Of course…they were archenemies. And not just because they were lion and hyena. For another reason altogether.

Dez stepped in front of Shaw. “Gina.” The lead hyena watched her closely, waiting for her to make a run for it. Waiting for the hunt. “You wanted to know who killed your man.” Dez stepped back and motioned to the three men behind her. “It was them.”

Gina Brutale locked eyes with Patrick Doogan. He couldn’t hide the truth. Not from any of them. His fangs extended as he and his brothers backed away. Gina watched him for a moment, savoring their realization that they were horribly outnumbered. She opened her mouth and let out a sound that chilled Dez’s blood and made her want to start crying. It sounded almost like laughter, but it definitely wasn’t.

Doogan and his brothers ran as the hyenas rushed them.

The two groups disappeared around the corner, then she grabbed Shaw’s jacket and forced the man to start running in the opposite direction. Shaw had lost a lot of blood, but she didn’t care. He’d lose a lot more if those lions got away or the bloodlust overtook the hyenas and they came looking for more.

Dez could already hear the battle raging behind her. Three male lions against what she estimated to be about thirty or forty hyenas. Yeah. Good luck with that.

Of course, there was one little problem with her escape. She still had no idea how to get the hell out of here.

Just great, Dez. She glanced back at Shaw. He did not look good.

“Can you lead us out of here?” When he stopped and dropped to his knees she pretty much figured that meant no.

“Mr. Shaw, you need to get up. Now.”

He shook his head. “I can’t.”

“I can’t carry you, Mr. Shaw.”

“Forget me. Go.”

There he was, trying to be a hero again. Like she had time for that. “I can’t leave you here, Mr. Shaw.” Christ, she really had gone back to combat mode. Well, at least she wasn’t falling apart.

Dez heard scrambling against the concrete floor. Considering she typified lazy when it came to clipping her dogs’ nails, she knew that sound. She crouched, her gun arm steadied against her knee. She jerked her trigger finger away in time and let out a shaky breath.

Not a hyena. A wolf.

“Sissy Mae?” The wolf yipped in response. “I’m lost and he’s running out of steam.”

They heard more screams, more roars, and that disturbing howl that sounded like hysterical laughter.

Sissy Mae put her head back and howled. She called to her Pack. Dez grabbed Shaw’s arm. “Get up, Mr. Shaw. We still need to keep moving.”

He did his best, dragging his body up, using the wall as leverage. Once he stood on his own two shaky feet, Dez pulled Shaw past Sissy Mae. She turned the corner as six wolvescharged past her. Two stopped and shifted back into males.

Naked males. She shook her head. Nope, not the time to get all lusty. Honestly, what the hell was wrong with her?

“He can’t make it. Take him.” They grabbed Shaw and dragged him away. “Sissy Mae, let’s go!”

Sissy followed after the males. In a few moments she heard canine nails pounding concrete as they caught up with her.

Within a few turns, they found the exit Dez had come in through. The wolves dragged Shaw up the stairs. She heard more running. More beings, not human, were moving toward them.

She aimed the gun. “Sissy, go!” Sissy tore up the stairs as more wolves came from other hallways. They all moved past her and up the stairs. That’s when she saw them. The hyenas were back. Not all of them, but quite a few. Covered in blood. She quickly counted. Nope. She didn’t have enough bullets for all of them.

Then suddenly a lion and wolf slid in front of her. Mace bellowed out a roar, and the hyenas all made a weird yipping sound, darting back and forth, apparently searching for a way to get to her. An opening they could use.

Smitty growled, his canines flashing as he snapped at the hyenas in front of him.

Mace took a step back, pushing her toward the stairs with his body. But before Dez could hightail it out of there, more hyenas came from another hallway. The only reason they stopped was because she aimed her gun at them.

This wasn’t good. At some point, the hyenas were going to bum-rush the three of them, and that would be it.

Dez desperately searched for a way out of this that would leave all of them alive, when she noticed Gina as hyena walking slowly around the corner, her sister’s body again in her mouth. Another hyena standing beside her let out a loud call, and the others challenging Mace and Smitty turned and charged back the other way. The ones facing her simply ran off.

Just like that it ended.

Gina looked at Dez, her eyes sending a clear message. She was going to let Dez go because she’d done her a favor. She’d taken out the only thing between Gina and absolute control of the Brutale family and given her the ones that had killed her lover.

Gina turned and trotted off down the hallway, her sister’s body a trophy.

Okay. No more animal night in New York for Dez. She turned and charged up the stairs. As she cleared the entrance, strong hands grabbed her from behind and pushed her out into the alley.

Roasted coffee, muffins, sewage, and a light rainstorm were the welcome smells assaulting her. She wanted to take a deep breath and enjoy the cold air, but the arms that grabbed hold of her suddenly began crushing her to death. If she hadn’t recognized the body attached to those arms, she might have been worried.

Instead, she couldn’t breathe.