But no.
She couldn't explain how, but somehow she knew that Ty was unhurt. The bond between them was too strong to leave her in doubt. If he had been hurt or killed, she would have known.
Her father sensed the soldiers' unease. "Don't let her get into your head, boys. These beasts are huge. Seven feet tall and hundreds of pounds. There's no way they could sneak up on us."
Except…Mia knew that they could. She had seen Ty do precisely that to the bastard who had grabbed her in the woods. Neither of them had even known Ty was there until he'd knocked the beta to the ground.
"You need to leave," Mia repeated.
Her father's mouth flattened into a thin line. "You don't tell me what to do, little girl."
The sharp note of rage in his voice told her everything she needed to know. It was the tone he used whenever she hit a nerve.
Most times, it was punctuated by the back of his hand across her cheek. But not this time.
Never again.
Senator Baird turned to the soldier standing to his left. "Go grab her, just in case we need to use her as a shield."
The beta gave a slight nod and moved toward her. The poor bastard didn't even make it two steps.
Ty rounded the corner of Randall's house in a flash, moving so fast Mia could barely track him. The soldier didn't have time to react. He couldn't even raise his rifle before Ty plowed into him, seeing his limp body flying across the clearing.
Mia took a step back as she spotted Kian and Randall thundering toward them from behind the helicopter. They split up and headed for opposite ends of the line of soldiers and took out the first two with one blow each.
The remaining three betas raised their weapons, but the alphas were relentless. Their movements were too swift. Too sure. Every punch landed. Bones cracked, and blood flew before Mia could retreat.
The helicopter whined to life as the blades started to turn.
Her father, seeing that the tides had turned, ran for the helicopter's open door and pulled himself in.
But he couldn't close it fast enough.
Randall was right behind him, and he threw himself inside, knocking her father over. The helicopter had lifted a few feet off the ground—but it didn't make it any higher. There was a loud pop, and then eerie silence as the engine instantly died. The copter fell sideways to the ground and burst into flames.
Randall appeared in the open door, framed by fire, with her very-much-alive father in one hand and the torn-out controls of the helicopter in the other. He tossed her father out on to the grass below before jumping down.
"Ty," he said. "I believe this one is yours to deal with."
Ty closed the distance in two strides and put his foot on her father's back as the senator tried to crawl away, rendering him unable to move.
"You know what I have to do," Ty said, speaking only to Mia.
She did. Just like she knew he wasn't telling her what was going to happen. He was asking. Asking her permission to kill her father and end the threat to their lives forever.
Mia knew what question cost him. Rage came off him in waves, every muscle in his body tense with coiled vengeance. It had to be killing him to hold himself back.
But he was willing to bow to her desire—even willing to let him live to see tomorrow—if that was what Mia wanted.
You know what I have to do.
Mia met her alpha's gaze without blinking, wordlessly communicating the boundless love and respect she had for him.
"Do it," she said in a clear, strong voice.
The strong stench of urine reached her nostrils as her father quaked uncontrollably, moaning and begging.
The sound of police sirens approached. If Mia could hear them, she knew that the three alphas had heard them quite a while ago. Their hands balled into fists; their muscles tensed as they readied themselves for another attack.
But when the swarm of black sedans with red and blue lights blazing made the turn in front of Randall's house and came to a stop, Agent Christie jumped out of the first car, his gun already drawn.
His men were close behind. A dozen of them climbed out and formed a line facing her father's hired soldiers, waited for a signal.
Christie looked around him, taking in the situation, before settling his gaze on Ty.
"Wick," he said, nodding in acknowledgment. "I need you to know I tried to stop him before he got to her."
Ty cocked his head to the side. "Are you going to try to stop me now? Like you did with that coward beta kid before?"
"Yes, Agent Christie," her father yelled, his voice breaking in terror. "Shoot the mongrel now. Save, and I'll give you anything you want. I swear. Anything."
Christie drew in a deep breath and let it out with a loud sigh. Slowly, he lowered his gun. "Fuck it," he said. "Do what you have to, Wick. The truth is you'll be saving me from a mound of paperwork."
"No," her father cried.
Ty let out a growl of victory. "This is for every time you hurt her."
He smashed his fist into her father's chest, the force of the blow crushing his ribs.
Mia closed her eyes as his screams of terror and pain carried across the field. She had no pity for her father, but that didn't mean she could stand to watch him die.
Again and again, she heard the pounding of Ty's hands against her father's ribs. Bones cracked, and blood sprayed.
And then it was over.
The whole field was quiet. The only sound she heard was Ty's ragged breath.
Only then did Mia turn around. She didn't look directly at her father's body—though his bloody corpse was in her peripheral vision.
The only person she wanted to look at was
