Kayla didn’t waste time on a scream or a warning. Billy was already charging for Gage. He slammed into Gage, knocking the alpha out of the way.

But Davis wasn’t stopping. He charged for both men.

Enough.

Kayla yanked out her gun. Aimed in an instant, and fired.

CHAPTER NINE

Because he’d jumped into the air, the bullet slammed into the middle of the wolf ’s chest. He fell to the ground, and landed with a thud.

Gage tossed Billy aside. No one spoke. No one moved.

No one, but Kayla.

“I guess that ends the trial.” She lowered her weapon. Gage heard no emotion in her voice. And she was so pale.

Her gaze swept the room. “Any other pack problems we need to solve?” Her tone implied there’d damn well better not be any.

The wolves glanced his way. They had a dead wolf on the floor, one who’d died by a hunter’s hand. Not exactly the way a trial by pack was supposed to end.

Gage looked back at Davis’s body. Such a waste. And why? Power? Why hadn’t the guy understood? Being alpha was a pain in the ass most days.

You had to put the pack first, when you wanted something for yourself.

I want her. A hunter, mated to a wolf.

You had to turn on your friends . . .

Billy wasn’t meeting his gaze. How was he supposed to soothe that one over? A little, “Oh, sorry, man, I thought you were setting me up to die,” wasn’t gonna cut it.

And you had to lie to the woman you’d claimed as your wife.

Your brother’s missing. No. Jonah wasn’t. That line had been pure bull. Jonah was right where he was supposed to be—at Lyle’s side. But Gage had to keep her away from that compound. He couldn’t let her race back there. So he’d lied.

I’ll save her brother. I’ll make everything okay.

Davis’s eyes were closed. The silver bullet had lodged in his heart.

The bastard had been his friend. “See you in hell,” he whispered. Funny. He’d always thought he’d get there long before Davis.

“Get rid of the body,” he told Shamus. The redheaded wolf was glaring down at Davis’s form. Yeah, after all that had happened to him, Shamus sure as hell wasn’t taking betrayal well.

I don’t take it well, either.

Neither did Kayla. So he was gonna have to be real careful how he played this.

Except . . . she was turning away. She kept her grip on her gun and she walked toward the door. The other wolves eased back for her, clearing the path.

Alpha.

They might not like her, but they respected her. Bullets and death had a way of showing a woman’s spirit. No wolf within, but the lady was one hell of a fighter.

She killed to keep me safe.

And he hadn’t killed . . . because he wanted her to see him as more than abeast. More than a monster.

Could she?

“Kayla!” He hadn’t meant to roar her name so much as just say it, but the beast was too close to the surface for much control.

She stilled and looked back at him. She had a “don’t-try-me” expression tightening her face.

He held out his hand to her. Some things had to be done.

For the pack.

For me.

Just in case something happened . . .

“My wife.” Now these words were softer, but still growled. It was time to claim his mate in front of the pack. She wasn’t a hunter anymore. She was one of them.

Forever.

Confusion swept over her features. She glanced at the other wolves. Then back at him.

Gage kept his hand up. The pack needed to see them as unified.

Kayla licked her lips and took a step toward him. “Uh, Gage?”

Shamus hauled the body out of the room. Left a trail of blood in his wake.

Yeah, wolf pack life wasn’t exactly sunshine and paradise, but his Kayla wasn’t the sunshine type.

He didn’t speak, just waited for her to come to him. And she did. With slow, uncertain steps, when she wasn’t the type for uncertainty, either. Her hand lifted and, hesitantly, her fingers curled around his. “What, ah, what am I supposed to be doing?”

She’d taken his hand. And he’d take her. “This,” he said simply, then pulled her against him. His lips found hers in a hot, hard, openmouthed kiss.

The pack cheered around him. Blood, sex, and violence—yes, they all understood those three things.

He kissed her harder. His tongue tasted her. So good. The best he’d ever had.

Never let go. No matter what happened. No matter what he had to give up, Gage wasn’t letting Kayla go.

And that was why he’d married her. Not for the pack. Not to get Intel on her boss. Not even because she might be able to give him children since her scent marked her as a genetic match for a shifter.

He’d just wanted her. So he’d taken her.

His head lifted. Her lips were swollen. Red. “Mine,” he said simply.

No one spoke.

Kayla glanced around. “Um . . . mine?” She said and pointed at Gage’s chest.

The shifters roared their approval.

She winced.

Damn but she was cute.

Gage lifted her into his arms. She was all that mattered right then. She might not realize it, but he’d pledged his life to her with that one simple word.

Mine.

Mine to protect. To care for.

Mine to put above all others.

Some of the pack might be pissed over Davis’s death. Some wouldn’t think that a human should have been involved in the trial.

Some might even be wanting her blood.