“You won’t touch her,” I growled, my hand clenching around the phone. “No one touches her.” Too late, I realized they would hear the truth in my voice. In my words.

Fuck them all.

Suddenly it seemed so simple.

Robyn belonged with me, and if a single one of them tried to lay a hand on her, I’d bring the war to them.

“Of course no one’s going to touch her,” Wade insisted. “We’re just extending her house arrest. To one year, from the day she returns.”

“A year?”

“It’s a very generous offer!” Paul Blackwell’s shaky, angry voice was easy to identify. I hadn’t even realized he was on the call.

“Yes, and it comes with a time limit,” Wade added. “You have twenty-four hours. After that, the deal goes away, and we’ll have no choice but to come for Robyn and Justus. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

Hand over my brother and my girlfriend, or you’ll invade my territory, kidnap Robyn, and kill Justus.

Let them try it. We’d be ready for them.

“You’re coming in loud and clear, Rick. You’ll hear from me soon.” I hung up the phone. Then I threw it at the wall.

My cell shattered into a thousand shards of glass, aluminum, and electronic guts.

The office door opened. Robyn’s curvy silhouette appeared in the doorway, backlit by light from the hall. She squinted into the room, then turned toward the kitchen. “Hey Naveen, Titus is going to need a new phone!”

“I’m on it!” he shouted.

She stepped into the room and closed the door. “I take it that didn’t go well?”

“See?” I smiled in spite of the circumstances and pulled her close. “I told you you were smart.”

“Asshole.” But she wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder.

I buried my nose in her hair and inhaled deeply. “They offered me a deal. They said they’d take the death penalty off the table for Justus if I agree.”

Robyn stepped back, her eyes wide. “That’s great! What do they want…?” Her question faded into pained silence as comprehension crashed over her. “They want me.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Well, that’s no real surprise.” She nodded, thinking aloud. “I was prepared to ask for his immunity in exchange for my return anyway. And it’s only temporary.” She stood on her toes and whispered the rest into my ear. “I’ll be back as soon as I can convince them I’m all better. No more than a month, and we’ll have thirty days’ absence to make up for.”

“You’ll be gone longer than a month, Robyn.”

“What?” She dropped onto her heels and frowned up at me. “Why?”

“To punish you? To punish me?” I exhaled and spat out the rest of it. “They’re extending your house arrest for a year.”

“A year? A fucking year? With no school? No family? No…you?”

I nodded, my jaw clenched so hard my teeth were starting to creak.

“And if I don’t go, I’ll be signing your brother’s death warrant.”

“And even if you do, they’re going to declaw him and lock him up in someone’s basement.” They’d locked Faythe up once. And one of her brothers, though I’d heard he’d deserved it. “But it’s not going to come to that.” I tilted her chin up until her gaze met mine. “We’re going to fight.”

Her frown deepened into skepticism. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m not giving either of you to the council, Robyn. I can’t live with that. They’re going to come in and try to take you, and we’re going to fight. There are more of us. They don’t even know how many more of us there are. They have no idea what they’ll be marching into.”

“No!” Suddenly she looked horrified. “Titus, most of your strays are untrained. Many of them are new and still adjusting, and fully half of them don’t even recognize your authority yet. You promised to bring them acknowledgment, support, and respect from the council, but you’re giving them war. They’re not going to fight for you. And I won’t ask them to fight for me. To die for a woman they’ve never even met. They deserve better than that.”

“I know.” As usual, Robyn was right. “But those are our options. And I’m not using you as a bargaining chip.”

“Fine.” She backed away from me, determination etched into her expression, and I could practically feel a gulf opening between us. “But this is my decision, and I’m going to make it. I’m not going to let everything you’re building here fall to pieces because of me. And I’m not going to let them hurt your brother.” She pulled her phone from her pocket.

“Robyn…” My voice held a firm edge of warning. “What are you doing?”

She clicked on a name in her contacts list, and I heard the phone ring. Then someone answered.

“Ms. Sheffield?” Rick Wade sounded as stunned as I felt.

“Yeah.” Robyn turned away from me and paced across the dark room, toward the far wall of bookshelves. “I’m calling to renegotiate.”

“Robyn, hang up the phone,” I said, but she waved me off with a scowl.

“I’ll turn myself in, and in exchange, you let Justus go. He had no idea what he was doing, and he’ll never do it again. But I broke your rules on purpose. And I’m the one you want anyway.”

Wade cleared his throat. “I’m afraid we can’t do that. However, we might be willing to reduce his sentence. But not unless you’re willing to make more of a long-term commitment to the council.”

“I wouldn’t be calling if I weren’t.”

“Robyn!” I whispered frantically, panic bubbling in my gut. But again she ignored me.

“I’ll join the Southeast Pride—as a permanent member—if you agree to…six months rehabilitation for Justus. No other disciplinary measures.”

“No!” I reached for her phone, but she pushed me back, fire flashing in her eyes.

“That’s an interesting proposal,” Wade said over the line. “I’ll take it to the rest of the council, and—”

“Not good enough,” she snapped. “You commit right now, or I’m withdrawing my offer. I’ll serve out my year with the Di Carlos, then I’ll leave, just like Abby, and you’ll lose me forever. Your call.”