“Every day I'm waiting for someone to show up with white coats and haul me off,” I mutter. “You can't be serious.”

“I'll make you a deal, Ari,” Travis starts. “If you agree to Rion and Garrison fighting to the death, I'll hand over Paige and Kiara, nothing further asked of you.”

Rion holds my eyes and sends me a message with his mind. “Let me do this. It will free your friends and also prove to their pack that I'm the only wolf for you.”

“I'm not letting you fight to the death. He could kick your butt for all we know.”

“You have no faith in me, little mouse,” he smiles wickedly.

“I have faith. Faith that one of you is going to die, and it's going to be my fault.”

“I'm going to agree to it and there's nothing you can do to stop me. I will not have another wolf thinking they can beat me and take my mate. There is more than death on the line—there's pride—and that's very important to shifters. Plus, strength and ability to protect our females.” This isn’t happening. I don’t know what I’ll do if something happens to Rion. For him to appear in my life and suddenly be ripped away. No.

“And if you die? Then what? I'm going to live here with this insane posse of wolves.”

“No. Ford will get you out of here. He'll die to do so.”

“For the love of... I don't like this one bit. I don't want you to die, Rion. Or Ford.” I’m near tears, fighting away the onslaught of emotions this entire situation floods me with.

“I won't, Ari. Trust me. Trust our bond and my love for you.” Trust him to live and not get killed.

I hang my head for a moment then lift it to face Travis. “Fine. Whatever. They can fight.”

“Excellent. Let's move to the battle room.” This is such a bad idea.

“You have a battle room?” I ask with a quirk of my eyebrow.

“Absolutely. We have to train somewhere.”

“I want Kiara and Paige by my side during the fight. No matter who wins, they leave with me.”

“Of course.” He smiles. It’s the type where he wants you to think it’s genuine, but it isn’t. I can hear his thoughts. He thinks his smile will calm my nerves and show me he’s a nice guy. Ha!

We stand as Travis leads us and the rest of the pack through the dining room to a set of stairs that leads downward. Every step I take, the colder it gets, until we're in a massive room that I would bet runs the length of the house. The floor is concrete with drains spread throughout. I’m assuming so blood is easily cleaned up and washed down them. If that doesn’t make me all warm and fuzzy, I’m not sure what will. The walls are bare. Nothing but solid concrete surrounding us.

“Well, this is welcoming,” I mutter.

“It's not meant to be,” Travis says in my ear. I jump and swirl, coming face-to-face with him. Freaking wolves and their stealthy behavior. His eyes flash green. “This is where we bleed for our pack, Ariane.”

He steps aside, revealing Kiara and Paige. I rush at my bestie, slamming into her, throwing my arms around her. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

Her voice and body tremble. “I'm fine. Freaked out to no end but fine.”

“And you?” I ask Kiara.

“You shouldn't have added me to your deal, Ari. I can handle myself.”

“You've covered for me. Now it's my turn to help you.”

Rion is at my back when I turn back around. He dips down to brush his lips over mine, igniting my veins with electricity. “It’s going to be fine, little mouse.”

I don't hesitate and wrap my arms around him, holding him close. “I don't want anything to happen to you. I've kind of gotten used to you.”

He chuckles, his chin resting on my head. “My wolf knows how to win and will do whatever it takes to keep you as our mate.”

I pull back. “Wait. Your wolf is fighting and not you as a human?”

“That's right. When we fight, it's always with our animal.” Why didn’t that occur to me? Too much is going on in my mind. Trying to block out all the voices, ensuring Paige and Kiara are okay.

“I want to talk to him—your wolf.” Rion nods and shifts.

Before me stands an enormous black wolf. His white-tipped ears twitch in every direction, listening to the others in the room while his emerald eyes hold mine. Gently, I grasp either side of his face, his fur soft in my hands. “You win this, you hear me?”

He snorts as if to say, “Of course.”

“I need you to survive.” Emotion clogs my throat as the enormity of the situation crashes over me again. I might talk a tough game, but inside, the thought of losing Rion is breaking me.

He nudges me with his nose and licks my face. Then he's turning, walking toward the center of the room where a grey wolf is waiting for him. They’re equal in height and build.

Travis steps forward. “You know the rules,” he speaks loudly. “No one is to intervene. Outside of that, there are no rules. This is a fight to the death. Winner gets Ariane.”

