25. Blayne

TWENTY-FIVE

BLAYNE

A roar came from my left. I spun and saw a pair of wolves leap on a man holding a rifle. The pop-pop-pop of a gun sounded behind me. My panther form tucked and rolled until I was facing the fucker behind me. Another man in black aimed his rifle at me. I sprinted toward him and hit him with my shoulder, toppling him over, and sprinted past him before he could get back to his feet.

Above me, Tate and Jared swooped across the sky, the roars of their dragons piercing the calm of the day. My breath rasped in and out of my panther chest. All across the field and forest, the sounds of battle raged. There were dozens of us. Every species of shifter battled against the men in black. Gunfire, shouts, and howls of animals created a cacophony of noise.

The plan was for the wolf shifters to loop around behind our enemies and for the bears and panthers to surprise them once their attention was on the wolves. It wasn't working. They'd seen through our plan before we could really even get started. I was panicking. The tide was turning, but not in our favor.

Miles raced from the forest, leading a group of wolves. He was heading straight toward a group of men who were hunkered down behind a copse of trees. They saw them coming. The men turned and fired at Miles's group. I turned away, not wanting to see. It was all falling apart. We weren't prepared. A ripple of fear and shock pulsed along my fur. I had to do something to turn the tide.

Digging my paws into the dirt, I pushed toward the leader. He called out orders to his team, pointing toward a group of bears led by Steff. If I took him out, things might change. Cut off the head, and the snake dies.

I leaped into the air, paws extended. Before I'd even reached the apex of my jump, Sam Francis turned, saw me, raised his gun, and fired. Three bullets slammed into my stomach and chest. I hit the ground writhing in pain, clawing the dirt with my paws in anger and defeat.

"Enough!" Sam yelled. "Take a break."

The calls echoed across the field and battle slowed before halting completely. Tate and Jared landed and shifted back to their human forms. I rolled over and shifted. I looked down and saw the bright red splotches the paintballs had left on my torso. I'd have been dead for sure. Thank God, Gio had gotten us these training bullets. It made things much more intense and realistic. We needed it. We needed more than that from the looks of it.

Sam had brought a few dozen of his men to act as hunters for our training exercise. They'd mopped the floor with us today. We had a lot to work on.

"You good, Blayne?" Sam called. "Those things aren't real, but they still hurt like a bitch."

I nodded, though I already felt the ache in my ribs where one of the rounds had hit me. "I'll be fine. How the hell did you know I was jumping behind you?"

Sam grinned and pointed a thumb at one of his guys. "Tony here. His eyes got wide as saucers and he was looking behind me. Knew something was coming. Just didn't know it was you."

"Great," I said. "Some stealthy black panther I am. Can't even jump a human like you. What did we do wrong? We outnumbered you guys. This should have been a rout." I grabbed a water bottle from a chest cooler and chugged.

Sam held up his rifle. "The great equalizer. I think part of it is the plans you guys put together before we started the training sessions. Maybe you're too coordinated. Honestly, once we broke up your teams and you guys started panicking and attacking at random, it became a lot harder. Maybe the animal side of you needs to take control. Humans can anticipate what other humans do; we can't anticipate an animal."

He had a point. Maybe we were overthinking this. "Right. Maybe we'll try something like that tomorrow."

Sam nodded. "Antonio is definitely going to be bringing weapons to the party. With his money, he'd have high-end stuff. Gio's pulling some strings with his own contacts. We want to combat whatever he brings to the battlefield."

"Right. He's not bringing, like, F-18s or anything, right?" I smirked.

"Probably not." Sam shrugged. He didn't share my smile, though, which made me a little nervous. He gave me a hard look. "Listen, Blayne, I can't see my baby niece hurt again. She was devastated when Liam died. Lost herself. I won't watch her go through that again. You need to make sure you get out of this alive."

"We'll be fine. I know what I'm doing."

Sam sat beside me and jabbed a finger at me. "That's the same fucking thing your brother said." His tone was angry and intense. "We all know how that turned out. Ava blamed herself for his death. She packed all that pain inside. As bad as that was, she felt even worse for you. She understood the relationship you and Liam had. I'm glad you all care for each other now. That means I have to ask you the same thing I asked Liam all those years ago. Will you sit this out? Stay on the sidelines and let the rest of us fight Antonio?"

