Chapter 24

After Asia's appalling news, I stormed out of Moonglow. Dutch's store was only a few streets over—I'd driven by it the other night on my way home. How could he have gone behind my back and done something so cutthroat? It was one thing to offer a distributor a better deal, but it was something else to bribe them not to do business with me.

Or maybe he hoped I'd outbid him, which would lower my profits.

I'd heard stories about unscrupulous tactics used to drive others out of business, but I never thought it would happen to us. This was something I'd only imagined happening on TV and not in real life.

The late-afternoon sun filtered through the trees along the sidewalk, but the light wasn't responsible for the hot tears welling in my eyes. Every step I took fueled my anger. This was not only about protecting my business but also my family, by whatever means necessary. Every new opportunity was a stepping-stone toward our future, and because we were new, it wouldn't take much to jeopardize our finances.

When I reached his store, I yanked the door open and marched inside. Dutch didn't have a charming bell on the door that jingled, and it was dim inside due to the tinted windows. Glass jewelry counters ran along all walls of the store with the middle area open.

I spied him to my left, helping a customer, and slammed my store keys on the counter to draw his attention. "How could you?"

Dutch looked up before smiling at an older lady in a midnight-blue dress. "If you'll excuse me for one moment."

He veered toward the back of the store, and when I realized he was heading for the door to a private room, I jogged after him.

"You can't dodge me! I'll climb over this counter if I have to."

He gave me a baleful look over his shoulder before turning on his heel. When he reached the counter, he placed his palms on it. "What's gotten into you?"

"Besides deception?"

"I'll just come back another day," the woman said, jingling her car keys.

"That's ten thousand dollars walking out the door," he informed me. "Whatever this is, it better be worth it."

I glared at the sparkling diamonds in the display. "I thought someone who ran a prestigious store like this would know about ethics. I've worked so hard—you have no idea. Why are you doing this to me?"

"Is this about the note?"

"First you come into my store to spy on me, and then you pretend to be my friend so you can get inside information. You didn't even care about the feathers; you just wanted to take away a piece of my business. I bet if Shikoba dealt with people outside the tribes, you would have bribed him too."

"Bribe? You've gone mad."

"No, I am mad. And if the Council's not going to do anything about it, I will."

"Are you threatening me?"

I laughed. "That's a funny thing to say, considering you're the one who's harassing me."

His eyes flicked over to the other customers in the store. "Keep your voice down."

"You don't want your customers knowing you're a crook? We don't even sell the same kind of merchandise. Just because someone spends money in my shop doesn't mean they're going to stop coming into yours."

Dutch folded his arms. "Look, whatever you're talking about, I'm not involved. You're just going to have to take my word at face value."

"I'm not letting you run me out of business. Just because I don't have a Packmaster doesn't mean you can push me around and get away with it. And for your information, it's not going to work."

"Hold your tongue," he said in a caged voice. "Need I remind you about the slander laws? If you ruin my reputation by causing a scene in my place of business, I'll take it to the Council, and that might cost you your store."

"How many people can you afford to pay not to do business with me? You underestimate my ambition."

Dutch held up his hand. "That'll do. I need you to leave the premises."

"This isn't over," I hissed.

Though I had a million things I wanted to say, all I could do was leave. The fact that Dutch could raise slander charges infuriated me. The Council rarely got involved with business dealings; those matters were handled by the shopkeepers since so many different Breeds were involved. We had no courthouses or judges to impose fines. If I had lived in a pack, the Packmaster would handle something of this magnitude.

But I didn't, so all I could do was flee.

My God, what if I'd fallen into a trap? Had this been his plan all along—to bait me into making a public accusation without hard evidence? And I'd fallen for it. His customers were now witnesses, and people did jail time for slander.

The wind could barely keep up with me as I crossed the street. When a horn honked, I whirled around, slamming my hands on the hood of a car as the driver hit the brakes at the last second.

After crossing the street, I called the only person I could think of who would know what to do.

"It's your dime," Wheeler answered.

"Wheeler, it's Hope."

He cleared his throat. "What's shakin'?"

"Someone's trying to put me out of business."

He chuckled. "That all?"

