Good thing she’s not going to win this fight.
Oh . . . she’s not gonna lose. She can’t lose.
As the clouds shuffled off the moon, I could see every twitching muscle in my Alpha’s body, every sweep of eyelashes, every pulse of air. He lifted his tail high in the air.
Get away from Justin, Ness. Liam spoke into my mind without breaking eye contact with Cassandra.
I loped off toward the other side of the ring.
Cassandra dipped her muzzle, and then she burst toward Liam. His muscles coiled like springs as he exploded forward, running straight at her. Just before their bodies connected, he executed the sharpest turn I’d ever seen a wolf make.
Cassandra dug her claws into the ground, spraying the faces of the shifters on the cusp of the dueling ring with grass and dirt. Flicking her ears, she turned and dashed after Liam, neck extended, snout inches from Liam’s tail. Jaw wide, she seized it. Liam growled, and then his back paw came up and scraped Cassandra’s cheek, shoving her face away, inflicting another deep gash.
She grunted as she released his tail and hacked up black fur, cheek weeping blood. How was he going to end her with just his claws? None of her injuries had healed yet, and if he added any more, not making contact with her blood would become near impossible.
Stashing his tail between his legs, Liam pranced away. I didn’t know how deep she’d chomped down, but he would need several minutes for his skin to zipper shut.
Cassandra’s nostrils flared, and then her head canted toward me. For numerous heartbeats, she stared my way, blue eyes thin and calculating.
My navel heated up to scorching as something wet bumped my rump. I whipped around and growled. Did you just sniff me, you prick?
What if I did? What are you going to do?
Justin was looking for me to attack, because if I made the first move, I’d become fair game for Cassandra to kill.
The dark-brown wolf leered at me. You smell awfully sweet for something that isn’t.
You touch me again, and I will rip your testicles off and toss them to the coyotes. My breaths came in violent spurts. And then I’ll kill you.
Will you be ripping them off with your mouth? ’Cause I’ve been fantasizing about your head between my legs.
A shrill bark erupted from the field, and I spun to find Liam standing over Cassandra. He swiped at her neck, and she swiped back, the dark tips of her claws sinking into his belly.
He let out a cry that had me pitching toward him, but before I could get close, Justin planted teeth that felt like twin saws into my hip and dragged me to the ground. I spun and batted him away, the pain so violent it blanched my eyesight.
Up . . . I needed to get up.
I needed to get to Liam.
51
After managing to dislodge Justin’s jaw with my kicks, I crawled away, belly to the ground, limbs trembling like the tiny leaves of Julian Matz’s hedges.
Suddenly, my body skidded several feet to the side.
What the fuck? Justin growled, standing at the exact spot I’d been.
Using his astonishment to my advantage, I hoisted myself up, my backside ablaze from his bite.
Ness? Are you okay? Liam’s voice pinged inside my skull.
I nodded, backing away from Justin when he started advancing. Thankfully, he moved slowly as though afraid that if he progressed any faster, I’d slip away from him again.
A black form materialized between us: Liam. You stay the fuck away from her, Justin.
She attacked me first, Justin said.
I did not! I bellowed, the pain in my rump forgotten.
Cassandra stepped in next to Justin. Seems like our referees can’t agree.
I saw what happened. Justin bit her; Ness did nothing, Liam growled.
He wouldn’t have bitten her if she’d done nothin’. Besides, you aren’t a referee, Kolane. Cassandra peered at me behind Liam. Good thing you prepared her so well, ’cause rules are rules. She licked the blood coating her rubbery lips.
This fight stays between you and me, Liam barked.
Too late for that.
Liam’s body seemed to expand like an afternoon shadow, blackening the overwrought air. Ness, can you run?
Yes, I answered out loud because he had his back to me.
Remember our bear hunt?
My ears peaked. Was Liam about to shift back into skin to distract the Creeks?
I’m going to create a diversion.
The Creek Alpha’s furry brow wrinkled. What are you two cookin’ up?
