Reese let out a heavy sigh and shoved his hands in his pockets. Since arriving at the boundary between pack lands, Brody hadn’t quit running his mouth. Reese wasn’t sure he was in the mood to listen anymore.

His beta had his—and the pack’s—best interests at heart, but nothing he was railing on about was anything Reese hadn’t already considered. This meeting, which his father had begged him to set up shortly before his death, had weighed heavily on him since becoming alpha. It was the last step before launching a war nobody wanted.

Reese was, apparently, the only person who could put an end to the madness.

In theory, all he needed to do was get the Colemans to stop encroaching on Warren land. The infringement started not long after the Warren pack’s omega diagnosed his father, Jake, with terminal cancer. The Colemans must have found out and decided to push their luck. Their agreement was years old and their sudden violations defied logic. This meeting was because there was only so much pushing Reese would tolerate.

But Reese knew Lance Coleman wouldn’t go quietly. The older alpha was stubborn and had a well-earned reputation for his hot temper. When Lance made up his mind about something, there was no changing it. Especially where the Warren pack was concerned. Reese suspected that the moment his father died, Lance had decided to claim all of Wilde Mountain as Coleman land.

No doubt about it, the Warren pack needed to see Reese as a strong leader. But the future stood on a razor’s edge—damned if he did, damned if he didn’t. Either he made a show of strength, potentially setting off the volatile Coleman alpha, or he looked soft in front of his people in a desperate attempt to make peace. As much as his wolf wanted to show the Colemans just what he was made of, Reese made a promise to his father on his deathbed. A promise he meant to keep.

Always seek peace, his father had whispered to him at the end. He was a shell of the wolf he’d once been, the cancer ravaging his body in a matter of weeks, but his eyes remained alert. It was the pleading expression in his father’s eyes that Reese remembered when Brody spoke of going to war. No, he’d remain true to his vow and attempt to keep the peace with the Colemans.

But if that didn’t work…

The National Circle, the shifter world’s ruling body, would see that it at least held temporarily.

He’d met with the National Circle’s alpha, Roman, a few months earlier in Ft. Lauderdale to discuss a transition plan for when his father passed. Now Roman, his beta, Silas, and their enforcer, Dane, were on their way to mediate a meeting that could determine the future of both packs.

“Glad we got here early so they couldn’t ambush us,” Brody grumbled and then kicked an errant rock on the side of the dusty dirt road. The rock tumbled off the edge of the cliff that overlooked the human town below. “We should have brought enforcers. You know they’ll bring some.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they showed up in tanks,” Reese shot back, growing. He was tired of his beta’s grumbling.

“Exactly! We need to show them we have just as much muscle as they have. Intimidation—”

“Intimidation could just piss him off even more,” Reese finished. “Lance had an agreement with my father, not with me.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. An agreement between packs exists no matter who leads.”

“I agree, but my job is to make him understand that, not to get him so riled up he can’t hear me.” Reese kept his voice measured, doing everything he could to hide his growing tension.

Brody shook his head. “I don’t understand how you can be so calm.”

Reese chuckled wryly. “You think I’m calm? Every time a Coleman trespasses on our land, my blood boils. It’s all I can do to not declare war, but I promised my father I’d pursue peace.”

“You’ve tried. You’ve turned your cheek so many times, I’m surprised you don’t have bruises! They’re trying to invade our lands and lay claim to the entire mountain. That’s not only a slap in the face to you, but it’s an insult to the memory of your father.”

“You don’t think I know that?” Reese snarled and then took a calming breath. “Father knew tensions would rise after his death. That’s why he made me promise.”

Jake had also reminded Reese that being a good alpha often meant keeping a level head, even in the face of blatant disrespect. So, he’d forced himself to remain calm. For his father. For his pack.

“I still say we should have brought enforcers,” Brody grumbled again.

“The National Circle set the terms, not me. They said no enforcers.”

“And nobody has ever defied them?”

Reese brought himself to his full height to remind his best friend who was in charge. “I’m not willing to.”

Not yet, anyway.

In his heart, he knew how this meeting would proceed. Roman would do his best to reconcile the two packs, to encourage Lance to accept Reese as the legitimate successor to his father and alpha of this half of Wilde Mountain. Lance would refuse. The man had no trouble breaking a decades-old peace treaty, all but ensuring many from his pack would die in the resulting war. How likely was he to listen to three outsiders who lived far from Wilde Mountain?

