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Mer stone and use it for his own foolish gain.
    “What the hell are you thinking, dragging the rogue pack into this mess?” Timber sensed something, or someone, right outside the wood-slatted door—the one that led back to the edge of Were Mountain. He was too distracted by fury to know if it was Marian or Sapphric. He spoke quickly. “There are some decent Weres in the rogue pack who don’t deserve—”
    “Decent Weres like my brother?” Ryder spat.
    Timber’s gut twisted. “There was more going on with your brother than you knew.”
    “Don’t talk like you knew him better.” With a hard-hitting swing of his arms, Ryder jerked himself free from Timber’s grasp. “You don’t know shit about my brother or what he deserved .”
    “If you think your brother would want you to steal the Mer stone and use it to get the upper hand against wolves in the main pack, then yes, I did know him better.” Timber shuffled his feet so that the moment Ryder struck, Timber could knee him where he was most vulnerable. “The only reason Rison was in the rogue pack was to keep an eye on you, to make sure you didn’t do anything royally stupid.”
    “Release your grip, Timber, or lose your hand.”
    “I’d like to see you try that,” Timber gritted through clenched teeth. “Someone’s got to get through to you before you make a bigger mess of things. Rison defected from the main pack to make sure you wouldn’t get yourself killed. But he stayed with you, on the southern edge of the isle, because he fell in love with a mermaid.”
    “ Lies! ”
    With a flash of movement Timber barely registered, Ryder drew back, then snapped his neck forward. The hard ridge of his forehead clashed into Timber’s own, causing stars to dance before his eyes. Reacting without sight, Timber crouched and rained drumming blows against Ryder’s sides. If his Delta couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t fight.
    Instead of hitting back, Ryder shook, trembled, his sides expanding against Timber’s fists. Muscles exploded from his torso and charcoal-tinted fur blanketed his body. His wolf form was huge, all snarling gums, razor-sharp canines and a daunting frame. Timber backed away, feeling his own skin tremble, anticipating the coming shift.
    Timber roared as the pressure building inside him released into a wave of bursting muscle and sinew. His jaw expanded, his teeth stretched and his nose elongated. Tendons widened and strength surged through him. Snarling, Timber fell to all fours and let the last effects of the shift soar through him. Keeping a keen eye on Ryder, Timber shook his inky-colored coat, feeling like he was stretching out his legs after being cramped for too long.
    If this was what Ryder wanted—a fight with one of his own wolves—then so be it.
    He couldn’t stand idly by and watch Ryder steal the Merfolk’s most valuable possession.
    Ryder attacked, fangs bared, aiming to take a chunk out of Timber’s neck. But Timber saw the attack coming as if it were in slow motion. Bowing his head, Timber ducked out of the way and reached out, clawing his talon-like nails along Ryder’s side. Ryder landed with a howl, his side bleeding through five deceptively deep scratches.
    You’ll pay for that , Ryder said, projecting his thoughts. The process of speaking through their minds was the way that the pack communicated while in wolf form. In Ryder’s case, it was the way he degraded them.
    How would you like me to pay? Timber lifted his paw, and watched in morbid indulgence as Ryder’s blood dripped from the tips of his claws. Do you take cash , credit...or blood?
    Gums pulled back into a sneer, Ryder paced around Timber in a circle, back hunched, paws hitting the floor like anvils. Timber matched Ryder move for move, inch for inch. When Ryder snapped, Timber reacted, dodging, then swiping his paw against Ryder’s muzzle.
    Timber could sense anger mounting in Ryder, could feel his unchecked fury begin to whip through him.
    You think