Able Valent was old. Ancient, really. I’d seen him from a distance during the chaos of battle at Birch Haven. I’d felt him ever since in my head, in my bones. Now, I stood face to face with the man.

He stood tall and straight, unlike other men I’d seen his age. Eighty. Maybe even ninety. He had thick, white hair and a full beard. In his prime, he may have been the biggest shifter anyone had ever seen. Even now, he had maybe two inches on my six foot five feet. His eyes flashed from gold to black. My own vision wavered as he walked toward me.

“I’ve been looking for someone like you for a very long time, Gunnar,” he said. His tone was so casual, almost soothing with its dark whiskey timbre and measured cadence.

When I closed my eyes, I could see through Jett’s. A black wolf stared her down. There was something familiar about him as his red eyes pierced through her. She tried to go for her weapon, but something made her hesitate. It was me. God help her, it was me. My own instincts seem to short-circuit hers. Whatever she’d done to stop the beta wolf the other day, she couldn’t do it now. I had to leave her head.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?” Able said, walking calmly toward me. The urge to shift burned through me. Instinct told me that was exactly what he wanted.

“Save it, Able,” I said. “I’m not going to join you. I know what you are.”

I had to stall for time. I had to find a way to let Jett go at least for a moment.

“It’s ironic,” he said. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? Don’t you want to know how I found you?”

I did. I’d driven him out of my head. The instant I marked Jett, she gave me the strength to break the hold the Pack had on me for good. And yet, as soon as I thought it, Able’s eyes flashed with menace. He couldn’t read my mind. I knew he couldn’t. Still, he looked at me as if he knew everything I was thinking.

“Gunnar, I know more about shifters than any living soul. I know what drives you. What you fear. What you need. You’re an Alpha. You were born to lead. It’s clouded your judgment this whole time and you can’t even see it. You can’t protect her. You never could.”

“Maybe she doesn’t need me to protect her. She’s been doing a damn good job of it all by herself.” My fear for Jett exploded inside of me. At the same time, pride filled me. She was strong. She’d faced down the Pack before.

Kill him! I shouted to her with my mind.

My vision shifted from Able standing before me, to what Jett saw. She stood stock still, her fingers playing over the handle of her weapon. Could she outdraw him? She was looking for something in his eyes. It held the secret to how she’d killed the red wolf and got the jump on Lowell. But, this one was different. He was familiar somehow. She knew him.

A hand on my shoulder. Her shoulder. I couldn’t sort out what she saw from what I did. Able closed in.

“You think you can kill me if you’re strong enough,” Able said. “You can’t. None of you can. Do you know how many have tried?”

“Why don’t you just do it and get it over with?” I said. “You know you can’t subjugate me. You would have done it already if you could. You’re old and fading.”

Able’s eyes flared red and he charged at me. My knees buckled with the urge to shift. I held my ground. Something told me if I gave in to my baser instincts now, he could break me.

Jett started to panic. I dug my fingers into the bark of the oak tree beside me, gripping it hard enough to draw blood. A hand slid to the back of my neck. No, not my neck. It was Jett’s. The black wolf had shifted. His red eyes still beamed with menace; he pulled her to him, tilting her face up to his. I closed my eyes, but I couldn’t see it. His face was a blur to me. But, his skin burned a path over her flesh as he ran a thumb along her jaw. She recoiled from it. So did I.

“Careful,” Able said. “You wouldn’t want to make any sudden movements that Sutter might take as a threat.”

Sutter. My old friend. My betrayer. Memories slammed into place. I outran him. He could never keep up. When he shifted, it was clumsy, slow, ungainly. He was a beta. I knew it then; so did he. I thought I spared his feelings by not mentioning it. I told him lies about how I could help him get better control of his wolf. I couldn’t. Only his Alpha could.

Pain blossomed in my chest. Blow after blow sent me spiraling down. He thought he could break me. I focused on the dank smell of rotted branches. They curled far beneath my feet in the soft earth. I imagined making myself so small I could slip through the cracks in the concrete floor. Anything to free me from Maestro’s next blow.