Energy crackled through my body.
Our audience should be told what’s happening, Liam said.
They’ll understand, Morgan said.
I’d rather explain it. I’ll switch into skin. And since we’re sticking so closely to the rule book, unless you get into skin, you can’t attack me until I’m back in fur. Right, Morgan?
Her blue gaze glowed like a flame atop a wick. Right.
Even though the air was rife with rapid heartbeats, I caught the pace of hers accelerating. Was that excitement?
Don’t keep us waitin’ too long, Morgan said, her voice syrupy, borderline gleeful.
I backed up a few paces, agitated by the intensity of her focus.
Keeping his back to me, Liam said through the mind-link, She thinks I’ve forgotten that you’re fair game to attack since you’re in fur.
I jerked to a stop.
They’re going to go after you. Just keep running, and don’t stop. Run in circles; run around the ring. August will adjust your trajectory. Got it?
I didn’t say anything, afraid of spoiling our plan, and afraid Liam would hear the tremor building inside me at the idea of being chased by not one, but two giant wolves.
Like he’d done in the Smoky Mountains, Liam slid into skin. His muscled form was outlined in moonlight. He turned a little, and I blinked at the amount of blood coating his stomach. Scabs and seeping gashes crisscrossed all over his abdomen. “Shifters, Justin attacked my Second.”
People frowned. I didn’t think it was in surprise—after all, they’d seen it happen—but in confusion—they probably didn’t understand why Liam felt the need to interrupt the show to explain it to them.
The tether tautened . . . I glanced over my shoulder at August. His green eyes were steady, his arms crossed in front of his chest, his shoulders pulled in a line. He was ready and concentrated.
As I twisted around, my gaze collided into Alex’s. His hand was no longer wrapped around Sarah’s, but she still stood next to him, concern glittering in her dark eyes.
“Ness! Watch out!” she screamed.
Just as Liam predicted, Cassandra and Justin raced in opposite directions, drawing a V around my Alpha, a V that converged on me. I took off at breakneck speed along the edge of the ring, thanking Matt when my lungs didn’t explode and my muscles didn’t give out. Then again, I couldn’t feel any of my limbs, only the wind brushing my fur, whooshing inside my ears. In that moment, I became more bird than wolf.
Suddenly, my body was hauled almost to the center of the ring, blades of grass ripping beneath my claws, the only things keeping me from toppling over. I whipped my neck toward where I’d stood, and found Cassandra shaking Justin off of her. They must’ve collided, which might’ve amused me had her gaze not locked like a double-barreled shotgun on me.
She must’ve yelled through the mind-link, because Justin squirmed and then vaulted in my direction.
I took off again, my back paws almost reaching my ears as I ran. A roar sounded at my left, and then a shadow shot out from behind me. Was it Cassandra? I pushed myself harder, sprinting faster than when the rocks rained down the mountain during the first trial. Bodies crashed behind me, and then snarls. Without decreasing my pace, I swung my head toward the ruckus, found a mountain of black fur atop a mountain of dark brown.
A sharp wince punctured the night, followed by a wet rip.
I was so shocked by the sight of Justin’s blood dripping
from Liam’s muzzle that I didn’t see the shape arrowing for me.
Ness! he screeched into my skull.
I froze. A heartbeat before Cassandra crashed into me, August yanked on the tether. This time, I fell as he drew my body toward the center of the ring, mere feet away from Justin’s slack form.
Cassandra yowled in frustration.
My pulse seemed to have penetrated my eyes, because the world beat and bobbed.
Liam trotted out in front of me, head and tail held high, shoulders relaxed, a wall of pure, unadulterated confidence.
She’s cheatin’! Morgan yelled.
Too bad your referee’s no longer alive to call the duel off, Liam barked.
Wheezing, I climbed back onto my paws, ribs feeling bruised and displaced. The smell of warm blood and wet earth penetrated my nostrils. I kept expecting Justin to twitch, but only his fur rustled.
He was gone.
