“You should have told us!” Jagger slammed his fist against the cave wall, causing rocks to rain down on all of our heads. The growl erupting from his chest moved through me, calling to my own wolf.

Mac and Gunnar hung back, letting Jagger do most of their venting for them. I held my ground. Leaning against the mouth of the small cavern, I waited for Jagger to finish. He’d been like this ever since we left Bernie, Brady, and the women in what we now called the Supply Cavern.

“Exactly what was I supposed to say?” I said. I projected calm, but inside I raged just as fiercely as Jagger did. “Keara made it pretty clear we needed a contact for medicine. Well, I found one.”

Jagger whirled on me. His wolf eyes blazed. He knew better than to take another step toward me. In this close a space, one of us would get hurt if it came to blows.

“She’s not just a contact,” Jagger said. His pursed his lips together, trying...and failing...to hold back his temper.

“What would you have me do?” I asked. “Should I have just left her up there for the Chief Pack to find? What if they’d tracked me back to the clinic through her? Molly doesn’t deserve to get hurt because of me.”

Jagger let out a bitter laugh. Mac and Gunnar stayed strangely quiet. Of all of us, Jagger should have understood better than anyone why protecting Molly meant so much to me. He’d told all of us for the last year how it was when he saw her the first time. He’d known in an instant they were fated. It was no different between Molly and me. Except so far, I’d had the strength not to act on it. If I were a bigger man, maybe I wouldn’t have chosen that moment to throw that in his face.

“Relax, Jagger,” I said. “I’m strong enough not to do anything I can’t take back.”

He curled his fist and dug it into his thigh. Flaring his nostrils, he turned away from me, shoulders hunched. Jagger’s need to shift to process his rage burned through him. He was my cousin, but not my Alpha. Still, the tension boiling off of him affected us all.

“Does she know?” Mac finally spoke up. The wound on his chest had all but healed. Dried blood covered him.

I couldn’t bring myself to admit the truth to any of them yet, even though they were all shrewd enough to pick up on it. Molly was mine. They could sense it the same way we all felt Jagger’s connection to Keara.

“About what?” I asked. “She knows the Chief Pack Patrol is dangerous and out for blood. She knows enough to be scared of them. That’s a good thing. She knows we’re down here now and there was no help for that. As far as the rest of it? No. I’ve said nothing.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Jagger said through gritted teeth. “She can feel it, Liam. We can all feel it. And I’m telling you, if you care what happens to her, send her home and don’t ever look back.”

“How can you say that?” I pushed off the wall. “You of all people.” I had to tread carefully. Every man in this room was here, one way or the other, because of the choice Jagger made. When faced with his own fated mate, he chose to break away from the Chief Pack to be with her. He was my cousin, my kin. Mac and I came to the caves because of him. At least, that’s what I’d told myself up until now. Gunnar, and Payne? We’d collected them along the way when staying with the pack would have meant certain death for each of them.

“Jagger,” Gunnar stepped forward. “Liam’s got a point. Look, I don’t like this new development any more than you do. It puts us at risk. You know how much I love Keara. Any one of us would put her life before ours. But it also makes her that much more valuable to the Chief Pack. If this Molly chose to be with Liam...well...then we’re twice as vulnerable.”

“She won’t choose it,” I said, my voice tasting bitter in my throat. “Because I won’t give her that choice. Not now. We’re on the same page, Jagger. But, you know I can’t walk away. And she is in a position to help us. Keara’s right. If we’re going to be down here long term, we have to be able to take care of the people who come to us for help. Some will be human. Some...will be like Brady. Other shifters might not be as strong as you’re asking me to be. And, God forbid, maybe someday it’ll be Keara who needs antibiotics or some other medication. Molly might be willing to help us. She hasn’t shied away yet.”

Jagger shook his head. “That’s because she’s drawn to you. I’m telling you, the longer you’re around her, the harder it will be to resist. If she is what you think she is, there will come a point where neither of you will be able to stop yourself.”