I stepped onto the curb and quickened my stride. "I know you've got experience dealing with shrewd businessmen. I don't have time to explain all the details over the phone, but I really need your advice. I've just opened a can of worms that I can't close. Can you meet me at Moonglow before I shift and do some real damage to my reputation?"

"Be chill. Are you alone?"

"No, I'm on the street."

"If you feel like you're gonna shift, get the hell inside, lock the doors, and take a deep breath. Gum helps. I'll be there in nothing flat."

After a few minutes, I reached Moonglow. When I tugged at the locked door, I blanched.

My keys.

Flashbacks of leaving them on Dutch's counter came to mind, and I kicked the brick wall. I wasn't in any condition to go back and get them. My hands were shaking, and I couldn't tell if I was on the verge of having a panic attack or shifting in the middle of the street. Neither was an option, especially if one involved my wolf chasing people down the sidewalk.

"Think, think," I whispered.

Maybe I'd accidentally left the back door unlocked. I'd thrown the trash out earlier, so it was worth a shot. Getting off the street might calm my nerves. I headed a few buildings down until I reached a gap that ran between two stores and cut through to the alley. All things considered, at least Melody wasn't here. She would have made it worse by grabbing her bow and standing on Dutch's pristine countertops. I was the levelheaded one, so it upset me that I'd behaved so impulsively.

The alley that divided our street from the one behind us was wide enough to fit the trucks that collected our garbage. Most of the buildings were connected on either side, so that offered a lot of privacy if my wolf decided to burst onto the scene. I stared at the ground, stepping around discarded pieces of trash. Rusty nails, scraps of dirty paper, glass, cigarette butts, pebbles… When I lifted my eyes, I halted in my tracks.

Black smoke billowed from a large trash container ahead on the left. When I looked back and did a mental count of the buildings, I realized it was coming from our store.

I ran, my feet barely touching the ground. The smell of smoke and gas fumes permeated the air. We didn't just throw empty soda cans and paper towels in the bin. All kinds of flammable items were in there, such as flattened cardboard boxes and packing material.

My heart ratcheted in my chest when I reached the fire. A man stepped out from behind the bin, but he didn't notice me since he was searching for something in his pants pocket.

"What do you think you're doing?" I shouted.

I startled him so much that he almost tripped over his own feet while turning to face me. Gas sloshed in the red container he held tightly, and I recognized his bushy beard and beady eyes. Mr. Dumont—the irate customer with the broken purse—was attempting to burn down my store.

Noxious flames licked the outside of the trash bin, black smoke billowing toward the indigo sky.

"Stop what you're doing!"

He took a deliberate step forward, splashing gas on the concrete between us.

"Help!" I screamed. "Someone help! Fire!"

Dumont held up a pack of matches and struck one. Shifting meant watching my dreams go up in flames, so I had to choose between catching Dumont or saving the only thing that mattered.

Dumont made the decision for me when he dropped the lit matchstick on the ground, blocking my access to the door and creating a wall of fire between us.

* * *

As Tak neared Starlight Road,he smelled smoke through the open window. It wasn't the rich aroma of a barbecue or a fire pit. The truck jumped the curb as Tak maneuvered around a traffic jam. Black smoke trailed up to the darkening sky, an ominous sight on such a clear day. When he reached the store, his truck screeched to a halt, and he threw open the door, keys still in the ignition. A small crowd gathered in the street, gawking at the sky behind Moonglow. Tak gripped the door handle and jerked, but it didn't budge.

With no sign of anyone inside, he turned left and torpedoed up the sidewalk, knocking a man down and leaping over a dog. Before reaching the end of the street, he glimpsed a gap between two buildings and did a backstep. Tak cut through and wound up in an alleyway. Not wasting time to look around, he veered right and slowed down when he saw the nightmare unfolding.

A short wall of flames stood between Hope and another man. He couldn't tell who it was since the man was facing the other way. If Tak hadn't known it before, he knew now with absolute certainty that he loved Hope. Loved her with a fierceness in his heart he'd never known, and seeing her surrounded by flames made him want to tear the world apart.

If that bastard moved an inch, the savagery Tak would unleash would be legendary.

