*Gemma*The driver slammed his foot down on the brake. Kael, Helie, and I smashed face-first into the seats. The car skidded, swinging sideways, the tires unable to keep traction on the sand. Ahead, the car holding Izar and four other Nightguard shifters was crushed. I couldn't see anyone moving inside it. The two males in the front seats made to open the doors and jump out to rescue their Alpha—but then I looked to see who was climbing out of the enemy car's wrecked doors.The scream ripped from my throat. "No!""Why?" they barked in tandem. "They're just Herrick's guards. We can take them—"Maybe they could, but I didn't want them to risk their lives for my kidnappers.Gralyn and Hadley's feet hit the sand, and they stalked toward Izar's car."Gemma," Helie hissed. "What's wrong?"I wasn't afraid of them, but I was afraid of what I didn't know–their capabilities. Maybe they could be taken down by any of the Nightguards shifters—or maybe they could be strong enough
*Kael*I couldn't bear the thought of losing Gemma. And when she yelled rather angrily that she was in love with me, my heart ached so badly that I thought, for the briefest of moments, taking up Helie's exaggerated suggestion and making love to my mate here and now. Even if we burned our skin off on the sand, it would be worth it. She was worth it. And she was worthy of reuniting with her best friend. Cari Maayan, an Epsilon of the Oceantide pack, sent on a mission not to aid Syrus's forces but Nightguard's—and Moonwake. To join the resistance, Moonrise, the operation to reclaim my lost pack and homeland.I almost wept with them."Why are you covered in blood?" Cari demanded, looking Gemma up and down with wide eyes.Gemma blinked and did the same, lifting her hands to see her sliced-up palms. "Oh, yeah, I forgot. Our car was attacked, and they shattered the windows. They'll heal fast.""Healer!" Cari shouted, startling Gemma, and then ordered her, "Sit. I can't believ
*Kael*I jumped out of the car before it came to a stop, skidding across the sand and throwing myself onto my knees, putting two fingers to my brother's neck. There—a pulse. Alive.I shook Rian's shoulders—and my horror spiked. He looked worse than I ever did: cuts, bloomed bruises, swollen lip. He'd been tortured. I knew exactly by who.Connor Herrick had tortured my brother.I'd kill him. "Rian, wake up. Wake up, for Mom's sake!"His face was already sunburned. He would look like a molting snake when he healed. When, not if.Helie appeared. "He's alive. I'm going to kill him.""We have to get him in the car." I hauled my brother over my shoulder, lying him down in the backseat just like Jerah. I really didn't want to make this a habit.Cari had squeezed herself in the small trunk, watching Gemma climb into the passenger side. I set Rian's head on Helie's lap as she set to work on his face with the medical supplies that every car was equipped with—along with wate
*Kael*"I don't see anyone," Gemma said, leaning forward and squinting past the sun's glare and swirling sand. She was right. The cars weren't running and there was no sign of life. Izar stopped and parked, waving out the window in what had to be a signal to the rest of the caravan. We sat in uncertain silence. "It was not part of the plan," Izar said bitterly, and I now noticed the family resemblance: my mother liked things orderly and according to plan or expectation. "But sometimes you have to just wing it. Alpha Kael, do you have a suggestion for our next move?"Everyone turned to me, and I forgot that Alphas needed to make those kinds of calls. I was the one shifters would be waiting orders from, asking tough questions, hoping—and expecting—encouraging speeches to lift morale and give reason to follow me into battle.I'd barely gotten the chance to practice. Now, I was thrown straight into the thick of it.I looked at my mate, her eyes burning with determinatio
*Gemma*I never imagined my uncles could be so conniving.But that didn't matter. If we could make them happy by eliminating a threat to them and the rest of Oceantide, even the entire East—hell, the rest of the West—then fine. Kael and everyone else who was about to fight alongside us; none of us were doing it to satisfy anyone. We were going to war with the intent to free the country from slavery. We were going to save villages and cities, protect daughters and sisters, and prove there could be futures for all without the threat of fear."You just might start a revolution, Gemma Brooks."Maybe so. Maybe I really was the reason an army was standing behind me as I stood beside one of the most important Alphas of this lifetime. Would any of this happen if I hadn't plunged that knife into Connor Herrick's spine?Maybe, maybe not.All that mattered was that it was happening, and there was no going back. Conviction was everything. This was not the time or place for hesita
*Gemma*Bly's report on Connor's state was an understatement. He wasn't just a wreck. He was deranged and unhinged.It was evident the second I saw him with Kael pinned to the floor on his stomach, Connor's booted foot digging between his shoulder blades, a similar scene to the throne room situation, holding a fistful of my mate's hair in one hand while the other held the blade to his throat. Harsh rays of sunlight through another window glinted off the metal.Connor wheezed a laugh. "Do you recognize this knife, Gemma?"Like the rest of us, he was a mess of sand and blood. Unlike us, his eyes were bright and bloodshot with madness. His breath was rattling in his lungs, and he was hunched over as if he couldn't fully straighten his spine. "I remember," I said slowly, knowing that a single word could make him go off. And with my mate's life suddenly on the line, I had to choose them very carefully. I met Kael's eyes. They were wide with fear—but not for him. For me.
*Kael*I never imagined I would feel pity for the tyrant who killed my family and destroyed my city.I viewed the Beast of the West on a bloody, cracked pedestal surrounded by the bodies of hundreds of innocents, laughing as he basked in his own strength. He was always perfect: tanned muscle, neat hair, intelligent but cruel eyes—just a calculating monster who never misstepped in his conquering.But now, the pedestal had cracked in half, and Connor Herrick was falling from grace. I had been terrified of having my throat slit after he somehow managed to ambush me in that small dwelling. I was so shamefully stunned that I did what he'd asked: call Gemma. Lure her straight to him. If I was terrified for my own life, it was nothing compared to what I felt for Gemma. I'd lost and found her already. I couldn't lose her again.I'd done what he asked me to do not for him but for my own selfish reasons. I'd wanted to see her one more time before he killed me.Now, I felt no fear
*Gemma* I couldn't do it. I couldn't stomach this monster. He was sickening and cruel, and the last thing he ever deserved was kindness or forgiveness.Waiting twelve years—and willing to wait longer—for the perfect, precise revenge was just… unbearable to think about. My mind couldn't wrap itself around why Connor's mind would think any of that was okay or justifiable.All the while he was laughing, basking in his own enjoyment, getting a kick out of our shock and disgust. I clutched Raisa's knife; Kael held Connor over the well wall; Cari stood trembling with anger. "Just do it!" she barked furiously at Kael. "Throw him down that damn well! If you don't, I will!"Kael was hesitating. I didn't know why. He hated Connor more than anything, and abhorrently, Connor was right: we would never get this chance again. We had thought it was impossible, and now it was happening, so why weren't we utilizing this chance?No, I did know why.The Alpha of Moonwake did not want to