His return

Hunters fought against mine and Carlson's packs using guns and silver blades. The sight of it made my mouth to fall.

Women were crouching on the ground, crying over dead men or trying to escape being trampled. My stomach churned, searching the crowd for anyone familiar. Tora's hand yanked on my arm, but I couldn't look away from the pandemonium unfolding.Gunshots and blades hitting one another drowned out the screaming and cries of death filling the air. My attention slowly moved over my people as I noted the tang of blood painting the dead and flowing through the large court- yard.

I paused upon seeing the largest male with the hunters, covered in blood and tattoos, swinging his swords effortlessly. He fought in pants, with nothing else covering his flesh to prevent damage. I drank in the sight of him, watching the way he fought off three men at once with dual blades, easily taking down anyone stupid enough to cross his path.

He turned, and the air escaped my lungs as the world went silent.

Green-ish-blue eyes held mine prisoner, causing an array of emotions to slam into my chest. I whimpered, ignoring the burning tears that escaped as I stared into the last pair of eyes I had never thought to see again. His scent floated to me, washing away the copper of the blood, replaced by soothing sage and bergamot. "Saint," I whispered breathlessly. The look in his eyes turned murderous, even as he started toward me. Men closed in around him, and reality came crushing back into me with the force of gale winds. The last words Saint had shouted at me ten years ago replayed through my mind.

"I will come back here, Braelyn Haralson. I will return, destroying you and everything you love," he'd whispered, silent tears pooling in his eyes, but he'd never let them fall.

Saint hadn't shown weakness at any point during my rejection of his mating claim. Only pure hatred had burned in his stare, and the scent that once soothed like a balm had become a curse that turned bitter. "Fuck! Run!" I shrieked, watching as more faces from my past became visible. Saint hadn't returned alone. He'd brought his pack of misfits with him, and the scent of these alphas inside the yard was smothering. Tora still held my arm, even as both of us rushed back inside, closing the door and placing a bar across it. My heart thundered against my ribs, and breathing past the pain from seeing my true soul mate again was difficult, forcing short pants of air to escape my lungs.

"Holy shit! They're back!" Tora exclaimed. "They brought hunters and monsters with them!" I seethed. In the short time I'd been able to look out onto the battlefield, I'd not only spotted hunters, but I'd also seen demons and a variety of wolves forming a make-shift pack. Saint hadn't come back to be accepted. No, he'd returned to do what he'd promised when he and his misfits were banished. Saint had returned to destroy us all. The door cracked, and I yelped, turning to watch as an ax cut through the wood.

"Hide," I demanded, and Tora shook her head. "Tora, get the children out of here. Saint will follow me, and his men will follow him because he's their leader. You must get the children out. Tell me you will do it. Find Chaos, and get him the fuck out of here, now!"

"Not without you, Brae," she started, but the ax slammed into the door once more, making us both jump.

"Get all the children out of here, now," I ordered, starting toward a dark hallway that led to a dead-end.

My eyes slid to Toralei, watching as she rushed off to the playroom where the pack omegas were entertaining the children. I exhaled past my fear as the axe continued tearing into the thick wood of the door, moving deeper into the mansion that Saint and his misfits had once considered home.

In the hallway I paused as their voices echoed in the main room. Turning my head, I peered at the doorway that led to the outcrop building, and I rushed toward it. I didn't think I would escape Saint and his men, not when I knew how they tracked and their ability to do so. I was merely buying Tora time to run with the children, hoping they wouldn't end up as collateral damage.

"Come on, Brat. Don't play hard to get," Saint's deep baritone voice filled my ears, sending a wave of unease into my belly. "She always enjoyed when you chased that ass," Eryx injected, which caused the hair on my nape to rise with awareness.

Laughter echoed around me as I slid behind a large shelf inside the newly renovated library. My heartbeat was erratic, and the scent of my fear was smothering to my senses. I projected it, allowing them to catch it before I shed my robe, shoving it onto a shelf and rushing to the other side of the room.

"Mmm, she always smelled like trouble, too. A little fear, a little woman, and a whole lot of promise for the sexy little bitch she'd become. Come on, Princess. We want to play with you," Sian chuckled, his laughter wicked and dark like the soul he held within him.

Another voice entered the one-sided conversation. "Her lips are to die for, but then they're as poisonous as the bitch that owns them," Phenrys grunted. "I always wondered if they'd feel as good around my cock, but then little Miss Prim wouldn't ever give up the goods. Would you, Brae?" I almost snorted, listening while they moved through the library's large, elaborate layout as one unit. It was how they did everything. They had hunted me once, which had terrified and excited me. It ended with Saint discovering me and our link igniting in this very room since the library was where I'd spent most of my time.