And my wolf/human heart melted just a little.

  He was here. Holding it together—barely, from the look in his eyes—for me. For this.

  I padded silently over to him and licked his extended hand. The urge to shift back to two legs—mostly for the lips, not the legs—was strong. But I remembered Kel’s warning. Once my wolf was gone, there’d be no going back. Not for me and not for Kai.

  When that happened, I’d run. Tonight was the last time I’d ever see my mate, and I refused to spend it fighting.

  “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

  I licked his hand again.

  This would have to do.

  “Ash, Kai, over here.”

  My gaze swept to the back corner where I found two chairs that had been carved from wood to look like thrones. Isaac stood beside them and waved us over, eyes lighting as he motioned to what were apparently our seats for the night.

  My wolf huffed, but Kai grinned. “Come on, princess.”

  When I got close, Isaac’s smile vanished, and his eyes narrowed at me. “You’ll do anything to get out of wearing those heels, won’t you?”

  Kai snorted.

  I bared my teeth at Isaac, who merely rolled his eyes. “Oh please. I’m related to Idrissa, so if you want to intimidate me, you’ll have to try a lot harder than that.”

  Ugh. Speaking of which. Where was she?

  I swept the crowd but knew instinctively—thanks to heightened sense, finally—that she wasn’t in the room. Strange that she hadn’t shown up, especially after the voice mails Oscar told me he’d left her. Silas wasn’t here either, but he’d been so absent lately I wasn’t surprised. Disappointed maybe, but something told me there was more to his ghosting us than just his usual aversion to socializing.

  “But seriously, does someone want to fill me in on why Ash decided to come as a furry to a formal event?” Isaac asked.

  He looked at Kai, who filled him in quickly on everything that had happened. Isaac’s eyes widened. “Holy shit,” he hissed. Then to me, he said, “and you didn’t think to call and tell me all this earlier.”

  “Uh, she can’t exactly talk—” Kai began.

  “You know what I mean.” Isaac glared at him. Then me. Like this was all somehow our fault. “Okay, listen, it’s not ideal having Ash without a voice tonight, but I think letting the pack see her wolf on display might just give you the effect you want,” he said, falling into party planner mode. “Why don’t you two take a seat here and uh…”

  Isaac trailed off, his eyes glued to something over my shoulder. When I turned to look, it took me several seconds to realize the clean-shaven, broad-shouldered man in the tux was—

  “Oscar?” Kai’s voice was full of disbelief.

  I stared in shocked disbelief as Oscar walked over, tugging uncomfortably at his jacket.

  He shot daggers at Kai and Isaac. “Don’t say a fucking word,” he grumbled.

  “You look fabulous,” Isaac blurted, but that only deepened Oscar’s scowl.

  “What part of don’t say a word did you not understand?”

  Isaac threw up his hands. “I figured a compliment was safe.”

  “This monkey suit is ridiculous,” was Oscar’s only reply.

  “Any reason why you bothered with it at all?” Kai asked.

  His eyes sparkled with some sort of mischief that had Oscar practically snarling at him. I watched intently, trying to understand what was happening under the surface.

  “None of your damn business,” Oscar said, but then his gaze caught on something near the doors, and the tension drained from his shoulders. He nearly swayed on his feet.

  I followed the direction of his gaze and spotted a very elegant-looking Cherise dressed in all-black fitted lace that drew more than a few appreciating looks her way as she posed in the entryway.

  “Whoa,” Isaac said. “Doc cleans up good.”

  Oscar’s gaze remained locked on Cherise. My wolf sniffed at the air surrounding him, and my senses exploded with the pheromones he exuded. No, not just pheromones. Holy…

  No. Fucking. Way.

  I could barely believe my nose. I had to be sure.

  Without waiting for the others, I made my way over to where Cherise stood surveying the room. When I got close, she tore her gaze from the direction I knew Oscar waited and focused on me.

  “Ash, you’ve shifted.” The warmth and relief in her voice was endearing, but I didn’t let it distract me.

  Leaning in close, I sniffed Cherise.