But Roman had been clear when he set up this summit. If Lance Coleman refused to back down, Reese would be free to go to war.

His jaw creaked at the thought of wolves dying for no good reason. Their kind weren’t so plentiful that either side could afford to waste lives. War would tear both packs to shreds, leaving a hollow victory for the winner. But as much as Reese wanted to prevent that grisly outcome, he wouldn’t hesitate to protect his people or their land. Just because he wasn’t an experienced alpha didn’t mean he’d bend over.

The weight of his responsibility weighed heavily on Reese. Every decision he made impacted his pack. If he acted impulsively or chose the wrong path, hundreds of his people could die. Each choice came with its own pros and cons. He just had to predict them all.

No big deal.

“Let’s just hope Roman is a skilled negotiator and can talk some sense into Lance,” Reese said, checking his watch. Ten more minutes.

“Not likely, considering he thinks you’re a murderer.”

“Fuck!” Reese punched a nearby tree, allowing himself a moment to release his pent-up frustration. He ignored the pain and struggled to keep a tight rein on his wolf.

Lance Coleman’s beta, Peter—an even-tempered guy Reese had always respected—had recently been discovered mauled just a few feet from the border separating their lands. Lance hadn’t come right out and accused Reese of the murder, but rumor had it a brown hair had been found at the scene. Damning evidence since the Warren pack were all brunets, while the Colemans were blonds.

“What a crock of horseshit,” he groused.

Brody raised an eyebrow. “And that’s how you’re going to respond when they call you a murderer in front of the National Circle?”

“If that hair had been from one of ours, Lance would have demanded justice immediately. I’m not even sure they have a hair. Even if they do, I’ll demand testing to prove it’s not from a Warren.”

“That will still leave the question of who killed the guy,” Brody said. “You think Lance had him killed?”

Reese shook his head. “Doesn’t make sense. Lance is a hothead, but he’s never randomly killed one of his own wolves.”

“That we know of…”

Before Reese could respond, the sound of gravel crunching under tires echoed up the road. Two black SUVs with tinted windows trundled up the primitive road, kicking up great plumes of dirt.

Brody planted himself next to Reese and spoke under his breath as he watched the trucks park. “Guess Lance thought it would be a good idea to get here early too.”

The SUV bumped along the uneven dirt road to the border. Jane just wished that was the only thing about the ride that was bumpy. Each jolt turned her stomach upside down, and she lingered on the edge of puking for the entire ride.

Of course, her nausea could have been caused by the hate-filled bile spewing from Ian’s stupid mouth. From the moment he jumped into the passenger seat, he’d yammered away about vengeance and justice and war. Even the enforcers she was wedged between in the backseat couldn’t hide their distaste for the little weasel.

But her father didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. In fact, every now and again he’d give a grunt of approval or say something rude about the new Warren alpha. Jane held her tongue and bided her time. She just needed a minute to try and talk him out of doing anything crazy. That wasn’t going to be easy, considering he’d barely said two words to her since she’d come home two months earlier. But she sure as hell was going to try.

The car jerked to a stop behind the one carrying even more enforcers. “Dammit, they got here before us!” Ian snarled and then he and the two enforcers bolted from the car to set up a protective perimeter around their alpha. While her father waited for the all-clear signal, Jane saw her chance.

“Daddy?”

He didn’t respond, or even acknowledge he heard her, but he tensed up so she knew he was listening. That was as good as she could expect.

“Please don’t do this,” she pleaded, adding a trembling hint of scared little girl to her voice. She wasn’t pretending either. The very thought of a pack war terrified her.

“Don’t do what?” he barked.

Jane pushed through her impulse to cower before her father, her alpha. “Ian’s wrong. War won’t benefit anyone. Besides, you’re a man of your word, and you signed a peace agreement with the Warren pack.”

“That agreement was with the Warren alpha.”

“And now they have a new alpha,” Jane said gently.

Lance snorted. “That kid’s no alpha. He couldn’t be more than twenty-five, twenty-six tops. He doesn’t know the first thing about being a leader. His pack needs me. They just don’t know it yet. Now shut your mouth until you can be the alpha bitch I always wanted you to be.”

Jane managed to catch a gasp before he heard it. Her father had always been tough, but never cruel. He’d become so aggressive and downright mean recently. He hadn’t said a kind word since she’d come home. She couldn’t remember him showing her mother any love recently either.

