Page 55 of Bite for Sore Eyes

"I never asked for that," Vaughn snapped. "Sure, it sounded promising for a few days, and the pay increase blinded me to what was really happening. But then I watched you succeeding, doing my old job, taking over my life's work while my identity slipped away from me piece by piece. So, I knew what I had to do."

The pieces clicked together in Lana's mind with sickening clarity. "So you undermined Rath and Torren's leadership and Jace's competence because you couldn't handle losing your territorial dominance in the security center."

Vaughn's face flushed with anger, as if she'd struck him across the face. "I was undermining decisions made by leaders who grew progressively reckless with their choices and methods. I couldn't allow that to continue unchecked." His voice rose, taking on an almost religious fervor. "And clearly I was right—now the Alphas are sharing a mate instead of having their own. Too progressive, too wrong. Something this Varkesh Bear Sleuth should never embrace."

The words hit Lana like a knife twisting in her chest. To hear this broken man call her triad bond—the most right and perfect thing in her world—wrong and unnatural made her want to scream.

"We need to get this show on the road," Vaughn said suddenly, his manic energy shifting into something far more dangerous. "Enough chit-chatting."

He nodded to the rogue bear shifter standing behind her chair, and Lana soon felt the cold press of steel against her throat. Across from her, the second rogue bear shifter produced his own knife, the blade gleaming in the firelight as he positioned it against Jace's neck.

"Vaughn, don't do this!" Jace's voice cracked with desperation. "You were my mentor—someone I admired, someone I trusted. Don't kill me!"

Suddenly, the wooden front door exploded inward with such violent force that splinters of aged timber scattered across the cabin's living room like shrapnel. Through the gaping entrance burst two massive bears, their forms so imposing they seemed to fill every available inch of space. Lana's heart leaped with fierce relief even as the cold steel pressed harder against her throat in response to the rogue bear shifter's startled reaction.

Rath's bear was a mountain of dark fur and lethal muscle, his bright green eyes blazing with predatory fury as they locked onto the knife at her neck. Beside him, Torren's bear radiated the same deadly intent, his blue eyes scanning the room with tactical precision before settling on Jace's predicament across from her. The air itself seemed to vibrate with their barely contained violence.

Vaughn's eyes widened in shock for a split second before his survival instincts kicked in. The shimmer of transformation rippled across his human form as bones cracked and reformed, muscles expanding until a powerful brown bear stood where the traitorous engineer had been moments before.

The rogue bear shifter holding the blade to Lana's throat must have sensed his life hanging by a thread because the steel clattered to the wooden floor with a sharp ring as his own body began the violent process of shifting. Across the room, the second rogue abandoned his weapon at Jace's neck and underwent the same brutal transformation.

Within seconds, five enormous bears crowded the small living space, their combined mass making the rustic furniture look like children's toys, and the scent of aggression and territorial fury filled the air so thickly Lana could taste it.

How am I going to survive this?

The thought raced through her mind as she realized she and Jace were now trapped in the middle of what promised to be a savage battle between apex predators.

But Jace wasn't shifting. The sedative still coursing through his system must have been suppressing his bear's ability to fully emerge. However, his bound hands began to shimmer with otherworldly energy. Then massive bear claws erupted from his fingertips, slicing through the thick rope like it was tissue paper, and he leaped across the room to remove her bindings from her hands.

"Come on," he hissed, grabbing her arm and hauling her toward the far corner of the room.

Pressed against the rough wooden wall, Lana watched her mates unleash fifteen years of Alpha dominance in defense of their territory and their mate. Rath's bear launched himself at Vaughn's bear and the first rogue bear with the grace of a born predator, while Torren's bear engaged the second rogue bear in a display of raw power that made the cabin's foundation tremble.

Through the completed bond, despite the lingering effects of whatever drug Vaughn had used, she felt their fierce protectiveness like a living flame in her chest. These weren't just her lovers fighting for her life—these were Alpha bears defending everything they held sacred, and their fury was magnificent and terrifying in equal measure.

Torren's opponent was massive, but the Alpha's superior training and intelligence showed immediately. He feinted left, drawing the rogue bear into overcommitting, then struck with devastating precision. His powerful jaws clamped around the rogue bear's neck with a sickening crunch that ended the threat permanently and the lifeless body hit the floor with a heavy thud.

"Jesus," Jace breathed beside her, his voice filled with awe rather than horror.

Rath's bear was locked in combat with both Vaughn's bear and the remaining rogue bear, but even outnumbered, his movements were controlled and calculated. He caught the rogue bear's charge with his shoulder, using the bear's momentum against him, then delivered a bone-crushing blow that sent the rogue bear sprawling. Before the threat could recover, Rath's massive paw connected with the rogue bear's skull, and another enemy fell silent.

Now it was just Vaughn's bear facing both Alphas, and the outcome was never in doubt. The traitorous bear fought with the desperation of a cornered animal, landing several blows that drew blood from both Rath's bear and Torren's bear, but thirty years of engineering couldn't overcome a lifetime of Alpha training.

Torren's bear knocked Vaughn's bear to the floor with a powerful swipe, pinning the smaller bear beneath his massive weight. Vaughn's bear struggled frantically, but Rath's jaws closed around his throat with inexorable finality. Then Lana watched the life fade from the bear's eyes and felt nothing but cold satisfaction. This bear shifter had tried to destroy everything, had threatened the future she'd finally allowed herself to believe in, and justice had been rightfully served.

The brown bear's body went limp, then shimmered back into human form, leaving Vaughn's lifeless corpse sprawled on the cabin floor. Rath and Torren stepped back, their massive forms heaving with exertion but victorious.

Both bears turned toward the corner where she and Jace waited, and the deadly predators transformed instantly into concerned mates. Their forms shimmered as they shifted back to human, revealing two gloriously naked, blood-streaked Alphas whose only concern was her safety.

Lana didn't hesitate. She broke free from Jace's protective grip and ran straight into their arms, feeling herself enveloped by their solid warmth and unwavering strength. Rath's arms wrapped around her from one side while Torren's claimed her from the other, creating a cocoon of safety that made everything else fade away.

"Are you hurt?" Rath asked softly.

"Did they harm you in any way?" Torren's voice carried the same protective edge.

"I'm fine," she whispered, breathing in their familiar scents. "I'm perfectly fine now."

The future they had fought so hard for was still theirs. The threat that had shadowed their happiness was gone forever, and now they could finally live in the peace and comfort they deserved.