“She is fine, Mr. Conway. She isn’t going anywhere.”

Farah’s whisper pulled his attention from a sleeping Skylar. He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. “Don’t be so sure.” When he told her the truth about him and his family, she was going to run for sure.

“If she loves you, she will stay.”

“She never said she did.”

Farah sighed and patted him on the shoulder. “Well, she’s all patched up. You should get her to bed.”

“I don’t want to wake her.” And he didn’t want to jar her and cause her any more pain either.

Farah grunted. “What I gave her will knock her out until morning, trust me. She won’t feel a thing. Get her to bed, sir. I’m going to rest and you should too.”

“I don’t need much sleep. I’ll be up half the night wondering how the hell Sky got away from my brother.” In his experience, humans didn’t fare well when being hunted by a shifter.

“Oh, that hideous thing on her necklace is laced with a protection spell,” Farah said nonchalantly. “It’s a damn good thing I gave it to her. I lied about it being a family heirloom so she would feel pressured into wearing it,” she added with a chuckle.

Liam swallowed. “Thank you.” All the witches he’s ever heard about weren’t nice, but Farah had helped to save Skylar’s life and he would love the woman forever.

“Anytime, sir. So we’re okay, right? I mean with me being a witch… do I still get to keep my job?”

“Of course. There’s no way I’m giving up a cook like you.” He grinned and she smiled back before leaving.

Liam gathered Sky in his arms and carried her to his bedroom.

---

He marched toward the cabin, shoving several members of the pack out of his path when they tried to stop him. Word had spread that Lucas had attempted to kill Liam’s woman and everyone was on high alert, anticipating his retribution.

“Liam, stop right there, son.”

“Out of my way, Isaac,” Liam hissed, giving his father a snarl.

Isaac stood his ground, blocking Liam’s path. “I can’t allow you to challenge Lucas this night, Liam.”

“All of a sudden your precious pack laws can be broken? Lucas harmed my woman and that means I get to challenge and kill the bastard. Pack rules. Now get out of my way.”

“Son -”

“Don’t call me your son.” Liam shook with rage, his control over his human half quickly vanishing. His eyes flickered and claws replaced fingers.

“Liam, please calm down.” His mother’s weak voice seeped into his raging mind.

He glanced up at her leaning against the door, barely able to hold herself up. He softened just a bit. “Mom, get back inside.”

“I heard what your brother did.” A single tear slid down her cheek. “There is no excuse for his behavior but he’s your brother, Liam. I don’t see why the two of you can’t talk about things.”

Letting out a mirthless laugh, Liam shook his head. “You’re damn right, Mom. You don’t see, you never see.” She didn’t see the deplorable way her husband treated her or his children. She didn’t see that if she stayed she would die faster. Seeing the tears shimmering in her eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to say those things.

“Liam, you have every right to want to kick Lucas’s ass but you might want to wait until the asshole can actually stand on his own two feet before you do that.” Liam turned to his brother, Michael, with a frown. Humor sparkled in his eyes. “It won’t be much of a fight if you kill him now. He’s injured. You were right about the presence of a hunter in town. Stuck a silver blade in Lucas’s hide. I would say he deserved it for what he did you your woman.”

Liam’s interested quickly shifted from his anger. “Did you see him?”

“The hunter? No, I don’t even know if it’s a he or a she. Caught a glimpse of someone chasing Lucas. I didn’t want to leave the woman so I didn’t follow.”

Liam let out a breath. He had to put his need for vengeance aside. If the hunter followed Lucas back to the village, everyone was in danger. As much as he disliked what their wolf pack stood for, there were many innocents.

“We have to get rid of the hunter.”

Isaac took a step toward him. “I’m glad you’ve come to your senses, boy. You sound like you’re ready to take over after I’m gone.”

“This had nothing to do with me accepting the role you seem to think I have to take.” He didn’t want the title of alpha but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t fight to protect his people. “I still have family here,” he made a point of looking at his mother and Michael, “That I care about.”

