I stood there stunned and unable to move . "You sold me to the vampires?"

"Of course," he said, like it was obvious. "Just like Father sold Mother. It's nothing personal, Zephyr. Just good business."

The Phoenix fire roared to life, and this time I didn't try to contain it. Golden flames erupted across my entire body, turning night into day.

"You're going to die," I said, and my voice was layered with something ancient and furious. "Both of you. Tonight."

Bron's smirk faltered. "Attack!" he screamed to the rogues. "Fifty thousand to whoever brings her down!"

They charged as one, twenty wolves against one Phoenix.

I threw my arms wide and let the fire explode outward.

The wave of Phoenix flame swept across the lawn like a tsunami. Rogues screamed as their fur ignited, and as the fire found them no matter where they tried to hide.

"Zephyr!" Avalon's voice was sharp with concern. "You're burning too hot!"

He was right. The fire was feeding on my rage, growing beyond my control. The grass beneath my feet turned to ash, and the air shimmered with heat.

"I can't stop it," I gasped, even as more rogues fell. "It won't stop"

Cool hands grabbed my shoulders and the shock of it broke through the fury, and I gasped.

"Breathe," Avalon commanded. "Channel it and don't let it control you."

I focused on his touch, on the mate bond tying us together. Slowly but painfully, I pulled the fire back in.

When I opened my eyes, the lawn was scorched black. At least fifteen rogues lay dead or dying, and the survivors were fleeing into the forest.

Bron had also disappeared.

"Coward," Zane spat, appearing beside us. "He ran the moment you started burning."

"He won't get far," Osilus said. "I can track him."

"No," I said, swaying slightly. The fire had taken more out of me than I'd realized. "Let him run. Let him tell Father I'm coming for them both."

"Zephyr," Avalon said gently, supporting me as my knees buckled. "You're bleeding badly. We need to get you inside."

I looked down and saw that the claw marks on my back had soaked through my clothes, and blood pooled at my feet.

"I'm fine," I started to say, then my vision doubled.

But before I fell, strong arms caught me and the last thing I heard before darkness took me was Avalon's voice.

"Find them. Find Bron and Bruin Chance. I want them alive."

I woke to pain.

Every breath sent fire through my back, and I groaned before I could stop myself.

"Easy," Osilus's voice was soft. "Don't try to move."

I forced my eyes open to find myself in the master suite, lying on my stomach. Osilus sat beside the bed, one hand resting gently on my shoulder.

"How bad is it?" I asked, my voice rough.

"Very bad," he said. "The rogues had somehow used silver claws so it'll take longer to heal."

"How long was I out?" I tried to hold my head.

"Six hours," Avalon said, and I turned my head to find him standing by the window. "Osilus has been healing you, but silver slows everything."

"What about the estate?" I asked.

"It's safe for now," Zane said from the doorway.

"And Bron?"

"He was gone before any of us could find him," Avalon said, his jaw tight. "But we found something interesting on one of the rogues." He held up a piece of paper. "A contract and payment for your capture."

"Does it say who signed it?" I asked, though I already knew.

"Bruin Chance," Avalon confirmed. "Your father ordered your death."

The words should have hurt, but they just made me angry. "I need to find out where he is now?"

"That's the interesting part," Zane said, coming to sit on the edge of the bed. "We tracked him to the old Chance estate. He's barricaded himself inside with Bron and about a dozen guards."

"I need a car," I said, trying to sit up and pain went through my back. I groaned until Osilus gently pushed me back down.

"You're not going anywhere until you heal," he said firmly.

"The hell I'm not," I argued. "They tried to kill me. Again. I'm not waiting around for them to try a third time."

"Zephyr," Avalon said, and there was something in his voice that made me look at him. "The rogues we captured... they talked... Your father has been in contact with the vampires. He's offered you to them in exchange for territory and power."

"When?" I demanded.

"They're coming in three days," he said. "Your father plans to hand you over personally."

"The only person I'm handling over is his dead body" I said flatly.

"But, you can barely move," Osilus pointed out gently. "Give it at least..."

"No, I'm so close to having my revenge,I couldn't sleep." Just then Emma ran inside holding a letter. I took it from her hand and as my eyes saw the first word, my heart stopped beating. It was from the Council members.

We'd spent the next day preparing, setting traps, positioning ourselves, going over every possible scenario. Now, as midnight approached, I stood in the master suite dressed in bloodied bandages that told of how injured i was.

"They're here," Avalon's voice came through the mate bond.

"Wait, I can sense twenty of them?" I said aloud, tension coiling in my stomach. "Did they bring an army?"

