“Alarick,” I cried, diving toward my wolf. But Mr. Wolf caught my heel in his powerful jaws, and I hit the ground hard. I felt the bones in my foot and ankle snapping as he crushed my foot, wrenching like he’d tear it from my body so I could never escape easily again. I screamed, my fingers raking the ground for purchase. Alarick dropped to his knees and shifted, blood still pouring from his middle. He dove forward, sinking his teeth into Mr. Wolf’s shoulder.
Instead of releasing me, Mr. Wolf tore at my foot, and pain slammed into me hard enough to take my breath. I kicked out at him with my free leg, and my boot connected with his skull. I felt the crack of bone. He released me with an enraged howl, then dived on top of me and struck blindly, his teeth tearing into my side before Alarick wrenched him free.
Blood spurted from the hole he’d torn in my flesh. I screamed and rolled over, trying to stop the bleeding with my hands. Adolf shot past me in wolf form, diving into the fight. Donovan, Jose, and Brooklyn were all shifting, too. Vance pushed Lindy back toward the shack before dropping to his knees and changing into the wolf I’d run with and hunted with and shared kills with. But instead of helping the pack, he leapt onto Donovan’s back, snarling and snapping as they rolled across the ground, going for each other’s throats.
Fuck. This wasn’t just a little skirmish. This was the pack dividing into two factions—those who wanted to leave, who wanted to protect humans and do things differently, and those who agreed with Mr. Wolf. To them, protecting the species and increasing their numbers came before anything else. Any cost was worth it just to get one viable mate like Lindy.
“Are you okay?” my old friend asked, crouching beside me.
“No,” I gritted out. I was pretty sure I was holding my guts in.
“Why is this happening?” Lindy asked, waving her hands frantically in front of her. “What should I do?”
“This doesn’t need to happen,” I managed. “No wolf should die right now. But they won’t listen to me.”
Vance dove in and grabbed Brooklyn, hurling her to the ground and clamping his teeth on her throat. She howled and raked her claws through his fur, leaving a series of gashes in his thick coat. Adolf charged, snapping at Vance’s front leg and taking him down. Brooklyn rolled to her feet and bit down on Vance’s haunch, ripping fur and skin and spraying blood.
My teeth throbbed, my mouth aching at the scent of so much blood. Alarick was rolling and biting with Mr. Wolf. Donovan leapt onto them, clamping onto the back of his father’s neck and hanging on, trying to pull him free while Jose dove in, snarling and snapping.
Alarick let out a roar and ripped his father free, and a second later, he hurled his body through the air. The enormous wolf thumped to the ground beside me, making the earth shake beneath us. Lindy shrieked and covered her face. Adolf dove toward the body of Mr. Wolf, but I held up a hand. “Wait,” I yelled. “Don’t kill him!”
The body was mangled and drenched in blood, which sent a sharp pain knifing into my teeth. I needed food to heal. And here it was…
I winced as I felt my teeth come out, aching for a taste.
“He’s dead,” Lindy shrieked, cowering back against the wall of the shack. Vance backed toward her, baring his teeth at the other wolves as if they might attack his mate.
Alarick was swaying on his feet, a grisly pool of blood spreading around him.
“No one needs to die,” I yelled. “Stop fighting. We all want the same thing—to save the wolves! Killing each other won’t accomplish that.”
Alarick took one step and sank to the ground. I stumbled to my feet, cursing through the pain, and staggered over to him. I sank down next to him, trying not to breathe in the delicious smell of blood all around me, urging me to eat, to heal. His fur was matted with blood, and I had to hold my breath as I searched for his injuries. Jose and Brooklyn lay on the ground in wolf form, but I could see their sides moving as they breathed.
“Vance, you’re done,” Adolf said, standing tall in his human form, blood trickling from a dozen small injuries on his giant body. “Take your mate and go back to our father’s house. It’s all yours. You’re no longer part of our pack.”
“What are you going to do to him?” Lindy asked in a high, tremulous voice, peering around Vance at Mr. Wolf.
“I’m going to finish what we started,” Adolf said, standing over his father’s form. Donovan had returned to human form and was crouching over the old wolf, whose breathing was quick and shallow.
“No,” I said. “No more killing.”
“He’s going to die anyway,” Donovan said.
Mr. Wolf let out a low, long whine. Blood trickled from his muzzle onto the ground.
“I’ll heal him,” I said, crawling toward him on one elbow, still holding my side with the other hand. Blood was dripping between my fingers, and I was too lightheaded to stand.
When I reached his side, I pushed up onto my knees and took a moment to catch my breath before breaking the skin on my wrist.
“No,” Vance said sharply.
I looked up to find him in human form, his eyes hard. “I’m saving him,” I said.
“He’d rather die,” Vance said.
“You don’t get to make that call,” I said, holding my wrist toward Mr. Wolf’s bloody muzzle.
He let out an ear-piercing whine.
Donovan took my hand and gently moved my hand away. “Vance is in Mr. Wolf’s pack,” he
