I waited for my father to catch the flames, to tell Declan he was wrong—but the stream of fire magic drew closer … the individual swaths merged until an inferno lit the night sky, bearing down on my father.

‘Noble!’ I screamed.

Noble waved his hand, nearly too late.

My dad dove to the side with a snarl as the flames pelted the ground, the force reverberating through my legs. I gasped, fear clenching my throat before snow poured over the fire, covering it with a mound, which promptly dissolved into a puddle.

Climbing back to his feet, my dad growled at the king, building a giant fireball between his hands. “So, this is how you want to play it? I’ll burn you alive like you did my brother and Valor.”

Crap, I needed to find Elaine before he could do that.

The king just grinned, and it made a stone sink in my stomach. Why did he look—?

Aunt Lilith exited the tree line, and I sucked in a fierce breath of bitter betrayal as Lilith strode straight to Declan’s side.

‘Do what you can to slow Midnight Pack from hurting Crescent—but Declan is mine,’ Rage snarled, seemingly to his brothers and me in unison. ‘Honor, stay with Nai—no matter what.’

‘You got it,’ Honor said while the other brothers nodded.

Justice and Noble peeled away, both in human form, striding over to join my father while Declan growled about betrayal.

I moved to follow them, but Rage grabbed my arm.

‘I’m going to help my pack,’ I growled at my mate, assuming he was trying to protect me. ‘Don’t try and pull rank. I’m not staying behind.’

Rage shook his head, ‘I need you to figure out how to destroy that protection spell on my mom,’ he said, referring to the one binding his mother’s life to his uncle’s. ‘No one else here can do that.’

Crappity crap. He was right.

“Fine. But don’t let my dad get hurt.”

He nodded, and leaning in, Rage pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “I love you, Nai.”

Then, he turned and ran in the direction of the king.

My fingers went to my lips, and I wondered why he’d randomly said he loved me … like a goodbye in case—

No. I wouldn’t … I couldn’t think like that.

I spun on my heels, searching for my grandfather. How long would it take him to get to the mage lands and back? Would he step through a portal if it opened into that raging inferno?

Whatever, I could figure this out, right?

Operation Save Future Mother-in-Law was in full effect.

“You asshole,” Rage snarled when he got within earshot of his uncle. He stalked forward with hot orange fire magic crackling down his arms. He punctuated his statement with a blast, not at his uncle but rather at the ground in front of him. The earth exploded, pelting the king, Aunt Lilith, and the wolves nearest them with chunks of frozen earth. “You murdered my dad.” Another blast. “And now I’m challenging you for alpha king position.”

Well, I guess that’s out there now…

There was a deep intake of breath—probably from everyone within earshot. Alpha challenges were fights to the death. Always.

Racing in the direction of my father, I ignored the next explosion while scanning the tree line for Rage’s mom. Where was she? Maybe if I could scan her spirit, like Grandpa Geoff had shown me to scan Noble’s, I’d be able to see the spell and therefore know how to remove it. It was a longshot, but if Grandpa didn’t show up with the spellbreaker herb in time, it might be the only shot we had.

“Midnight, attack!” Declan shouted like the coward he was.

Snarls and growls ripped through the air, and I felt the wind shift as the pack moved. Their paws thundered against the ground, the sound becoming a crescendo as they neared. Heat blasted past me, and a heartbeat later, a wolf wailed in pain.

Was that … I glanced toward my father, but it was Justice’s hands covered in flames. Justice had just shot fire into his own pack to protect mine…

“Midnight Pack,” Rage commanded, his voice cutting through the collective rumble. “Stand down.”

Howls and whines followed, and then several very human-sounding voices cried out with alarm.

“Please!” a male begged. “Make it stop.”

Mother Mage.

A battle of wills was a battle for alpha—a battle to the death.

The urge to glance behind danced up my spine, but any delay could spell death for Rage, Elaine, and all of Crescent.

“Attack,” Declan screamed. “Attack!”

The wolves nearest the king turned, some charging to attack Crescent Pack, and others attacking whoever was closest to them, including their own ranks.

What the hell?

‘Come on, Rage,’ I snarled. ‘Kick his ass!’

“Stand down,” Rage bellowed.

The command rolled through the field, plowing into me with such force that I stumbled, falling to my knees.

Whoa.

I didn’t know if Rage was more powerful than Declan or if it was because we shared a close bond, but when Rage tried to compel his pack, it affected me. Something Declan’s magic had never done.

I stood, shaking off Rage’s command, and closed the remaining distance before crashing into my father. “Dad!”

He startled and brought his arms around me. “Nai?”

“Where’s Elaine?” I asked my father, but he was preoccupied with making fireballs and glaring down Declan, who was in a screaming match with Rage.

“Dad.” I grabbed his arm. “Where’s Lona? Maybe Elaine is with her?”

As alpha, he would be able to sense if Lona was in mortal peril.

He shook his head. “They were with Lilith in the lodge, and then our patrols spotted the buses—”

“Do you feel her? Is she alive?”

“Yes,” he said with a curt nod. “…somewhere.”

Somewhere? But where was that?

My gaze bounced from him to Justice, who stood next to my dad, then to Noble, who shot a flurry of magic toward Midnight Pack.

‘No idea,’ Noble said, keeping his attention on the Midnight wolves. ‘It’s not like her to hide.’

Exactly my thought.

‘Honor…’ I looked down at the black wolf by my side. ‘We gotta find your mom.’

‘Hurry, Nai,’ Rage said.

I peered over my shoulder to see him wrestling with Declan and was assaulted with a wall of heat that attested to the ferocity of their battle, but Rage was severely handicapped until he knew his mom was safe. I needed to find her.

Now.

A massive explosion rocked the night, and Rage seethed, his anger and frustration leaking through our bond.

‘I need you to stop those, Noble!’ Rage snarled.

‘Doin’ my best, man,’ Noble replied, his voice strained. ‘It’d be easier if Lilith didn’t block—”

My father shifted into his wolf then and raced toward the king. His voice resounded through our pack. ‘Crescent, defend our land!’

The pull to shift and fight hit me again, but this one was easier to push away.

My pack streaked past me, racing to attack the Midnight wolves, and I knew all hell was about to break loose.

Blood rushed in my ears, and tears of desperation burned my eyes as I racked my brain for quick ways to find the queen.