  She chuckled. “Does your wolf really need this much reacquainting with the pack?”

  I barely registered her words as her scent hit me.

  Leaning back, I stared up at her, shocked—then thrilled.

  “Ash?” Cherise looked down at me curiously. “Is everything all right?”

  The others walked up then. Okay, Isaac walked up, practically dragging Oscar with him. My uncle’s face was flushed red, and I was tempted to wag my tail at the sight of them here, together. Kai joined us last but no less intrigued.

  “Hello, Oz,” Cherise said, her lashes fluttering demurely.

  Oscar nearly panted. “Evening, Cherise,” he mumbled.

  I made a weird snorting sound that was technically laughter but probably sounded like I was choking.

  Kai looked at me knowingly, a grin spreading across his handsome face. “You figured it out,” he said.

  I nodded, completely uncaring of how ridiculous it made me look.

  Cherise’s lips twitched as she stared back at Oscar. “We’ve been discovered,” she said.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Oscar said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

  “Oh, give it up, old man.” Kai clapped Oscar on the back. “You’ve been circling the doc for weeks. The mate scent is all over the both of you. Just admit it already and put yourself out of your misery.”

  The mate scent.

  How had I missed it before?

  Right. Deadly magic slowly eating its way through my body.

  “I… that’s not… I’m too old to find a mate.”

  Oscar’s blustering only made the whole thing that much cuter. My wolf rolled her eyes, but deep down, I knew she thought so too.

  “Does that mean I’m old too?” Cherise asked.

  “No, what? Of course not.” Oscar nearly fell over himself trying to backtrack. “You’re beautiful. It’s just— Shit, I don’t know how to do this.”

  She held out her hand, smiling softly. “How about we start with a dance? I’ll even lead if that helps.”

  Oscar was silent so long that I gave up on waiting and leaned over, biting him on the hand.

  “Ow.” He jumped, shaking his hand before placing it in Cherise’s waiting one. “Tell you what, you can lead for the first one, but then I’m taking over. That work for you?”

  “Absolutely.”

  She led him toward the dance floor, and he went with her looking like a newly adopted puppy.

  “Baby Jesus in a hay-filled manger, that’s the cutest fucking thing ever, am I right?” Isaac’s gushing didn’t even need a response, and he didn’t wait for one before adding, “wait ‘til I tell Presley.”

  He hurried off.

  Kai looked down at me. “Since when are he and Presley on the gossip-sharing level?”

  I gave him the wolf equivalent of a shrug as the band transitioned to something slower. On the dance floor, Oscar wove his arm around Cherise’s waist and pulled her closer, looking like he’d just won the lottery.

  I sighed in contentment.

  Kai caught my eye and nodded toward our chairs. Ugh. Thrones. “Shall we?”

  I followed him back and hopped up onto the large platform seat with the words “Mrs. Alpha” carved into the back. My wolf settled in a sprawl with front paws dangling, and I watched the room.

  On the dance floor, more couples had joined Oscar and Cherise. Tiffany clung to Cade Marshall, her expression dreamy as she stared up at him. I honed in with my senses and realized a mating call existed between them too.

  Eyes wide, I turned to Kai and licked the hand he’d placed on my armrest. He nodded knowingly.

  “More mates,” he said, “I just noticed it too.” He winked at me. “Looks like the curse is broken after all, beautiful. I told you we’d find a way.”

  I turned away before he could see how much his words stung.

  An hour went by, and even though my wolf claimed to be bored stiff, I caught her satisfaction at seeing the packs come together like this. Vinny showed up in a wrinkled suit, minus the tie. He said hello with nervous glances aimed at Kai, who reassured him once again that no harm would come for biting me. Vinny walked off toward the bar, looking unconvinced, but I could sense his relief that I had, in fact, come out unscathed. Well, to his eyes, anyway.

  His interest in my wellbeing was a nice turn of events.

  When Kai left to grab a drink, Isaac slid in and took the vacated seat. I eyed him warily, fully aware he must have been waiting for this exact opportunity.

