Gray glanced from Maizie to Lynn and back again. “What’re you talking about? What did you see? What man?”

“Nothing,” Rick answered for her. “She didn’t see anything. You’re both just trying to delay the inevitable.” He reached for Maizie’s arm.

Gray didn’t know what he meant to do. Not that it mattered. His primal reflex took hold like the snap of an overstretched cord. He punched out, connecting solidly with Rick’s chest so fast his own mind couldn’t track it.

Rick sailed backward through the air. His young muscled body slammed against the stone wall of the patio at least eight feet away. His head and shoulders whipped back over the edge then forward, his hands clutching his chest as he slumped to the floor.

Gray stood between them, his shoulders heaving, his hands fisted at his sides fighting to rein in his anger, tamp down the pure male adrenaline humming through every muscle in his body. He’d been dreading this, fighting to avoid it, for a long time. Regret warred inside him.

If it’d been any other woman he could’ve kept his self-control. But not Maizie. Maizie was his, had been since the night he gave her back her life. He hadn’t realized it until that singular moment. Gray had kept her at a distance, tried to ignore her existence, but all the while he’d seen her as his.

A replacement? Payment for what he’d lost? He wasn’t sure. His wolf-half didn’t care. With Maizie thrust into the mix of the growing tensions between him and the young male pack member, Gray’s tightly leashed instinct broke free. The wolf’s need to defend what was his ruled him mind and body.

Lynn jumped between them, shoving Gray hard enough at the shoulders that he staggered back a step. “What was that? Huh? What was that? I asked you to keep him safe, and you practically break his neck.”

She went to her son, pulling the edges of her robe together, kneeling beside him, cradling his head and shoulders to her chest. Rick pushed up the wall with his elbow, his legs still sprawled in front of him. He rubbed the back of his neck, a sideways smirk hiking the corner of his mouth.

“Maybe she is the one. Just make up your mind about it soon or I promise you, I will.” He pushed away from his mother and got to his feet.

The kid thought he’d succeeded in distracting Gray. He had, but only for a minute. He turned to Maizie who stood stunned in silence. Jeezus, she must think she’s stumbled onto the set of Deliverance the way his family behaved. He told himself it didn’t matter what she thought. Never mind that he didn’t believe that for a second.

“What did you see, Maizie?” he asked. “What did you see Lynn do?”

Maizie blinked those pretty green eyes at him as though restarting her brain. “They were in the woods. They were making love. The man’s neck was torn, like he’d been bitten. It was covered in blood, his neck, his chest. I thought he’d been attacked by wolves, and I couldn’t understand how he could make love right there in the woods after such a brutal attack.”

“Who was it?” Gray pushed. “What did the man look like?”

Maizie shook her head as though she was still struggling with all she’d heard and seen. Then her gaze slid toward the house and she pointed a finger. “Him. It was him.”

Gray turned and his heart nearly stopped. “Shawn.”

He tugged Maizie behind him without thinking and took a menacing step. “What the hell’s going on, Lynn?”

The father of Lynn ’s children, Shelly and Rick, the man who’d cheated on his wife, the man he’d forbidden Lynn to turn, stood bolder than he had any right to. Lynn was at her lover’s side in a heartbeat, putting her body between her alpha and her certain ruin.

She held up a hand, as though she could ward off Gray’s outrage. “I turned him. I needed someone, Gray, and you were too busy running around the woods with little Red Riding Hood there to do the job.”

A menacing growl vibrated through Gray’s chest and he edged forward. It was an excuse and they both knew it. The guy was no good for her. He could feel it.

“He left his wife,” Lynn said in a rush.

“Before or after you made it impossible for him to stay with her?” Gray asked, teeth clenched.

“What difference does it make? He’s mine,” she said. “You told me to find a mate. He’s the one. He’s always been the one.”

“He’s a cheat. He’s weak willed. And he smells like betrayal.” Gray looked at his sister-in-law, a woman he’d sworn to protect-his family. “He’s not good enough, Lynn. He’ll hurt you and the pieces he’ll leave behind won’t be big enough to put back together.”

“No. It doesn’t always end that way, Gray.” Joy moved between him and Lynn. “I know Donna’s death destroyed a big part of you, but that doesn’t make it a foregone conclusion. Sometimes love feels good.”

Gray blanched at that, snapped his mouth shut. Did they really think his objections about Shawn were some sort of transference of his own hang-ups? They weren’t.

Gray exhaled. None of them understood. Love was a fleeting untrustworthy emotion, never the same from one day to the next, twisting into something unrecognizable from where it’d begun. He knew better than anyone you can’t base life decisions on love.

“It’s not like I’m a stranger.” Shawn edged forward, hand out as though he could wipe the tension and misunderstanding from the air. “I mean, I’ve known Lynn for years now, and the kids, well, I’m their father. She’s told me everything about your family. Explained how it works. I…I love her.”

Gray eyed the man. He looked older than Lynn by at least three decades, but Gray knew the difference was a lot less than that. “What about your other family? Your other kids?”

“When I learn enough control, I’ll work out a custody arrangement with my ex. I didn’t leave because Lynn made me one of you. I left because I realized I love her. I’ve been miserable without her all these years.”

Gray scoffed. What better proof did he need that the guy wasn’t good enough than a statement like that? “Made by a beta. He’ll never be strong enough to make a challenge.”

“I know,” Lynn said. “I don’t care. I just want…him.”

“If you love him, if you’d already gone and claimed him as your mate, why have you been pushing so hard for me to take up the role?”

Lynn blushed, her cheeks bright red, and looked away. She shrugged. “Habit maybe. I’ve been angry with you so long it’s hard to know how not to be. I don’t know. I didn’t want you to find out about Shawn too soon. I knew what you’d do, knew you’d kill him before he was strong enough to defend himself.”

“I still might.”

She looked at him, her expression hard. “And I wanted you to pay. All those years alone, all the heartache. I just…I just couldn’t let the anger go.”

“And now?” Gray asked.

“Obviously I’ve still got some things to work through where you’re concerned. It’s taking some time, but Shawn’s helping me put it behind me. With his help I’ll get there. I know it. Let me have him, please, Gray.”

Gray huffed, too close to a wolf’s snort. “It’s done. He’s pack or he dies. Show him his place, or I will.” He headed for the closest door, his hand tight around Maizie’s, tugging her away as fast as he could.

He didn’t care anymore, about Lynn and her poor taste in men, about Rick and his drive to lead the pack. He didn’t care about any of it.

All he cared about was getting Maizie away from any possible threat, getting her someplace safe. He led her up the stairs into the grand foyer, with its black marble floor and grand sweeping staircase. And no werewolves.

“Mr. Lupo.” Annette breezed in from his home office to the left, her legs carrying her petite body faster than a person twice as tall. “I didn’t realize you were back.”

She held her ever-present notepad with a letter clipped to its envelope on top. She pushed at her brown-framed glasses, too big for her small face, but somehow fitting with her upswept hair, buttoned-up shirt and fitted skirt. Her gaze shifted to Maizie. The corners of her thin lips swept to a pretty smile. “Ms. Hood. You’re here. How wonderful. Does this mean-”