Immediately, she went into action. Her first thought was Dustin. He’d come to pay her back, and he’d try like he did before to get to her. But when she turned and kicked, it wasn’t Dustin. It was Hayden, and his grip on her arm was tight. He caught her foot before it connected with his shin.

She fought back, trying to break free. She kicked at him and twisted. She did all the moves she knew that usually worked, but Hayden was huge and solid. She managed to stomp on his foot and almost got her wrist free once, but then another set of hands was on her.

“Thought you could use some help.”

She recognized Alex’s voice and then they were pulling her away from her car. She screamed out, but a hand clamped down over her mouth. There had to be someone around to see this. All these people at the bar? Someone would come help her, surely.

As she kicked and tried to break free, her feet dragged in the gravel until the bar grew farther away. They were in the trees, and from where she was, she thought no one would see them or hear them.

“You’ve been quite the handful,” Hayden growled in her ear, wedging his arm against her throat. “It stops now.”

She couldn’t answer if she wanted to, but what would she say to that?

“Do you know Holly broke up with me because of you?”

“And none of the fine ladies on your squad will do more than chat,” Alex said.

His words were slurred. They were both drunk.

“We have a contest, you know,” Hayden said.

Alex laughed. “Oh, right. Which one?”

“There was the first one. The one where we see who can sleep with the most cheerleaders. You ended that one real fast,” Hayden said. “But you didn’t know about the second one.”

Brooklyn’s mind was whirling. As they talked, she was vividly alert to any change in their position. She would have to take any chance she could to get away, but her heart was racing, and her brain felt foggy. The coffee wasn’t helping her much. She’d drunk too much to think sharply. The fear was overwhelming her, and she couldn’t escape it or them.

“The second one was to see who could get to you first,” Hayden said.

“Except you’re such a frigid man-hating bitch,” Alex said. “No one stands a chance.”

“You took things too far when you messed with Dustin.”

“You did a bad thing.” Alex poked her hard in the chest. “Real bad.”

“I think it’s time you have a taste of your own medicine,” Hayden said. “I’m done playing your games.”

He pushed her down so hard that the air left her lungs. She gasped in shock, trying to regain her breath. She scrambled to get away from him, but there was no point to it.

Hayden roared loudly as he shifted into bear form. His large paw was on her chest, holding her with no effort, nearly crushing her lungs. Alex shifted next. They stood over her and snarled.

Hayden slashed her across her check with his sharp claws. He clawed at her top. Before long, it was black shreds mixed with her red blood. Her mouth was free now, but screaming didn’t seem to help much.

Alex tore off her jeans with his teeth. He grabbed the pant cuff and pulled, slashing where they stuck and wouldn’t come off. In seconds, she was naked on the hard ground, covered in wounds. Tears streamed down her face. She didn’t know if they were going to kill her before or after. Or maybe they’d let her live with it. That might be even worse. At least if she was dead, it would all be over.

Hayden shifted back to human form. He was naked now, too. His clothes must be in piles beside hers somewhere. He climbed into place over the top of her. She went still except for a few sobs that escaped from her throat.

To her horror, a third bear appeared. How many of them would come and join in? How much would she have to endure before it was over?

She waited for the worst, but there was a loud growl then a whimper. She cracked her eyes open and saw the new bear biting Hayden. Alex, still a bear, was joining in, trying to protect Hayden.

She watched for a few seconds until the shock took over and her vision went black.