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“Kismet! Run!” Ren shouted.
She couldn’t stop herself from glancing behind her. Wolves leaped at Ren, their claws curled like knives and their jaws wide, revealing sharp teeth. She felt the whoosh of air behind her a second before something slammed against her head and knocked her off the porch. She lost the grip on the chair as she fell, her wings curling around her in protection. She hit the ground hard and landed on her left wing, which cracked with a sharp sound and sent pain shooting through her. She rolled off the damaged wing. Her arm tingled as the magic within her wing seeped into her body.
Stef waved a chunk of wood tauntingly in the air. “Shoulda left, bitch.”
Kismet rose to her knees and clutched her now-numb arm. The pain would continue to radiate down her body until she was incapacitated by the numbness that followed.
Stef jumped from the porch and landed solidly. “I knew the moment I saw you that I’d take you out. If yourmatewas smart, he would have left you and spared you. But he didn’t. My males will subdue him and eventually, he’ll break and realize he was destined to be with me as my alpha counterpart.”
A sob wanted to tear through Kismet’s chest, but she held it back. Snapping herself back to awareness, she did the only thing she could think of—lured Stef away from the house. Kismet rose to her feet and opened a portal.
“Come and get me,bitch,” Kismet taunted as she flung herself through the portal and landed on the dirt and sand of the training compound.
Stef cursed and jumped through the portal. Kismet heard Ren call her name as the portal closed; she couldn’t keep it open when her body screamed in pain.
Kismet hobbled to a stand, her left side almost entirely numb. The broken wing was literally bleeding magic into her body like a toxin. She needed to see a healer soon, but first, she had to deal with the crazy bitch who’d caused so much trouble.
“I’ll open a portal and you can pick up whatever’s left of your pack and hit the road. You don’t think about me and Ren, and you never, ever come back to Wilde Creek or interfere with our lives. I’ll let you live, but this is your only chance.”
Kismet wasn’t a killer. She’d never killed anyone or even been in a position to have to make that choice. But she knew in her heart of hearts that Stef wouldn’t leave quietly. The mistake had been letting her live in the first place, but how could anyone have known just how batshit crazy she was?
Fangs and claws erupted from Stef’s mouth and fingers. “I don’t know where we are, but I’ll kill you slow no matter the location. Sendmehome and walk away from Ren or stay and die. Your choice.”
“The fuck is going on here?” Kismet’s father demanded as he jogged to them, stopping at her side.
The soldiers in training had stopped to watch the proceedings and joined in a circle around them.
“She’s trying to kill me,” Kismet said.
E’lahn’s eyes narrowed and he turned his head slowly to look at Stef. His wings were out, bristling in the sunlight, the copper tips glowing like they were molten. “Is she now?”
“Dad,” she said, her left knee going numb. “Let me do this.”
“I was planning to. Don’t fail.”
“I won’t.” At least she thought she wouldn’t. There was really no choice, anyway. She wasn’t about to give up Ren.
“Better be quick or you’re going to lose your wing.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Kismet shrugged off the injury and took the sword her father held out to her. He’d taken it from one of the soldiers. It was heavy, but it was similar to the one she’d used when she’d learned how to fight and defend herself. Her father had given her the knowledge with a hopefulyou might never need it, but it had lain there dormant in her mind for just such a moment as this. Her father stepped away from her, far enough to let her fight but close enough to step in. She knew Stef might have designs to kill her, but no way her father, or the soldiers, would let it go that far.
She hoped Ren was okay. As soon as she could, she’d help him. If she could walk, anyway. At the very least, she’d ask her dad to go help her mate kick ass. Which she was very certain he was doing right then. Ren was second in the pack for a reason, and no assholes with chips on their shoulders would derail him.
Kismet brandished the sword as renewed strength filled her with determination. Her powers weakened because of her injury, but she could still open a portal and send Stef back to her own realm. And she could definitely send this bitch to the afterlife if that was the route she chose. “Leave or die.”
“You first,” Stef said, her body morphing as she changed forms into her wolf. With a snarl, she leaped at Kismet, eyes glowing with hatred and jaws wide.
* * *
Ren didn’t have time to fully count the attackers, but there were easily more than twenty. He had Caleb and Zander on his side, but it would be twenty minutes before Acksel and the others showed up.
“I called Acksel,” Zander said. “Are these the assholes who destroyed your place?”
Ren nodded. He looked at the males advancing on him. “You get one chance to get off my property and forget about this place.” He let his wolf out enough to change the sound of his voice. It was deeper now and rough. He was a powerful wolf, and these males wouldnotget to his mate.
“Come with us, and your female will be spared,” one of the males said. “Fight the inevitable, she dies, and you come with us by force.”
“You’re as delusional as the female leading you,” Ren said. “The only thing happening today is that you’re leaving. In a body bag or on your own, it’s your choice.”
