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she was injured.
    He crept along a ventilation grate high above the rooms used for storage and prisoners and assessed the lay of the land. From his vantage point, he only spotted two scouts.
    “Is the little human tired of hanging around?” Xander’s voice echoed up to him.
    The scouts turned their heads, showing Vale where they held his Kira. He listened for her voice, but only heard a moan and he tightened his grip on his knife. He would kill everyone who hurt his love.
    “How long shall we wait?” Xander asked.
    Vale slid closer. “Not long.” When the whisper left his mouth, one of the scouts looked up and growled.
    No doubt they all sensed him, but he didn’t move. He needed more time and he was hoping for an opportunity to give him an advantage.
    “What exactly will a human endure to be reunited with her mate?” Xander’s voice rose and his question ended with the telltale sound of a slap.
    Kira’s cry of pain threw out any of his plans. His love needed him, and he kicked the metal out, throwing his knife right into the neck of a scout, killing it as he jumped down. “Not anything close to what an animal like me will do!”
    “Vale, no.” Kira’s strained whimper met his ears.
    No sooner had he landed than a second scout charged, knocking him down. He tried not to react to Kira’s scream and instead took another knife and shoved the blade through the scout’s belly.
    “That was quite an entrance.” Xander clapped with slow, exaggerated movements.
    Vale pushed the dead scout off him, turned to Kira and broke out in a sick sweat.
    Four scouts and three guards surrounded his broken and blood soaked mate, but what caused him to shake and become lightheaded was how Xander had trapped her in the stone. Down here that was a death sentence. Even though he could change the stone as well, he couldn’t reverse the leader’s changes. Only Xander, could free her.
    Kira believed he could be a leader. Now she had concrete proof she was wrong.
    “Let her go.” Vale put his hand on the shaft of a large knife tethered to the back of his pants. He tried to look into her eyes, but they were dim, losing life by the second.
    “I suppose you had to try that line.” Xander positioned himself in front of her. “Also, I won’t exchange you for her, so forget it.”
    He focused on his brother and flung the knife in his direction.
    A huge sneer took over Xander’s snout as he caught the weapon in mid-flight. “Seriously?” He held it up like a trophy and shoved it into the stone right by Kira’s face.
    Kira’s head slumped forward. If she wasn’t dead, she was close. He clenched his fist, needing to focus. His rescuing her was her death sentence. He roared as his wolf side overtook him. With nothing more to sacrifice, he let loose. He would fight every one of them for the chance to be alone with her one last time.
    Caught in a whirlwind of claws, fangs and blows, Vale attacked with everything he possessed. He killed two scouts using only his bare hands. The two remaining scouts bit and tore at his legs until he kicked them into submission. While he managed to trap one of the guards in the stone under his own power, the other beat him until he took his last knife and stabbed it through his enemy’s side.
    “Guards!” Xander stayed by Kira.
    Vale knew he wouldn’t survive another round of attacks. Death and destruction surrounded him. He wanted to lead, but he was nothing more than a joke when he couldn’t even keep his own mate alive.
    “Vale.” Kira’s raspy voice was barely audible from behind Xander.
    “Kira.” She was still alive. He had to be with her.
    The coordinated stomps of more guards rushing toward the warehouse sounded a death knell.
    “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I should have believed. I love…”
    “No!” He swore she would hear the words he should have said before. A surge of energy ran through him, and he clawed himself up, heading not toward Kira, but toward the door of the