Jathan saw her. She was running after Grey, covering her alpha as he tried to get to the woods. She’d made it to him, told him what he needed to do, and now she was protecting his weak side.
Grey was hurt. It was bad. Jathan could see the Dunn alpha coming for him, right in the middle of the street, but he couldn’t get to them fast enough. He charged from the forest, desperate to reach the two panthers, but just as the Dunn alpha had slammed into Grey, Beaston stood in front of him, appearing out of nowhere like a ghost, hands out. He didn’t say anything, just stood there, blocking Jathan.
Behind him, the woods came alive. The trees came alive with snowy owls, falcons, and ravens. Bears, tigers, gorillas, and boars stepped out of the shadows, and the chaos died down around them. Above, the wind was a hurricane with the beating of dragons’ wings. Not just Vyr either. The blue dragon was in the sky, ready to rain hell down on the Dunns and the gorillas. Damon was here, out in the open. More circled, blocking out the clouds. Dark Kane, the monstrous black dragon, the End of Days was here, which meant his Blackwing crew was in the woods behind them. Two smaller green dragons flew together, one right above the other—Diem and her daughter, Harper, alpha of the Bloodrunner Crew. Holy shit. Damon and Beaston had gathered everyone, just in case.
The second Lynn leapt onto the back of that massive Dunn alpha, all Jathan wanted to do was protect her. But Beaston had given him a warning look and turned to Lynn. He called out for her to be the ripper. He told her she was exactly as she was supposed to be.
Her eyes had trained on Beaston, and then a moment later, they’d gone dead. Lynn had disappeared. In her place, only Monster remained. And even Jathan winced as she clamped down and bit through the spine of the Dunn alpha. The beast jerked under her, then released Grey’s neck and slumped over.
Monster didn’t let go. She crouched defensively by her kill.
Jathan tucked his bear back into his body and gasped at the pain of the claw marks that covered him. He was exhausted, barely able to stand, but he stumbled to her. Rain pouring down from the storm clouds above, he stood there watching the shifter he loved fulfill what she was born to do.
Genevieve, Greyson’s mate, was human again, yelling in a voice too loud because she was deaf and couldn’t hear herself. She was pressing her hands against her mate’s throat as he lay there in the street. Tendrils of red streamed slowly away from his body, mixing with the rainwater. He panted, his throat gurgling, and Gen was crying, sobbing, begging help. Jathan stepped forward to assist, but Annalise was suddenly there, and Kaylee. Jathan was numb. He couldn’t understand the words they were yelling as the Red Havoc Crew surrounded their alpha, trying to save him. All but Lynn, who stared vacantly at Jathan, her teeth clamped onto the lion’s neck, her face buried in his thick mane. Her gold eyes were like Vyr’s fire, daring him to take her kill.
Such a feeling of déjà vu hit him as he looked down at his ruined torso to the pink that streamed down his wet body. This was exactly as Beaston had described in his vision.
Around them, the remaining Dunns and gorillas were fleeing. Probably thanks to all the shifters from Damon’s Mountains, Harper’s Mountains, and Kane’s Mountains melting out of the woods. On the other side of the street, a few brave humans remained, phones pointed at them, taking video. The fallout from this would be awful, but he couldn’t worry about that now. They would have to face that hurdle when they got to it.
Right now, all he cared about was getting Lynn back.
He knelt in front of her and whispered, “Medusa.”
Nothing. Still, she stared vacantly back.
“Can you hear me?”
Nothing.
Swallowing hard, he whispered, “Lynn, you did it. You became the badass.” He smiled proudly at her. “I love you.”
She blinked slowly, and her pupils constricted, focusing on him. In an instant, she released the lion, looking startled. Crouching on her belly, she backed off a few quick steps and looked around. Her gaze paused on the burning bar, on the demolished cars in the parking lot. On the scorched earth, and the humans across the street with their camera phones pointed at her. On the woods with all the shifters staring back at her. To the dragons in the sky. Beaston. Her crew working on Greyson. And finally back to Jathan.
Slowly, painfully slowly, she tucked Monster away, and then, naked and bleeding from the claw marks, she sat there on her folded knees. Her red hair was plastered to her face, and her eyes were still gold with tiny pupils. She snarled up her lip, his badass, and then she said in a hoarse voice, “Is it over?”
“The crew of two wars is the crew of two wars won,” Beaston said. “It’s over.”
Lynn deflated, as though completely drained, and Jathan rushed to catch her before she hit the pavement. He hugged her close to his body and wished to God he could take her pain into him.
“Jathan?” she murmured, eyes on her crew working frantically on Greyson. “If Grey doesn’t make it—”
“He will.”
“If he doesn’t, we won’t be okay.”
Jathan leaned down and kissed her gently. “Do you trust me?”
She nodded, eyes full of emotion as she opened them.
“Everything will be okay. Are you still here with me?”
Lynn blinked slowly but opened her eyes and focused on him again. With the tiniest smile pulling at the corner of her lips, she whispered, “Yeah, I’m still here.”