“Land is power, Jane,” he barreled on. “You should know that by now.”

“Not when you have no claim over it,” she shot back.

A low growl rumbled through the car, chilling her blood and setting her wolf to whining. He caught her gaze in the rearview mirror.

“Don’t push it. Once Jake Warren died, this entire mountain became Coleman land again—just as it always should have been. If this punk wants it, he’s going to have to nut up and fight for it.”

Jane held eye contact, a tear spilling down her cheek. “You’d risk your own people—your own family—for land?”

Her father narrowed his flinty eyes. For the first time, Jane noticed how sunken they seemed, and guilt gnawed at her. This was her fault. She’d disgraced his name, and now he was acting out. He couldn’t take his rage out on her, so he was taking it out on them.

“You think he won’t? Besides, it’s not just about the land. Do you believe Peter’s murderer should go unpunished?”

“Of course not, but I think we should figure out who did it first and not just rely on Ian’s best guess.”

“What do you know about anything?” He finally tore his gaze away and chuckled derisively. “You couldn’t even manage to finish school before getting knocked up with some bastard runt.”

“That’s enough!”

Jane surprised herself as much as her father with her shout. She’d never defied him so openly before. But alpha or not, no one talked about her baby like that and got away with it.

Lance’s eyes grew wide, and for the briefest of moments, Jane thought she saw shame flash in them. Then he turned to the door.

“If you’re not willing to stand by your alpha, Jane, stay in the car.”

Lance slammed the door shut behind him, leaving Jane in the silence of the car. The baby in her belly kicked harder than she’d ever felt, no doubt in response to her agitation. Rubbing her bump, she tried to calm both her pup and her wolf at the same time, even though the chances of doing so were slim. She was simply too amped up and filled with adrenaline.

It seemed as if her father didn’t understand a war would affect more than just him. As the alpha, he was deciding the entire pack’s future—including her baby’s. She refused to raise her child in a world torn apart by violence and hate while her father appeared to be dedicated to that path.

Squaring her shoulders, Jane made a decision. She was done holding her tongue and allowing her father to bully her. At least one of the alphas out there needed to see reason. If it wasn’t her father, she’d have to deal with the Warren alpha face to face. Her pack might consider it treason, but they wouldn’t be able to stop her. No one would expect it, so she had the element of surprise. The only saving grace was that at least her father hadn’t ambushed them as Ian had wanted. Regardless of whether that was by choice or because the Warrens had arrived first, it would give her the chance to plead her case with the Warren alpha.

Opening the door as quietly as she could, Jane slipped out of the SUV and edged along the side until she reached the back of the vehicle the enforcers had driven. Taking a deep, calming breath, she called on all her strength and her wolf’s ferocity to see her through the next few minutes. Almost as if in answer, a gust of wind blew a plume of dust into the sky and the trees rustled overhead. The breeze had almost drowned out the sound of two men talking, but the closer she crept, the louder they grew. Sneaking up the far side of the SUV, she tried to peek through the driver-side window but pulled back when she spotted Ian facing her direction.

She took a beat to collect herself, and in that brief moment realized that her father’s voice wasn’t the only one that sounded familiar. Lance’s was brash, commanding, defiant. As always, his harsh tone set her teeth on edge. The other though… It seemed to soothe her frayed nerves.

How can that be?

“The National Circle said no enforcers, Coleman,” the deep, rumbling voice reached out for her with invisible hands.

She’d heard it before, but she couldn’t quite place it. She’d never so much as met a wolf from the Warren pack, and she knew the wolves in her own. Who…? As her brain raced to connect the dots, her heart thumped so loudly in her chest, she was surprised all the wolves in the clearing didn’t hear it.

Stepping out from her hiding spot, Jane’s gaze zeroed in on the man towering over her father. Muscles flexed and rippled under his tight black t-shirt as he glowered at Lance, a strand of his shaggy brown hair falling in his light brown eyes. Even at a distance, the sun glinted off the gold in them.

Even after so many months of carrying his pup, an intense need washed over her, coating every cell in her body. Memories of how he’d taken control of her and made her scream with pleasure consumed her mind.

She managed another shaky step forward, the crack of a breaking twig drawing everyone’s gaze, but she only cared about one. It seemed to take ages to find her voice, and then it came out as barely a whisper.

“Reese?”