“They tried to have me killed. They’ve been aiding my brother in this whole insane biological warfare thing—yes, yes I’m all right with it.”

Her father-in-law kissed her cheek. “You have real family now.”

“You are both going to make me cry and I’ll have to blame it on pregnancy hormones.”

Lex laughed.

Warren entered. He’d lost some weight since she’d seen him last but even a stranger would have scented the fear pouring off him.

A wolf she didn’t recognize but figured was the French envoy stood at the center of the ring. The gathered wolves shifted as the scent of bloodlust rose.

“The match will go on until one of the wolves in this ring is dead. Bare hands. The Challengers may transform back and forth between forms as many times as they are able. If anyone outside this ring seeks to intervene before the match is declared over, they will be executed by one of the numerous snipers up on the second floor. They are armed with silver shot.”

Grace’s heart sped as he walked out of the roped-off ring and Cade stood, easy and seemingly relaxed until the whistle blew and he immediately transformed and sprang at Warren.

Lex’s hand tightened around hers but he stayed stock still otherwise, which gave her some confidence.

Warren’s panicked face morphed into a wolf but much slower than would save him from the force of Cade’s beast, from those razor-sharp teeth and nails.

A spray of scarlet arced through the air as Warren changed and they rolled a bit, teeth gnashing, the sound of flesh ripping, growling and yelping. Thank goodness she knew the sound of Cade’s wolf and knew whose sound of pain it was.

It went on for the next ten minutes until Cade changed back again and jumped on Warren’s back, wrapping his arm around Warren’s throat.

And Warren changed, but it was slow. He struggled and that’s when she saw him reach up and claw Cade.

Through their link, Grace knew instantly he’d been infected. “He did it,” she hissed at Lex, who growled low and menacing.

Cade’s system struggled and Grace counted time in her head. Cade staggered off and her eyes widened as he fell to his knees. Warren stood, a sneer on his face, thinking he’d gotten away with something. Grace held her breath, hoping he was wrong.

And suddenly, Cade’s eyes cleared and he transformed into a wolf and leapt at Warren, catching him off guard and slicing his teeth into the other man’s shoulder. Warren couldn’t transform, he was already too tired and by the looks of it, the virus had taken over.

Cade slipped his fur and stood there, naked, furious and covered in blood and sweat as Warren fell.

His breath heaved as he and Warren held a long gaze, full of understanding. Cade wanted him to know what he died of. And then Cade moved to him, bent and snapped his neck.

The tears came then. Once she knew he’d live. Once she knew it was truly safe she opened up and began to weep, letting go of the fear she’d held for the weeks since the Challenge had been called.

The French envoy called the match and Warren’s body was left there, disgraced, as Cade explained to them what had happened. For a wolf to cheat, especially after he’d already disgraced himself by violating the Palaver and was the reason for war, he’d pay the price. His body was carefully removed after Grace had a blood sample taken and put away. They’d take it, burn it and scatter it at the dump.

Her parents were taken into custody but she didn’t bother to ask what would happen.

Cade had been surrounded by people since he’d been declared the winner and she needed him.

She pushed her way through and when she got to him, simply wrapped herself around his body and held on as he held her and finished up his business.

Cade saw her break, saw her weeping and relieved, watched his parents comfort her as Lex had moved down to the ring. He’d held everyone off until he stepped into the holding area and took a quick shower, wanting to get any potentially infected blood off his body.

The two brothers embraced but he’d still noticed Grace giving orders to get a blood sample from Warren’s body. In fact, she’d looked over the corpse carefully even as Cade had answered questions about the virus and Warren’s actions. Right as he’d finished, he noticed her removing something from his hands and slipping it into a bag.

God help him, he couldn’t hide his reaction when she’d snapped off the latex gloves and tossed them into a garbage bag she’d then ordered Dave to be sure got burned.

And when she’d pushed her way through a throng of male wolves all well over six feet and grabbed him, he’d just held her, needing her as much as she’d needed him.

They’d gone back to Gabe’s condo afterward. She’d really wanted to change into a track suit but put on a very nice dress instead, knowing she’d have to deal with werewolf politics.

Before that, she’d used the lab equipment Templeton had sent over and saw her suspicions were correct. She’d present the information that night when they went to the National Pack House.

She hadn’t seen much of Cade since they’d returned. The War Council had met and were essentially wrapping up hostilities. Once the wolves associated with Warren had been exposed and shamed, they’d given up. Their lands and territory were even then being redistributed. Pack members would have the chance to swear fealty to the new governing Pack or leave, and Pellini Allied Pack leadership was being dealt with. Most would be shunned but some would face a worse fate. Grace decided not to think about that.