Chapter 5

"Get down!" Rex snarls at him.

Cain tilts his head. Smiles.

That smile makes my stomach drop.

"They're not here for me."

"Yeah, no shit," Aiden snaps from behind the overturned couch. "They're here to kill all three of us before the bond snaps into place. You included, asshole."

Another shot. The espresso machine explodes. Steam and coffee grounds spray everywhere. I taste copper. My hands are shaking so bad I can barely hold onto the counter edge.

Rex presses against my side, one arm locked around my waist. His chest heaves. "How many?"

"Twelve," Cain says. Way too calm. "Silver rounds. Wolfsbane tips. They know what they're doing."

"Great. Fantastic." Rex's grip tightens. "Ivy, listen to me. When I say run—"

"I'm not leaving you."

"You don't get a vote."

"Neither do you!" I shove his arm off and peek over the counter.

Red flares burn outside. Sick bloody glow casting everything in crimson. Shadows moving between the cars. At least three on the roof across the street.

We're boxed in.

My wolf stirs. Not the broken whimper I'm used to. This is a growl. Low and steady and hungry.

*Let me out.*

Not now. Not like this.

*Then we die.*

"They're coming in." Aiden's voice cuts through. "Thirty seconds. Maybe less."

Cain finally moves. Three strides to the shattered window, and I swear the veins on his face are crawling. "Ivy. Get behind me."

"Fuck that," Rex says. "She stays with me."

"You can't protect her. You're half-dead already."

"And you're fully insane, so where does that leave us?"

I'm gonna scream. "Both of you shut up!"

They don't.

Aiden limps over, one hand pressed to his ribs. His shirt's soaked through. "Cain's right. Rex is in no shape to fight. Neither am I. If they breach, he's the only one strong enough to hold the line."

Rex makes a sound like a wounded animal. "I'm not letting him near her."

"He's already near her, you idiot. Look at him." Aiden's voice shakes. "The bond's killing him. If he doesn't mark her soon, he's gonna drop dead anyway. Then we're down to two."

"Good," Rex spits.

"Stop it!" I'm on my feet before I can think.

My wolf surges. Everything goes silver for half a second. The room tilts. I catch myself on the counter, gasping. "They're gonna kill us while you three measure dicks. Is that what you want?"

Silence.

Even Cain's staring at me.

Then the door explodes inward.

Three hunters. Black tactical gear, helmets, rifles up. The one in front has a silver blade strapped to his thigh. It's glowing faint purple. Wolfsbane oil. I can smell it from here—bitter and wrong.

Cain moves.

I don't even see it happen. One second he's by the window. The next he's got the lead hunter by the throat, lifting him off the ground like he weighs nothing.

The guy's rifle goes off. Wild shot. Hits the ceiling.

Cain slams him into the brick wall.

Bones crack.

The other two open fire.

Rex shoves me down. Aiden flips another table. Bullets punch through wood and plaster. I'm curled in a ball, hands over my head, trying not to throw up.

Cain doesn't go down.

He takes three hits—shoulder, ribs, leg—and doesn't even flinch. Just rips the rifle out of the second hunter's hands and breaks it in half. Then he grabs the guy's helmet and twists.

I look away.

Can't help it.

The third hunter backs up, fumbling for his sidearm. Aiden tackles him from the side. They go down in a tangle of limbs. Aiden's not pretty about it—just brutal, desperate punches until the guy stops moving.

Then it's quiet.

Just the ringing in my ears and the smell of blood and gunpowder.

Rex pulls me up. His hands shake worse than mine. "You okay?"

"No. No, I'm really not."

Cain's standing in the middle of the wreckage, breathing hard. Blood runs down his arm from the shoulder wound, but he doesn't seem to notice. The black veins are worse now. Spreading across his jaw, down his neck, disappearing under his collar.

Aiden gets to his feet, swaying. "That's three. Nine more outside."

"They'll regroup," Cain says. His voice is rough. Barely human. "Two minutes. Maybe less."

Rex stares at him. "You should be dead. You took three silver rounds."

"I'm motivated."

"You're a fucking lunatic."

Cain turns. Looks right at me.

The expression on his face makes my whole body lock up. It's not anger. Not even the sick desperation from before. It's just... empty. Like he's already made peace with something.

"Ivy," he says quietly. "I need you to listen very carefully."

