Flashing a wicked grin, Alex snatched the amulet from the air and looped it around his neck. The dragon’s mouth opened and fire raged toward him. Pulse. The flames flowed around Alex as if he were safely locked inside an asbestos bubble.

When the dragon ran out of juice, Alex was left standing among whiffs of steam that curled from the floor. A deep, psychotic laugh echoed through the chamber. “Oh, my dear Nickelova, you have always been full of hot air.”

The amulet pulsed again and Jason stared in disgust as the dragon was skinned alive. In a wave of angry screams, blood and gore and the break of bones, the reptile was transformed back into a woman. Nickelova lay helpless and naked at his feet, weeping in pain.

“You thought you could replace me.” Alex spat in her face. “You fucking bitch.” His foot connected with her ribs.

“You were weak. I thought you might die. I needed help to continue our plan,” she whimpered.

He snorted. “Our. Plan. Key words, Nickelova. Do you know I could see and hear everything in that pickle jar you locked me inside? Don’t lie to me. You wanted Jason from the start. Enjoyed his company a little too much when you were doing my dirty work at Hunt Club.” He gripped a fistful of her hair and pulled her head off the ground only to slam it back into the floor.

“Hey!” Jason yelled. “If you’re going to kill her, do it.” He couldn’t stand to watch him beat her, no matter what she’d done.

Nickelova’s lips parted. “See? He’s more of a man than you’ll ever be.”

Alex shook his head. “Ever since we were kids, all the ladies loved Jason. And who are you, sweetheart?” he said to Selene. “Flavor of the month?”

“Don’t talk to her.” Jason glared at him. “Don’t even look at her.”

“I’m a fair man,” Alex said, his steely eyes flashing in the firelight like a madman’s. “A man of my word. I told you I’d help you slay the dragon in exchange for the amulet, and here I am making good. Just one more thing to do.” The amulet pulsed and Alex plunged his hand straight into Nickelova’s chest.

For the rest of his life, Jason would remember the scream. Nickelova’s mouth opened and a high-pitched shriek erupted from her lips, with an edge that seemed to slice right through him.

“By the goddess,” Selene murmured. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her turn away, unable to watch the horror happening before them.

Alex squeezed and pulled, the tear of flesh and crack of bone making Jason feel almost as ill as the painful gurgle that came from Nickelova’s parted lips. The svelte blonde turned her face toward Jason and held out one hand in a plea for help.

“Please,” she begged. But there was nothing Jason could do, even if he’d wanted to help the woman who’d threatened his pack, his love, and his life.

Alex tore Nickelova’s heart from her chest, sending her toppling to the floor, writhing in pain. As he raised the heart above his head, blood ran in rivulets down his arm. The heart was not the soft, beating organ of a human, but a sparkling jewel, a gigantic red ruby that glinted between Alex’s fingers in the firelight. A bright pulse at the center beat with a steady rhythm.

The wound in Nickelova’s chest would have been fatal in any other creature, but not in a dragon fae.

“Look,” Selene said, grabbing his hand.

The hole in Nickelova’s chest filled, flesh knitting together magically. The bleeding stopped. The wound transformed from bright red to pale pink. Whimpering, she crawled away from Alex, curling into a ball against the far wall.

Alex’s eyes fell on Jason and Selene. “I could kill you. With the smallest effort, I could shatter you like glass. But I’m a man of my word.” He pointed at Nickelova. “She’s mortal now. Kill her or leave her to die, I don’t care. I don’t need her anymore. But this makes us even. And next time I see you, Jason, all bets are off.”

Alex headed for the mouth of the cave. Jason followed at a distance until both of them were staring out through the blowing snow. “It’s almost nightfall,” Alex said into the wind, not bothering to turn and look at Jason. “I wouldn’t dally if I were you. If your wolf runs straight down the mountain, he might make the portal before it closes. Her mountain is in Siberia. The only reason you’re here is because her magic transported you here. And I’m about to leave with her magic.”

“You need to give us time to get out,” Jason said. “I don’t know the way. I’m not sure my wolf will know how to reach the portal.”

Alex flashed a patronizing smile over his shoulder. “Sounds like you have a problem.” The amulet pulsed, and he was gone.

Jason ran back into the main chamber and took Selene’s hand. “We’ve got to go. The portal is closing.”

“You’ll never make it,” Nickelova rasped, laughing in a way that seemed painful. “If you leave now you’ll freeze to death before you reach the portal, and if you wait until you shift, you’ll never make it before it closes.”

Jason and Selene glanced toward each other and then at the slight, curled form leaning against the wall. Jason strode to her side and held out his hand. “Help us get out of here and I’ll see you come to no harm.”

Nickelova smiled sadly. “You are such a fucking hero, you know that?” She said the word hero like it was a curse. “I am not leaving this cave. And neither are you.”

He grabbed her throat.

“Go ahead. Squeeze. What’s one more death on your already tarnished soul?” She chuckled.

Selene’s hand landed on his arm. “She’s not worth it. She’ll never make it out alive.”

His grip tightened. He needed to kill her; it was too dangerous to leave her alive. But he couldn’t do it in front of Selene, not with her looking at him like that. He released her neck and thought fast. Taking Selene’s hand, he ran toward the passageway and descended to the bedroom where Nickelova had taken him before. “There must be a closet. She must have had gear for Alex, even if she had none for herself.”

“Here!” Selene rummaged behind the folding screen. There was an entire set of brand new men’s gear. Jason started dressing. Selene dug out yoga pants and a sweater that bagged on her less curvy figure, then donned a pair of snow pants. Jason handed her a puffy white parka.

“The zipper’s broken,” Selene said.

“I don’t imagine she had cause to use it often.”

