Devlyn caught her eye and snarled. Angered that another male would force her down if he hadn’t had to fight Simon, she knew he would have taken care of the male that now dominated her. Devlyn whipped around and battled with the red, his teeth connecting with Simon’s right front leg.

Simon yelped and dodged backward.

The two tore into each other again, snarling and biting with wicked intent.

Bella squirmed to get free again and then growled low. More enraged than she’d ever been, if she could have freed herself, she would have torn to shreds the red who pinned her down.

To her horror, Devlyn tucked his tail, bowed his head, flattened his ears, and lay down on his belly. Her heart nearly quit when she saw his defeated posture. His neck and mouth bled, but he didn’t seem to have any serious injuries. If he didn’t fight and kill the red, a known murderer...

A male, maybe in his late fifties, moved forward cautiously, baring his canines at Simon. The younger wolf turned to face the new threat.

Devlyn remained in his subservient position, watching the reds fight, avoiding looking at Bella.

It finally dawned on Bella. Devlyn couldn’t kill the last renegade red. He had to force one of the reds of the pack to do it. The one who did would become the new leader. They couldn’t have a gray best the last red and take over the pack.

Just like the gray devil wolf that had infiltrated Alfred’s red pack so long ago. The leadership had become stagnant and corrupt just as Alfred’s was. She’d never considered that Devlyn’s great-grandfather had forced change — not by taking over as he could have easily done, but by helping them rid themselves of the cancer in their pack — and then left. That another red wolf had taken over. But she bet his great-grandfather hadn’t had to fight four reds, one after another, either.

The older male charged and tackled Simon. The younger wolf seemed surprised the older one would challenge him. They bit each other, snarled, and snapped their mighty jaws. They dodged and charged and bloodied each other’s pelts. Then Simon made the fatal move. He turned the wrong way, exposing his throat at the inappropriate instant, leaving himself open to the kill.

The older wolf took him by surprise. without hesitation, he ripped out Simon’s throat, and the younger wolf was instantly killed.

Then something drew their attention toward the woods, and everyone turned to look. Standing in the mist of the forest, a red male wolf considered Bella with unspoken longing, but his neck and leg were bleeding, his tongue hanging from his bloodied mouth, as though he’d tangled with a much bigger beast and lost. Had he come to fight for the leadership but been thwarted? And now was he too torn up to fight well?

He glanced at Devlyn and bared his bloodied teeth. The new leader bowed his head to the loner. The two stared at each for a moment and then the wolf turned and dove back into the forest, disappearing in a heartbeat.

“It’s him, Leidolf,” one of the older women said, already having turned back into her human form. “He’ll be back.” She smiled with admiration. “He has the look of leadership in his eyes, his stance. And he would’ve taken on the others if he hadn’t been injured and that delayed him. He’ll be back.”

There was no time for jubilation, or for the wolves to show their allegiance to their new pack leader. Sirens sounded from a distance, creating a panic. The wolf that pinned Bella down jumped off her. She snapped at him, missing biting his leg by inches.

Devlyn rushed to join her as the other wolves scattered, quickly changing into their human forms. Some dove into the vehicles and donned their clothes. Some grabbed the lifeless, bloodied bodies of the reds, once again turned into human form, and deposited them in the trunks of their vehicles.

Only the new red alpha male leader remained for a moment, staring at Devlyn, not challenging him, but instead giving him thanks.

Devlyn bowed his head and then raised it in acknowledgement.

The wolf dashed for one of the vehicles, but before Bella and Devlyn could return to the SUV that had brought them there, the driver tore off. She realized then they’d never have taken the gray and her back with them to the city. Only if the gray had died would they have taken her into the pack.

She touched her nose to Devlyn’s, and he licked her face. They pressed their muzzles against each other. They had only one option available to them, now — run like the wind and seek shelter in her cabin.

At short spurts, they could run as fast as twenty-eight miles per hour, but because of Devlyn’s fight, they ran at a trot. Her cabin was located only a couple of miles away. They’d make it. As long as zoo man Thompson didn’t find Rosa running with the injured gray male, or they didn’t cross paths with Volan. Involuntarily, a shiver ran through her.

With the cool breeze in her face and the two of them trotting nearly shoulder to shoulder, she suddenly realized that the gun she’d so carefully hidden in her clothes still rested under the seat in the black SUV. Her security blanket was ripped away from her. Now they had nothing but to fight Volan the way the wolf would. Even wounding Volan temporarily would have been to her advantage — until she could find another old-time smithy who could fashion silver bullets.