“Well, we’re not at that point yet, are we? God. I can’t think of three weeks or three months from now. It’s all I can handle thinking of three hours from now.”

“I hope you’re right,” Jagger said, straightening his back. The rage had left his face and he cracked what might even pass for a smile. “For her sake, I hope you’re right. Because, we’ve had two close calls in one night, Liam. It sounds like both you and Mac barely got to the caves. And Payne…”

My heart jumped. Payne. In all the excitement, I hadn’t even bothered to ask where he was. He’d gone on a run up north, helping another rogue shifter cross the border. He should have been back by now.

“Anyone heard from him?” I said, giving voice to what we all feared. If Payne had been caught…

“Liam?” Keara poked her head in, preventing me from taking my mind to the worst case scenario. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I’ve held your new friend off as long as I could. She wants some answers and she wants them from you.”

Jagger and the others exchanged grave looks. I squared my shoulders and turned to Keara. “I’ll take care of it.”

My pulse pounded as I took the winding passageways. Keara didn’t have to tell me where I’d find Molly; my heart knew the way. The air went out of my lungs when I saw her. Keara had made a discreet exit, leaving the two of us alone.

Molly stood with her back to me. Keara had set her up in one of the smaller caves and brought lanterns in so she wouldn’t have to wait in the dark. There was a small pallet in one corner where the rocks had formed a natural ledge. Molly would be safe here. She might grow cold, but I longed to keep her warm.

She brushed a lock of hair away from her face. Her breasts rose and fell with her steady breaths. It all happened in a fraction of a second before Molly became aware of me. I felt the heat flush through her as she turned to face me.

“Molly,” I said, my voice cracking. God, I’d been away from her for no more than an hour. I craved her touch again. Jagger was right. The longer I spent in Molly’s presence, the harder it would be to tear myself away. I would though. I would find a way. Keeping her safe was the only thing that mattered anymore.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I know this has been a lot for you to take in all at once.”

She drew in her bottom lip, deepening the dimples in her cheeks. “You could say that. I suppose I should be curled up in a fetal position somewhere babbling. Maybe I still will. It’s just...I don’t know. It all feels…”

“Natural?”

She parted her lips with a smack. “Aw, hail no. Not natural. I don’t know what the word is. I was going to say...er...real. It just feels real. And I think that’s because of you.”

My heart lurched. Of course I’d be fooling myself to think Molly hadn’t sensed the connection between us. Only I knew what it meant, but I wasn’t yet strong enough to tell her. I could tell myself it was to protect her. There was that. But, the truth of it was, I was too damn scared she’d turn away from me. So, I was selfish. Jagger was right. Probably the safest thing for Molly would be to leave and forget she ever met me. The thought of that sent fresh pain ripping through me.

“Keara tried to explain,” she said. “Some of it she didn’t really have to. Those wolves out there. They wanted to kill you. Why?”

I raised a brow. “Kill me? Only if I were very, very lucky.”

“Don’t make jokes, Liam. I need to know. And another group of them tried to rip your friend Mac apart. And then that boy and his grandparents. Why? What did you do to them?”

I let out a sigh. How could I explain it all so that she would understand? I started with the easiest. “Mac’s not my friend. He’s my brother. We have the same mother.”

Molly raised her brows and shook her head as if the facts I’d told her swirled inside of it.

“Fine. Your brother. I kind of figured. But, the Chief Pack,” she said. “That’s what Keara called them. I mean...I’m not an idiot. I understand a little about regular wolf psychology. So you, Jagger, the others. You’re not your own pack.”

“No,” I said. “We’re just...well...thrown in this thing together. The Chief Pack controls all the wolves of Kentucky. The Alpha dominates them all. His control is...absolute.”

“What do you mean? Like a dictator?”

I nodded. “It’s total though. The Alpha can make members of the pack shift when he wants them to. He can make them do...well...whatever he wants.”

“Sounds like a tyrant,” she said. “Like the thought police?”

