterile. I couldn’t scent any other shifter but Able. In the back of my mind, I wondered if he could have other shifter guards that were altered the way Rowan was. Could they be lurking in the shadows, their scent blocked from me?

“Able,” I shouted.

I edged down the hallway. One step. Two. The pounding of my heart drowned out the sounds of Gunnar and Payne’s battle. There were other skirmishes going on all over the state. I could feel them. Mac and Liam fought for their lives against Able’s wolf cavalry out in the yard. In cities all through Kentucky, Able had sent Pack members to root out people who worked with us. Jett had trained and armed them well. I could only pray that it would be enough.

My head crashed into a light fixture. A single bulb swayed above me. I reached up and caught it. Then, two gleaming red orbs floated ahead of me.