I landed close to Thea, who had gotten shakily to her feet. Her breath was ragged, a scratch along her forehead trickling blood into her eye. I saw her glance from me to the knife on the floor to the other wolf stalking toward us. I let out a low growl, fur bristling, and jerked my head toward the door.

Thea hesitated. I could tell she was thinking about staying to fight. I shook my head, trying to convey a million different things in a single, half-second look.

I knew her. Knew she wanted to stay and fight, to prove herself. All I could do was hope that she realized that she didn’t need to. She had already proven herself by rescuing thosewomen not once but twice. If she stayed, I’d be distracted the entire time.

Finally, she let out a frustrated huff but nodded, running out the door.

I spun around, now able to focus entirely on the fight before me. Damien leaped through the air toward me, trying to catch me off-guard. I darted to the side, narrowly missing his claws. My muscles ached and screamed, my leg throbbing as blood matted the fur around the wound. I snarled, fur bristling as my own jaws snapped at his throat, but only got a mouthful of fur.

I knew I had to end this soon. I was already sliced up pretty badly, only exchanging minimal injuries in return. I’d slowed down, fighting through the pain but fully aware of each slash and bite on my body.

Damien lunged. I tried to move out of the way, but he slammed down onto my back. His teeth sank into the back of my neck, drawing blood as he refused to let go. I howled, flailing, trying to get out from underneath him.

Instead of trying to wriggle out, I shot upward, jumping to my feet and pushing him up with me. His jaws loosened in surprise, and I shook my entire body, forcing him to fly off. The instant he collapsed to the ground, I jumped on top of him, wasting no time in clamping down on his throat.

Damien stilled beneath my jaws, his body going limp. I dropped the body, growling, waiting to see if he started moving again. When I was certain he wasn’t going to move, I turned, padding toward the door.

The world sounded eerily quiet. I pricked my ears, waiting for sounds of a struggle, of continued fighting. But it sounded like everything had ended.

As I stepped outside, the first thing I saw was an anxious Thea pacing back and forth next to a massive wolf I recognized as Rand. She bit her nails as she stared at the ground.

She pulled to a halt as her nostrils flared, and her head whipped toward me. Relief washed over her face, and she ran toward me.

Seeing her safe and alive was enough to make my wolf snarl with satisfaction. More than anything, I wanted to pull her close and hold her against me to make sure she stayed safe for the rest of our lives.

I shifted, wincing at the pain in my side and arm as I got to my feet. None of those injuries mattered, though, when she ran into me and wrapped her arms around me, though my aches and pains screamed in protest. I would have endured pain a hundred times worse than that if it meant she was safe.

“Are you all right?” she asked, stepping away. Her eyes scanned me up and down, marking each of my injuries.

“I’ll live,” I said. “More than I can say for that piece of shit.”

She nodded, swallowing as she looked behind me, as if expecting him to appear. “He’s dead, then?”

“Yeah, he’s dead. Made sure of it this time.”

Her shoulders slackened as she sighed. “Good. That’s good.”

“What about the others?” I directed that question to Rand, who had turned back to a human.

“All taken care of.” Rand gave a feral grin. “Anyone who fought, we killed.” He gestured to a corpse on the ground. “Anyone who gave up, we arrested. We’ll let the Wolf’s Council take care of them.”

I nodded, my hand resting on Thea’s shoulder. I didn’t want to stop touching her, or let her go. Glancing down at her, the moonlight seemed to glint off her hair, making her look even more radiant than before.

“Thanks, by the way,” I told her.

“For what?”

“For listening to me when I told you to run.” I gave her a playful nudge. “It’s probably the first time you’ve ever done that.”

She frowned. “I didn’t like standing off to the side and being helpless.”

“I know.” I brushed a strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. My hand cupped her cheek, and she leaned into it. “But it meant I didn’t have to worry about you. The fact that you actually listened instead of trying to argue…”

Her lips quirked upward. “I figure trying to prove myself isn’t something I should worry about doing. And if it keeps you safer, I’ll consider it an added bonus.”

“Trust me. You’re already incredible. You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone.”

“Tannen…” she hesitated, biting her lip as if worried to say what she was about to say. “The claiming bond… it didn’t take.” She tugged at her torn shirt so I could see the place where it should have been.