“It’s good enough.” She shrugged into it. “There’s nothing else.” Hat, gloves, and boots later, they made their way toward the cave exit.

“You’re not going to like this, but I need to kill her,” Jason said. “Alex can control her now that he has her heart. It’s not safe leaving her alive.”

Selene raised her eyebrows. “What? Do you know this for sure?”

“Yes—what the fuck?” Jason balked as they turned the corner into the main chamber. A body-shaped cocoon had appeared where they’d left Nickelova.

“Dear goddess”—Selene’s eyes went wide—“she’s mummifying herself.”

Through a silvery membrane, Jason could see Nickelova clinging to the dragon scale he’d plucked from her chest with his bone weapon. The same material the amulet was made of. Nickelova’s eyes were closed and silver plates were shingling themselves over her from the feet up. Why hadn’t he killed her when he had the chance?

Selene removed her glove and knocked her knuckles against the shell forming around the woman. The resulting ring of hollow metal filled the chamber. She glanced toward Jason. “What do we do?”

“We try to make it to the portal. Come on. We don’t have much time.”

* * *

As the sun sank in the arctic-blue sky, Selene followed Jason out of the mouth of the cave and into the burgeoning storm. They worked their way down the first drop, Jason helping her when her smaller body couldn’t reach between handholds and footholds. The climb was nearly vertical, and she struggled to find her grip on the mountain in her boots and gloves. Struggled, until after thirty minutes of grueling effort, her grip failed. At the same time as she heard Jason call out, she dropped, skimming the icy stone and bumping down the side of the mountain.

“Ow! Ahhh!” Her insulated pants ripped and her shoulder smacked against a sharp crag. Sticky, warm blood oozed from the wound, but the ride didn’t stop. Not until she slapped the side of the mountain where the slope leveled off with a back-cracking thump.

“Selene. Selene, are you all right?”

She could hardly hear Jason through the blowing wind. It was a painfully long time before he reached her and in those minutes, she concentrated on her breathing. In and out. The pain eventually numbed with the cold.

Finally, he was at her side. The snow stung her cheeks but it was her shoulder that worried her. It throbbed. She couldn’t move her arm.

“You’re bleeding,” Jason said.

“I hit my shoulder.” She tried to sit up, and a wave of pain and nausea forced her back down. “There’s something wrong. I can’t move it.”

He took a closer look. When he rotated her wrist and tested her range of movement, she cried out. His face paled, and she knew it wasn’t because of the dropping temperature. “I’m not a doctor but it looks dislocated to me.”

“Or broken.” She frowned toward the setting sun. “No time. Leave me. Find the portal.”

“No,” he said firmly.

“It’s sundown. You can come back for me tomorrow.”

“You’ll be frozen to death by tomorrow.”

“The shift will protect me. My wolf will be fine in this weather.”

“And possibly lead you somewhere it’s unsafe to shift back. If she can walk at all.”

“Come on, Jason,” she yelled, tears streaming now. “Don’t fight me on this! We’ll never make it out together. For once, just do the smart thing and go! I’m giving you permission to take the easy road.”

He laughed and shook his head. “You spoiled me for that, Selene. I never want to do what’s easy again. Only what’s right. Only what you would do.”

She leaned her head back against the rock, cursing.

“I think your shoulder is dislocated. I’m going to try to force it back into the socket.”

“Do you know how to do that?”

“No. But how hard could it be?”

She looked at him worriedly. “Maybe you don’t have to. Maybe it will correct itself when I shift.”

“Maybe.” Jason frowned. “But if it doesn’t, I won’t be able to correct it in wolf form.”

“And if I can’t move as a wolf, I’m dead.”

“We’re dead.”

“Your wolf won’t necessarily stay. It’ll survive, any way it can.”

Selene glanced at the mercilessly setting sun.

“It’s going to work,” Jason said resolutely. Gently, he worked her coat off her injured arm. She was still bleeding due to a nasty gash on the back of her shoulder. Hopefully that would heal when she shifted. And if Jason could knock the joint back into place, there was a shred of hope they’d make it out of here alive. He felt down her arm to the joint. Selene tried not to scream but the pain was nauseating.

“Just do it, Jason!” She could already feel the shift starting, a bubbling grind under her skin.”

“I’m sorry about this.” He positioned her arm again and gave a fast, hard thrust. This time Selene screamed, a scream that turned into a howl. The shift was coming. Her shoulder felt oddly warm, although her arm still wasn’t working properly.

“Is it any better?” Jason pitched forward, the shift turning his green eyes to amber. He unzipped his jacket in the throes of transformation.

She used her good hand to strip out of the winter clothes, following his lead. “I still can’t move it, but it doesn’t hurt as much.” She pitched forward, her jaw elongating as the snow stung her naked flesh.

“I love you, Selene,” Jason said suddenly, claws sprouting from his knuckles. His distorted hands landed on the stones near his feet.

“I didn’t believe you before,” she said, the need to confess gripping her heart. “I thought I was just another passing fancy, temporary entertainment for your vice.”

“That’s not true.”

“When you left with Nickelova tonight, I thought you were joining up with her. I thought you couldn’t resist her.”

He shook his head. “I had to—” He groaned as tawny fur broke out across his inner arms.

“I said yes before on Rivergate grounds because I wanted you so badly I was willing to lose everything, even if I might have you for only a short time,” she rambled. She had to tell him, had to get it out. “I never thought I could want someone again. I thought I was ruined for love after what happened to me… the things I did. But I believe you now. I love you too, Jason, in a forever way.” White fur climbed her arms, over her shoulders, between her breasts.

If Jason said anything else, she didn’t hear it. Her last thoughts were that she wasn’t cold anymore. And then the wolf took over and she wasn’t Selene anymore.