“No,” I answered. I moved across the room and sat down on the rocky ledge. Molly came to me. She put her hands on her thighs and slowly sat beside me. It was hard to think straight having her so close to me. But, I needed to get through this.

“No,” I continued. “He can’t control our thoughts. That’s the hell of it.”

“So he can make you hunt for him, act for him, kill for him? Even if you don’t want to?”

“Yes. He uses his soldiers to help keep all the shifters under his dominion in check. He’s got lieutenants who keep them under control for him.”

“Those wolves who chased us, those were some of his soldiers?” she asked.

“They were.”

Molly combed her fingers through her hair. She leaned back against the wall and drew her legs up. She hugged her knees and rested her chin on them. “What happens if you try to resist?”

I closed my eyes. The echoes of remembered pain shuddered through me. “Most can’t. Pain. Madness. Death if you’re lucky. It’s more than that though, Molly. The Alpha controls how we spend our days. We don’t get to choose what we do for a living. We don’t get to choose mates.”

“How is that possible? I mean...there are more shifters. So, somebody’s mating.”

I moved away from her so I could turn to face her. “The Alpha sanctions all matches. We don’t get to freely choose who we spend our lives with. In most cases, there are no marriages. There’s just...sanctioned breeding. My mother? Her match with my father and then Mac’s father was sanctioned. Commanded. He’s tried to breed out other Alphas. He’s tried to genetically engineer the pack to be naturally subservient to him.”

“Wow.” Molly blew out a breath. “It hasn’t worked though, has it? I mean you...and Jagger at least. You’re Alphas. I can, I don’t know, feel it.”

“Jagger is my cousin. Our fathers and Mac’s were shifters the Alpha controlled. Jagger’s mother and mine and Mac’s mother were sisters. Human sisters. We were always rebellious, but it was nothing that either of us couldn’t control. Then, Jagger met Keara.”

Molly’s eyes widened. “He fell in love with her.”

God, it was so much more than that. Couldn’t she feel it herself? I knew she could. But, Molly was still trying to hold on to some semblance of her life before she met me. I couldn’t deny her that. I couldn’t burden her with the hardest truths I had to tell.

“Yes,” I said. “And she fell in love with him. But, it wasn’t a sanctioned match. The Alpha had other plans for her. When Jagger found out, he helped her escape.”

“Escape from where?” Molly’s voice cracked with fear.

“I told you. The Alpha controls who his pack members mate with. Keara was selected for one of his top generals. Jagger couldn’t stand for it. So, he got her away from him. I helped him. Eventually, we found this place. In time, we found others who were strong enough to break the Alpha’s hold.”

“Until when?” she said. Horror written plainly on her face, she reached for me. “Liam, I felt it. I don’t know how or why, but I felt what it did to you.”

Silence rose between us like a thick fog. She knew I was holding something back. Every instinct in me told me to just take her in my arms. My need for her burned bright within me. How I found the strength to shield that from her, I don’t know. With each passing second, Jagger’s words rang truer. The longer I spent with Molly, the harder it would be to pull away.

She trailed her fingers across my chest. “This ink,” she said. “I saw it on Mac. Jagger too. What does it mean?”

I closed my hand over her fingers. I couldn’t think straight if she touched me. “We may not be a pack, but we have a pact. This was one way we sealed it.”

“A wolf with wings and crossed swords. You’re resistance fighters.”

“Something like that. It was something Jagger and I did to honor stories we’d heard about men who tried to go against the Alpha fifty years ago and lost. Then later, when Mac, Payne, and Gunnar joined us, the tattoo became a test of loyalty. A commitment to the cause.”

“I see,” she said, her brow furrowed.

“So, now maybe you understand why I had to steal from the clinic. I’m not proud of it. We live underground to stay free of the Chief Pack. The longer I’m up there, the easier it is for the Alpha’s soldiers to zone in on us. We survive how we can.”

“Until when?” she asked again. I didn’t have a good answer for her.

