Tamara needs just as much consoling, if not more than myself. She's a basket case in her husband's arms. I'm having a hard time keeping myself together; I can't even look at her without my heart breaking even more.

Leah and Brianna join their parents in a group hug as the shock starts to wear off. After a few minutes, their tears begin to subside and they sit around the table while Ryan's men continue to stand at attention on the other side of the island.

We knew, within our hearts, that the outcome of this wouldn't be good. One way or another, someone was going to die. Neither one of us wanted to admit who we were rooting for either.

I can't believe it's come down to this. How could Ryan do this to his family? I get that he wants to take his rightful place as alpha, but after murdering his mate and abandoning his pack and family, how does he expect to get everything he had back? He can't.

The silence drags on with Evan's family wringing their hands at the table.

Evan and I stand together a few feet away. His back faces the guards, keeping himself between them and me. I glance over his shoulder at the men, feeling self-conscious under their gaze. Clearly, they're watching Evan and I. I can even make out their smirks despite their attempts to keep a straight face.

They think they're so tough, but they're just mindless minions. Given an order, they'll jump to do it, even if it means killing someone.

Lowering my gaze, I feel my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. I'm blubbering like a baby, and hiding behind my mate. As if I'm one to talk about mindless minions, how do I fair in terms of spineless wimps?

Well, you did have a gun pointed in your face and your mate's, I remind myself. That's a first.

Seeing the defeated look on my face, Evan brushes a dreadlock behind my ear. His voice is low, so only I can hear him. "You know that I'll do anything to protect you. You know that, right?"

My heart twists at the underlying pain in his words. "I know, but he's your brother..."

He snorts. "Only by blood."

Looking up, my dark brown eyes plead with his golden ones. "How can you be so... so... dismissive?"

He sighs, lowering his head and pressing his forehead gently against mine. "Megan wasn't my mate, but that doesn't mean I didn't have strong feelings for her. I cared deeply for her." He hesitates. "Ryan killed her right in front of me."

He closes his eyes, swallowing, and sucks in air as if it were his last breath.

"I couldn't..."

Sniffing, he steps away, his lowered eyes reflect the agony in his heart. He can't say it, but he doesn't have to.

He couldn't save her.

I reach for his hand, and catch his hurt-filled eyes. It'll be okay, I tell him with my eyes.

He nods, but there's still turmoil swirling around in his deep irises.

A light snicker breaks the silence. Several pairs of eyes turn to glare at the guard not even bothering to mask his apparent amusement of the situation. Not cool.

Evan balls his hands into fists at his side, nostrils flaring. His eyes burn with loathing as he turns to the laughing guard.

My breath catches in my throat. They have guns. They can kill him if he challenges them. It's an unfair fight, and no matter how much I want to see my mate tell him off, I'd rather keep him alive than save his pride.

Grabbing his arm, I tug to bring him back down from his mounting rage. "It's not worth it," I say in a low voice.

Leaning in, I try to use my scent to calm him down, but that only makes the guard outright chuckle.

"What?" Evan growls at him, despite my attempt to turn him away.

"Evan," Marcus says from the table. His voice is sharp, and his tone one of warning. He's on my side about keeping Evan's pride in check.

The guards openly grin at us now. Every one of them with their dark, soulless eyes watches Evan and I as we struggle to maintain our composure. Jerk-wads know that they have the upper hand, and they're just tempting us, hoping that we'll take the bait so they can have an excuse to splatter our brains across the wall.

They better keep on fishing if they want to catch one of us.

"Ignore them," I say, just as much to myself as to him.

"I'd listen to your mate if I were you," the ignoramus says.

It's my turn to put myself between Evan and the guards. I cup his face between the palms of my hands and tilt his head down a bit to draw his gaze to mine. "Look at me. I don't like them anymore than you do," I say softly, my eyes begging him to stay calm, "but we gotta keep our cool."

"I have to protect you," he whispers, the anger in his eyes softening.

"And I can't lose you to your pride."

He closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. "I'm trying. I really am."

Wrapping my arms around him, I bury my face in the curve of his neck.

Those guards can laugh and stare at my backside all they want, but they don't know what they're missing without a mate. My life has been so much richer with Evan by my side.

Not to mention challenging, with all the training Keith put me through, taming my inner wolf, and now facing dangerous rogues that want to take over our lives.

If we get out of this alive, it'll be worth it, right?

A series of barks and howls break through the silence. Everyone jumps at the noise, looking around the kitchen as they try to discern what's going on outside.

The guards have their pistols drawn and pointed at us: one on Evan and I, one on Marcus, one on Leah, and the other shifts his focus from the sliding back door to the front door on the other side of the house and back.

"What's going on here?" Marcus demands, rising from the table.

The sliding back door is right next to the table, and Evan's family turn their gazes to the silhouetted trees in the orange sunset. We can't see anything outside, but we can hear the commotion.

Snarls, barks, and yelps cut through the forest in the backyard as if a war had broken out among wolves.

Growling, the man pointing the gun at Marcus says, "All of you, stand together here." He indicates to the space in front of the island that we had previously been standing at.

Not wanting to entice the trigger-happy guards, we do as he says.

It's not like we have any idea as to what's going on outside. We're as clueless as they seem to be, and they're just as nervous. The subtle shifting of their weight from one foot to the next, their eyes darting around, and the creases in their brows all give away their unease towards the unknown taking place.

Shouts from the other room rumble through the walls, making us all stiffen-including the guards.

A bullet strikes the glass of the sliding door, and bounces off. It doesn't leave a mark, but it's enough to distract the guards.

Brianna springs up onto the island like a grasshopper, crouching down low on her hands and feet. With lightning speed, she kicks her leg out as she spins around, knocking the guns out from the guards' hands.

Moving in, Leah delivers a swift high kick to the two in front of her, on the left of the island. The pair collide into each other, and crash to the floor. One's head cracks on the corner of the island, spurting blood down the side and on the tiled floor as he collapses.

Taking advantage of the stunned pair still on their feet, Marcus takes three steps around the island and slams his fist into the man's face on the end. Cracking bones and blood flow out from the impact, while Brianna swings around on the island to deliver another blow to the other man's chest.

Crashing into the cabinets behind him, the air rushes out of his chest as he doubles over, nearly banging his head on the edge of the island. Spinning around so she's face to face with him, she rams her fist into the back of his head where the spine connects to the skull, knocking him down and paralyzed on the floor.

The only one left conscious is scrambling on the floor for a gun. As his fingers wrap around the handle, Leah stomps on his hand, making him cry out in pain. Prying the gun from his fingers, she says, "Of course the glass is bulletproof. What kind of an idiot do you take us for?"

With a tight grip on my arm, Evan hauls me from the kitchen and towards the front door as Leah pulls the trigger aimed at the man's head.

"Be ready on the other side," Evan tells me as he reaches for the doorknob.

"For what?" I sputter, trying to keep up with the unexpected turn of events and bloodshed.

"Anything."