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attack while he was fighting the gray wolf. They thought they’d gang up on Duncan?
    Not on her watch.
    “Get away from him!” She yelled and fired her gun. One bullet hit a white wolf in the flank. The wolf yelped.
    She aimed again.
    The doors burst open. Armed agents spilled into the room. About freaking time.
    The wolves turned on this new threat. With their fangs bared, they lunged toward the agents. The agents began to fire at them.
    To fire at Duncan? They wouldn’t realize that Duncan was in wolf form. They’d think he was an attacker. They’d kill him, too.
    “
No
!” Holly ran to Duncan and wrapped her arms around him. “Don’t shoot! He’s one of ours.”
    “Is he?” Came Saul’s mocking voice.
    She held Duncan tighter. His fur was soft against her skin and his sharp teeth were
way
too close to her neck. But she didn’t back away from him. He needed her.
    Howls and growls and the thunder of gunfire shook the room. When Duncan’s body tensed, as if he’d spring to join the fight, her arms just held him tighter. “Don’t,” she whispered. “You’ll just get shot, and I won’t let you die like this.” Shot down as a beast. That wasn’t the end that waited for Duncan.
    Then the gunfire stopped. The growls died away. She lifted her head and searched the area with a quick gaze.
    Saul was laughing. “They’ll…keep coming…”
    Pate ran toward her. “Holly? Holly, are you all right?”
    She nodded, but she didn’t let go of Duncan.
    “They’ll keep coming…for him…already one alpha in this town,” Saul said, voice deepening. “Already
one
.”
    What? Like one werewolf was going to dominate everything? The werewolves in this city needed to realize there was room for two alphas. Because Duncan wasn’t dying.
    Pate reached for her arm. Duncan lunged at him, snapping with his fangs.
    “Easy.” Pate put his hands up. He could have just shot Duncan, so she appreciated the guy’s restraint. One blond brow rose as Pate darted a glance at Holly. “I’m guessing that’s our guy in there?”
    Somewhere in the beast, yes, but she just didn’t know how much of the man remained then. Her fingers slid around his neck. The collar was designed to automatically contract or expand to match a werewolf’s transformation. A rather clever bit of technology that Pate was particularly proud of—since he’d designed it himself.
    “Can you control him?” Pate asked.
    She didn’t want to use her remote to increase the silver levels hitting him. It just didn’t seem right to hurt him when he’d come racing to her rescue. Holly wasn’t exactly sure
how
he’d managed that escape from his cell, but she was grateful to him. So, instead of using the remote, her fingers stroked his fur. “Duncan?”
    His head turned. His eyes—wild, shining so brightly—met hers.
    “Can you shift back?” Holly whispered. “The agents are here. I’m safe now. Can you—can you shift?”
    “You’re not safe!” Saul yelled. He was getting on her nerves. The alarm had stopped shrieking, and he had gotten stronger. “That wolf…
he’s
your biggest threat. You think I’m bad?” He laughed. “Wait until you see what an alpha can do to you.”
    At that, the black wolf pulled away from Holly. Rushed toward Saul’s cage.
    And growled.
    Saul growled back.
    Then Saul’s eyelids flickered and he…lowered his head? Holly sucked in a gasp of surprise as Saul dropped to his knees in front of Duncan.
    Wolf dynamics. They were scaring the crap out of her.
    She glanced around the room once more. Saw the bodies. The dead werewolves were shifting back to human form. One woman. Four men.
    Pate eased closer to Holly as the other agents went to check on the guards. Checking would do no good. They were dead. “You’re bleeding.” Pate’s voice was tight. He didn’t touch her. Probably because he was afraid of Duncan’s reaction. She was a little afraid of it, too. “Did you get bitten?”
    Holly shook her head.