I could hardly believe how rapidly his life had been snuffed out.
There one minute and gone the next.
A disturbance in the ring of shifters behind Justin had my gaze springing up. Alex Morgan was elbowing his way toward my pack. I let out a shrill bark, but my mate’s attention didn’t veer off me. I barked again, and still he didn’t look around him, but a groove appeared between his eyebrows. Did no one see Alex approach? He wasn’t freaking transparent!
Then again, he hadn’t breeched the first line of Boulders yet.
A snarl had my attention jumping back to the ring where Cassandra was hurtling toward Liam.
I needed to focus on Liam.
Someone in my pack would surely spot Alex and bar his path.
I tried to keep my eyes on the two Alphas, but I peeked past their bodies. Alex had disappeared, but August was still there.
Where had Alex gone?
A burst of yellow materialized in the darkness behind the thin row of Boulders.
Alex had shifted.
I barked.
Still, August didn’t understand. The groove simply deepened.
No Boulder looked over their shoulder. All of them too focused on what was happening in the dueling ring.
The yellow shape loomed larger so terrifyingly fast that I locked my gaze on the shimmery blue cord that connected me to August and pulled so hard my belly button almost burst open.
August jerked.
His arms fell out of their bind and extended to steady his teetering body.
I’d moved him, but only by inches.
August finally looked away from me, but only to stare at his abdomen.
Over your shoulder, I barked. Behind you!
When he looked back at me, wonder lit up his entire demeanor.
He didn’t understand.
I raced toward him, hoping Liam had Cassandra under control, hoping that by choosing one wolf, I wasn’t sacrificing the other.
When Alex dropped into a crouch, I was still too far away.
I don’t know if it was the panic lighting up my pupils or my mad dash toward him, but August finally spun around.
Too late.
Too late.
Alex was already airborne.
52
I clutched the blue rope with my mind and poured all of my hatred for the boy who’d driven my cousin off the road and into his grave into my grip.
August lurched forward, several feet this time. He fell, hands smacking the ground before his head could make contact. Alex’s lids hitched up as he landed on grass instead of flesh, and the shock made him stumble.
As he righted himself, his narrowed violet gaze locked on August’s kneeling form. Before my mate could stand, Alex galloped toward him. The rope escaped my invisible grip and swung so chaotically it blurred, thwarting my attempt to latch onto it.
I came to a screeching halt, and the rope stabilized some. I clutched it, and this time, closed my ghostly fingers hard around it. I pulled just as another wolf barreled out from behind the blockade of human legs and jumped on top of Alex. At first, I thought it was a Boulder, but the wolf was small and slender, not male. And its fur was wavy.
Sarah.
Alex flung her off, and her small body arched through the air, slamming hard into the ground.
Alex growled and darted toward her just as another wolf appeared, this one gray and large.
Larger than Alex.
Lucas.
Snarling like a wild animal, my packmate sank his fangs into Alex’s spine. I watched in morbid fascination as Lucas’s muzzle and teeth came away drenched in blood.
Ness.
The thin sound of my Alpha calling my name jerked my attention off the sidelines.
I pitched around so fast my vision swam, but then it honed in on the heap of fur at the far side of the ring. Cassandra was standing over Liam, front paws on his shoulders.
He wrung his body to shake her off, but her paws stayed put as though welded to his fur. When he heaved a cry that detonated against my eardrums and echoed in my chest, I understood it wasn’t her weight keeping her anchored to him but her purple claws.
As her mouth lowered to his neck, I shot forward, adrenaline zipping through my bones and electrifying my muscles.
He twisted sideways, and her mouth missed its mark, but she remained fastened to him. When another violent holler hit my ears, I sensed her claws had cleaved open more of his back.
I was almost there.
Almost beside them.
Cassandra snarled, and her moonlit fangs approached the mound of thrashing black fur beneath her.
I’d sworn to protect him, but I’d gone off and left him on his own.
I’d let my mate distract me.
I’d failed Liam.
