“’m fine,” she muttered. Her fingers tangled in his mane as she pulled herself up. “I—sss. Landed on my bad knee.” She hissed with pain and struggled upright. “Can’t even dodge without…” she began, then looked past him. The jolt of her shock in his chest was all the warning he got.
The other hellhound struck him in the flank. Fleance flew through the air. He hit the ground and sprang up against at once, leaping towards Parker before he could get to Sheena again.
*Run!* he yelled to his mate, and then there was no time to say or think anything. Fighting against Parker was like running along a knife’s edge. One slip, one mistake, and Parker wouldn’t hesitate to tear him to pieces.
Old scars pulled and twisted as he avoided Parker’s teeth. Muscles he hadn’t used in over a year burned. Running through Pine Valley’s forests was nothing like this.
He had to get Parker away from his mate. Fleance gave up ground, letting the other hellhound drive him into the nearest burning building. Hellhounds could phase through solid matter, but they couldn’t see through it. If he kept Parker occupied in the flames and collapsing timber, Sheena would have a chance to get away.
Parker’s teeth snapped together less than an inch from his shoulder. Before he could get his balance back, Fleance spun around.
He knew what he had to do. He’d seen Parker do it. Take advantage of his opponent being off-balance. Go in for the kill. Do whatever it took to make him submit.
The memory of blood flashed across his vision, and he stumbled.
Parker laughed soot-black smoke as he slunk into the cover of the roaring flames. *Long time no see, kiddo, but you ever think of calling ahead? I’m in the middle of a business deal. I don’t need you trying to muscle in.*
*I’m not here to steal your business,* Fleance snarled. Parker laughed again.
*No? What are you here for, then? Don’t tell me you’ve still got a bee in your bonnet over the work we did together.* His eyes flashed strangely. *Where is my old buddy Caine, anyway?*
*He’s not here,* Fleance snapped.
*That so? Interesting…*
Something tugged inside Fleance’s head, as though the shadows around his pack-sense were growing thicker. He forced the feeling away, focusing as hard as he could on the dim constellation of his pack. Alarms went off in his head. His pack-sense had been weaker ever since he left the States. He didn’t think distance could destroy it entirely, but if it could…
The golden mate bond responded to his fear. It flared bright and shining, a reminder that even if his pack was far away, his mate was close by.
Too close. Dread clamped down on Fleance’s heart. She hadn’t run away.
*Why are you still here?* he sent to her, his voice an arrow he hoped Parker couldn’t overhear.
She responded at once. *I’m not going to leave you here!*
*What made you come all this way, kiddo?* Parker’s voice twisted around his mind like an icy wind trying to find a way in. *Once was, you couldn’t wait to get away from me.*
*Then I’ll leave,* Fleance barked. With Sheena still here—he couldn’t risk her.
*I don’t think so.* Parker’s eyes burned dark from the flames. *I didn’t put on this show for nothing. My original audience might have missed the curtain, but I’m not going to let that gatecrasher out there get away.*
He disappeared. Fleance blinked, his senses on edge. Parker must have phased straight through the wall. He ran after him and burst out from the flames only a few yards behind Parker.
There was no time to plan an attack now. No time to know if his instincts were right. Sheena was standing on the landscaped slope up behind the houses, upwind from the fire. Her pants were ripped at the knee, blood spotting around the tears, and her nostrils flared as she saw the two hellhounds step out of the flames.
Parker took a step towards her and Fleance surged forward, teeth bared. *Don’t touch her!*
Fleance leaped. He was smaller than Parker, but this time his aim was true. When he hit the other hellhound, Parker went down like a tree falling. Fleance rolled with him, snapping, clawing, no room in his head for anything other than instant action and reaction.
Parker’s claws raked against his belly. Fleance yelped, twisting into a defensive posture. Wrong reaction. Parker moved like smoke. Pain shot through Fleance’s face, tearing, hot.
*Fleance!*
Sheena’s shriek cut through the pain. He ripped his head out of Parker’s jaws in time to see her swing a plank of wood towards the other shifter.
The plank hit Parker in the neck. He snarled, turning on Sheena, and lunged. Sheena dropped—No, Fleance realized, she shifted, becoming small enough to slip beneath Parker’s legs. Fleance glimpsed white wool, a black face and flailing ears as she ran. Then Parker snarled with frustration and Fleance took advantage of his lapse in attention to close his jaws around Parker’s neck.
He could feel Parker’s pulse beneath his teeth. The promise of blood. Bite down, his hellhound snarled, finish this!
Shock tore through him, as though he was watching himself from above. Finish him?
He was a monster, he knew that. Parker had made him a monster. But…
*What are you waiting for?* Parker snarled.
*I’m here to finish what Caine started.* He was playing for time. Ice sweat broke out on his back. *He made you leave. It wasn’t enough. You’re too dangerous—*
Especially now. Parker looked as though he was rotting from the inside. His outsides finally matched the corruption within. He was a monster.
But Fleance didn’t have to kill him. There was another way this could end.
*—I have to stop you,* he finished.
Parker glared at him, his eyes rolling in his head. Then, to Fleance’s mixed horror and confusion, he started to laugh.
*Stop me? You? I already told you. You’re not man enough.*
*You have to submit!* Fleance growled.
He tightened his jaw, just a fraction. Still not enough to draw blood.
One bite. That was how it
