“Damn it,” Eric said, heartfelt. “We’re going to have to search that compound again.”

“They were long gone this morning.”

“I know, but they might have left something behind.” Eric broke off and rubbed his temples.

“You okay, Warden?”

He shrugged. “No sleep.”

Graham barked a laugh. “That’s what happens when you chase a mate. You want to f**k all the time, no stopping for anything else. I loved it.”

Eric had found out everything he could on Graham, so he’d known that Graham had once had a mate. The information in the Guardian’s database had said that Graham’s mate had died trying to bring in his cub, and the cub had died as well.

Eric made a quick sign of blessing. “The Goddess go with them,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well.” Graham’s voice went quiet.

Sudden, terrible worry clutched Eric. Kirsten had gone bringing in Jace. Graham’s mate had died in childbirth. Iona was half-human, not even as robust as female Shifters.

Exactly why we agreed to live in Shiftertowns, Eric told himself. Better medical care, better nutrition, better chance of females surviving with their cubs. There hadn’t been many deaths in childbirth since they’d moved to Shiftertown. Things were different now.

Even so, the fear gripped him so hard that pain followed. A spark shot from his Collar. Oh no.

“Warden? What is wrong with you?”

Eric straightened up from where he’d sagged, but another spasm wracked his body, snakes of pain whipping through him.

“Get out of here,” he said to Graham.

“What the hell is up? You dying of something? Might as well concede leadership to me now, save yourself the trouble.”

Eric managed to remain upright and take two steps to reach Graham. “Get the f**k away from me. Stay away from my Shifters, my family, my mate. This is my Shiftertown, and I’ll never give it to you.”

Spittle came out with his words, landing on Graham’s biker vest. Eric’s finger slammed into Graham’s chest. “Do you understand? You will never win. I’ll kill you if you try.”

Eric’s Collar sparked a few more times, then went silent, controlled. But Eric couldn’t control the pain. Every muscle locked as agony raked through him. Eric fought it, jaw clenched, fists balled, making himself stay on his feet.

“You’re dying right in front of me,” Graham said.

“Fuck you. I’ll kill you.” Eric’s eyes went Shifter, the world taking on a red hue, his awareness stretching to every corner of it. “I’ll kill you now.”

He felt his body half shift, his teeth and claws emerging, his snarls filling the night. Graham’s Shifter reacted, his own claws bared, warning growls long and low. Eric knew Graham would never back down from him, not without a long and bloody fight.

Fine. Eric would kill him. Rip his body open and feast on his entrails. Eric could taste the hot blood pouring into his mouth, wanted it now. He snarled and launched himself at Graham’s throat.

He heard screams, his sister’s voice, then the harsher, human one of her mate. Then the note of fear in his son, his cub.

Eric had to protect his cub. He hadn’t been able to protect Kirsten. He’d failed. He had to protect this Shiftertown, everyone in it, all the cubs and the females, to make up for the fact that he’d let Kirsten die. Graham would never take that away from him. The wolf deserved to be torn apart.

“Eric.”

He felt the touch of his mate, her scent surrounding him, Iona fresh and clean like mountain heather.

“Eric, stop.” Her hands moved to his chest covered with leopard fur, which had split open his shirt. Her fingers stroked, soothed.

Eric’s Collar remained silent but the pain ground on, so much pain. It was killing him.

Graham was right—he was dying, but Eric would kill him first. He’d not leave his family at the mercy of Graham. The first thing the Lupine would do would be to kill off Eric’s pride, especially his son, so that son didn’t challenge for leadership.

“Eric.”

Iona had her arms all the way around him. Cassidy and Jace stood to either side of him. Eric sensed and smelled them, though he couldn’t turn to look at them.

Graham had backed all the way off to the middle of the open yard. Shifters were coming out of houses to see what was going on—the bears from next door, the wildcat Shifters on the other side.

They sensed a dominance battle. Eric felt their curious excitement, the underlying tension that could explode into war at any excuse.

Graham, though, had his hands up. “Not the time and place. Let your mate take you inside. We figure out this human thing first, then we fight. All right?”

Eric lunged at him. Cassidy, Jace, and Iona tried to hold him back, but Eric topped all three in strength, even in this kind of pain. He threw them off and charged Graham.

Every inch of body language Graham threw out told Eric he didn’t want to fight right now, but too bad. Graham was finished.

Eric heard a muffled shot and then he couldn’t feel his leg. He stumbled as the rest of his body went numb, then a blackness rushed through him.

He looked over his shoulder to see Diego Escobar regarding him sternly over the barrel of a tranquilizer rifle.

“Sorry, Eric,” Diego said.

The world went dark as Eric hit the ground.

“Do you know what’s wrong with him?” Iona’s voice cut through the darkness a long time later.

Iona’s beautiful, dusky voice. Eric swam toward it, his need for her scattering the pain.

“Well, I’m no medic, lass. He told me he thinks it’s to do with the Collars, but I can’t be certain. I could dissect him and find out, but that would be a bit of an inconvenience for him, eh?”

Eric knew the voice—he’d met the Shifter a few times, but for the moment, the name wouldn’t come. No one from this Shiftertown. The man smelled Feline, lion probably. He was very strong, a clan leader at the least.

“No dissecting,” Iona said in a hard voice.

“I’m teasing you, lass. Sorry.”

“He does that,” another voice came, the crisp, clear one of a human woman. “He tries to be funny at all times.”

“It eases the tension,” the Irish voice said.

Irish. Eric remembered now. The Austin Shiftertown was run by a family of Irishmen. Their last name still swam out of his memory, but he recalled the brothers, one the Shiftertown leader, the other their Guardian.