"They are scared," Zane's voice replied through the bond. "They should be."

I positioned myself on the bed, arranging my body to look weak and vulnerable. The claw marks on my back had healed enough to move, but they still hurt like hell.

I heard the front doors open downstairs. No forced entry which means someone had unlocked them from the inside.

"We have a traitor," Osilus's said in anger.

"We'll deal with it later," Avalon commanded. "Take your positions everyone while you wait for my signal."

I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing, listening to the footsteps echoing through the estate. They sounded like marching army.

Then I heard his voice.

"Search every room," Father ordered. "Find her."

My fingers curled into the sheets. Almost...

The footsteps grew louder and closer as they climbed the stairs. I forced my body to relax, to look like someone barely clinging to consciousness.

The door to the master suite slammed open.

"Well, well, well," Bron's voice, but there was something was different. He sounded more confident. "Look at you now, sister. Not so powerful after all."

I didn't open my eyes, or react. I wanted them to think I was too weak to respond.

"Is she even alive?" I heard my father say. "The message said she was badly injured, but..."

"She' still breathing," Bron said and I felt him approach the bed, and the air around him felt like I was surrounded by a burning building. "I can hear her heartbeat, smell her fear."

That made me open my eyes.

Bron stood over me, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. He looked different, his eyes had a reddish tint, his muscles were more defined, and when he smiled, his canines were too long and sharp.

"Surprised?" he asked, tilting his head. "You're not the only one who got an upgrade, sister."

"What did you do?" I demanded, sitting up despite the pain.

"What I had to," Bron said. "Father made a deal with the vampires. They gave me their blood which made me stronger." He smirked at me. "I can kill you now, without breaking a sweat."

My life flashed before my very eyes. "You let them turn you into..."

"Not turn," he corrected. "Enhance. I'm still a wolf. Just better. And you..." He moved, faster than any werewolf should be able to, and his hand closed around my throat before I could react. "You're mine."

I tried to summon the Phoenix fire, but his grip was too strong. I clawed at his hand, gasping.

"Bron!" Avalon's roar shook the walls as he emerged from the shadows, ice already forming.

Bron didn't even flinch. He threw me across the room with supernatural strength and I hit the wall hard enough to crack the plaster, and pain exploded through my barely-healed back.

"Avalon Cary," Bron said, turning to face him. "I've been looking forward to this."

Avalon launched himself forward, shifting mid-leap into his massive white wolf but Bron was ready. He met Avalon head-on, and when they collided, it was Avalon who went flying.

"What the fuck?" Zane breathed, emerging from his position. "How is he..."

"Vampire blood," I gasped, struggling to stand. "It enhanced him."

"Correct," Father said, stepping into the room with smug satisfaction. "The vampires were quite generous with their gifts. Though it cost me a fortune to secure enough blood to make it permanent."

"You made your son into a monster," Osilus said, appearing beside me to help me up.

"I made him into a weapon," Father corrected. "One specifically designed to kill Phoenixes. The vampires have been hunting your kind for centuries. They know all your weaknesses."

"Then they should have told you about this one," I said, and let the Phoenix fire explode.

Golden flames erupted from my hands, but Bron moved through them like they were nothing. He grabbed my wrist, and I screamed as his grip burned worse than anything I felt before.

"Vampire blood makes us resistant to Phoenix fire," Bron said, twisting my arm until I heard something crack. "Did Father mention that?"

Tears streamed down my face from the pain, but I refused to beg. "You're going to die tonight, Bron."

"No," he said, throwing me down. "You are... But first, you're going to watch me kill your mates."

He moved toward Avalon, who was still recovering from being thrown. Zane intercepted with fire in his fists, but Bron was faster. He caught Zane's punch and broke his arm by twisting it.

Zane screamed.

"Stop!" I shouted, trying to stand. "Fight me, not them!"

"Why would I do that?" Bron asked, kicking Zane in the ribs and that sent him skidding across the floor. "This is more fun."

Osilus rushed him, earth magic erupting from the floor, but Bron just laughed. He ripped through the stone bindings like paper and grabbed Osilus by the throat.

"You're the weakest one," Bron observed. "I think I'll kill you first."

"No!" I screamed, and this time when the Phoenix fire came, it was different. Hotter. Wilder. Fed by pure desperation.

The flames hit Bron, and for the first time, he flinched. The vampire blood might make him resistant, but it wasn't immunity.

He dropped Osilus and turned to face me. "There she is. The real Phoenix. Not the broken little girl playing pretend."