Maestro. Sutter. I couldn’t see him. I could never see him. I could only smell cold dirt and rotted pine. The dragonsteel chains chaffed my wrists and the filthy rag around my eyes was tied so tight my head throbbed.

Look who’s winning now, Gunnar. Maestro’s thick whisper and fetid breath wafted in front of my face.

I was right back there. Camp Hell. Had it always been this way? Was all of it a trick of the mind? Jett. My freedom. Had I dreamt it all?

His fingers curled around my throat, pressing my windpipe. He shouldn’t be strong enough to break me. He could never be as strong as I was, and that’s why he hated me.

My eyes snapped open and the blindfold fell away. No. This wasn’t my vision, it was Jett’s. Maestro’s hands closed around her throat as he pulled her off her feet.

Maestro. Sutter. They were one in the same. How had I not sensed it before?

“Ah, you remember now,” Able said. I staggered backward as reality slammed back into my chest. Maestro was Sutter. Sutter had his hands around Jett’s throat and she was paralyzed by it because of me. My thoughts, my memories churned in her mind. My connection to her would be the very thing that could get her killed.

“You’ve been waiting,” I said, though my voice didn’t sound like my own. “All this time, you knew if I claimed my mate, it would break your hold, but it would make me easier to track.”

“Gunnar, I told you. No one alive knows shifters more than I do. I’m not just an Alpha, my son. I’m the Alpha. What did you think would happen?”

“No,” I staggered back. No. No. It couldn’t happen. I would never let it happen. I closed my mind to him. I closed my mind to her.

“She’s magnificent,” Able said. “I had someone special in mind for her. Did she tell you that? Maybe she didn’t know.”

“It’s over,” I said. “Your little Birch Haven experiment is finished. You want to punish me, punish me. You don’t need Jett to do it.”

I reached out with my mind, drawing on strength I hadn’t tapped before. If my connection to Jett was one strand, maybe Able’s connection to me was another. Maybe I could use it against him.

“She’s strong,” he said. “She might even be the one. I think it’s worth a try.”

The one? I tried to build a wall in my mind. Let Jett be Jett. Let her fight. Sutter put her down. That meant something. At the same time, I felt Able reaching out, pushing at the corners of my mind.

“I could let you have her,” Able said. “I could let her live. That’s up to you.”

“No!” I said, pushing back. Able rounded on me. I held my ground. Don’t shift. Don’t shift. Don’t shift.

“Submit to me as your Alpha and I’ll let you keep Jett as your mate. It’s the best deal you’ll ever get and one I won’t make again.”

I staggered sideways. Able’s power turned my stomach. He was so strong. Buzzing, like a thousand locusts, bored through my mind. He tested for weaknesses. Images of my mother flashed before me. Sutter. The last day when Able’s soldiers came for me, accusing me of turning traitor. The day I chose to run rather than submit. The day I met Liam and Mac. Molly’s smiling face as she bound one of my wounds. Jett. Always Jett. He would use it all against me.

“Your choice,” Able said, as he felt my will. I would never willingly submit to him, even if it cost me my life. “Such a waste she’ll be. Maybe I’ll let Sutter have her for a while. He deserves some R and R.”

My wolf sprang free. I couldn’t hold the shift back any longer. The world grew brighter as my wolf eyes locked on Able. He crouched low, but stayed human. His pull on my mind stretched taut. Just a thin membrane of resistance separated me from chaos. It’s what he wanted. It’s how he knew he could win.

Gunnar! Jett’s mental cry tore at me. She felt the walls weakening around me. I snapped my jaw then let a howl rip from me. I closed her off. This began and ended with Able and me.

I launched myself at him. Able shifted. His wolf loomed large and silver in front of me. His eyes went blood-red and I lost my footing. Oh, God. His hold was strong indeed.

But, he was holding on only to me!

As Able lunged for me, sinking his knife-like fangs into my neck, his hold broke on Sutter. I saw it happen through Jett’s eyes. Sutter took a staggering step backward as my blood filled Able’s mouth. He dropped low and shifted. Sutter’s wolf eyes flashed gold then faded to amber. It was just an instant, but Jett’s pulse pounded. It meant something to her.

