Cooper heard the approaching truck and the people moving away from the cabin, and knew his time had run out. He’d waited outside the cabin after knocking out the sentries, counting the people and calculating the odds that he could get Jada out without her getting hurt. He didn’t want to wait for Max, since that could take all night, but he needed a little help to handle that many fighters.

Until they got ready to move and the fear that Jada would disappear again seized up his heart and his brain and stole away every other option. The bear didn’t know fear, and neither did Cooper—only rage and fury that they’d taken his mate from him.

He charged down the slight hill where he’d waited and slammed into the truck, denting the door so the driver and passenger couldn’t get out. He turned and swatted two of the wolves away, roaring his rage, and almost landed on Jada as she ran past him.

Cooper skidded to a halt and rammed his shoulder into the two people who chased her, buying her a little time. Someone fired a gun and the shot reverberated through the night; he barely felt the sting as it impacted his side. He lowered his head and snarled, ready to charge again, but someone moved into the light from the headlights and all feeling left Cooper’s legs.

A tall man, burlier than he remembered but with the same tilt to his head, held up the rifle. All the breath left his lungs as Cooper stared at him. Ace. His little brother. Alive. Alive and... about to shoot him again.

Cooper made a split-second decision as he struggled to understand why the hell Ace was working with the wolves—and how he was still alive—and shifted back to human. He went to his knees from the flare of pain from the bullet hole in his side, though he pushed himself upright to face his brother on his feet. At least he could buy Jada more time to run, and Max and his team would find her easily. They were close enough.

Cooper’s voice rasped, hoarse from all the roaring and snarling, as he looked at his brother. “Ace? How can—how the hell—they told me you were dead.”

“I wanted it to look that way,” Ace said. He didn’t lower the rifle. His attention never wavered from Cooper as he issued directions to the rest of the wolves. “Dean, Mary…bring Jada back. She won’t get far and we don’t want her to get hurt.” Then Ace took a deep breath and his eyes narrowed. “Cooper, I never thought you’d go along with shit like this. You of all people should have realized how fucked up this is.”

Ace might as well have shot him in the heart, for how much his words hurt. Cooper pressed his hand against his side, feeling the warm blood ooze out of the wound and through his fingers, and wondered if they also wouldn’t heal, like the first time he was shot. “I only agreed to it to get her out of there. To save her from being given to one of our cousins. If you’d stayed there, if you’d been alive... It would have been you. You could have saved her.”

“I am saving her,” Ace said. He shook his head, as if he regretted how things were. “We’re taking her away, Cooper. You won’t be able to brainwash her and use her for whatever fucked-up plans you’ve got. Just stay away. Walk away and find someone else to exploit.”

“I married her, man.” Cooper lurched forward, not even caring that he was bare-ass naked in front of half a dozen complete strangers. He had nothing to hide. Losing Jada would strip him bare all the way to his bones. “I love her. She’s my mate. She’s my treasure. You will not take her from me.”

Ace’s eyebrows shot up. Someone else made a disbelieving noise, and a woman stepped forward next to Ace, carrying a shotgun. “No, she’s not, and that’s a shitty ploy for trying to get us to turn her over. It’s not going to happen. Back the fuck off and go on about your business.”

Cooper bared his teeth. “I would never use my mate as a ploy. I don’t know who the hell you are or what you want, but stay away from Jada and me and the rest of our family.”

“You’re no better than our father,” Ace said. His lip curled and his fists clenched, and he threw the rifle to one of his friends. “And since I can’t hit the old man, I’ll settle for beating you into a bloody pulp.”

“Do your best, cub,” Cooper spat. “I’ll kick your ass all the way back to the mountain, then I’ll take Jada back to my home.”

Ace snarled and launched at him, and Cooper forgot about the wound in his side as he punched his brother.