I swallowed hard. In other words, it was up to the wolves to decide if they wanted to accept Fenrir’s offer of a better afterlife.We reached Glinda, who lay on her front and flicked her head toward her hind quarters, indicating for me to mount her. After shouldering on the backpack Griff had given me, he handed me a pair of guns and showed me how to attach them to the holster in my jacket.“You know how to use them?”My insides writhed with shame as I remembered the bullets I had fired into his kneecaps and then his chest, when I could have shot him through the eyes. If only he knew.Griff pulled one of the bandoliers off his shoulder and draped it over my head. “Don’t use it unless there’s an emergency,” he said.I slipped onto Glinda’s back, and she stood. Griff waited at our side and gazed up at me through proud eyes.Any other time, I might have basked in his admiration, even though I hadn’t done much to earn it. But I kept thinking about all those people who would be left behind.

The demon kept in pace with me for several heartbeats, his fiery glower fixed in my general direction. I curled my fingers into Glinda’s fur, trying to ignore the infernal hoofbeats hitting the grass in counterpoint to my frantic pulse.Our surroundings became streaks of orange. The only things remaining clear were the crimson clouds above us and a craggy hill that blotted the green landscape. It was backlit by the sky as though they’d both been set alight, and this part of Hell was becoming too hot, too stifling, too deadly.I leaned away from Glinda’s neck, but his glaze didn’t shift with the movement. My throat spasmed.“He can’t see us,” I told Beki. She barked her agreement. “If we stop to dismount—”Becki’s panicked growl had my spine stiffening, and I blurted into our bond. “I won’t leave Glinda as a decoy. It was just a hypothetical thought.”She remained silent, giving me an approving nod. I bit down on my bottom lip and considered my options.

“You haven’t done anything wrong,” I whispered to Glinda. “If the time comes and it looks like I’m about to be captured, run for your life.”She shook her head.“For fuck’s sake, Glinda. Save yourself.”Her low growl told me that we would stick together, no matter what.“All right,” I whispered as the footsteps became heavier, cracking twigs and shifting stones. It sounded like there were three sets, of which I would shoot two, and Glinda would tear out the other one’s throat. “If they come inside, then you attack.”She gave me a sharp nod.I clenched my teeth, trying to keep my head clear. This time, I would wait to make sure the demon was dead. Then I would steal his flare or anything else he would use to send an SOS.“Katie,” growled a familiar voice. My stomach dropped. Was that Griff?“What the fuck are you doing up here? Come out of that tent.”“What are you doing here?” I whispered, in case it was a demonic trick.His rolling growl made the fine hairs on the back of my neck sta

Even Beki flinched at his assessment. Maybe I was proud, but what was the alternative? Smiling while people talked to me like I was shit was out of the question. Not if I wanted to retain an ounce of self-respect. The moment wolves spotted a weakling in a position of power, they would have challenged me until I was at the bottom of the pack.Sagging a little, I sat heavily on the mattress, waiting for him to eviscerate me with his words. It wasn’t like I set out to be single my entire life, but wolves didn’t throw themselves at women, especially when they weren’t beautiful or submissive.“So, my wolf and hers were the same?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even.“Cathwulf’s other half was the most radiant Arctic wolf in existence,” he said with a fond smile. “Mine was utterly smitten.”“But you didn’t feel the same?” I asked.Griff hesitated for long enough for me to gauge that his lack of an answer was a resounding no. “She was a di cult woman to love.”“Because she didn’t dance?”“S

Griff’s lips were smooth, sensual, and utterly sinful. I hadn’t felt them in over forty years, and the feel of his flesh against mine turned me back into thehopeful young woman I was before the betrayal.A protest rose to the front of my mind, but Beki pressed on our bond, urging me not to pull back. My wolf’s every instinct screamed at me to believe, forgive, forget about our past, but it wasn’t easy. It was like her jaws were clamped around my neck, holding me in place.My breath quickened, and Griff’s cedar and woodsmoke scent overwhelmed my senses. It was like falling back in time and falling back in love. All those times I’d watched our ill-fated romance on the memory wall, I’d only had a vague recollection of how it felt to be in the arms of a beautiful and powerful male. Now, I was reliving this experience, and I didn’t want it to end.Every nerve ending in my body tingled with the pleasure of his touch, my nipples tightened, and heat flooded my core. If I didn’t do something—an