A sigh. “I’ve decided your land isn’t worth the bother.”

“Then why? Why do this?”

“Come now, Nick, did you expect me to ignore what you did? Really?”

No . . . they just hadn’t expected this. Jesse held Harley close to him. Angry tremors were running through her and echoing through him.

“If you want the girls . . . look behind you.”

At once, they all twirled. Hector and his guards were walking toward the border with the pups. A wave of ice-cold fear washed over Harley and her mouth fell open. Oh, fuck no. The girls were hand in hand, cheeks wet and pale . . . wearing explosive vests. Her stomach rolled. “Tell me I’m not seeing straight.”

Jesse let loose a string of curses. “He’s gonna die tonight.” Slowly and painfully. Jesse would make sure of it.

“Without a doubt,” added Harley. Her cat lunged for the surface. Wincing, Harley forced her into submission. Now was definitely not the time for rash actions. She looked at Zander. “Please tell me you could defuse those vests.”

Zander gave a sad, slow shake of the head. “I wouldn’t have a clue. The bomb on your car was simple. Those vests . . .”

Nick held out his hand to Shaya, who took it and squeezed his tight. “Try not to give him any emotion to feed off, Shay,” he whispered. “If we look calm, it should help the kids stay calm.”

Shaya stiffly nodded in assent, and then they all stalked through the trees. Finally, Nick and Shaya came to a halt a few feet away from the border, looking deceptively calm. The other wolves gathered behind them, all standing solidly and at the ready.

Willow called out for Shaya and tried to run forward. Hector grabbed the pups by their shoulders, preventing them from stepping over the border.

“It’s okay, angel,” soothed Shaya, trying to keep her voice light. Harley figured it had to be agonizing for her not to charge past them all to reach the girls.

Muscles tight with rage, Nick ground out, “You sick bastard.”

Smiling, Hector shrugged. “After what you did to my homes and possessions, it seemed quite fitting.”

Shaya forced a watery smile for the girls. “Everything will be fine, I promise.” Neither pup seemed to find those words comforting.

“Bombing my homes . . .” Hector wagged his finger. “That wasn’t nice at all, now, was it?”

“You wanted to take our home from us,” said Nick, jaw set. “We took yours from you instead. That sort of thing happens when you fuck with the wrong pack.”

“And look where it got you. Look where it got your pups.”

“They’re in this situation because of you, not us. But your mother did mention that you never accept blame for anything you do. Everything is always someone else’s fault in your world.”

As Hector’s cheeks flushed, Harley whispered to Jesse, “Why is Nick antagonizing him? I’m not sure it’s the best course of action when the bastard has the pups.”

“His fury probably got the better of him for a minute,” replied Jesse.

“My dear mother can be quite chatty,” Hector said to Nick. “Sometimes, I almost miss her. Isn’t that odd?”

Harley inwardly snorted. Who gave a fuck?

Nick must have been just as uninterested, because he demanded, “Give me the girls.”

“I’ll bet it was painful to find that they were gone,” said Hector. “I’d imagine it came as quite a shock too.”

Harley wished he’d shut the fuck up and release the pups. Her churning stomach seemed to be full of knots, butterflies, and acid. Her cat was pacing, claws unsheathed, hissing like crazy.

“I have to admit I was surprised you didn’t race right over here.”

“Give me the girls,” Nick simply repeated.

“But I’m having fun.”

“Because you’re twisted. Not my problem.”

Hector’s eyes went hard. “I suppose it’s a good thing that you’re standing together as a unit to die. If you shift forms and start running now, you’d make it to safety.”

“We don’t run.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“If you detonate those bombs, you’ll kill us all,” Derren pointed out.

“I’ll be far away from here when that happens,” Hector told him. “See, there are three ways to detonate them. One, tamper with the vests. Two, use the triggers, which I can do remotely using this.” He held up his cell phone. “Or three, wait for the timers to run out and do the job for me. In other words, there’s no way at all for you to help the little ones. No way to save yourselves, unless you choose to abandon them.”

Sensing someone behind her, Harley twisted with a snarl, even though she recognized the scent. She and her cat were simply wound too tight.

Cain, looking much calmer than she felt, whispered, “I might be able to defuse the vests.” At her arched brow, he continued, “Let’s just say I’ve built a lot of bombs. I won’t know how complicated these are until I’ve seen them up close. I have no chance of doing that until Hector releases the pups. He doesn’t seem inclined to do that yet. When he does, I won’t have much time to defuse the vests. I need you to do what margays do best, Harley.”

Oh, her cat sure loved that idea.

Jesse went rigid. “Hector has guards.”

“And they’re watching what’s happening on the ground,” said Cain. “They won’t think to look up. It’s doubtful that they’d sense her.”