Powerful.

“What are you?”

“Chris—” she began.

“Kill her!” he ordered his followers. “Kill the insolent whore!”

But no one moved. No one followed his orders. So, panicking that it was all slipping away, Chris grabbed a knife from one of his bodyguards and, screaming, charged Delilah.

Del couldn’t even pretend to be interested by this new drama.

Ricky and his brother changed back to human, threw on their jeans, and charged outside, following the sounds of screaming. They weren’t Toni’s screams, though, so he wasn’t too concerned.

As they neared the crowd, the group parted and Ricky and Rory cut through. But the brothers had to quickly step apart as skin that—Ricky was guessing—had once been attached to the church’s great prophet, Chris, landed wetly on the ground near their feet.

Rory gaped down at the mess on the ground before telling his brother, “That’s just wrong.”

Yeah. Ricky already knew that.

Delilah stepped back so that she could keep her eye on both the brothers and Toni. She motioned to the cult followers and, like the tragic lemmings they were, they all stood behind the blood-soaked female who’d killed their messiah. And, it seemed, had taken his place.

Staring at them with those eyes that were so like Toni’s and yet so different because there was no life behind them, Delilah asked, “What am I going to do with you now, big sister?”

Toni chuckled at that and pointed at Delilah’s chest. The young woman looked down and saw the telltale red dot locked on her heart.

“I’ve heard,” Toni explained, “that Cella Malone can hit a target from more than a mile away.”

“Shit,” Delilah growled out.

A roar went out from somewhere in the distance and the cult members all trembled in fear as if hearing the word of God. But Ricky knew it was just the roar of a tiger-grizzly hybrid.

“Let’s move,” Ricky said to Toni.

She nodded and naked, she walked forward toward her sister. When they were only a few inches apart, Delilah asked, “Is this where you give me dire warnings, Toni? Tell me what you’ll do if I come near Freddy or the family again?”

“No,” Toni said. “This is where I say good-bye.” She leaned in and kissed her sister on the cheek.

“I love you,” Toni said simply and, for the first time, Ricky saw what Toni had been trying to tell him. Delilah had no idea what her sister was talking about. She didn’t understand why her sister wasn’t killing her, ordering the rest of them to shift and tear the cult apart. The threat of what Toni would do if Delilah came near the family again was there, unspoken. Not needing to be spoken. But the fact that Toni still loved her, even if she would never like her ortrust her or want to see her again was beyond Delilah’s simple ability to reason.

Delilah would never understand love or affection or what it meant to be part of anything that meant more than one’s own life. She would never be part of a family or a good group of friends or a pack or pride.

And, Ricky had to admit, he kind of felt sorry for her. He couldn’t think of a more miserable way to live.

Toni had almost reached the spot where they’d left the SUVs when she saw Livy standing by one of the vehicles with Freddy in her arms.

Letting out a sob, Toni charged over to them and pulled her brother into her own arms, holding him tight against her. Neither cared that she was naked with a good amount of blood on her.

“Freddy, are you okay? Tell me you’re okay,” she begged.

“I’m fine.” His little arms were tight around her neck, his legs around her waist. “But you may want to check on Livy,” he whispered.

With her brother safe, Toni felt confident enough to now notice her best friend.

Livy did look a little under the weather. Pale, sweaty, shaking, and also covered in blood.

“God, Livy, what happened?”

She shrugged, coughed, and spit on the ground. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“Poison?” Toni asked. It was one of the coolest things about honey badgers—they were really fucking hard to kill.

“From the taste of it,” Livy replied, “snake-based.” She held up both her thumbs. “My favorite.”

Toni, still crying a little, grinned at her friend. Thank you, she mouthed.

“What else are people who don’t hate you for?”

“People who don’t hate you, Livy, are called friends.”

“Whatever.”

Ricky came up behind Toni, smiled at Freddy. “Hey, little man.”

“Hi, Ricky.”

“You ready to go home?”

“I really am. I’m relatively certain . . . this is too much excitement for a seven-year-old.”

Toni, now laughing and crying, hugged her brother even tighter. “You’re absolutely right, little brother. It is.”

“How’s your face?” the wolf asked Oriana while they sat at the kitchen table . . . waiting.

“It’s been better,” she admitted, her nose hurting as it worked to heal. All she knew was that the swelling had better be down before her next class or she would be absolutely livid!

“You know,” the wolf went on, “you’re kind of tough.”

It was a weird statement, but she couldn’t help feeling it was kind of a compliment.

“Thanks, uh . . .”

“Reece. Ricky Lee’s brother.”