He bucked, interrupting Cassandra’s momentum but failing to dislodge her.
Another blood-curdling yowl erupted from my Alpha just as I slammed into Morgan’s side. It was like hitting a brick wall, but the wall toppled. Her claws popping out plucked another guttural moan from Liam.
Runnels of split flesh wept blood onto his black fur, but his heart still beat.
It still beat . . .
Praying she hadn’t bled into him, I hopped over him, creating a shield with my scrawny body.
Before Cassandra was fully upright, I jumped on top of her and forced her back down. She landed on her spine, teeth flashing. I batted her face with my paws, but all that served was to anger her further.
Like the punching bag Liam had obliged me to train on until my knuckles bled, I hit her, over and over and over, dragging my claws across her cheek, across her forehead, across any pliant surface I could make contact with. Howling and snarling, she smacked my cheek, trailing fire over my temple, my left eye, my muzzle.
I blinked wildly, but I couldn’t clear my vision. And then I was yanked off her.
NO! I cried as August pulled on the tether, reeling me in.
I dug my claws into the ground, my muscles screaming, my bones spasming. I fought against the invisible bit hauling me away from Cassandra and Liam.
Liam who still hadn’t gotten up but whose chest continued to rise and fall.
As Cassandra bounded onto all fours, I crawled toward her, stretching the tether so tight it almost snapped. And then, praying that for once I’d be stronger than August, I vaulted onto the Creek Alpha’s back and did the only thing I could think of to save Liam’s life.
I sank my teeth into her neck. As the taste of metal and salt filled my mouth, I worked on not swallowing a drop of it.
“No!” I heard someone scream. I couldn’t tell if the voice was inside my head or outside.
I whipped my face from side to side to tear through her sinews and veins, and didn’t stop until her body slackened . . . until her giant body collapsed beneath mine.
53
I gagged on the mouthful of Morgan’s blood. Forcing my throat closed so that none of her tainted fluids entered my throat, I spit and heaved. A jet of vomit spurted out of me and sprayed Cassandra’s blotchy fur, which was already recedi
ng into her pores.
I blinked as my eyes filled with heat and more slickness. My vision became even blurrier, but not blurry enough to miss her slipping back into skin for the very last time.
Cassandra was dead, and I was still alive.
We did it, Liam, I whispered.
I inched closer to my Alpha, reveling in the sound of his heart pounding against his injured flesh. If her poison had penetrated him, his heart would’ve already stopped. His neck lifted, and his luminous yellow gaze fell over me.
We did it, I said again, swiping my paw over my cheek, trying to see through the sticky veil of blood.
His entire body moved this time. He rose like a billow of smoke, darkening the sapphire air and the emerald grass, advancing in slow-motion toward me.
The ground trembled, rife with footfalls. I tried to turn my head, but it felt so heavy, as though Lucas had attached a set of those enormous dumbbells he so enjoyed curling when he watched me train.
The world blurred, colors and sounds swimming and blending like murky watercolors.
When I blinked, I found myself staring at a sheet of brilliant stars.
Even though I was a creature made for land, I loved the sky, the beauty of its forever shifting colors, of its distant luminaries that had inspired so many of my father’s stories, of its clouds that drifted like windblown dandelion florets, of its brilliant moon that had found me worthy of its magic.
A face as magnificent as the sky loomed over me, obscuring the sight of constellations and yet presenting me with another made of freckles instead of stars.
The low, raspy timbre of August’s voice soothed the sting streaking through my veins and drew my lids down. How many times had I fallen asleep listening to that rough silken voice?
My chin dropped against my collarbone and then lolled backward.
The earth shook again, or perhaps it was the arms clasped around me that quaked.
“Dimples!”
I heaved my heavy lids up, caught a glint of green and gold, like sunlight threading through the leaves of the tree August had taught me to climb.
My heart jerked as though hit by a shot of pure adrenaline, and my skin bristled, my muscles seizing and my bones clinking as they realigned.
A Pack of Love and Hate Page 28