Skye’s small hand hooked around my pinky finger. It was a tiny gesture, but I knew it was her way of saying she was supporting me in every way, even if she was terrified.
I lifted her hand to my lips, kissing her knuckles as I gave her my full attention. “It’s going to be fine.”
Her green eyes blinked owlishly at me. “Can you just make sure that he actually dies this time? I’m getting tired of him coming back and messing with our lives every time I think I’ve gotten away from him.”
A smirk pulled at my lips. “Sure. Consider it a belated birthday present.”
“We never did get to have your birthday party,” Katy sighed.
“If your friends are throwing you a party, I would like to as well,” Nikolai spoke up. He scanned the group of Long Mesa members. “Are there any other heads you would like? I could post them on spikes around the fence of the house for when you return to visit.”
Skye stared at him. “I probably won’t be back to Russia for a while.”
He waved a dismissive hand. “It’s cold there more often than not. The cold will preserve the heads well. Simply point them out, and we’ll take care of it.”
“No heads,” she said forcefully. “I don’t want heads as a gift. Ever. In any context.”
Nikolai turned to Addie. “Sometimes she truly is more your child than mine.”
Even Addie couldn’t help cracking a smile. She’d been fairly pale since Nikolai broke Allan’s neck, but she slowly seemed to be coming back to life in front of our eyes, especially after a few of the men dragged his body off the street.
“Are we doing this today?” Cassian called, annoyance thick in his tone.
I glanced over to where he had stripped out of his clothes and was bouncing on the balls of his feet. I snorted, not at all amused by the show.
“He might be kind of hot if he wasn’t such a complete douche canoe,” Lulu remarked. “And I’m assuming he’s a grower, not a shower because yeesh.”
Skye choked beside me, twisting her face away with red cheeks. “Lulu!”
Lulu’s gray eyes went wide. “What?”
Tate cackled beside her. “Right? He’s like—”
“Are you actually staring at his dick right now?” Dante demanded, a slight growl in his words. “You realize we’re standing right here.”
Tate grinned up at him. “Babe, come on. Even you have to admit you looked.”
“I did,” Ryder added, ticking up a finger. “And I’m also not impressed.”
“I swear, I’m tying both of you to the bed when we get home,” Dante muttered, rubbing his jaw.
Ryder’s eyes lit up. “Promise?”
“I definitely feel like I’m too old for this conversation,” Addie murmured, her cheeks red.
I shook my head, smiling at my friends and glad they were comfortable joking around despite the gravity of the situation.
“Just be careful,” Larkin told me, worrying her lower lip.
“Remy’s got this,” Rhodes said firmly, his eyes meeting mine.
I looked back at him knowingly. I was pretty sure I did have this, but we’d already discussed what would happen if things somehow went wrong. He would grab the others and get them out before things got too bad. If I went down, I needed to know Skye was safe. Thankfully I knew that every person we had brought with us would make sure she was.
Skye tugged on my finger, leading me away from the group.
“Cassian’s a good fighter,” she mumbled, worry creeping into her eyes.
“You think he’s better than me?” I couldn’t keep the surprise out of my tone.
Her eyes narrowed. “I think he’ll play dirty, and so will the pack. Especially if it looks like he’s losing.”
“I figured as much,” I admitted. I gave into the temptation to touch her cheek, not giving a shit that I could feel Cassian’s eyes on us the whole time.
Let him look. Let him see what he would never have.
“I love you,” she told me gently, lifting up to her toes to kiss me.
“I can’t wait for you to kiss me like that when I kill him,” Cassian called over to us, setting off a round of snickers from the men behind him.
Everything in me wanted to walk over and smash his face in with my fists. I was physically shaking with the need to do something. Being in this hellhole was awful. Looking around at the dirty streets, the cracked buildings, and the occasional scared eyes looking out from dusty windows was infuriating as an Alpha.
But it was heartbreaking as Skye’s mate to know this was how she grew up.
Skye sank back down on her feet, her green eyes filled with fire. “Don’t hold back.”
“I never do,” I replied, feeling the adrenaline pumping through my veins as my wolf snarled and paced, begging to be released.
Skye moved back between her parents as I turned towards Cassian, who was still naked. His limp dick hung like a literal white flag between his legs.
Snorting, I pulled my shirt over my head and stripped out of my jeans. If he wanted a dick measuring contest he would lose in every way.
I surrendered to my wolf, feeling my bones crack and pop as they reformed. My skin itched for a second as the fur sprouted, covering my body. The snarl that tore from my chest at Cassian echoed on the nearly empty street.
Within seconds, his muddy brown wolf was in front of me. Size-wise we were pretty evenly matched. He may have been a little taller, but his muscles weren’t what I remembered. Whatever had happened after he went off that cliff, his body had paid a price.
It wouldn’t be an easy fight, but I also had the edge. Cassian was fighting for himself; I was fighting for my pack and my mate.
He didn’t stand a chance.
But that didn’t stop him from lunging first, his mouth gaping and teeth glinting in the sunlight as he went for my throat straight away.
It was easy enough to jump out of the way and put distance between us. My back foot brushed against something metal as I moved. I glanced back to see an open trap buried in the dirt.
Cassian had tried pushing me into it. The force of the trap closing would have snapped through the bones in my leg.
Skye was right; they were definitely playing dirty. I started to growl as Cassian moved again. He turned fast, already attacking again with a snarl. This time when he tried to bite me, I ducked low, clamping my jaws down hard on his back leg.
I released it when he howled, getting out of the way before he could use my own hold against me and bite me in return.
Blood dripped into the dirt, and I smiled inwardly. I’d drawn first blood.
The scent of blood in the air seemed to make Cassian slightly less focused and more unhinged. His attacks became less about power and coordination and more about bloodlust. He wanted to taste my blood.
Another advance gave me the chance to bite his shoulder, but I let myself linger too long and he managed to get a decent bite on my side.
I wrenched away, feeling my skin tear as blood seeped from the wound.
Fuck. That hurt more than I liked.
I could practically feel Skye’s worry, the cloying, overpowering scent of her fear filled my nostrils as I shook my head and regrouped a few feet away from Cassian.
His blue eyes were cold, practically dead as he glared at me, my blood dripping from his jaws, but he was favoring his left side now. His gait as he ran at me was awkward and just this side of clumsy.