“That’s him.” Kayla pointed to the last SUV. One a bit bigger than the others. “That’s the one Lyle always uses.”

Because he liked to send the others in first. Gage knew the bastard was a coward at heart. Why else would he send humans to do the dirty work for him?

“Come on.” He grabbed her hand and headed into the darkness. The goal was to separate that SUV from the others, but they wouldn’t have much time. The hunters were the shoot-first variety, and he’d already told Kayla what would happen if some trigger-happy dick fired back at him or her.

Death.

He had a wolf stationed nearby, one who knew to take out the SUV as soon as Gage gave the signal. The guy wasn’t just a shifter, he was one grade A, first-class sniper. Gage waited, wanting that SUV closer. Closer.

He lifted his hand. In the dark, humans couldn’t see so well.

Wolves could.

There was no thunder when the weapon fired, but the SUV’s front left tire blew out. Then the right tire exploded. The SUV swerved, flipped, and thudded into the earth.

And Gage and Kayla were already moving. Racing toward the wreckage even as the other SUV drivers slammed onto their brakes.

Hurry. Hurry.

Gage punched his fist through the already broken passenger side. He yanked open the door, nearly ripping it away from the vehicle.

Lyle hadn’t been driving or waiting in the passenger seat, but the bleeding bastard was slumped in the back of the vehicle. Gage pushed past the two groaning men in the front and grabbed his prey.

“Judgment time, asshole,” he snarled. Then he kicked out at the back doors of the SUV, knocking them wide open, and he dragged out that sorry excuse for a wolf.

Blood poured from a gash on Lyle’s forehead. He was bleeding . . . and laughing. “Y-you’re . . . dead,” Lyle gasped out. “Dead!”

“No,” Kayla said, voice clear in the night. Footsteps thudded, coming close. The other hunters were swarming. “You are,” Kayla told him.

Then Gage heard the snick of a gun. One shot. That was all it would take.

The pack would attack.

Kayla whirled around and used her body as a shield to block Gage and Lyle. “Stand down!” she screamed. “Or we’ll all die!”

Not her. The others, yes, but Kayla wasn’t leaving him. He wouldn’t let her go.

He could see the hunters now. Three were already close enough for him to kill easily. Gage could leap forward and slice their throats in seconds. Did they honestly think the guns in their hands made them stronger? Fools.

“Let him go,” one of the hunters ordered from behind his black ski mask. Masks. These bastards were always hiding. And they said shifters were the ones who pretended to be something they weren’t.

“He’s been lying to you all,” Kayla said. Wait, hold the hell up . . . had she just put herweapon down?

Kayla lifted her empty hands in the air.

She fucking did.

Gage growled.

Lyle shouted, “Shoot her!”

Gage slapped his hand over the bastard’s mouth. “No matter what else happens here tonight,” he whispered into Lyle’s ear. “I’m cutting you open.”

Lyle heaved in his hold, but Gage was stronger. He just tightened his grip around the jerk.

“No one has to die tonight,” Kayla said, proving, quite clearly, that a human’s hearing was nothing compared to a shifter’s. “I’ve worked with you all—so many times—just give me a chance to prove that what I’m saying is true!”

They weren’t lowering their weapons. “Move back, Kayla,” he ordered. Because his wolves were going to spring up soon, and he wanted her away from the coming bloodbath.

“Let him go,” the guy at the front of the growing pile of hunters said. “Let Lyle go, then we can talk.”

Such a lie. Once Lyle was clear, the hunters would open fire. They were holding back only because Gage was a claw away from killing their precious leader.

“If Gage lets him go,” Kayla said, “Lyle will kill me.” After the briefest of pauses, she told them, “Then he’ll watch while you all die, too.”

The men shifted restlessly, from one foot to the other.

“Don’t you wonder why he’s never touched silver?” she questioned them. “Why he always uses his black gloves when he’s near the silver cells?” Kayla shook her head. “You’ve seen all this, just as I have. Only . . . I didn’t put the pieces together. I didn’t want to believe he was the real monster.”

The tension in the air thickened.

He didn’t like this. Every muscle in Gage’s body was battle ready. The hunters hadn’t fired yet, but Kayla’s small body had no cover if the bullets were to start raining on her.

Too vulnerable. Standing in front of him, offering herself up to the hunters. Hell, no, this wasn’t acceptable.

He heard the faint snap of a twig. To his left. Gage inhaled and pulled in the scents around him.

“I can prove what he really is,” Kayla said, her voice loud for all to hear. “I can—”

Gage leapt toward her. Lyle broke from him as he moved, rolling to the ground. Gage didn’t even look back at that prick. He grabbed Kayla even as the thunder of a gun echoed around them.

First shot.

Now it would be his turn to attack, and all the bastards would die.

The bullet blasted near him, scraping over his arm and ripping open the skin. Gage didn’t cry out. He was too long acquainted with pain for that. He twisted his body and took the impact when he and Kayla slammed into the earth.