I glanced up and found Rourke glaring down at me, his features twisted furiously, his hands gripping my wrists like steel cuffs. His eyes shone like two diamonds, veins of green blazing across his irises like an electric storm. “I gave you that one”—he jerked his head behind him, snarling savagely—“but trying to get a jump on me was the wrong choice, sweetheart. It seems you haven’t done your homework on me after all. I don’t play nice. Now you’re going to have to say goodbye to all your buddies.”
“What are you talking about? What one?” I stood on my tiptoes and peered around his massive shoulder to see what he was talking about, and surprisingly saw James closing the gap behind us quickly. I hadn’t even known he was here. “Rourke, we’re not jumping you. I’ve—”
Rourke’s hot breath cut me off as it landed firmly in my ear. It wasn’t above a whisper, but I could hear it perfectly. “This deal is changing. I tried to play fair with you, but now your options are officially up. I don’t give out second chances.”
My anger, fueled by a hardy dose of my wolf, surged inside me. “Get your hands off me,” I spat. “Deal with this, asshole. I have no idea who those wolves are coming at us. And if you knew anything about my father and the way he operates, then you already know putting a jump on you isn’t his style. Now, if you’re interested in continuing our little chat where we left off, as planned, then stop this posturing bullshit and help me take out this threat.” Before he could respond, I finished bitterly, “And if that’s not enough of an incentive”—I pressed my fingernail into his chest—“I’m certain your employer would like it if I remained alive so you can continue to extract your much-needed information.”
Rourke’s eyes widened. Not from my harsh words but most likely from my eyes, which I could feel were sparking violet. It didn’t matter. Aligning myself so quickly with Rourke might be a mistake, but my gut, which was almost entirely made up of a grouchy she-wolf, was telling me the greater threat to us was the wolves who were almost on us.
I’d made my choice, now I had to live with it.
Instead of responding, Rourke whipped his torso around and took James by the throat in the time it took me to blink. “What the hell is going on, Irish?” Rourke growled. “Trying to take me here was the wrong choice, and you know it. I let you in here out of respect for Callum, but it ends right here, right now.”
James knocked Rourke’s fist away from his neck like it was nothing more than a mild irritant. “Wrong answer, cat,” James snarled. “There’s no jump. Jessica’s in danger, but you bloody well knew that already, didn’t you? Coming here and announcing yourself was well noted, but now we’ll see if you can be as trusted as you once were all those years ago. I have no other choice left.” His face held a hint of a grimace. “I need you to get her the hell out of here,” he said, his amber eyes blazing, “and I’ll take care of this lot.” He gestured at the approaching five wolves. “As of four minutes ago our Pack went to war. We need every wolf to fight, there are none left to protect Jessica. Whoever sent you here used you to get to us, and they used you well. They knew right where to find us. Now get her out of here, and if you harm her in any way I swear I will kill you myself. Slowly.”
James didn’t wait for an answer. He shot around us, lunging into the five, scattering them like bowling pins. At that, the bar erupted into chaos. The humans hadn’t noticed the threat before, but they did now. They would all assume it was a bar fight, not a supernatural showdown.
I turned and took a step after James, eager to join the battle. I didn’t care what he’d just said, there was no way I was leaving with Rourke. This was my fight and I was staying. Before I could go more than a foot, my wrist snapped backward and once again I was pressed against Rourke’s jacket. The leather was tinged with the scent of oil, along with sweat and delicious cloves. And it pissed me off.
I jerked my hands up, breaking his hold on me. With everything I had, I shoved him back. He moved less than two inches, but it was enough. “I’m not going anywhere with you. This is my fight, dammit! I caused this, and I will not abandon my Pack to wage a war without me. Got it? So don’t even think about getting in my way.”
I dismissed him completely, wrenching myself from his grasp entirely, turning back to the fight.
He let me go.
As I spun around, I met a powerful, piercingly blue stare.
It stopped me in my tracks.
The gaze held me across the sea of pandemonium. My father strode through the bar like he was strolling through the woods, like nothing was amiss and a war hadn’t broken out all around him, humans shrieking and things breaking.
His eyes held one word.
Go.
Rourke stilled behind me, reading the message clearly too.
I opened my mouth to protest, but nothing came out. This order wasn’t from my Alpha. It was from my father.
Go.
His command swirled through me, pushing me, urging me. I realized with a start that sharing my father’s blood during the oath had somehow connected us, bonded us in a new way. His emotions raced through me, and I felt compelled to follow his directives. My wolf cried in my mind. She felt it too. I tried to resist, but I was frozen in place.
Go.