It was like he'd kicked me in the balls. I stiffened, slowly shaking my head. He wanted me to let my friends and allies go into danger and have me sit in Gio's mansion? How could I do that?

Sam winced. "You know, son, we really did try to keep Liam out of harm's way. It got to the point that Gio was going to fire him. Better he be done with the family than to be dead. I guess we waited too long. I can't bring him back, but I can try to keep you from suffering the same fate."

My first response was to say no. Absolutely not. I couldn't let my friends go out to die while I stayed safe. Then Ava's face appeared in my mind. My memories drifted back to the night they came and told me Liam was dead. The horror and sadness on her face. I'd been too angry and bitter to really comprehend it back then. Now the thought of that same look being on her face made my heart ache. Was this how it had been for Liam? Having to choose between doing what this woman asked, and what you thought you needed to do?

Finally, I understood the only answer I could give. "Sam, I can't promise we'll all come out of this alive. There's no way to know. All I can say is that I'll do everything I can to make it through this."

"Would you say that to Ava? Can you really do that to her?"

"Let's put it this way. If it was your brothers going to battle, and you knew they might not make it out alive, would you sit back and stay safe? Could you?"

Sam glared at me, then his face fell and he stared at the ground. "Fuck."

"Exactly. I can't let my brothers go against Antonio without me."

Sam nodded and stood. "I guess I better make sure Gio gets the best gear and weapons money can buy."

All the alpha shifters and their teams left for a break. We were filthy and exhausted after training for six hours. I needed to grab some things from my house before I headed back to Gio's place. Once I checked in with Tate, Miles, and Steff, I hopped in my truck to swing by.

The sun was already setting by the time I was home. My ribs were aching from where Sam had shot me. I grabbed some Ace bandages to wrap myself up and ducked into my closet to grab more pants.

One of the hangers I grabbed hit a box on a shelf. When it tumbled to the floor, the contents fell out. There was a picture of me and Liam standing next to our parents. We were in front of the Grand Canyon during one of our road-trip vacations. We looked like we were eight or nine years old. My panther keened sadly.

I put my clothes down and knelt, picking up the photograph. I ran my finger across Mom's face. Dad was beaming at the camera. He was really excited about being at the Grand Canyon. I still remember how stoked he was when we first walked up to it. That had been a wonderful trip. The back of my throat cramped and my eyes ached with unshed tears. I kept most of their pictures in boxes. I always had. It wasn't that I didn't want to see them, but because it always reminded me of what I'd lost.

I allowed my tears to fall and gave myself a few minutes to mourn them all over again. As much as I missed them and wanted to see them again, I knew it wasn't my time.

"I love you guys," I whispered to the picture. "But you'll have to wait a while longer to see me."

Antonio wasn't going to win. We wouldn't allow it. Sometimes evil did win—I wasn't blind to how the world worked. This wouldn't be one of those times, though. I'd be damned if I allowed that. I actually had a future to look forward to, as did my friends. We had to get out on top of this war.

I tucked the picture under my arm and brought it along with the rest of the things I needed. It was time to stop hiding from my past. It would be nice to see their faces every day. It would hurt, but it would also remind me what I was fighting for.

Ava was asleep in my bed in the guesthouse when I got there. At first I was surprised, but then I stood there, watching her sleep by the light of the moon through the window. A smile spread across my lips, and I tiptoed to the bathroom. After taking a quick shower, I slid under the sheets beside her.

As I pulled her toward me, Ava turned and wrapped her arms around me immediately. A peace unlike anything I'd ever felt washed over my body. My panther was the most content it had ever been. It was like he was finally at ease. I'd never noticed how anxious and lonely he was until Ava had barged into my life. I chuckled to myself, and Ava stirred.

"You okay?" she mumbled sleepily.

I winced. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. I'm sorry."

"What was so funny?"

Kissing her head, I said, "I guess fate knew what it was doing all along. Even with the broken bond, I think this was meant to happen. You and me, I mean."

Ava smiled up at me. "Good. Even if Fate said otherwise, I wouldn't want to let you go."

I kissed her lips and rolled over, letting her lay her head on my chest. I ran a hand up and down her back until her breathing became steady and deep with sleep. As I listened to her breathing, my heart started to race. Emotions I'd never had before surged through my body. I was scared, excited, and nervous all at the same time. My panther was equally anxious and ecstatic.

Fuck.

I was falling in love with Ava.