Isaac’s jaw clenched and he snarled, “Don’t start with me, boy. I won’t allow you to embarrass me in the eyes of shifters everywhere. You will do as I say and take charge of this damn pack.”

Liam’s wrath mounted instantly his eyes turned deadly and he growled, “Or what?” His lips curled with contempt. “You forget that I’m stronger than you, old man.”

Father and son stared each other down, tension sizzling between them. “Please, stop.”

“Stay out of this, woman,” Isaac snarled in response to his wife’s soft plea. “It’s your fault my children are all disappointments. They’re weak like you.”

Liam watched his mother’s shoulders droop but she didn’t respond. He rushed toward his father. “I should kill where you stand you -” A strong grip clasped his upper arm, pulling him away.

“And we’re leaving,” Michael stated with a chuckle.

Liam pushed him off when they reached the covering of the trees. “What in the hell do you find funny about any of this?”

Michael shrugged. “The fact that falling in love has turned you into the biggest idiot.”

“I never said I was -” He paused. Wait, was he in love?

Sending him a knowing smirk, Michael walked off leaving him to follow. “That’s what I thought. God, I hope I don’t turn into a fool like you when I find my mate,” he murmured.

“Watch it, little brother.”

He held up both palms. “I’m just saying, you’re acting unlike your usual cool, logical self, man. You show up here, ready to kill your brother, throw an insult Mom’s way and you challenge our old man at the risk of the entire pack coming down on your ass. There’s no way I could have save you if that had happened.” He shook his head. “Are you fucking possessed or something?” He slapped Liam’s shoulder. “Of course, if you had been torn to piece back there, I would still be here to comfort your woman. She’s one fine looking - oomph.” Michael snickered as Liam slammed him against a tree. “You’re so easy.”

Muttering a curse, Liam released him and raked his fingers through his hair. “Sorry. I’ve just been on edge lately.”

Smoothing his shirt, Michael said, “No shit. So, what’s the plan?”

“Plan? For what?”

“Everything. Our hunter problem, our family, your decision about becoming alpha.”

Liam huffed. “First of all, we need to discover who the hunter is. Second, the whole family thing is my problem, not yours. Third, I almost gave in to taking leadership of the pack just to see Mom smile before she dies but then things changed.” When he gave in to his feelings for Skylar, he knew he couldn’t lead a group of wolf shifters and keep her in his life. It was her or the pack.

Michael sighed. “The family is my problem too, Liam. In fact, this family is the biggest pain in my ass. Mom is delusional and dying, Dad is the biggest asshole alive, Lucas is right behind Dad in the asshole department. And you, well, I missed you, Liam.”

He swallowed. “I told you to come with me.”

Michael gave him a sad smile. “Someone had to stay with Mom and keep some semblance of sanity among those animals.”

Guilt pricked Liam and he stopped walking. Michael turned to him in askance. “Do you think I was selfish for leaving?”

“No. You had a chance to live the life you wanted and you went for it. I admire you for doing that. There’s always a choice, brother. You made your choice to liberate yourself and I made mine. Sure, I could have gone with you but I never really craved the human way of life like you did. And I’m more like our mother. So a part of me staying had to do with my vision of keeping everyone together, maybe even changing the old man and Lucas.” He shrugged. “I failed miserably just like Mom did.”

Liam shook his head when he saw the grin on his brother’s face. “How do you always manage to find humor in everything, you freak?”

Michael shrugged. “It’s a gift.”

“She’ll like you. Skylar, I mean.”

He smiled. “Well, I look forward to meeting her. Officially. I should go back and make sure all hell didn’t break loose.”

“It’s not too late, Michael. You can still leave the pack. Maybe stay with me. You can work with me as well.”

“The billionaire business man suits you, not me. But thanks.”

Liam nodded and clamped a hand over his shoulder, giving him an affectionate squeeze. “We’ll talk soon.”