"I'm going to burn you alive," I promised.

"Try it," he invited.

I threw everything I had at him, wave after wave of Phoenix fire. The room became hotter than hell as the walls turned black but Bron kept coming, walking through the flames like they were nothing.

When he reached me, his hand closed around my throat again.

"You're weak," he hissed in my face. "Just like Mother. She begged too, at the end. Begged Father to spare her. It was pathetic."

Rage exploded through me. "You were there? When he killed her?"

"Of course," Bron said. "I'm the one who held her down while he administered the poison. I watched her die, Zephyr. Watched her choke and convulse and cry for her precious daughter."

Something inside me broke.

Not broke, completely shattered. Every piece of control, every restraint, every bit of humanity I'd been clinging to, it all burned away in an instant.

The Phoenix fire changed. It had been gold before. Now it burned white-hot, so bright it was blinding.

"What-" Bron started, then screamed as the fire finally got to him. He released me, stumbling back.

"You held her down," I said, my voice cracked. "You watched my mother die?"

"Zephyr-" Father shouted, "Control yourself-"

"CONTROL MYSELF?" The Phoenix fire exploded outward, consuming everything. The walls, the ceiling, the floor-all of it burning with white fire. "YOU KILLED MY MOTHER!"

The door exploded inward and through the flames stepped a figure wrapped in dark leather, face hidden behind a silver mask carved with ancient runes. The fire parted around him like he was immune.

"Phoenix," the figure said, his voice like gravel. "Stand down."

"Who the fuck are you?" I demanded.

"Someone who's killed dozens of your kind," he said calmly, pulling silver chains from his belt. "A Phoenix Hunter and you're coming with me."

He moved impossibly fast, and the chains wrapped around me before I could react. The moment they touched my skin, agony exploded through me. The white fire engulfed me, smothered by whatever magic was woven into this chain.

"No!" I struggled, but the chains tightened, burning deeper.

"Silver chains forged in Phoenix ash," the Hunter explained. "Specifically designed to bind your kind. The more you struggle, the tighter they get."

"Excellent timing," I heard father say with relief. "Subdue her completely. The vampires want her alive."

"Obviously," the Hunter said, pulling the chains tighter. I screamed as they burned into my flesh. "Though after that display, I'm tempted to just kill her. White fire Phoenix-those are supposed to be extinct."

"She's the last one," Father said. "That's why she's so valuable."

"Then the vampires will pay double," the Hunter said.

Through the pain, I saw my mates trying to reach me. Avalon was fighting through a wall of Father's guards. Zane was dragging himself forward despite his broken arm. Osilus was gathering earth magic for another attack.

And Bron was healing, the burns already fading as vampire blood worked its dark magic.

"Kill the mates," Father ordered the Hunter. "They're witnesses."

"No!" I screamed, pulling against the chains. They cut deeper, and I felt blood running down my arms.

The Hunter pulled out three silver daggers. "This won't take long."

He threw them in one precise motion. One for each mate.

Time seemed to slow as I watched the daggers fly through the air, saw them move toward the men I'd somehow come to care about. The men fate had bound me to.

And I realized I couldn't let them die.

Not for me. Not because of me.

I stopped fighting the chains. Instead, I pulled them inward, just like before. Let the silver bite deeper, let the Phoenix ash recognize what I was.

"What are you doing?" the Hunter demanded. "Stop..."

But it was too late as the chains exploded, this time, the explosion wasn't just fire. It was pure Phoenix power, ancient and terrible, the kind that had made vampires hunt us to extinction.

The silver daggers vaporized mid-flight. The Hunter was thrown backward, his mask cracking. Father's guards simply ceased to exist, turned to ash in an instant.

And Bron, with his vampire-enhanced blood, screamed as the white fire found him again. This time, there was no resistance. The vampire blood that gave him strength became his weakness as it boiled and burned.

"Zephyr!" Avalon called out, "You're burning too hot! You'll kill yourself!"

He was right. I could feel it-the Phoenix fire consuming me from the inside out. Using this much power would destroy me.

But I didn't care.

"GET FATHER!" I screamed at my mates. "Don't let him escape!"

Then I turned my full attention to Bron.

He tried to run, but the white fire was already eating through him. His vampire-enhanced speed meant nothing when every movement just spread the flames faster.

"Zephyr, please," he gasped, falling to his knees. "I'm your brother-"

"You stopped being my brother when you held Mother down," I said, walking toward him through the flames. "When you watched her die. When you tried to kill me."

"It was Father's idea," Bron said desperately. "He made me do it..."