  “Okay, listen. I need to ask your advice, but you have to promise—no, swear—not to tell a soul what I’m about to divulge.”

  I just blinked at him, waiting.

  “Right, of course, you can’t actually talk,” he said. “But when you can, you still have to keep your mouth shut. Ugh. You know what I mean. Okay?”

  I made a sound of agreement.

  “Okay, so the thing is, there’s this person. And I think they’re my mate because my wolf wants to basically maul them all the time but in a good way. But this person,” he slid nervous glances in every direction, “who shall remain nameless, hasn’t indicated they feel the same way. So now I’m confused and thinking maybe my wolf is drunk or just suffering the effects of what we’ll call a very dry spell. Like, Sahara dry. Like, no water left on the entire surface of the Earth dry. Like—”

  I growled just to shut him up.

  “You get the point,” he said. “Anyway, how do I know if this person is really my mate or if I’m just going crazy?”

  He fell silent, clearly waiting for me to give an answer. A feat that was physically impossible right now. I did the only thing I could to get my point across. I leaned in close to his chest and sniffed loudly.

  When I sat back, Isaac’s eyes went wide.

  “I should use their scent,” he hissed. “Yes, of course. The mating scent. I just realized… Ugh, you’re a genius.”

  He reached over and kissed my nose. My wolf snapped her teeth at him, narrowly missing him as he jumped back.

  “Whoa, easy,” he said. “Your wolf is kind of grumpy.”

  I wouldn’t have disagreed even if I could have spoken.

  “Okay, I have to get back, but you really are a lifesaver.” He hopped up as Kai returned, a drink in hand for himself and a bowl of water for me.

  Yeah, right.

  If he thought for one second I’d be caught dead lapping from a bowl of water in front of a roomful of ballgowns, he was dead wrong.

  Isaac took one look at the bowl and muttered something about Kai being in danger before he took off.

  Voices rose, distracting me from giving my thoughts on the bowl. Across the room, I spotted a small group gathered and immediately sensed their tension.

  “What now?” Kai said.

  But I was already out of my chair and heading over to investigate. My wolf tensed when I spotted the largest member of the group.

  Byrn wore a flannel shirt and jeans. Not exactly formal attire but, at least, he was here. Then again, that didn’t mean much when he was standing in what looked like the beginnings of a brawl.

  The brunette beside him stood nose to nose with another female I recognized from the Asheville pack. They both looked ready to throw down, and Byrn, the literal middle man, was doing nothing to diffuse the situation.

  My temper rose at the sight of their confrontation.

  Stepping against me or Kai at the council meeting had been one thing, but ruining this party—something Isaac had worked tirelessly to pull off—and shitting on our attempts to bring everyone together was going too far.

  Instead of hanging back and asking nicely, I shoved my way into the standoff, forcing the two females back and nearly tripping Byrn in the process.

  My wolf really wanted him to come at us.

  He rounded on me, glaring, but I purposely ignored him, knowing full well Kai had my back. Instead, I faced off with the females and let my alpha power rise to the surface.

  “What’s going on here?” Kai demanded in a low voice.

  We’d already drawn attention from a few of the guests. I honestly didn’t want to make this a spectacle, but that was up to them.

  “Jalisa needs to back the hell up and quit flirting with my man,” the brunette said.

  Her voice was raspy, and her tone made it clear she intended to make good on the threat her words carried. I bared my teeth at her, sending the message with enough alpha power to knock her breathless:

  Jalisa wasn’t the only one who needed to back the hell up.

  The brunette gave me a hard stare.

  My wolf considered it her greatest act of restraint not to bite this chick’s eye off right here.

  “What’s your name?” Kai asked the girl.

  “Wendy,” the brunette said stiffly.

  “And who’s your man, exactly?” Kai asked.

  “I am, but I didn’t encourage—”

  Byrn’s words were cut off by my wolf’s throaty growl. Byrn’s expression hardened as he met my eyes.

  “This ain’t none of your business, alpha.”

