Something bad was happening. Something so bad. Where the fuck was Blaire? The snarling of the wolves filled her head, and her animal pushed to Change. It wouldn’t do any good, though. It would just expose her before she could get to Roman.
“Owoooooooooooooo,” she howled, head snapping back toward the ceiling, calling…something. Crying for something she didn’t understand. Begging help.
The crowd around her froze for one single moment, and then panic ensued, as they tried to get away from her.
“She’s one of them!”
“One of the wolves got loose!”
She snarled at a man who reached for her, sank her teeth into his hand. Don’t fucking touch me. “Owoooooooo!”
The crowd parted as she jumped up onto the railing that surrounded the cage. Roman and Slade were ripping each other to shreds. The scent of heavy magic thickened the air and clogged her throat, and when she looked back at the panicking crowd, she saw them. Gentry was in wolf form engaged with another werewolf she didn’t recognize. One of the guards perhaps. It was Asher who held her attention, though. He was in human form, but his eyes were white and roiling with fury as he strode toward her. His muscular neck arched back as he answered her call. “Owooooo!” His voice sounded haunted. The note died in his throat as he threw up a hand toward the ceiling in a quick gesture that had an immediate reaction. Every light above them exploded, raining sparks.
Asher gave her a bone-chilling smile as the shadows took him, as if he was most comfortable in darkness.
“No!” Rhett screamed above the frantic crowd, who were filtering out of the exit in droves.
“Done!” Blaire yelled from somewhere to the left. The humming died from the cage. “Mila, get him out of there!”
Thank God. Mila turned, grabbed the metal, and braced herself against the railing. Pushing her body, she pried the bars as hard as she could. And then she wasn’t alone. Gentry was still at war behind them, but Asher jumped up on the railing and took the bars in his hands, then ripped it apart like it was paper. Mila had only moved it a couple inches, but Asher had torn a mother-fucking hole in the cage.
There was light filtering in through the open exit door, and she could now see Roman and Slade killing each other. Asher was ripped backward off the railing by three bright-eyed guards, but Mila was already too far out of their reach, no help to Asher right now. Not when her focus was on saving Roman.
She slipped through the hole in the bars and cried out with the pain of the Change. It came so fast, as if her wolf had been waiting for her feet to touch the ground to steal her body. Something massive whooshed past her, and she snarled as another big wolf attacked Roman. She’d bet her bones it was Anderson. Now it was two on one and Roman needed help, now.
So she—submissive little chicken—bolted for the wolf fight, sank her teeth into Anderson’s neck, and shook her head as hard as she could to do the most damage.
He released Roman’s shoulder with a snarl, but Slade and Roman were still locked onto each other’s necks.
“Mila!” Asher yelled. “Don’t let him take alpha!”
What? That made no sense. The distraction almost made her lose her death grip on the massive wolf.
Something barreled into her and knocked her against the rails. With a snarl, Mila righted herself and glared at her assailant. Dread pulsed through her body when she saw the giant gray wolf. Alpha. No. She shook her head, trying to rattle her wolf off her urge to cower in front of Rhett.
Anderson was laying limp on the ground, and Slade was on the run, bolting for the opening in the cage, but Rhett was circling Roman now. And God, Roman looked like he’d already been through hell. His gray fur was matted and wet with crimson, but he didn’t favor any injuries. His head was lowered, his red teeth bared, his hackles raised all down his back. His eyes blazed like fire. Beautiful destroyer.
Behind him, Blaire’s winter-white wolf appeared like an apparition, her lips curled back over razor sharp teeth.
My pack. Mila slunk around the cage and forced herself to Roman. She cowered under Rhett’s glare, but placed herself under Roman’s chin to protect his throat. Slowly, eyes locked on Rhett’s, she pulled her lips back from her teeth and growled. Mine.
Move. She could hear him so clearly in her mind, but she forced her body to stay still. Roman was warm and alive against her back, and if she had to bring hell to earth, she was going to keep it that way.