I lunge forward, ready to punch him in his smug face, but Ford is behind me, holding my arms in an iron grip. I came here to talk, to get my friends back, not to get Orion killed. This shouldn't be happening.

“Calm down, Ari,” Ford whispers in my ear. “Rion can sense your unease.” I pause my struggling and focus on my wolf. His hackles are raised, his legs twitching as if he's ready to pounce. “He needs to focus on the fight, not on you. Let him.” I relax, but only marginally.

Orion and Garrison both move in a slow circle, their eyes never leaving the other. Garrison is the first to leap. He jumps toward Orion, but my wolf is faster. He dodges out of the way a split second before he would have been hit. Then he's on Garrison, his lips peeled back, teeth bared as he bites into the other wolf's flesh. Blood coats Garrison’s neck. Orion doesn't release him. He shakes his head, digging his teeth in deeper. But Garrison isn't giving up. He drops to the ground and rolls, ripping Orion's teeth from his neck. They both quickly stand and charge each other. This time, Garrison is able to spin around and jump on Orion's back, clamping his teeth down on his spine. Orion yelps in pain.

Tears pool in my eyes; his hurt ringing out in my mind. I can't hear anything he's thinking. He must have blocked me out. I don’t have it in me at the moment to break down the wall in his mind. The pain—his pain—I can sense it. His back is on the verge of breaking from the pressure being put on it by Garrison’s jaws.

Struggling, I try to break free from Ford’s grasp. Nothing I do works. I want to intervene. I want to stop this from happening.

Orion thrashes around, trying to shake him off, but it's not working. Then he kicks out and Garrison is finally jolted off of him. Orion is able to walk, but his movements are slower. It’s easy to see how much pain he’s in.

Then Garrison is coming back, ready for round two, aiming for Orion’s spine again. But Orion has a burst of energy and spins as Garrison lunges. Orion gets a hold of Garrison’s neck as the other wolf twists above him. They’re rolling around on the concrete, leaving a bloody trail in their wake. Garrison's jaws snap at the air, wanting to get Orion. But my wolf doesn't let up. He holds on tighter.

Now that Orion seems to have an advantage, I search Travis out in the crowd and try to latch on to his thoughts. It’s not easy. I have to weed through everyone else’s. Travis is as pumped up as the wolves who are fighting are, but his thoughts reveal something to me. Garrison isn't fighting fair. A mage has given him an advantage. He has the ability to kill Orion with his claws. They’re tipped in poison. While I was talking to Orion, Garrison dipped his claws in the concoction. He has to sink them into Orion for it to work. Grazing his fur won’t cut it. It needs to be in his bloodstream. Travis asked him to drag out the fight. Not to kill him until they've battled for a bit so it wouldn't be suspicious. Oh, no.

Turning back, I focus on the fight again. The two wolves are no longer wrestling. Orion is bleeding heavily from the back, blood dripping from his fur, splattering on the ground below. Garrison is opposite him, his teeth bared, ready to go for the kill. They both run at each other. This time, Garrison ducks as Orion jumps. Garrison slides underneath him then immediately gets on his feet to spring toward Orion’s back. Orion is knocked to the ground not far from me, Garrison's teeth immediately go for his spine again. Then the grey wolf rears back, lifting his paw, his claws extended. I refuse to stand here any longer.

With strength I didn’t know I possess, I get away from Ford and rush forward before Ford can grab me again. If he were smart, he would have been listening to my thoughts; his focus must have been elsewhere.

I'm at the wolves’ sides, neither aware of my presence. They’re too focused on each other, Garrison’s face turned toward his prey. Ford and Paige are yelling in the background, Ford coming toward me. I have to move fast.

Lifting my foot, I kick Garrison in the side before he can deliver the final blow. Orion is startled for a second before he realizes Garrison is down. He lunges for him, his teeth tearing into his neck, ripping off a piece of his flesh. Fur and blood are flying through the air, Orion winning as he kills Garrison.

There's a growl at my back. I spin to find Javen in wolf form, prowling toward me, Ford on the other side of him. There’s no teleporting in here. The only way for Ford to get to me is by walking. I’m left unprotected.

“Call off your mutt!” I yell at Travis.