Able released his grip. I rolled away and got back to my feet. Before he could strike again, I hurled my body into his flank, throwing him end over end. He rounded quickly, spreading his paws wide and dropping his head low. His threatening snarl echoed off the trees. I felt his intention change. He no longer wanted to subjugate me. He wanted to kill me.

I felt Jett’s fingers close around the cold handle of her nine. Sutter’s eyes were still a dull amber, his movements lumbering. It all happened in a split second. Able dropped his head low. Sutter’s eyes changed again, glowing red. But an instant before, Jett got her shot off. It ripped through Sutter’s chest, spinning him hard to the left.

Able yelped as he felt Sutter’s pain. It was just a moment. A rift in the fiber that held Able to Sutter. It was all I needed. I leaped through the air and sank my teeth into Able’s neck.

He was just a wolf. Just an ancient, strong wolf. I was stronger. Able’s eyes widened in shock as he realized what I understood. Blood poured from the puncture wounds I’d made in his chest. Able kicked off with his feet, sending me sailing through the air. I landed hard, my spine crunching against a tree. Adrenaline fueled me and I popped up. Able did too. He panted hard, foam dripping from his fangs. Sweat and blood matted his fur. But, he kept on coming.

Mortal. He could be killed. I saw the light fade from his eyes and his scent changed, colored by fear. He wasn’t used to it. His death was mine. My Alpha rose strong.

Submit! The command filled my head, but it was mine, not Able’s. Ancient instinct fueled me. I was stronger, younger, virile. He was old, weakening. It was always supposed to be this way. Old Alphas fall; others rise. New packs form. Even now, I could sense Able’s instincts flaring hot. It was in his blood to give in to me; my nature called to his. Succession. Strength. Change. It was how packs had survived for millennia.

But Able Valent was no ordinary Alpha. Nature did not matter to him. He was a Tyrannous Alpha and one blow from me, no matter how devastating, would not change him.

Jett’s scream filled the air, searing through my heart like a dagger. My vision clouded and I swayed on my feet. The pain from Able’s bite tore through me at last; blood leached from me.

Sutter was mortally wounded, but his heart still beat. He would use the last gasps of life to do Able’s bidding. My ears pricked as dozens of other wolves poured down the hill. The Pack. The instant their Alpha’s blood began to flow, he called to them. Mindless. Murderous. Jett wasn’t safe.

Sutter made his move. He leaped into the air and caught Jett’s right arm in his jaws. At full strength, he could have torn it off. The effort of it made his legs give out. Jett dropped the gun. Sutter was on her. In another instant, he would tear her open.

Able was two feet from me, his strength still fading. He was weak, but he would not be easy to kill. A life for a life. Jett’s or Able’s. One Alpha versus another.

I gave in to my nature. With each beat of my heart, I knew where I belonged. I covered the distance in seconds. My paws left the ground. Arcing high, I landed on Sutter’s back. The weight of me crushed his spine. He released his death grip on Jett’s arm. She was stunned, gravely injured, but she rolled away.

Fueled by his own survival instinct and his master’s will, Sutter got to his feet. The ground was stained red from his blood. I went in for the kill. Sutter staggered backward as I tore open his throat. He had nothing left to bleed. His red eyes faded to amber, then to gold, then finally to a deep brown as he shifted back in death. His broken body curled in on itself. His lips were moving as he tried to say his dying words. But, I would not be his audience. The Maestro was finished.

“Gunnar!” Jett cried. “The Pack!”

Scores of wolves poured down from the hill. Half broke off, heading for their fallen leader. But, the others came straight for us.

Jett got to her feet. She was bleeding badly from the wound on her arm. She wouldn’t die. I would not let her die. There was no time to ask her if she could run.

Grab on to me! I shouted to her with my mind. Whatever happens, don’t let go!

Jett gave me a desperate nod. She wrapped her good arm around my neck and hoisted herself on my back. The blood from my own wound coated us both, but it didn’t matter. Jett was alive and so was I. If we had any hope of staying that way, I’d have to outrun the Pack.