Rhett paced, his ears erect, his eyes filled with hate. He snarled a terrifying sound. Move!
Mila jerked her head but didn’t move. She’d thought this whole time she would never rid herself of Rhett’s poisonous alpha bond unless she found another alpha, or unless Odine had mercy on her and ripped the bond from her soul with magic. But in this moment, Mila felt the change. The urge to obey died to nothing. She didn’t choose him as her alpha anymore, so he had no power over her.
Roman had lifted her up too high, and now she was nobody’s Bottom Bitch.
The snarl in her throat rattled louder. Fffuck you.
She could tell the instant Rhett decided she was expendable. The moment he knew he’d lost her for always. The moment he decided he would rather kill her than share her with Roman. It was in his furious icy blue eyes. Murder dwelled there.
He went for her face, but Roman was on him, tearing into his ear, ripping him backward as Rhett’s teeth snapped an inch away from Mila’s muzzle. And Roman wasn’t alone. Blaire engaged, and so did Mila. The snarling was deafening, but Mila was completely calm as she fought. The pain felt like nothing, and nothing around her mattered except for Roman and Blaire. If they were okay, she was okay. More than okay. She was the bone-ripper. She would burn the world to the fucking ground if it meant the ones she loved were safe.
Blaire was thrown off and, worried over her friend, Mila lost her grip. Roman was shredding Rhett’s throat. It wouldn’t be long now.
Time slowed to a crawl.
Blaire lay on her side near the bars, struggling to her feet.
Asher’s tar-black wolf looked panicked as he ran toward them through the hole in the cage, silver eyes on Roman.
Gentry ran behind him, eyes wide with warning. They were charging in to stop Roman.
Don’t let him take alpha.
Roman wasn’t meant for that role, had never wanted it, but he was killing the alpha of the Bone-Rippers. That fucked-up pack would be his under technicality. And already his soul was on the edge of darkness. The last two days had deadened his eyes, and Mila could see them—his ghosts stood around the edge of the cage, gathering by the dozens, staring at him with such sadness in their eyes. Noah was here, and he locked eyes with her. He shook his head. Not him, he mouthed.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Roman already shouldered too much.
Asher and Gentry wouldn’t make it in time, neither would Blaire, but Mila could fix this for him.
She slammed into Roman, knocking him off Rhett, and then Mila—little chicken Mila—latched her teeth onto Rhett’s throat and finished him.
Chapter Seventeen
Alpha. Mila tested out the word in her mind, but it meant nothing right now. She waited for the adrenaline dump to make her shake like a leaf, but it didn’t come as she stood there numb, newly Changed back to her human form, watching Roman stand slowly. He was covered in bruises, bites, scratches, new scars. His lip was split, and blood trickled from his ear down the tattoos on his neck. He wouldn’t meet her gaze, but he made his way out of the cage and picked up something from the ground. It was a discarded jacket from one of the monsters. He strode back in and settled it gently over her shoulders, as if trying not to touch her. As if trying not to taint her.
Mila’s heart ached for him.
“Stay here,” he murmured in a voice that couldn’t pass for human. “I’m releasing the others. Don’t let them near you.”
“I’ll come with you,” Mila murmured. “I can help.”
“No,” Roman said too fast. “I don’t want you
to see.”
And the ache in her heart deepened.
He was protecting her, but he had to hide what he’d been through to do it. She wanted all of him, but now he wouldn’t be able to give that to her.
Asher, Gentry, and Blaire had disappeared into a back room as soon as they Changed back, so Mila stood alone, watching the man she loved walk out of the cage door and back into the hell he’d been through over the last couple of days.
There were five men and one woman who came out of the door a few minutes later. None of them looked okay, and they all smelled sick. Not body sick. Soul sick. Mila pressed her back against the cage as the biggest one locked his dead eyes on her as he strode by. She wasn’t scared, though. Not like she used to be. Something was different inside of her now. She’d broken in a strange way and didn’t want to cower to people anymore. Or maybe she was just exhausted. Maybe her submissiveness would come back in the morning.