I settled on a simple one, “I don’t know.” It was true enough. “We help others where we can. Payne, he’s the only one of us you didn’t meet tonight. He’s off trying to help another shifter cross the border into Ohio. We have a growing network of regular people who’ve been willing to help us. It’s more than I ever could have hoped for. You see, it’s not just shifters that face the Alpha’s tyranny.”

A shudder went through Molly. “Like Keara,” she said. “Why her? I mean, she’s not like you.”

It was so hard for me to answer. If I even let my mind go to the worst of the Alpha’s transgressions, my wolf grew fierce with rage. Molly could feel that too, even if she didn’t fully understand it.

“There aren’t very many female wolf shifters left in the world. My kind was cursed generations ago. Most of us are no longer full-blooded shifters. We have human mothers and shifter fathers, like Jagger and Mac and me. The Alpha has sought female shifters for decades. In the meantime, certain human women are just more suited for mating with shifters than others. I can’t explain why. It just is. Keara was one of them. Except, she belongs with Jagger. The Alpha was willing to force her to be with his general against her will. It happens all the time. It’s one of the things we fight the hardest against. It’s the other reason why Mac is here. He has another half-sibling. A sister. His father was deemed important enough to earn two different women to mate with. Mac’s sister Lena is human though. She disappeared a few months ago. We think she’s been taken by the Alpha to breed with another shifter.”

A tear fell from Molly’s eye. She put her fingers to her lips. “I can’t hear any more. I don’t even want to believe it. But, I do. I told you, I felt it. Is that...were those wolves after me for...that?”

I couldn’t help it. My wolf shuddered to the surface. I gripped the stone bench and my vision wavered. I was in danger of shifting right there in front of her. In the end, it was Molly’s calm touch against my thigh that helped me put the wolf under control.

“I won’t let that happen,” I said. “We won’t let that happen.”

“And what about Brady? There’s something wrong with him. I could see it. He wouldn’t let me near him to do a full examination even if I did have the equipment. But, he seems sick. From what I’ve seen of you and Mac, you’re indestructible. Why isn’t he?”

Liam’s face grew dark. “I told you, the Alpha is also trying to control the pack genetics. He can’t have strong Alphas that might challenge him. So, a lot of mating pairs he makes are to produce betas and omegas only. He needs them strong enough to work for him, but not so strong to rebel. There are a lot of boys like Brady in that generation. He’s considered an undesirable, but it’s the Alpha’s own breeding policies that made him. It’s sick.”

“What’s going to happen to him...if…” Molly covered her mouth with her hand, as if the rest of her sentence just hurt too much to say.

She saw the answer in my eyes. There was no good outcome for boys like Brady. If he couldn’t do the physical work the Alpha needed, if he couldn’t be a good soldier, he’d be shipped off and exterminated.

Molly sat back hard. “I want to help you.”

My throat grew thick with emotion. “Molly.”

“I mean it. I get it. You need meds. It’s less dangerous for you to get them from the clinic then say a hospital or doctor’s office. It’s smart, really. But, you also know it’s temporary. Someone’s going to figure it out. I have some ideas though. I think I know a way to get you some antibiotics and other essential medical supplies for the short term.”

“I can’t ask that of you. It’s too dangerous for you. I’ve taken enough. Your boss won’t suspect you of anything the way things stand right now.”

“Liam, you said yourself you’re building a network of people to help you. I’m offering to be part of it. For a little while, at least. It’s not your call, anyway. I’ve already told Keara I’m willing to help.”

Her eyes widened as I let out a protective growl. God, if anything happened to her. No. I wouldn’t let it. I’d die before any harm came to Molly.

“On one condition,” she said, her voice low and solemn.

I wanted to tell her I’d do anything for her, but sensed it would spook her. “What is it?”

“I need you to let me go home. Now. Tonight.”

The wolf thrashed inside of me. More than anything, I wanted to keep Molly close to keep her safe. I couldn’t though, and we both knew it. The safest thing for Molly was to stay away from me.

“All right,” I said, feeling like my own voice had betrayed me. Sending Molly away from me went against every instinct I had.