Page 109 of Their Mate
The Elder finally ripped free of Aidan’s bite and hammered him—one, two—with blows so fast my eyes couldn’t follow. Aidan went down hard, skidding toward an edge, claws trying to catch, failing. My stomach flipped. Declan threw himself under him, took the slide onto his own shoulders, and somehow all that motion turned into a leap back up that shouldn’t have been possible.
Tamsin handed me a handgun and with a quick check, I saw that I had three bullets left. I didn’t waste them. Two into the facesof things that were too close. One into the Elder’s shoulder at a range so short the muzzle flash burned my knuckles. He turned his head slowly and looked at me as I threw the empty gun aside.
For a heartbeat I saw him. Not the monster. The man. The scientist who had decided to make himself God.
Tamsin stepped into that line of sight and threw a handful of powdered glass into his eyes. Honestly, I respected the bag of tricks she had come with. She was a worthy fighter, and I was glad to have her at my side.
He recoiled—just enough—and Logan took his throat.
He didn’t hold it long. The Elder tore free, blood black and slick on his fur, and cuffed Logan so hard he bounced off a rock and came up human, bleeding from the mouth.
“Stay with me,” I heard myself say, and I wasn’t sure if I meant him or me or all of us.
Zara’s team hit the lycans swarming us with ruthless intensity. Killian howled and it sounded like joy; Callum darted through three lycans, leaving them howling—not with joy—and dripping blood. Magnus and Tobias climbed a stair of lycan backs and dragged one down to where Zara could end him. She did, cleanly, mouth set in a determined line.
The Elder bared his teeth in something that was more a snarl than a smile. He came for me again. He reached for me with one bloody hand and all five of my wolves hit him together, grabbing him high, low, back and belly, anywhere they could.
The Elder threw the pack off again with a bellow that rattled my bones and came for me one more time, blazing with fury and arrogance. I raised my knife, because what else did I have?
My pack was on him again in the blink of an eye. The Elder hesitated. It wasn’t much, a heartbeat, but that was all it took.
Aidan slammed in from the back, burying his teeth deep into the Elder’s hamstring, chewing through the muscles. Declan hit from the side, jaws locking onto his ribs and shaking viciously side to side, trying to tear him apart. Edward came in hard, biting into the thick tendon and muscle of the arm that carried the most strength, then chewing his way up, tearing and snarling and severing the artery. Logan leapt high, his jaws clamping onto the Elder’s throat, biting deep and jerking hard. And Jamie? His teeth sank deep into the Elder’s groin, shredding arteries, veins, muscles and tendons, and hopefully everything else down there.
Together, they finally dragged him down.
The Elder thrashed, muscles bulging, his voice still human as he snarled, “I cannot—be—killed?—”
But he was wrong.
Because the five of them held, every ounce of strength and fury they possessed poured into this last fight. They did what wolves do, clamping down and pulling, shaking, tearing their prey apart. Then Zara’s pack was there too, tearing into the monster anywhere they could find an opening.
The Elder howled—furious, disbelieving—until his voice broke into a gargle of blood.
And Logan,myLogan, tore his throat clean out.
The Elder Lycan convulsed once, twice, claws scrabbling uselessly, and then he stilled. His massive body slumped against the stone, blood pouring from all over his body, black as taracross the cliff. His eyes, those burning yellow eyes, finally went dark.
Tamsin let out a breath like she’d been holding it her entire life. Bishop braced a bloodied hand on the rock, bowing his head for one heartbeat. Nox cleaned his knives in quick, efficient motions, the only prayer he allowed himself. Griff leaned forward, laughter bubbling, ragged and triumphant. Eamon stood strong, red to the elbows, but still alive.
My wolves came back to me, one by one. Logan first, eyes ember bright, pressing his forehead to mine until the world steadied. Jamie caught my eye and managed a toothy grin, his eyes sparkling with warmth. Declan grinned, all teeth, and licked my knuckles, wolfish and tender both. Aidan brushed against my hip, a wall of muscle and loyalty. Edward laid his head against my shoulder.
Beside us, Zara’s pack regrouped. Her wolves howled, the sound rolling over the cliff, through my bones, into my blood.
We weren’t safe yet. Dane was still breathing, but the Elder Lycan was dead. We had done this impossible thing—together.
“Check your wounds,” Tamsin said, practical even in triumph. “Then we make someone answer for this.”
I wiped blood from my eyes and looked from the lycans fleeing into the water to the heart of the island, where Dane’s command still burned with false confidence.
“Dane first,” I said.
EPILOGUE
Elias
The command room smelled of sweat and nerves, thick with the stink of men who’d been waiting too long for a miracle that never came.
Screens flickered red, heat signatures crawling across the monitors like ants boiling out of a nest. Voices barked down comms.
