I opened my eyes to see the confusion in hers. She was wondering why the fuck I’d just saved the man who’d kidnapped me. A man everyone thought was a villain. But he wasn’t a villain. He wasn’t evil. He deserved a chance, and now that he’d live, he’d get it.

“I’ll explain later, I promise. Right now, we have some Loup to kill.”

Chapter Ten

Turned out I’d been right. Hell hath no fury like a Loup female victimized. They’d literally torn holes in the rogue males, and I couldn’t help but be proud.

Cora and I stood in the center of a ruined cabin surrounded by wounded female Loup. The gray one shifted first, her body healing as she morphed. Her mouth was bloody, but I doubted the blood was hers. These Loup were warriors, and I couldn’t help but feel a kinship with these females.

“These woods have been our home for a long time,” she said. “The arrival of these rogues meant we’d have to move. We were outnumbered until you and your Loup male killed several of their pack in the woods.” She looked down at the bodies with a sneer. “These are the last of them.”

“You’re thanking me? You saved my life by coming here tonight.”

She looked sheepish. “We should have aided you in the woods when the rogues first attacked. I’m ashamed that we ran.”

“You did what was best for your pack.”

Her lip curled in self-deprecation. “No, what’s best is to fight. To show them that we will not be owned. That we will not be treated like breeding machines. Ever since the Loup female population fell, the males have traded us like possessions. They care only for the miasma we can create with our presence and the cubs we can bear to swell their ranks.”

Yes, from what I’d seen and heard, there was a powerplay between packs when it came to female Loup, but the Regency Pack didn’t treat their females like possessions. They protected them.

“Not all males are bad.”

“You speak of the Loup who fought to protect you.”

Cora flicked a glance my way.

A few hours ago, I’d have scoffed at this, but now… “Yes. And there are others too. Males that will treat you with respect. Males that will treat you as equal. You don’t have to hide out here. You could join my pack.”

She stepped closer and sniffed the air, then stepped away quickly. “You’re an alpha.”

“So they tell me.”

“You have your own pack?”

“I will as soon as I’m mated to its alpha.”

She smiled wryly. “But the male will still be in charge.”

I wanted to argue, but with me gone three weeks out of four, Grayson would be in charge. “You’d be safe. I guarantee it.”

“Thank you for your offer,” she said. “But my sisters and I prefer the call of the wild and our freedom.” The other Loup began to troop toward the door. “We must go now.”

“If you change your mind, come to Necro City and find the Regency Pack. Ask for me, Seraphina Dawn.”

She inclined her head. “Be safe.”

And then they were gone.

Cora and I lugged Loup bodies to a corner of the lounge while I filled her in on the last few hours. How Hunter had kidnapped me, how I’d tried to escape and been cornered, and how he’d saved me. I told her about the revelations of his past and how Larson had admitted to besmirching Hunter’s name. Besmirching, yeah, I’d actually used that word.

“So, basically, Hunter’s an alpha-hole worth redeeming?” Cora asked. “Is that what you’re telling me?”

“I don’t like the way he’s treated this whole fated mate thing, like a competition, like I’m a prize to be claimed. But he has issues that are deeper than what I’ve seen on the surface. I thought he was a misogynist, but that was Larson spreading lies and making Hunter look bad. I’ve realized that I don’t know the real Hunter; hell, I don’t think any of us do. I don’t think even he really knows who he is.”

“Uh-oh.” Cora gave me a wary look. “Please do not go into fix-it mode. You can’t fix him, Fee.”

I gave her a doh look. “I know. I don’t intend to. Getting help is up to him. He has a second chance now, and he needs to use it.”

“Are you saying you’ll wait for him?” Cora looked concerned. “Fee, the heat’s only going to get worse, and what if he doesn’t get the help he needs? What if his go-to mode is alpha-hole?”

Yeah, my brain had been processing this shit in the background ever since I’d used the scythe to save Hunter’s life. “This fated mate thing is supposed to mean something, Cora.”