  “When you bring trouble into a pack event, it becomes everyone’s business,” Kai said.

  “This is between me and her,” Wendy said.

  Kai turned to Jalisa, who rolled her eyes, and I noticed a bruise on her cheek I’d missed before. Wendy wasn’t about to fight. She’d already started it. My temper burned even hotter.

  “Believe me, I don’t want her man. This bitch is crazy.”

  Wendy snarled and launched herself at Jalisa. Kai barely managed to grab the angry brunette and haul her up by the waist. He lifted her off her feet, and her legs kicked wildly as she struggled to break free.

  “Get your fucking hands off her,” Byrn roared.

  Byrn took a step toward Kai, but I cut him off, planting myself directly in front of the big, bad biker. He glared down at me.

  “All right, alpha bitch, you want to challenge me?”

  He stepped back, peeled off his leather vest, and shifted.

  Chapter Sixteen

  At the sight of Byrn on four legs, several guests called out warnings. Everyone backed away. Someone screamed, and I realized with horror it had probably been a child. Considering this was a pack-wide event, we’d invited kids to join us for the first couple of hours. That made Byrn’s dick behavior even more assholery.

  “Take it outside,” Presley yelled with enough force that Byrn actually stopped to register it. His wolf, a large, muddy brown beast snarled at me and nodded toward the door.

  I led the way, once again perfectly willing to show him my back if for no other reason than to demonstrate my wolf’s confidence.

  Asshole was going down.

  Idrissa, who looked like she was just arriving, held the doors. She wore black leather pants and a sequin halter top I suspected Isaac had somehow convinced her to wear. Her eyes glittered nearly as brightly as her clothing when she saw Byrn following me out.

  “Teach his ass a lesson, Ash,” she said to me.

  I planned to.

  The night air was cool and refreshing, but my wolf wouldn’t have cared if we’d stepped into the seventh circle of hell. All she wanted was Byrn to stop questioning her authority.

  This was what it meant to be alpha.

  When I reached the grass, I stopped and turned.

  “Ash!” Presley’s warning came a second too late.

  Byrn slammed into me, sending me flying back. I landed hard against the curb, grunting with the force of the impact. Pain shot through me, but my wolf shook it off.

  Byrn didn’t get it. We’d been through so much worse than whatever he had to offer us.

  I was on my feet and lunging at him, teeth bared, even before he’d regained his balance. We collided again, this time with my claws raking down his shoulder. I felt his flesh tear from my sharpened nails, and satisfaction washed over me at the smell of his blood on the air.

  He came again, his rage doubled.

  Guests spilled outside.

  I sensed them, but the fight wouldn’t allow me to notice any more than the sensation of eyes on us. Finally, I landed a hit that sent Byrn off-balance enough to toss him onto his back. He landed hard, and this time, when he got up, he was slower.

  I was wearing him out.

  “You’re going to get yourself killed, Byrn.”

  Adan’s voice was the friendliest warning he’d get, but Byrn only grew angrier and more determined.

  He got up and came again.

  And again.

  I put him on his back twice, and still, he kept coming.

  Slower and slower each time.

  He had sheer size and massive strength on his side. My wolf had speed and cunning—and a determination that made up for a whole lot more than what we lacked.

  When Byrn struggled to get back to his feet a third time, I stopped and waited, calling up my alpha power. He nearly buckled underneath the weight of it.

  “That’s not fucking fair,” Wendy whined.

  She stood near the steps, directly behind Byrn. Kai was with her, probably to keep her from trying to help Byrn. But his eyes were on me.

  The darkness had returned. I could feel it. But now, it was aimed at Byrn and his followers. He’d stood by and let me fight because he’d known all along I could handle it. And he wanted them to know it too.

  “She’s your alpha,” Kai said, “Submit now or face the consequences. There will be no more second chances.”

  There was death waiting on the other side of Kai’s words, but Byrn roared and came again.

  This time, I let him reach me, and just as his momentum threatened to bowl me over, I shifted my weight. Byrn careened past but not before my paw shot out and raked down his torso.