“Did you hear that?” Trent whispered. “That was a wolf fight. We’re close.”

“Wolf fight?” Bishop grabbed Trent’s elbow. “You said this was life or death.”

“It is.”

“The life or death of a wolf?”

“Jesus, Bishop. Just roll with it, okay? If everything goes well, you’ll have a chance to play ex-cops and robbers, or ex-cops and kidnappers, or ex-cops and what-the-hell-ever. But for now, shut up. Everybody shut the fuck up.” Including me.

“Zack, did you catch the sound of the struggle?” Julie scowled at the hillside that rose above them. “I don’t think—”

“Stop trying to make this about the fucking video.” Screw tact. There’s no time for that shit. “We need to move, and now. Bishop, do you have your gun?”

“What? No. I’m suspended, remember?”

“Jesus fuck, what good is having my own stalker ex-cop if he can’t even carry his own weight?”

“I didn’t know I’d be going on a big-game hunt.”

Trent grabbed his arm. “No. Do not shoot any animals. Or what you think are animals. Guns are only to help subdue the crazy men who’re letting their kink get in the way of their sanity.”

“Hey.” Bishop held up his hands, palms out. “No gun. So no shooting.”

Trent’s panic receded. Slightly. “Okay. They must be on the other side of these rocks. We should split up: half go that way, half go this way.”

“Riley, you’re with me,” Logan growled. “Max should take point.”

Riley goggled at him. “Are you serious? For God’s sake, Logan, he’s not cannon fodder.”

Max puffed out his chest. “Don’t worry. They’d never attack a celebrity. Not on camera.”

“I was thinking of him more as a distraction,” Logan murmured, “but roll with that if it makes you happy, Max.”

“I don’t care who’s with who, or who’s on point, upside down, or backward,” Trent ground out between his clenched teeth. “You figure it out and catch up when you can.” He pushed past Bishop and ran toward the rocks. “Because I am fucking done.”

Anton’s smile was all the more horrifying because it was so familiar. “Do you know how many times I wanted to strangle you in your crib, you puling piece of shite. The little prince. The golden child. The new heir. They never even looked at me after you were born.”

Etienne scrambled to his feet, any pretense of submission gone, although he yelped when he attempted to put weight on his front leg. Good. I wish I’d ripped it off entirely.

Keeping the gun trained on Christophe, Anton reached into the open satchel at his feet and pulled out a shirt. He spread it on the ground. Etienne hopped onto it, three-legged, and collapsed, panting.

“Etienne may have proposed the merger of Melion GmbH and Clavret et Cie, but it was my idea to get rid of you. Papa was ready to let everything go. The business that I built, despite your slacking, despite his pandering to your every whim. I knew I had to find someone strong enough to partner me. Whose belief in the old ways was as strong as Papa’s but who had a more realistic view of running the company.”

On the ground next to Anton, Etienne began to shift back, his limbs contorting, bones buckling, face distorting: a half-animal, half-human abomination. Mother of God. Christophe had only seen the transformation from the other side once—when his father had taken him to the woods for his first shift. He’d forgotten how hideous it truly was. How could he expect Trent to love a man who held this horror at his core?

Perhaps allowing Anton to go through with his plan would be best for them all.

Anton watched the transformation, a desperate longing on his face as, with every pop of realigning bone and snap of tortured tendon, Etienne was remade into a man.

Etienne stood up, naked, cradling his arm against his chest. He took two strides across the ledge and kicked Christophe in the side. “Morceau de merde. I won’t be able to show my face in a meeting until this is healed.” He kicked Christophe again, directly in his injured ribs and Christophe went over with a yelp. Etienne turned his back and walked over to Anton, snatching his pants out of the satchel. “Shoot him.”

“With pleasure.” Anton raised the gun to his shoulder. “Your whore showed up at the cabin today, so I know your dirty secret. You refuse to take control because you can’t. You’re not an alpha at all. You’re nothing but a—”

“Hold it right there, cowboy.” Trent stepped onto the ledge. “You weren’t about to say ‘bitch’ were you? Because, dude. You’ve got no room to talk.”