She shoved him back. “Get out of here, Gage.”

That screeching alarm hurt his ears. And it must have messed up his hearing because there was no way she’d just said—

She yanked at her shirt, ripping the material, and wrapped it around her brother’s wrist. “He’s going to bleed out if I can’t get this stopped!”

Were those tears in her eyes? The wound wasn’t that bad. She just needed to take a breath and see that. If he’d wanted, he could have made the dumbass lose that whole arm.

I just gave him something to remember me by.

He closed his teeth around her wrist. Pulled lightly.

She shook her head. “Go! I’m not leaving. I can’t leave him.”

But he was supposed to just turn tail and leave his mate behind?

“Stop them!” Lyle was shouting again. Hell. Could this shit get any more screwed?

“Go,” she told him again, and dammit, those were tears. He hated the sight of them.

More hunters were coming. Gage could smell their sweat. Excitement and fear. They’d come in, and he’d attack.

They’d shoot.

Who would survive?

Get to the pack. There was a traitor in their midst. As alpha, it was his job to keep them safe.

Even if it meant leaving her behind?

Kayla’s gaze held his.

No more time.

The wolf turned away from her and leapt through the doorway. He raced down the hallway, using his enhanced senses to guide him. Fresh air and freedom to the left. More containment rooms and prisoners to the right. Guards coming—

He dodged, leapt—and flew straight through the window. Glass rained around him and when he landed outside on the dank earth, Gage didn’t look back.

Even though he knew the hunters were giving chase.

Fools. Didn’t they know that in this hunt, they’d be the prey?

No one listened to her. She tried to tell Jonah the truth about Lyle. She tried to tell the other hunters.

They’d ignored her.

Cuffed her.

Tossed her into another cell.

Dammit.

Jonah had been taken away. Rushed to the med unit. He’d be okay. He’d be okay.

They’d stop the bleeding and her brother would survive. There just wasn’t an alternative for him—or her.

Gage had attacked Jonah. She should have expected that move. You weren’t supposed to trust wolves. Everyone knew they had a tendency to bite the hand that fed them.

Like he’d nearly bitten off her brother’s hand.

A guard came inside. Curtis Latham. She knew him. The guy was new but she’d worked with him in the field once. Saved his ass that day, too. The guy had better remember that. Kayla ran toward the cell door. “I’m telling the truth!” Telling it to anyone who’d listen, only no one would believe her. “Go checkLyle’s wounds. He’s burned because I used silver on him.”

Curtis narrowed his gaze on her. “You shot him. Twice.”

True. Was she supposed to be sorry for that? “He put his gun to my head and pulled the trigger. He’s a sick SOB that needs to be put down.”

Curtis glanced away. “He’s the reason I’m still alive.”

Yeah, well, she’d thought the same thing, just days before. “He’s lying to you. To us all! Please, Curtis, just go and check his wounds.” Before Lyle healed himself.

Curtis glanced back at her. His eyes were confused, angry. “He said for me to guard you.”

She grabbed the bars and jerked on them. “Where am I supposed to go?” Kayla all but screamed at him. “Just go look at him. His neck and his hands. The silver burned him. He’s a wolf, I swear!”

A muscle jerked in Curtis’s jaw. Then he slowly shook his head. “Lyle’s the one who gave the order—he wants you to stay alive. If he’d really tried to kill you, then why would he do that?”

So that he could use her later. But that wasn’t going to happen. Her time being bait was over. Didn’t the guy get that? Gage was gone. He knew the full deal about her—about all the hunters. He’d escaped the grounds, and the guy wasn’t coming back. Not for her.

Not for anything.

“I’ve fought with you,” she told Curtis and knew that desperation threaded through her words. “Stood by your side. Covered your back. And I’ve never lied to you.” She just had to make him listen. “Please . . . check his wounds. All you have to do is—”

The door opened. Lyle walked in, limping heavily Her gaze immediately went to his neck and—healed. No burns.

Bastard. Damn quick-healing wolf.

Lyle smiled at her, then winced, lifting his hand to his shoulder. She could see the bandages clearly. What a load of bull. If his burns had healed, then that bullet wound had healed, too. He was just playing a game in front of Curtis and the other hunters.

“Boss—you okay?” Curtis asked at once.

Kayla rolled her eyes. “Of course, he is. The guy’s a wolf, he can heal—”

“Is she still screaming that story about me being an animal?” Lyle’s steps were slow, as if he were hurt. He kept dragging his “injured” leg. Now that she knew the truth about him, the guy’s acting skills were pretty impressive. He’d sure fooled her for years.

Why can’t anyone see through the lies? Why couldn’t I?

Maybe people just saw what they wanted to see. What they needed to see?

A hero. A man who’d saved her from the wolves. A friend who wanted to protect her and make her stronger.