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the end. Dev toed off his boots and tossed them in the truck bed. “Hurry up. Let’s get in there and find out what’s what.” They finished undressing in silence and stalked through the trees side by side.
    Victor was still in human form as well. He stood in the middle of a circle of his Betas, the four other men already shifted. The rest of the pack, mostly in human form, remained off to the side.
    George waited, fully clothed, in a line of wolves. Grammy was at his side, her hand in his. George caught Dev’s gaze and gave him a nod.
    Dev nodded back.
    Several of the wolves near Grammy and George spread out, surrounding the Betas, growling.
    Victor smiled at him. “As you can see, I lived up to my end of the deal. I gave the pathetic little Omega’s granny back.” He looked around, then lifted his nose, sniffing. He frowned at Dev. “Where is he?
    Where’s Laine?”
    “This is between you and me. Laine no longer has anything to do with this.”
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    Victor snarled. “I want the Omega. I told you to bring him.”
    Dev held out his arms. “Beat me and you can have him.”
    Cole snorted beside him.
    One of the wolves, Peter, growled and launched himself towards Dev and Cole.
    Three of the wolves with George intercepted him.
    “Here we go.” Cole shifted and jumped into the fray. Immediately, one of the other Betas leapt in, followed by two more of the other pack members.
    Victor glanced at them, shrugging. “Looks like you already have a bit of a following. I’m going to punish them once I kill you.” Victor shifted.
    Dev followed suit, actually managing to finish shifting before Victor.
    Victor’s eyes widened in surprise. Without further warning he and his remaining two Betas charged Dev.
    Dev took out the first wolf easily, grabbing him by the throat. The man’s neck squished between his teeth. Blood went everywhere. The wolf gurgled and Dev let go. He fell to the ground and shifted back to human form instantly, trying to heal himself. Dev’s attention left him. He was no longer a threat. The man wasn’t strong enough to shift again and rejoin the fight.
    A sharp pain flared in Dev’s side as the other Beta’s teeth clamped down.
    As Dev was trying to dislodge the Beta, Victor went for his throat.
    Dev jerked out of reach.
    Victor yelped and spun around ready to defend himself.
    Out of the corner of his eye, Dev thought he caught a glimpse of red fur. That better not be Lainey. He shrugged off his second of panic and took advantage of Victor’s distraction. He went for the Alpha’s throat. He had Victor pinned to the ground, the other wolf still on his back, when Cole joined him, taking care of the pest clinging to his back.
    Victor whimpered and lay still beneath Dev’s teeth.
    Dev let go and stepped back at the other man’s surrender. He shifted, standing over Victor. “I want you out of here. I want you to take your Betas and leave Asheville. If I see any of you back here, I’ll kill you on sight.”
    Victor gazed around, spotting his vanquished Betas. He dipped his head in defeat.
    Dev looked, noticing the rest of the pack standing around. “Anyone have a problem with me being Alpha?”
    Everyone shook their heads.
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    One man in the back shouted, “Welcome to the pack.”
    Another met his gaze and nodded. “As long as you keep Laine as Omega, you can stay.”
    Dev smiled. “I reckon I can do that. For those of you who haven’t heard, Laine is my mate.”
    An older man chuckled. “Good, maybe you can keep him out of trouble.”
    “I wouldn’t want to count on that, but I’ll try.” Speaking of Laine… Dev glanced around. He was positive he’d seen red fur. He sniffed the air.
    Victor sprang from the ground, teeth bared, growling.
    Dev reacted out of instinct. His right hand shifted, catching Victor up under the throat. His claws went all the way through Victor’s neck. He debated holding him there for several seconds. The man certainly deserved to bleed to death, but Dev wasn’t that cruel. He may regret it later, but he tossed Victor away, allowing the man to shift and heal himself. “This is your last warning, Victor. Next time I’ll kill you.”
    Victor changed back, choking on his blood. He peered up at Dev, with wide, scared eyes, and nodded.
    Peter and one of the other Betas came over and