Roman was wearing a pair of jeans when he came back, ripped up at the knees. Maybe they were his. They fit him well. He was cleaning dirt off his chest with a T-shirt that he tossed onto Rhett’s still wolf as he passed. “Let’s go,” he gritted out.
“What about Asher and the others?”
“They’re going to burn this place to the ground.” Along with Rhett. But he didn’t have to say that part. It was implied.
Roman’s back was tense as he made his way toward the exit. She didn’t understand. Mila was desperate to touch him, to reassure herself that he was okay. That he was alive and breathing and warm and still hers. But Roman didn’t seem to want touch. He didn’t seem to want any attention at all.
He looked massive, shoulders bulging, veins popping, dirt smeared on his body, tattoos stark against his pale skin. Mila followed him out of the exit and up the stairs. He took them two at a time like he was trying to get away from her, but she wouldn’t let him. So she stalked him steadily, matched his pace, was nice and quiet. She followed him of the door at the top of the stairs and into the frosty night air. She followed him down the worn path in the woods, then trailed him still when he veered off into the trees. She came to a stop when he approached an old, gnarly pine tree and slammed his closed fists against it. Body rigid, he rested his forehead onto the trunk, his back to Mila.
“You shouldn’t see me like this.” It was like when they were kids in the woods all over again, the night before he left. Well, she would be damned if he left her now.
“Yes, I should, Roman. Good side or bad side, you’re mine. Shadows and all.” She approached slowly and ran her palm slowly up the rigid muscles of his back. “I’m not going anywhere.”
His voice came out hoarse when he said, “Blaire told me the first time she met Odine, the witch said I was on the fence. One side is good and one side is evil, and she didn’t know which way I would jump. Mila, I…” He covered his face with his hands and yelled long and loud, his body convulsing with the sound.
Tears filled Mila’s eyes and streamed down her cheeks as she slid her arms around his middle and rested her face against his spine. “Shhhhh. Roman, you have one foot on that dark side, I understand. But baby, you always have. Those shadows are a part of your make-up. A part of you. No one can manage them like you. No one, you understand? You stay on that fence, Roman. That’s your burden, and when the dark gets too tempting, look to your right. Close your eyes, Roman. Can you see me? I’m standing here, white dress, wild grass up to my hips, hair lifting in the wind, blue sky, sunshine, and I’m smiling up at you because I know you’ve got this. When the shadows get tempting, keep your eyes on me. I don’t mind sharing you with the dark, but always come back to me.”
Roman spun in her arms and pulled her against his chest as his lips crashed onto hers. His teeth grazed her lips, and his tongue plunged into her mouth hard, over and over. His grip was rough in her hair, but she didn’t mind. She would take him rough right now if it meant he was still here with her. And he needed this. It was so clear he needed her to make the ghosts go away for a little while. So she reached for the snap of his jeans and unfastened them, shoved them halfway down his hips as he walked her backward.
With a snarl, he lifted her up to straddle his hips, and she held onto him tight, encasing them both in the oversize jacket she wore. Teeth, teeth, teeth. Roman was going to be bitey tonight, but she didn’t care. It turned her on. Relief flowed through her as he let her back in, kiss by kiss. He was letting her hold his broken soul in her hands for safekeeping until he was strong enough to bear the pain of it again.
“I love you,” she whispered, because he should hear her devotion. She was still in this, still with him, no matter what.
The snarl in his throat grew louder as he gripped her body tighter and ground his hips against hers. Felt so good when he hit her clit just right. Mila locked her legs around him and threw her head back as he grazed his teeth against her throat.
Roman eased her to the ground, but that was as far as his gentleness went tonight. He sank his teeth into her shoulder as he pushed into her hard, then released her torn skin with a groan. There was no urge to cower, or obey. There was no alpha bond. Mila was her own alpha now, and Roman could keep his freedom. They worked best like this, separate but together. He reared back and slid into her again and again, hard, desperate. She understood. She needed the exact same right now.
