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I close my eyes.

“Joshua, forgive me.”

Then I turn back toward our pack. The hunters come again before we've gone another mile. A gunshot cracks through the trees. The sixth warrior jerks sideways. Blood splatters across the ground beneath him. He tries to keep running. Another shot strikes him. He falls. I turn toward him, but my wolf surges.

The pack!

I look ahead.

The twenty pack members are still moving. Six warriors lost. The seventh warrior falls close enough to the boundary that I can feel Silver Moon through the bond connecting pack to territory. He is running beside an injured pack member when an arrow strikes him. He stumbles. The injured pack member reaches for him.

“Go!” the warrior shouts.

A gunshot cuts him off. Blood splatters across the grass. He falls. The injured pack member keeps moving. Seven dead. Joshua taken. Three of our remaining warriors are badly injured. Michael and I are still standing. But Barely.

If you include Michael and me, we have five warriors left to bring twenty people home. Then Michael falls.

“Michael!” Paige screams. I turn. A projectile sticks from his back. The same kind they used on Joshua. Michael shifts halfway before his body gives out. He hits the ground hard.

“DAD!” Milo starts toward him.

Paige grabs him. “No!”

Hunters rush forward. Two grab Michael. They're trying to take him too. Something inside me snaps. “I will not lose anyone else.” I don't recognize my own voice. It’s like my wolf’s voice and mine together. I don't feel my injuries anymore. I hit the first hunter before he can lift Michael. My claws tear across his chest. The second pulls Michael backward. I shift. “Let him go!”

I grab the hunter by his throat and throw him away from Michael. Another one comes at me. Then another. A silver dagger flashes. I twist, but the blade cuts across my arm. Blood runs down my wrist. I catch the hunter's arm and shove him away. Another gunshot cracks. Something strikes my shoulder. The silver burns through me. My knees buckle.

Darian! Get. Up.

I force myself upright. I don't know how long I fight. I only know Michael stays behind me. Paige screams my name.

“Darian!”

I turn. A hunter is heading toward her and the children. I leave Michael for half a second. That's all I can give. I intercept him before he reaches them. Paige pulls both children behind her. Her eyes meet mine. “Behind me!” I shout.

She obeys. A hunter strikes my injured shoulder. I nearly go down. My wolf snarls.

ON. YOUR. FEET. GET. UP.

I stay on my feet. Another comes from the side. I block him. Paige has Milo in one arm and Piper pressed against her other side. Michael lies unconscious several steps away. The hunters know he's vulnerable. They keep trying to reach him. I keep stopping them.

Paige stares at me as I put myself between her children and another shot. It strikes my side. Blood splatters across my shirt. Pain explodes through me. I stagger.

“Darian!”

“Run!”

“I can't leave Michael!”

“I won't leave him.”

Her face crumples. I don't have time for this. It's hard to protect an unconscious man, a woman, and two pups, while in my state.

“Get the pups to the boundary.” She looks at Michael. Then at me. “Please. Don't leave my mate.”

“I said I won't leave him.” Something changes in her expression. Years of hatred can't disappear in one second. But something breaks. Something she believed about me no longer survives what she is seeing. Paige grabs Milo and Piper, and she runs. I turn back toward Michael.

We promised.