"Get help!" he boomed, catching Hope's attention. He wanted her out of here, and he knew by the brave look in her eyes that she wanted to save her store.

And so did he.

Her dreams were now his dreams.

In a flash, she turned around and took off like a streak of lightning.

Tak stopped, his shoulders squared and head low. When the bearded man turned around, Tak recognized the grizzly from Hope's store. So much for Breed jail taking care of this guy after the stunt he pulled at Howlers.

Maybe the fates were giving Tak a second chance to give this chickenshit what he deserved.

Tak widened his stance, closing his hands into fists. "You dare attack a Packmaster's daughter?"

"Not your business," Dumont fired back.

"What's going on out here?" someone shouted. But the person was interested in neither Tak nor Dumont, only the intense fire threatening the adjoining shops. Several men sprang into action, fast-moving shadows dancing behind the smoke and flames.

"Stay back," Dumont warned as Tak advanced. "You don't want to mess with me, wolf. My bear will eat you for breakfast and pick his teeth with your bones."

Tak stripped off his shirt and tossed it aside. "Let's get uncivilized."

Damn the consequences—Tak was going to annihilate him.

The two men clashed, each trying to muscle the other down. Tak was over two hundred and fifty pounds of pure ferocity—his moves so raw that he didn't have to think. His knuckles split when they smashed against Dumont's head like a sledgehammer. Tak suddenly lost his footing, and Dumont battered him in the ribs. Adrenaline dulled the pain, and Tak put the guy in a choke hold. Without something to pin him against, it was difficult to keep a grip on him. All he needed was one minute to cut off the circulation and knock this guy out.

Dumont twisted his body and wrenched out of Tak's grip before backing up a few steps. He grimaced, his white teeth smeared with blood. With lightning speed, Tak unsheathed his weapon.

"Big man with the knife," Dumont taunted. "I thought you were an alpha, but all I see now is a pussy. Wouldn't fight me in the bar and won't even fight me now."

Tak's blade was steeped in centuries of valor—a weapon forged for battle and passed down to great warriors. Dumont's words didn't loosen Tak's grip on his weapon. No man with any honor would ask his enemy to give him a fair fight, and as Tak saw it, Dumont had the advantage of being a grizzly.

Flames licked the sky, growing taller and threatening the building as they painted black streaks against the wall. Local shopkeepers splashed buckets of water at the dumpster, attempting to contain the fire.

Dumont stripped off his shirt, his hairy chest the same color as his bear's fur. He unlatched his belt and looped one end around his hand, eyes trained on Tak's knife.

They circled each other, smoke whipping around and showering them with burning embers.

Tak lunged and swiped, his blade leaving an angry red slash across the Shifter's chest.

Dumont swung his arm, and the leather snapped against Tak's hand. Tak wrenched away when the belt came dangerously close to ensnaring his wrist.

A gust of wind tunneled through the alley, the smoke stinging his eyes. He didn't like how the alley boxed them in like two animals caught in a pit.

Body language revealed intent, so Tak focused on every subtle shift of Dumont's eyes, the position of his feet, and the angle of his stance. When the belt lashed him again, he seized it and gave it a hard jerk, pulling Dumont toward him. Knife in hand, Tak aimed for the heart. But before the blade found its home, the Shifter pivoted away.

Dumont circled behind him like a tornado. Tak dropped to one knee and twisted around, making a downward swing with his weapon. The knife plunged into Dumont's leg, but not deep enough to bury the reverse hook, which would have ripped out arteries and flesh. The Shifter jumped back, agony splintering his expression as blood poured from the open wound.

Tak rose to his feet, and their bodies moved like an artistry of war. The furry bastard parried each attack with a blow until he knocked the knife from Tak's hand, the metal skidding across the pavement.

"Tak!" Hope screamed.

"Get out of my way before I unleash the beast," Dumont growled. "Do you really want to die for that cunt?"

Tak leveled him with his eyes. "I will die for love, but you will die for nothing." In a swift moment of magic, he shifted. His wolf rushed headlong and went for the jugular.

Dumont threw up his arm to block the attack. Tak's wolf sank his fangs into the Shifter's arm, and he thrashed wildly, hoping to tear it off. Blood filled his mouth, the sweet promise of death on his tongue. Dumont's hard fist pounded him in the head, forcing him to let go before he suffered a skull fracture.