Then she recalled the gun in her cabin. Different smithy, and maybe real silver bullets. If they could just reach it in time.

Analyzing the rustle of the wind through the trees, birds’ sweet whistling tunes, and the sound of Devlyn’s and her pads tromping on the needled floor, she listened for Volan. Tilting her nose up, she breathed in the air, smelling a deer nearby, the scent of a raccoon, the fragrance of pine... no Volan.

Devlyn acted as wary, his ears twitching back and forth, channeling in on the sounds, sniffing the air. when the cabin came into view, she filled her lungs with air and wanted to shout for joy. Instead, she whimpered in her most happy wolf way. Devlyn rubbed her face with his, sharing her tentative liberation.

As soon as they reached the front steps, they changed into their human form. Standing on the porch, Devlyn pulled Bella into his arms and kissed her thoroughly.

The tension drained from her body. Devlyn had won. He’d shown his cleverness, superiority, and prowess as a born leader by allowing the older male to take down the final rogue wolf. She wondered if the mystery red wolf would give up his loner ways and take over the pack. But then she speculated again about whether she could convince Devlyn to start a new pack.

A lone wolf could do so, with his mate, and then he wouldn’t have to fight Volan. How she wished he’d agree with her, but his heart was set on returning to the family that had taken him in. She had to admit that the notion of being with the pack again filled her with longing.

Taking an exasperated breath, she asked, “Did you hear Volan’s howl?”

“Yeah.” Devlyn rubbed her arms. “Telling us he knows where we are and that we have no choice but to return home to the pack.”

“we don’t have to, you know. we could start our own.”

Devlyn’s eyes hardened, and she knew then that she’d never be able to convince him to stay away from Volan.

“I told you years ago, Bella. He would come after you and our children. I can’t risk it.” He glanced down at her clothes still lying on the chair on the porch.

“I took a run and ended up in the zoo.” And, once she was back in Portland, she’d take a run again, away from the wolf she loved most in the world, like before, to protect him.

“I remember it well, although it seems like eons ago.” Grabbing her clothes, she headed inside the two-room cabin.

Devlyn dashed around her. “Let me take a look around first.”

She smelled it then. The slight odor that was Volan. Her skin chilled, but it had nothing to do with the cold cabin.

Devlyn quickly inspected the bedroom and bath and rejoined Bella in the living area. “He’s not here.” “But he’s been here.” “Yeah.”

“Do you think he’ll come back?”

“No. He’ll want to prove to the pack you’re his. Trying to kill me here and then returning you to the pack wouldn’t be enough.”

She dumped her clothes on a tweed-covered couch and took Devlyn’s hand. “Let’s get you washed up then. I’ll take care of those bites and... “

He leaned over and licked her neck. “I need something else. I’m a bit... tense.”

Glancing down at his full-blown erection, she lifted a brow. “After all you’ve been through?”

He wiggled his brows.

She laughed. “I know just how to handle it.”

He growled softly. “How well I know.”

They made it halfway across the living area when the front door slammed open, banging against the wall.

Volan stood in the entryway, his mouth red with blood, and she wondered if Leidolf, the loner red, had tangled with the demon. He was dressed in denims and a sweatshirt that were as black as his mood. His black hair hung loosely at his shoulders, and he looked as if he’d fallen out of bed in a hurry and hadn’t had his first cup of coffee yet. But the demonic look in Volan’s black eyes had nothing to do with missing a mug of caffeine. His unfulfilled lust for Bella showed in every angry line creasing his stern face.

Volan took in Bella’s nakedness, inhaled a deep breath, smelling the air, or rather, her — trying to tell if Devlyn had mated with her already. His look couldn’t get any harder; then he shifted his attention to Devlyn. “I gather you were straightening out a matter with a pack of red wolves in the area, which delayed your bringing Bella home to me.”

“She’s mine, Volan,” Devlyn said, moving Bella behind him. “You can’t have her.”

Volan tsked. “Fou can’t have her. Pack laws. She’s my choice.”

“Those aren’t wolf laws. She chose me. You’re out of luck.”

“My rules then. Come on, Bella.” Volan stretched his meaty hand out to her. “I’ll let him live if you come with me now.”

Devlyn gripped her arm tighter, worried she might agree to be Volan’s mate.