Pacing, Remy sniggered. “The council left them here because it’s an obvious place, thinking I wouldn’t suspect it.” His every movement was jerky and awkward, like a junkie needing a fix. His recently deceased pack mate was right: he’d lost it.

“You had your wolves search the entire building, and they didn’t find them,” Dawn pointed out. “The second search doesn’t seem to have yielded anything either. What does that tell you?”

“That you’re hiding them with the others.” Remy went nose to nose with her. “You think I haven’t noticed that there are no children among this crowd? You think I wouldn’t find that a little fucking suspicious? You’ve hid them somewhere, and you’ve hid mine with them. Tell me where!” Remy slanted a glance at Selene. With a wicked grin, the female sliced out her claws and pointed them at Colton’s throat. “Tell me, or he dies.”

To his credit, Colton didn’t move a single muscle. He showed no fear at all. Dawn, on the other hand, hitched a breath as her eyes rounded.

Remy snickered, smug at her slight sign of weakness. “I think we understand each other now, don’t we?”

Makenna shot a “We need to do something” look at Ryan. He then exchanged a look and some kind of weird hand signal with Dante and Jaime. They both nodded.

“Colton has nothing to do with this, Remy,” said Dawn. “Leave him out of it.”

“You’ve taken something important from me. I think it’s only fair that I take something important from you. Of course, you can save him if you just give me what I want. So I’ll ask you one more time. Where. Are. They?”

“I’ve told you, they’re not here, and I don’t know where the council took them.”

“I warned you.”

Selene sliced open Colton’s throat. Everyone froze, breaths catching. Unable to process what was happening, Makenna watched as, eyes wide with horror and pain, her friend gurgled and dropped to his knees. Then he slumped to the ground. Time seemed to slow as ice-cold fury slammed into her core and settled heavy in her stomach while heat rushed to her head. Everything inside her screamed and bled, inflating like a balloon that was destined to burst. And that calm she’d clung to . . . it went.

Sensing the storm of emotion in his mate, Ryan made a grab for her. It was too late. She charged into the room just as Madisyn launched herself at Selene. Several things then happened at once.

A hand fisted in Madisyn’s hair from behind, wrenching her away from Selene.

The residents roared and lunged at Remy’s wolves, shifting into their animal forms.

Makenna jumped on Selene’s back when the Head Enforcer tried to stab Madisyn, making Selene hit the ground hard.

Ryan, Dante, and Jaime raced into the room and joined the fight.

Remy made a dive for Dawn, but Ryan swiped his back, raking his claws over the bastard’s skin.

Then everything and everyone pretty much went crazy.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Somewhere in the back of Makenna’s mind, she knew she was half feral. Knew she was back in that state where mercy had no place. A state that seemed to intensify every emotion—the raw anger, the terrible grief, the heart-stabbing pain, and the desperate need for vengeance . . . all of that curdled inside her and fuelled her every move.

Straddling Selene, she dragged her claws down the Head Enforcer’s back. Makenna smiled at the sound of cloth tearing, skin splitting open, and the bitch’s howl of pain. The smell of Selene’s blood made Makenna’s wolf bare her teeth in wicked satisfaction.

Yeah, she was half feral all right. But for now, Makenna didn’t have the emotional capacity to care.

As she raised her hand to stab the bitch beneath her, someone grabbed Makenna’s wrist and yanked her away. Pain rippled through Makenna’s shoulder as the move almost wrenched her damn arm from the socket. Then the interfering fucker at her back disappeared with a howl of agony.

Makenna didn’t check to see whom her savior was. She only had eyes for Selene, who had jumped to her feet. Selene, who had killed Colton and tried to stab Madisyn. She needed to die. And it needed to hurt.

Makenna snatched a chair and swung it at Selene. The bitch caught it by one leg. No matter. Makenna snapped off one of the other chair legs and, once Selene had slung the chair aside, whacked the leg across her face. It hit Selene’s cheekbone with a satisfying crack.

Selene stared at her, wide-eyed in pure disbelief. “You hit me with a chair.” Pure disbelief.

Yeah, yeah, shifters fought with teeth and claws. Well, Makenna fought with whatever she fucking found. She was a scrapper, not a trained enforcer. And right then, she had no care for what was fair.

“Aw, was Colton a dear friend?” taunted Selene. She kicked Makenna hard in the stomach.

The impact took Makenna’s breath away and made her stumble. The backs of her thighs banged into a table and, shit, that hurt. Shelving the pain, Makenna went at her with an arsenal of teeth, claws, limbs, and a chair leg. All the while, shifters howled and roared and hissed around them. The scents of blood, sweat, and anger rose in the air, inciting her wolf.

Selene ducked and dodged. Punched and kicked. Bit and clawed. It hurt, it stung, and Makenna motherfucking bled. But she was beyond caring about the pain. Beyond caring that Selene was strong and well trained. Beyond caring that her own blood was flowing. Beyond caring about anything other than ending this bitch.

The female went to skirt around Makenna, no doubt to reach Remy and help him fight off Ryan. Oh the fuck no. Makenna blocked her path.