"Don't." I don't know what he's about to say, but I know I don't want to hear it. "Don't you dare—"

"When they come back, I'm going to walk out that door. I'll draw their fire. You three run. There's a service alley two buildings down. Take it to the subway station. Don't stop. Don't look back."

No.

No.

"That's suicide," Aiden says flatly.

"That's the play." Cain rolls his shoulder. Something pops. "I can take maybe five before they put me down. Gives you a window."

Rex laughs. Bitter. Broken. "You really think we're gonna let you play hero? After everything?"

"I don't care what you let me do. I'm—"

The window behind him explodes.

Not glass this time.

A grenade.

I see it tumble through the air in slow motion. Silver canister with a red stripe. My brain just—stops.

Cain sees it too.

He doesn't hesitate.

He's in front of me before I can blink, and then the world goes white.

The blast picks me up and slams me into the back wall. My ears scream. I can't hear anything, can't see anything. Just smoke and heat and the taste of blood.

Something heavy lands on top of me.

Warm.

Not moving.

Cain.

I'm trapped under him. His weight crushes my ribs. I can't breathe, can't push him off. My hands find his back.

Wet.

Too wet.

"Get up." I'm choking on smoke. "Get up, you asshole, get up—"

He doesn't move.

Something inside me snaps.

I don't decide to do it. My wolf just—takes over. I feel her shove to the surface, clawing through the cracks in the seal. My hands start to burn. Silver light, same as the mirror. It spreads up my arms, into Cain's wounds.

He gasps.

Still alive.

I roll him off me. He's a mess. Shrapnel in his back, silver poisoning spreading from the bullet wounds, black veins covering half his face now.

But his eyes are open.

Locked on mine.

"You... idiot..." I'm crying. When did I start crying? "Why would you do that?"

He tries to smile. Fails. "Motivated."

Footsteps. The hunters are coming back. I can hear them through the ringing in my ears, shouting coordinates, reloading. Rex is yelling something. Aiden's dragging himself toward us.

I press my glowing hands harder against Cain's chest.

The curse is awake now. I can feel it coiling under my skin, testing the edges of the seal. It wants out. Wants to finish what it started.

But there's something else under the curse.

Something older.

My wolf's voice, clear for the first time in three years:

*Claim him. Now. Or he dies.*

I can't. If I try to mark him, the curse will kill him. That's how this works. That's what Damian did to me.

*The curse kills whoever marks you FIRST. He's already dying. The bond will anchor him. Trust me.*

I don't have time to argue.

The hunters are through the door. I see the lead one raise his rifle. See the laser sight center on Cain's head.

I lean down.

Press my mouth to Cain's throat.

And bite.

The world explodes.

Not the grenade kind.

Worse.

The bond slams into place like a freight train. I feel everything—Cain's pain, his desperation, the black rot eating through his system. And under it all, something bright and fierce and absolutely unbreakable.

The curse surges up to meet it.

For a second I'm sure I just killed him.

Then the curse... stops.

It hits the bond and just—stops. Like it can't decide what to do.

And in that pause, Cain's eyes snap open.

Pure gold.

He moves.

He moves like nothing I've ever seen. One second he's dying on the floor. The next he's upright, ripping the rifle out of the hunter's hands and using it like a club. Two more hunters go down before they can even react.

The rest scatter, shouting into their radios.

And I'm kneeling there, hands still glowing, watching my first Alpha tear through a professional kill squad like they're made of paper.

Rex appears beside me. He's staring at Cain. At the silver light pouring off my skin. "What did you do?"

"I... I don't know."

"Ivy." Aiden's voice. He's white as a sheet, clutching his side. "Your eyes."

I touch my face.

My fingers come away glowing.

The last hunter standing sees it. Sees me.

His whole body goes rigid. The rifle clatters to the floor.

"No," he whispers.

Then louder, into his radio, voice cracking: "The Gray Moon heir is alive. I repeat, the Gray Moon heir is alive!"

He runs.

Cain lets him go. He turns to face me instead.

The look on his face—I don't even have words.

Awe. Terror. Something that might be hope.

The black veins are fading. Not gone, but retreating. The bond is pushing back the rot, buying him time.

He takes a step toward me.

Stops.

Drops to one knee.

"My Luna," he says, and his voice shakes. "What are your orders?"

I open my mouth.

Nothing comes out.

Because through the broken window, I can see more flares going up.

Not red this time.

White.

Dozens of them. All across the city.

The call for every hunter in the territory.

They're not here to kill the Alphas anymore.

They're here for me.