“Daddy!” Shannon whined, but I held up my hand.

“Well… that was unexpected and actually refreshing.” My father’s voice was icy. “But Ainsley is my mate, and you will never get the chance to see her again.”

Morgan seemed to shut down at the thought, but he just nodded. “Can you do me one small favor though, Alpha Maclean?” The soft respect in his voice was even more surprising than his words.

“Maybe.” My father’s voice was still hard.

“Can you just tell her I’m sorry…for everything.” My eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Fine.” There was an enormous boom over the call.

“Daddy?” I grabbed for the phone as a loud crack that I felt in my bones rippled on his side, then there was the sound of falling rocks. “Daddy!” I called again, and I watched as a smile spread over Vince’s face. “Talk to me.”

I heard a few coughs, and then my father’s voice sounded worried. “Explosive! Get out of the caves now. Evacuate now. Baby, I have to go. The caves are collapsing.” The call ended, and I just stared at the phone as if it would change, like the call would somehow pick back up and his voice would be there.

Shannon snickered. “Oh, well.”

I turned to her, and I smiled. “Amusing, isn’t it?”

Her face froze. “What?”

“It’s funny that my pack is in danger once again, right? That your plan has failed, and your life is in my hand, but listening to others potentially die is quite fun, isn’t it?”

She scoffed. “I never said that.”

I walked over to Vince and picked him up by his throat. “You didn’t have to, Shannon. You snickered while you listened to me call after my father. Pretty pointed, don’t you think?” Vince choked.

“I’m not her father. It doesn’t really hit the same way.” Vince tried to explain. “If you are going to kill someone to make a point…it should be Morgan.”

I smiled. “Who said we were going to kill you?” I turned to Rowan. “Can you release them?”

He tilted his head. “What are you thinking?”

A slow smile spread across my face. “I’m just returning every favor that they did to me.” Rowan waited for another second before he nodded. I felt his aura drop away. There was a second of relief before I dropped all of my pretense. I allowed my power to roll out like a wave.

In Rowan’s aura, they were treading water. They could speak but not move. Once his aura was gone, they started to get to their shaky feet. From one breath to the next, they were slammed back into the ground, but this time they were silent.

“Fuck.” Rowan staggered under my power and landed on one knee. His face turned from surprise to devotion. “This is all of your power, your aura?” I nodded. “Goddess, that is sexy.”

I threw my head back and laughed. “What?”

He pressed his hands into the grass, and pushed himself to his feet. Then, he slowly made his way over to my side. “Your power… is sexy.”

I dropped Vince to the ground in a heap as I turned to my mate. “You aren’t intimidated?”

It was Rowan’s turn to laugh. “Insecure men get intimidated by strong mates…and I am not insecure.” He looked at me as he stepped close. “Your power…your strength? It will protect my pups, my pack. That is the sexiest thing I have ever seen.” He slid his hand up my neck and cupped my face. “I love you, Amy.” Then he leaned in and kissed me.

It took a second for his words to hit me. His lips moved over mine until my brain caught up with what he said, and I fell in love with him all over again. My hands wrapped around his back, and I kissed him back until I heard a snicker. I pulled away and turned, finding Toya. She raised her hands. “While I love that you two finally figured everything out—seriously, watching you two orbit each other but never connect was a hard thing to sit through—Hanna and Micca both nodded. Watching you two make out while everyone else is stuck on the ground is funny. But can you pull it back so I can get up?”

I jumped back, earning more snickers. “Sorry.” I reeled in some of my power. “Get up and get into a line.” I aimed it at everyone who followed Garith and allowed Toya and the girls to stand and stretch. I watched as Vince and Brandon both tried to fight the command, but I wasn’t actively hurting them, so there was no way to resist it.

“What are you fucking doing?” Brandon snarled as he stumbled over to the line.

“I already told you…just returning the favor.” I heard a few snarls, but I walked to the front, pulling Rowan with me. “Now follow me.” I started walking, stepping over the bodies we left behind us.

“Where are we going?” Shannon called.

“You’ll see.” I called back.