“Fee—”

I held up my hand. “Wait, let me finish. I think the undamaged, unfucked-up Hunter was meant to be my fated mate. Maybe in Loup form, stripped of all his human psyche’s concerns, he is the perfect mate for me. That would explain why my Loup chose him and why my wolf feels a connection to him, but I don’t. In human form, Hunter isn’t the mate for me, and I can’t allow myself to be tied to him, but Grayson…My Loup was attracted to him from the start, and as I got to know him, so was I.” I was thinking out loud, and Cora didn’t interrupt. “My body reacts to Hunter on a primal level even as my mind rebels, but with Grayson… I want Grayson not just with my body but with my heart.” Cora exhaled in evident relief, and I couldn’t help but smile at her reaction. “I started falling for Grayson weeks ago, but I put the brakes on that and pushed my feelings aside because I didn’t want to be tied to this world. But I’m done fighting it, Cor. The Loup is a part of me, and this world is mine just as much as the Underealm.”

Cora put her arm around my shoulder and hugged me to her. “When did you get so wise, huh?”

We stood staring at our neat pile of bodies. I had no idea what the protocol was for getting rid of dead rogue Loup, but Grayson would know once he got here.

The thought of the husky-eyed, golden-haired alpha had blood rushing to the apex of my thighs. I pulled away from Cora and sat down quickly as a surge of need washed over me.

Oh, shit.

“Fee?” Cora crouched in front of me. “What’s wrong?”

My mouth was dry, blood pounding hard at every pulse point. “Cora, it’s starting. It’s early.”

“The exertion and the adrenaline have brought it on,” Hunter said from the lounge doorway.

His dark hair was mussed, his T-shirt in tatters, leaving the taut bloody skin beneath exposed. He looked dangerous and delicious, and I needed to stop looking at him.

“You need to go,” Cora said calmly. “Grayson and the Dominus will be here any minute. And after what you did, it’s not safe for you here. They will hurt you, and they won’t stop to listen to explanations.”

Hunter’s jaw ticked as he looked at me, and it dawned that he was feeling the pull the heat was generating, but he was fighting it.

“You stayed when you could have run,” he said. “You fought with me, and you saved my life.”

Another surge of need washed over me, and the familiar clawing in my belly warned me things were going to get worse.

“You can repay me by getting that therapy I mentioned.” My voice came out in a gushing gasp. “Just go. Please.” I fumbled in my pocket and then threw the car keys in his direction.

Oh, God. I needed him out of here before I leaped off the sofa, body-tackled him to the ground, and ripped his clothes off. I licked my lips, riding a wave of desire that bordered on pain. His presence was making it worse.

“Go!” Cora snapped.

I closed my eyes and dug my fingers into the couch. I could smell him everywhere. I could smell Hunter.

“He’s gone,” Cora said.

“I need Grayson. Where is he?” I could barely think coherently as the nerve endings in my body began to spark.

“Fuck,” Cora said. “Do not move. I’ll be right back.”

She winked out, and I curled up on the sofa as the heat filled my limbs, burning me from the inside out.

“Hey, babe,” Cora said. “Babe. Grayson’s twenty minutes out.” Her voice was fuzzy and far away. “Fee, can you hear me. Azazel and Mal are here.”

“Fee.” Azazel’s dulcet tones filtered through the buzz that filled my head. It was a soothing balm that pushed the heat back a little. “I’ve got you.” He lifted me, cradling me to him. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his neck, tongue flicking out to taste him.

“Fuck,” Azazel growled.

I sucked on his skin, nipping and licking, wanting to devour him and have him devour me.

“Whoa, we need to get a move on,” Mal said.

Mal was here too. I wanted them both. I wanted them to fill me up and fuck my brains out. I wanted, needed.

Oh, God. “Make it stop.”

Cold air on my fevered skin, the howl of the wind, the beat of wings, and my guys’ conversation floating above the elements.

“Storm’s closing in,” Mal said above the flap of wings.

“I know. But we have to get her to him,” Azazel replied.

I rubbed against him, clinging to him, molding to him.

“Fuck, Fee.” Azazel’s tone was husky with barely restrained desire. It was the voice he used when he was deep inside me, thrusting and filling me, pinning me to the bed with his cock.

“Please.”

Was that me begging? Was that me sobbing for him to take me.

“I fucking hate this,” Mal said.

“Don’t. Just don’t. Be thankful it’s Grayson and not Hunter.”

“There it is,” Mal said. “Grayson’s van.”

Azazel

I don’t want to do this. I said I was okay with it, but now the time is here, the thought of handing my soulmate to another male is like a fist around my heart squeezing too hard.

Fee writhes in my arms, trying to get closer. Her hot mouth is on my neck, hands up my shirt exploring my chest, nails digging in just like they do when she comes around my cock.