Lyle screamed.

The chaos around them seemed too quiet for a moment. Hunters spun around. They’d ignored gunshots, too immune to the sound, but Lyle’s echoing scream of pain and rage—they hadn’t ignored that.

Two men immediately fired at Shamus.

He jumped away from Lyle’s bleeding body.

Lyle rolled clear of Shamus, then he managed to stagger to his feet. “K-kill—” Lyle began.

“No.” It was the other hunter again. The one who kept going after Kayla. The one who was now holding her arm. Holding her.

Gage tensed. That scent . . .

The hunter jerked off his ski mask. Jonah. “Everyone just—stop!” Jonah shouted.

The wolves weren’t stopping. They were attacking. Killing.

The hunters fought back. No one was listening. Shamus was transforming slowly back into the form of a human. Lyle was trying to grab another weapon.

And more asshole hunters were attempting to get at Gage and Kayla.

Kill them all. They could end this now.

“Screw this!” Kayla’s voice. So sweet and vicious. That was his lady. His head jerked around and he saw her bend down. She grabbed a gun from the holster on Jonah’s ankle. “Silver?” He heard her ask.

Jonah nodded.

Kayla lifted the weapon. Aimed it at Lyle. “Silver!” she screamed.

But even as she fired, two hunters pointed their weapons at her.

Gage took one of the assholes out with a slash of his claws across the guy’s legs.

The other hunter—Jonah shot him in the arm.

And Kayla shot Lyle. Her bullet ripped into his chest. Lyle flew back and fell onto the earth. Smoke drifted up from his wound. Smoke . . . as the silver burned his flesh.

And the hunters were watching him. Every. Second . . .

“What the hell . . . ”

“How the fuck . . .”

Many stood now, lost, confused. It was the perfect time for the wolves to take out the humans. So easy. Like slaughtering sheep.

“He’s a wolf!” Kayla shouted. “He’s been lying to us, tricking us all along!” Her voice seemed to echo in the night.

The men and women in their ski masks still had their weapons. But they weren’t fighting. Not yet.

Some were too injured to fight. The scent of blood was strong in the air.

Some were too scared. A wolf always knew the scent of fear.

“Gage and his pack . . . they aren’t evil.” Kayla’s voice was clear and strong. “They haven’t done anything to the humans in this city.”

Well, nothing that the humans hadn’t asked for. The wolves weren’t exactly perfect.

No one was.

“We don’t have to destroy each other!” Kayla’s eyes burned with intensity, just like her voice. “We can just . . . walk away.”

If the hunters didn’t startwalking in less than five seconds, they wouldn’t have a choice in the matter.

The wolves were standing back, for the moment, but it would just take one roar from Gage to send them into action. Just one roar . . .

Then Jonah strode forward. “We aren’t killers.” His words carried easily. There was a heavy edge of command in his words. “We protect. This isn’t us.”

Lyle was digging the silver out of his chest.

A few of the hunters lowered their weapons.

“A damn shifter? All along . . . ”

A woman yanked off her ski mask. Her face was pale. Shaken. “What . . . what have we been doing?”

“Following the wrong path,” Kayla said with a sad shake of her head. “And it’s time to change that. It’s time for all of us to change and to make this right.” She was at her brother’s side. “Walk away from the wolves. These shifters aren’t the ones who are evil.” She swallowed, exhaled, and said, “To them, we’re the evil ones. We’re the ones who came after them when all they were doing was trying to live.”

Silence.

The wolves were straining forward. So eager to finish the fight.

Gage didn’t give the order to attack. Not yet.

“Put up your weapons. Clear out of here,” Jonah said. His words held the unmistakable whip of an order. “This fight isn’t ours.” His gaze slanted back to Lyle. Still on the ground. Still clawing at his chest as he tried to dig out the silver. Disgust tightened his face. “And you sure as hell aren’t our leader.”

The rest of the hunters lowered their weapons. Then they slowly headed back to their vehicles.

No more fighting. Just . . . walking away?

Well, fuck me.

Kayla had been right. They weren’t out to kill blindly. They weren’t killing at all.

“I’m sorry,” Gage heard Jonah say to Kayla. “I should have trusted you sooner. Hell, you’re the only one I should ever trust.”

Her hands reached for his.

Gage’s eyes narrowed. Get to her. He raced toward them, his claws tearing over the earth.

Faster, faster . . .

“Everything’s gonna be okay now,” Jonah told her, and he pulled her close for a hug.

Gage opened his mouth and roared.

Jonah jerked away from Kayla and saw Lyle—charging right for them. Bleeding, but with the silver gone, the guy wasn’t done yet.

Not even close.

“This isn’t how it ends!” Lyle screamed as spittle flew from his mouth. “Not for me!” His claws lifted. “Not for you!” He went for Jonah’s throat.

Gage locked his teeth around Lyle’s leg and jerked him back. He’d wanted his pound of flesh, and he had made a promise to the other wolf.