Dumont moved so fast he blurred, his body rippling as it exploded into an atrocious beast at least three times larger than Tak. The grizzly craned his massive head and roared, the spine-chilling battle cry terrifying enough to make the bravest of men flee.

Tak drew in the bear's scent and searched for weaknesses. Dumont was colossal, his jaws wide and claws long. A lone wolf could easily take on a black bear. But a grizzly? Only if the bear was inexperienced or small, and Dumont was neither. Against a single wolf, odds were always tipped in favor of the bear.

Tak readied himself for what might be his last moments. All warriors wanted their story to be one of legend, and the only way to achieve that was to die a good death.

The bear lumbered forward and swiped with his paw. Tak's wolf dodged his deadly claws and streaked behind him, getting in a bite whenever he could. His goal was to get the bear so agitated that he couldn't think straight. Large predators tired easily.

"Move it! Move it!" a man bellowed.

Tak spotted Wheeler galvanizing the shopkeepers into action with a plan to extinguish the fire. They lined up with buckets of water and a hose.

"Help me pull the damn thing away from the building," Wheeler ordered them. "Hurry up so you can put out the roof fire!"

Hope's voice sounded like an angel amid chaos. "You'll burn yourself! Let it go! It's not worth dying for."

But it was worth dying for—she was worth dying for. All of Tak's tribulations had led to this one moment.

Despite his size, Dumont's grizzly was surprisingly nimble. When Tak snarled and charged at him, the bear rose up on his hind legs to exaggerate his size. He must have stood eight feet tall. Tak circled around him and nipped at his hind leg so he'd drop down on all fours.

Each time the grizzly faced him, Tak bared his fangs. Sometimes bears got skittish at the sight of a wolf's canines and the whites of his eyes.

Tak yelped when the bear's claws ripped through his shoulder. Swallowing the pain, he lunged forward and locked his jaws around the grizzly's neck. There was no time for mistakes. He angled his body so the bear couldn't bite down, but those large paws battered him mercilessly.

Tak's eyes and mouth filled with a burning stench that forced him to let go. The men finished dragging the trash bin to the center of the alley, and the wind was blowing smoke and charred embers in Tak's face. The grizzly swiped his arm, knocking the wind out of Tak before he slammed against the building and crumpled to the ground.

Tak heaved a sigh, and the concrete became suffused with his blood as it left his body. His eyes burned, and his lungs tightened from smoke inhalation. Through the haze, Dutch appeared out of nowhere, spraying something at the grizzly.

Amid blood and fire, Dutch's fine suit stood out. He held what appeared to be pepper spray on a key ring. Blinded from the mace, Dumont attacked thin air.

Tak watched in horror. Why wasn't Dutch shifting? Was he trying to play hero or commit suicide?

The grizzly charged and threw him to the ground. He raked his claws over flesh, Dutch screaming beneath him. In those grim moments, Tak watched Dutch flop beneath the beast like a rag doll.

"No!" Hope cried, racing into view.

Tak's heart jolted to life as she neared the bear, wielding a piece of lumber like a baseball bat. Her eyes flicked between Tak and Dutch before they sparked like two flames.

The bear lost interest in Dutch and turned around to face the lone woman. No one stood by her side. The men were distracted by the fire, which must have spread. They raced in and out of the shops with buckets of water, a fire alarm chirping from inside a building. Wheeler wasn't anywhere in sight.

Despite searing pain and broken bones, Tak rose to his feet, barking and snarling to draw the grizzly's attention away. Hope stumbled backward, facing a half-ton grizzly with nothing but a plank of wood. Her eyes told the story—that she accepted she was about to meet her death. And when those baby browns swung over to Tak, he knew she was doing it for love.

Fear doesn't define a person; sacrifice does.

The bear's eyes were closed and weeping from the mace. His sense of smell might have also been impaired, but not his hearing. He followed the sound of her voice, her breath, and her footsteps. Tak had once been helpless to save the woman he loved, but not this time.

Half-blind and bleeding, he channeled all his alpha power into a single blow as he crashed into the bear and unleashed his wrath.