He smiles wickedly. “You broke the rules of the fight. No one is to intervene. Now, anything goes.”

“You cheated! Garrison’s claws were tipped in poison supplied by a mage!”

“Is that true?” Cace shouts from my side. When did he get over here? How did he get past Javen?

Travis doesn't reply. Cace shifts into a magnificent red wolf and squares off with Javen, putting his body between ours.

Ford and Kiara rush to me and pull me back to the sidelines.

“You shouldn't have done that, princess,” Ford hisses in my ear.

“He was going to kill Orion. I couldn't stand by and let that happen.”

“Then you should have told Cace or me so we could have handled it. Now, Cace and Javen will fight until one is killed.”

“What?” I scream. No, no, no! Everything is going downhill and it’s all my fault.

“Orion killed Garrison,” Ford states. “You remain his mate, but you intervened. Cace can only leave here alive if he kills Javen. He took your place in the fight. You got Garrison killed, now it's up to Cace to end Javen.”

My head spins with what I'm hearing. If only I went to one of them, this could have been avoided. I screwed up. But would Orion have died? Would Garrison have gotten his claws in him?

“That wasn’t up to you to decide,” Ford says, reading my thoughts. “This was a matter between packs. Cace would have handled it. You weren't allowed to fight, Ari.”

I bury my head in my hands. I didn’t think before I reacted at seeing Orion almost get killed. Cace took my spot. I wouldn't have stood a chance against a wolf. Javen could have ripped my head from my body in one quick movement.

Wait. I came here to get my friends back. But Travis wanted to sway me to their side.

I find him pacing along the sidelines, rooting Javen on as he and Cace go bite for bite and tear into one other. Within Travis' head I find the real reason he wanted me here. He wanted me dead. He wanted the upcoming war swayed in their favor. They wanted to kill Orion and Ford, knowing they'd come with me. Then he’d go for Kiara and Paige.

With us out of the picture, the pack would weaken. Aries would lose another family member. Who knows what that would do to him? Cace is a bonus. The Diaminsey Pack would have the advantage. They had no intention of letting me leave here alive. Once Cace is gone, they'll come for Orion and Ford. Kiara. Paige. Me.

It’s evident to me now, I can’t prevent the pack war. It’s not possible. All that’s left to do is leave here in one piece—all of us.

Orion limps toward me, clearly in pain.

“You have to shift,” I plead with him as tears run down my face. “You need to heal. We have to get out of here. Please, Orion.”

A gurgling yelp brings my attention back to the fight. Cace is on the ground, Javen towering over him, both covered in blood. Cace is barely struggling, blood pouring from his mouth. Javen leans down and sinks his teeth into Cace's neck. His jaw clenches, shaking Cace hard. There’s no fight left in Cace. His emerald eyes hold mine as they glaze over and life leaves his body.

“No!” I scream at the top of my lungs. Hot tears pour down my face. I start to run forward, but Ford is behind me again, holding me tightly to his body as I punch and kick the air, trying to get free.

“Cace! No!” I cry. Sobs wrack my body. The scene in front of me can’t be real. Please, let this be a dream.

Ford pulls me with him, retreating as far from the fight as he can get. His back meets the concrete as the Diaminsey Pack closes in on us. Orion is back in human form, but he’s extremely weak. Shifting once isn’t enough to heal him. Ford steps forward and pushes me behind him as Kiara does the same with Paige. We’re behind a wall of vampires as I continue to cry. Paige’s hand takes mine and grips it hard.

Many in the Diaminsey Pack shift. Wolves bare their teeth at Ford, Kiara, and Rion. Then Rion shifts again and it’s game on. He dives toward the closest wolf, regaining a sliver of his strength from the shift. Ford and Kiara jump into the fray, using their vampire strength to rip limbs from the wolves who attack them. But there are too many of them and not enough of us.

Travis enters my line of sight, still in human form, and prowls toward me. There’s no one covering Paige and me anymore. We’re left defenseless. I can’t teleport. All I can do now is protect Paige the best I can. Quickly, I cover her body with mine, my back to her chest, and press her into the wall. Travis reaches forward, grips my neck, jolts me to the side, and pins me to the cold, concrete wall. His eyes are green; his wolf in charge. Those eyes are the last thing I see before darkness consumes me.