"Liar," I said. "You enjoyed it. I can see it in your eyes. You enjoyed watching her suffer."

"She deserved it," Bron spat, his true nature finally showing through the fear. "Always so perfect and loving. Making the rest of us look like monsters. We ARE monsters, Zephyr. That's what this world made us."

"Then die like one," I said, and let the white fire consume him completely.

His screams echoed through the estate as he burned. I made sure every second hurt, made sure he felt every bit of agony Mother had felt.

When he finally stopped screaming, when there was nothing left but ash, so I turned to find the Hunter.

He was struggling to stand, his leather armor burned and smoking. "You're insane," he said. "Using that much power, you'll burn yourself out-"

"Good," I said. "Because I'm taking you with me."

I grabbed him, and white fire poured from my hands into his body. He screamed, but I didn't let go.

"How many?" I demanded. "How many Phoenixes have you killed?"

"Dozens," he gasped. "Maybe more-I stopped counting-"

"Their names," I said, burning hotter. "Tell me their names."

"I don't-I don't remember-they were just targets-"

"NAMES!" The white fire surged, and he shrieked.

" I don't know... they are so many... please..."

"You don't get to forget them," I said. "You don't get to erase them like they never existed."

I pressed my other hand to his forehead and did exactly what I'd planned for Father. I burned away his memories, his identity, everything that made him who he was. But I left the pain. Left him aware enough to know he'd lost everything.

When I released him, he collapsed, he was still breathing.

"That's for every Phoenix you killed," I said.

Then I heard fighting from downstairs and remembered Father.

I ran, or tried to as my legs barely worked, and every step sent pain shooting through me. The white fire had taken too much. I could feel my Phoenix burning out and consuming itself.

But I had to reach him. Had to finish this.

I stumbled down the stairs to find Avalon, Zane, and Osilus surrounding Father in the main hall. He was cornered, holding a silver knife, looking desperately for escape.

"Zephyr," he said when he saw me, and his voice actually shook. "Daughter, Please. I'm your father-"

"You're nothing," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "You killed Mother. You tried to kill me. You turned Bron into a monster."

"I did what I had to do," he said. "To survive, to maintain our position. You would have done the same..."

"I would have protected my family," I corrected. "Not sold them."

"The vampires gave me no choice," he said desperately. "They threatened everything to take everything. Sacrificing one person to save hundreds...it's just math..."

"It was Mother!" I screamed, and the last of the white fire flared. "She loved you! She trusted you! And what did you do? You poisoned her!"

"She was going to expose me," Father said, his mask finally slipping. "Going to tell the pack what I'd done. I couldn't allow that. My reputation, my power-"

"Your reputation," I repeated flatly. "You killed her for your reputation?"

"Yes," he said, and there was no remorse in his voice. "And I'd do it again. Just like I'd kill you if it means keeping what's mine."

He attacked with the silver knife but I was faster.

I caught his wrist, and the knife clattered to the ground. Then I placed my hand over his heart.

"This is for Mother," I whispered.

White fire poured into him. Not the quick consuming flames I'd used on Bron. Something slower. More painful. I burned him from the inside out, cooking his organs, boiling his blood, making every second an eternity of agony.

He screamed until his throat gave out. But I didn't stop even as he kept screaming silently. I watched his eyes, made sure he knew exactly who was killing him. When he finally died, I let his body fall.

The last of the white fire went out completely, and I collapsed.

But before I reached the floor, strong arms caught me.

"Zephyr! Stay with me! Osilus, get the healers!"

"Did I... did I get them?" I managed to ask.

"You got them," Avalon confirmed.

"Good," I said, then allowed the darkness pull me under.

I woke up three days later.

The first thing I felt was pain-a deep, bone-deep exhaustion that went beyond physical. The white fire had burned through me completely, leaving me hollowed out.

"Easy," Osilus said. "Don't try to move yet."

I forced my eyes open to find all three of my mates surrounding the bed. They looked terrible-Avalon had bandages across his chest, Zane's arm was in a sling, and Osilus had dark circles under his eyes.

"How bad was it?" I whispered.

"Bad," Avalon admitted. "You used white fire which is a Phoenix's last resort-the power that burns everything, including yourself. You're lucky to be alive."

"What about them?" I asked.

"They're both dead," Zane confirmed with savage satisfaction. "Along with most of his men. The ones who survived are talking about the vampire deal, the murders, everything."

I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of what I'd done settle over me. "I finally avenged your death mum."

"There's something else," he said and I could feel the tension in his voice.

"The vampires are coming," he said quietly.