Alice gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles hurt. Brand growled from the backseat of Ingrid’s car. The deep bass rumble reverberated through her. She could feel the beast straining for control, driven half-mad by the pain of his healing wounds.

He’d been getting worse since entering the car. She hoped they could make it back to his house before he snapped. She feared he couldn’t last much longer.

Next to her, Dagny peered over her shoulder at Brand when he subsided into harsh panting. The grumbling started up again almost at once. If Alice didn’t think of something soon, he would tear the car apart from the inside out, and both of them as well.

She glanced over at Dagny again. The other female was so calm, her hands folded in her lap as if she hadn’t a care in the world. Proximity to her had to be what settled Brand at the cabin. He’d latched on to her strength, using it to calm the wolf.

Alice pulled the car to the side of the road. “This is probably going to sound crazy, but I think you should get in back with him.”

Instead of looking at her as though she were insane, Dagny nodded. She pushed open the door without a word.

Brand tensed when she slid in next to him, then backed away from her. “Don’t. Hurt you.”

“You won’t.” She reached for his arm.

When she touched him, he collapsed against her with a barely audible groan. She put her arm around him, resting her cheek against the top of his head.

Alice felt the coiled knot of tension behind her relax. She leaned back in the seat and exhaled hard. The strongest of their kind spent their entire lives battling between what the beast desired and what the human would allow. Brand’s situation was even more difficult because of his empathic abilities. The beast drove him to terrible acts that she feared would someday drive him mad.

She pulled back into traffic. Of course, the monster within had its upsides. The only reason she was even functioning now was because Brand had Called her to wolf form. The wolf didn’t care about the future, or relive the horrors of the past. It lived in the moment and gloried in every breath. She wished, not for the first time, that she was strong enough to transform on her own.

Half an hour later, she pulled into Brand’s underground parking garage. Erik stood near the door that led inside the house. He leaned into the driver’s window. “Come on out, Brand. We have to talk.”

Alice scrambled out of the vehicle and moved away, her hand seeking out the cool roof of one of Brand’s cars for comfort and support.

Erik backed off a few feet while Brand struggled to exit Ingrid’s car. The process was slow and difficult. Dagny came out next, adjusting the robe wrapped around her. She stayed behind Brand, but within reach. Brand’s face twisted with pain and rage, and his power charged the air around him.

Erik hunkered down against a concrete wall. “The females should come with me.”

Every muscle in Brand’s body tensed until he trembled. “Fuck you.”

Alice felt for the moon—only twelve more hours until the peak. If it came down to a fight, Erik didn’t stand a chance, even with Brand injured. Power increased as the moon filled in direct relation to strength. So near the full moon, Brand was all but unstoppable.

“You’re almost done, and you know it. The anger will only fuel you for so long. When you wake up, you’re going to be worse than this. You could hurt them.”

“Only way you leave with them is if you kill me. Good luck.” Brand bared his teeth in a snarl, impressive canines flashing.

“You’re hurt.”

Brand chuckled, low and menacing. “You’ll hold back. I won’t. I’ll tear your throat out before I let you take either of them.”

Erik glared, his eyes lightening to white. “Alice is mine. She comes with me.”

Brand started to charge forward, but Dagny moved fast, grabbing Brand around the chest and pulling him back against her. “The fuck she is. You don’t own her,” Brand shouted.

Alice looked from Erik to Brand in quick succession. They were about to tear each other to shreds because of her. She wanted to intervene, but she didn’t think it would help.

Erik lowered his head. His mouth drew down into a scowl. “You Called her, you arrogant fuck.”

Brand panted, surging into Dagny’s arms. “Had to. Protect her from Ingrid.” His degrading speech patterns marked how close to the surface the beast was.

Erik leaned back, seeming to shrink into the wall. “Are you going to give her back?”

“Can’t now. Up to her. When moon wanes.” Brand turned his head, fixing her with intense blue eyes.

A warm feeling in her chest told her that he wanted her to stay, no matter what he said. She wasn’t going anywhere.

Dagny pulled Brand back. She whispered something in Brand’s ear, and he sagged against her. Tension filled her voice when she called out over his shoulder, “We’ll be fine. Go. He’s about to lose it.”

Not used to taking orders, Erik bared his teeth at Dagny, but he stepped lively nonetheless. He bolted to his vehicle, climbing inside just in time.

Brand roared. The air in the parking garage vibrated with his untempered wrath. His wolf’s power, combined with his abilities, projected his emotions.

Alice fell to her knees, a surge of terror freezing every muscle in her body. She wasn’t sure how long she cowered there, but a shout from Dagny snapped her back into reality. “Alice, open that door!”

Horrified, Alice looked up. Erik was gone, and Brand had broken free of Dagny’s arms. If he managed to escape the parking garage into the streets of Denver, it would be a disaster.

Alice jumped to her feet and ran to the heavy steel door that led into his house. Brand had once explained the biometric locking system to her, but she’d never used it. She put the wrong hand into the scanner the first time, and the angry beep the machine emitted let her know. She cursed and replaced her left hand with her right. After a delay that seemed too long, the machine chimed, and the door unbolted.

She glanced over her shoulder and yelled, “It’s done.”

Brand crouched, fingers of his left hand splayed on the ground; his stare fixed on Dagny, who was working her way around him in a wide arc. In a calm voice, Dagny said, “Get inside. Move slowly and hide in a room with a lock.”

Panic surged through her, but she held onto her wits. “What are you going to do?”

A grin twitched the corners of Dagny’s mouth. “I’m going to turn my back and run.”

Alice stammered for several seconds before she could voice her concerns. “You can’t… he’ll…”

Dagny nodded, her grin widening to show her teeth. “Chase me. That’s the idea.” She sounded thrilled at the prospect. “Go.”

The bite of the command spurred Alice into motion. She stumbled her way to one of the guest bedrooms and pushed the heavy door shut, then threw the bolt. Every door in Brand’s house had been built to contain him at his worst, so she knew it would hold. Shivering, she collapsed onto the bed.