To Ally’s total surprise, all the tension left Zeke’s body as he mumbled, “I know. It took me a while to see the truth. It wasn’t until we visited your territory that I finally realized that I didn’t know my mate as well as I thought. That day, I felt how angry she was with Ally. I felt how badly she wanted to hurt her. I should have kept a closer eye on Rachelle, made sure she didn’t go after Ally again. This is on me.”

“It’s on Rachelle,” Matt adamantly stated, taking the words from Ally’s mouth. Zeke shook his head in denial, the image of absolute devastation as he stroked his mate’s flank.

Feeling like she was trespassing on what should be an extremely private moment, Ally turned to Derren. “Let’s go home.” She was exhausted, disheartened, and quickly heading for an adrenaline crash.

He kissed her forehead again. “Gladly,” he replied, echoing her earlier sentiment.

As he went to guide her to the SUV, Taryn appeared in front of her, looking impressed. “I don’t know how the fuck you switch forms like that, but you gotta teach me.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The moment they exited the SUV, the door to the main lodge flew open and several Mercury wolves and her uncles came rushing out. Ally undoubtedly would have winced at every tight hug if Taryn hadn’t ridden with them during the journey so she could heal her.

Strangely, Shaya had a pair of shears in her hand. Frowning, Ally asked, “What are they for?”

An innocent smile took over the Alpha female’s face as she hid them behind her back. “Nothing.” Then she exchanged a knowing look with Taryn and Jaime, both of whom now radiated an amusement that tickled Ally. With an inner shrug, Ally made her way into the lodge. The Mercury and Phoenix wolves all followed.

Inside the living area, Bracken coaxed Ally to sit on the sofa while Kathy handed her a mug of some kind of mint-smelling tea. Caleb tucked a blanket around her, and Kent offered her a cookie. Taking one, she leaned into Derren and quietly asked, “Why are they fussing?”

“They’re taking care of you.”

“You don’t like that,” she sensed.

“It’s my job.” He knew he sounded petulant. After all, this was what packs did: they looked out for their own, gave comfort and touch when it was needed. But Ally was his, and he wanted to be the one who took care of her.

“Drink it,” said Kathy, pointing to the tea. “It’ll get the taste of blood out of your mouth better than any toothpaste.”

Saluting her, Ally did as advised. That was when she noticed that the seriously hot Phoenix enforcer, Dominic, was looking hard at her. “What? What are you staring at?”

He sighed languorously. “You, before I wake up from this dream.” There were groans of annoyance and a few chuckles.

Growling, Derren would have shot up from his seat and lunged at the little shit if Ally hadn’t placed a hand on his thigh to stay him. “Don’t,” Derren spat at him. “You’re not using your cheesy lines on Ally.”

Holding up his hands, laughing, Dominic said, “Seriously, I’m just messing with her.” His expression turned serious yet soft as he regarded Ally a second time. “Hell, you must be tired . . . You’ve been running through my dreams all night.”

Again, Derren went to dive at the prick, but Ally pressed her hand down harder on his thigh. That didn’t mean he’d let him get away with it. “Zander!”

Standing behind Dominic, Zander whacked the enforcer over the head.

Wincing, Dominic rounded on him with a grin. “Hey, you’ll mess up my hair. The others don’t hit me that hard.”

Casting the Phoenix enforcer an exasperated look, Nick turned to Derren. “Tell us what happened. Is Rachelle no longer an issue?”

It was actually Bracken who did most of the storytelling, praising Ally’s fighting skills and making her uncles smile proudly.

Seeming satisfied, Nick said, “That’s one more threat gone.”

Derren arched a brow at his Alpha. “I take it no one came to rescue Miranda or Kerrie?”

“No,” replied Nick. “But I can’t say I’m surprised. Like you said, Miranda wasn’t a good Alpha.”

“Tell me they’re not dead yet,” said Taryn, hands clasped in prayer. “I wanted to say my good-byes to them first.” There was a deadly undercurrent to that sentence.

“They’re alive,” Nick assured her. “Had it been your pack who caught them, I’d have wanted you to wait for me before you slit their throats—or something equally fun.”

Trey snorted a laugh. “Good. Where are they?”

“The toolshed. Jesse, Roni, and Marcus are guarding them.”

A curt nod from the Phoenix Alpha male. “Then let’s do this.”

Derren nuzzled his mate’s cheek, not wanting to leave her while she was feeling a little raw inside and still recovering from an adrenaline crash. But he was Beta; getting rid of traitors, intruders, and enemies—in effect, doing the jobs no one else wanted to do—was one of his responsibilities. Although . . . he had a feeling Roni would want the honor of killing Kerrie. “Stay here, baby. I’ll be—”

“I want to see this through.” Ally wanted to see the females punished, and she wanted to be at her mate’s side when he took on this heavy responsibility.

“Baby, you’ve had a tough enough day as it is. Sit back and relax while we deal with it.”