Mila cried out at the heat he created in her center. That erotic tingling sensation he could conjure so easily in her. His abs flexed with every hard stroke inside her. His body was like a stone when she ran her nails down the curves of his shoulders. His arm wrapped under her lower back, and then he bucked into her faster. So…fucking…perfect.
Mila arched her back against the ground and looked up at the full moon sitting low in the sky. So close. Pressure built every time his thick shaft slid into her. Orgasm exploded through her just as he pushed in deep and poured warmth into her. He smoothed out his rhythm and drew out her aftershocks as he spilled his seed, filling her, warming her from the inside out.
When their aftershocks slowed, and then faded completely, he rolled to the side and dragged her body against his. He buried his face in her neck and inhaled deeply, over and over, as though her scent steadied him. Mila ran her nails lightly up and down his back until the tension in his muscles began to soften.
“I see you,” he whispered. “White dress, smiling up at me. I see you.”
Mila nuzzled her face against his neck as a warm tear slipped out of the corner of her eye. “I see you, too.”
Chapter Eighteen
One week, and Winter’s Edge would be open again, not only to werewolves, but to the humans of this town, too. It would be like old days, but different. Mila smiled absently as she dried a glass. She’d poured her heart into this place over the last few weeks with the Strikers and Blaire because she wanted what they wanted. She wanted Noah’s legacy to live on. She wanted this town to eventually get back to the way it was. She wanted this place to feel like home again.
Roman slipped his hands around her waist and pressed against her back as he kissed her neck. He’d been hauling in supplies with Gentry and Asher all morning while she and Blaire readied the bar area for the grand opening.
He inhaled deeply, right at her hair line, and murmured, “I’m glad you don’t wear your hair in your face anymore. I like being able to see your eyes.”
Mila giggled and leaned into him. He liked her strong, and there was something so empowering about that.
“Have you made a decision yet?”
Mila turned in his arms and slid her hands up around his neck, hugged him tight. He was asking her if she was ready to take the throne of the Bone-Rippers, but she’d been putting it off. She was alpha by technicality, but she’d also watched the pack stand by and let awful things happen under Rhett. And while the investigation about his disappearance was happening, she just didn’t feel a rush to bind the wolves of Rangeley to her.
“I’m not ready today, but I will be. I’m close.”
Roman pressed his lips gently to hers. When he eased back by inches, he cupped her cheeks, and his eyes held hers. They were blue for the first time since the wolf fights, and such a tidal wave of relief washed over her.
“Alpha Mila. That’s so fucking hot.” He dragged her hand to his crotch where he was rocking one giant boner.
She laughed and shook her head, her cheeks heating with happiness.
“Ugh, stop,” Asher drawled unhappily from where he carried a box out of the kitchen. “I’m so fucking tired of watching your disgusting—”
“Sexy and necessary,” Roman corrected.
“—perverted displays of affection,” Asher gritted out like Roman hadn’t interrupted at all. “Are you ready to do this or what?”
“Do what?” Mila asked with a frown.
“You’ll see,” Roman said, his eyes sparking with excitement.
“Go on a hike to the peak,” Asher muttered.
“Dude, it was a surprise.”
Asher settled the box on a table and tossed Roman a remorseless look. “And we’re taking pictures.” Asher flipped Roman off and disappeared into the kitchen.
“He’s not excited,” Roman said through a grin.
“Is that why you’re making him do it?”
Roman looked downright naughty when he murmured, “Maybe. What’s that mushy look for?”
Mila stroked her hands down his beard. “There was this moment, right after the fights, when you wouldn’t let me touch you, when I thought I lost you. And then I stayed scared because you weren’t joking, playing, or laughing for weeks.” Mila lowered her voice to a whisper. “But today you feel like my Roman again.”
He let off a soft, sexy growl and nipped at her neck. “I feel more like myself today, too. You wanna go make out in the freezer?”