Murmurs filtered through the room. Some followed Victor out of the room, and others stayed, showing their support for Charlie. But the pack was evenly split down the middle. Putting them back together as one unit would probably be next to impossible without losing a few in the process.
For Charlie’s sake, I hoped that wouldn’t be the case. But the realist in me knew we had more trials ahead than any of us wanted to admit.
“There shouldn’t be a fight,” Charlie said, her voice flat and without emotion. “They are my mates. The line passed to me. You are defying my father’s wishes and insulting both my mates.”
I reached to touch Charlie’s shoulder. She didn’t flinch, but she didn’t lean toward my assurance, either. Fury burned in her soul. She needed to say her piece, and I wouldn’t deny her that moment, though I knew it wouldn’t change the outcome of this evening.
“You spout on about law, Crawley, but you’ve never respected it. My father took you in when you had nothing. Made you family. And this is the thanks I get. I watched Xerxes murder my parents, and suddenly, you and others are more than willing to join forces with a coward. A coward who wants us to bow to the very enemy who has hunted and murdered our kind mercilessly.”
Crawley crossed his arms over his chest, but didn’t speak. “The fight begins at dusk,” he said before ducking out of the room with the others who followed Victor.
The sun set over a small group of trees behind the lodge. The prairie on either side of the oaks burned red with colors of the sunset, blanketing the hills, grass, and low-growing shrubs with gorgeous jewel tones.
The pack was assembling around an open field a dozen yards or so from the back door. Victor was strutting up and down the line of his supporters, shouting and cursing the weaknesses of Charlie. That outsiders shouldn’t lead this family. That he was truly the next in line for alpha and they were right to support a man who would make sure the pack thrived and stayed safe from harm.
Bull-Fucking-Shit. He was going to lead them to slaughter if I didn’t stop him dead in his tracks. My only hesitation was how to win this fight without killing him. I didn’t want one of my first acts as an alpha to be offing Charlie’s uncle. Though I would do whatever became necessary.
Garrett stepped up behind me, and Charlie positioned herself on my right.
“You don’t have to do this. I can call this whole thing off. I’m alpha by right. They have to listen to me,” Charlie said, her voice calm and low to avoid being overheard. Still, the words were on the wind, and any Lycan worth his fur could eavesdrop if they really wanted to.
“It won’t stop if this doesn’t happen,” Garrett said before I could speak up.
“I know.” The finality in her voice tightened the barbed wire already twisting itself around my heart. Charlie loved this pack. It was killing her to see it so divided. To see so many who said they were loyal to her parents pull away was breaking her very strong heart.
“We’re going to get there, Charlie. I promise. Just give it a little time. The pack has been through so much loss. There’s going to be unrest. Blame. Hatred, even.”
She nodded and leaned her head against my upper arm. “Please be careful. I can’t lose you. Either of you.”
I turned, pulling her flush to my chest. Garrett moved to stand behind her, and we embraced, both of us placing a kiss on top of her head. Her body trembled between us, but she didn’t break. Not a single tear wet my shirt.
“You won’t lose us.”
“Victor can’t win,” she murmured. “But…”
“I’ll do my best not to kill him, love,” I answered, placing another quick kiss on her forehead before pulling away, leaving her alone in my brother’s embrace.
I would do my best. But if he gave me no choice, this would be the last sunset he ever witnessed.
I pulled off my shirt and tossed it to the ground before I stepped inside the ring where Victor was continuing to ‘promote’ his way as the only option. The comments and ugliness brought out the worst in me, and my wolf strained against my consciousness. Violent urges, most of which included ripping Victor’s head from his shoulders, filtered through my mind. I’d promised to try and avoid carnage, but if he didn’t shut the fuck up soon, I would have a hard time keeping my word.
“Put your fight where your mouth is, Victor. Or is talking all you’re good at?” A low hum started around the ring of pack members. Victor turned to me and glared. If looks could kill, my brains would’ve been splattered all over the ground while he danced delightedly on my remains. Still I kept prodding. “Not only are you disrespecting and trying to break from your pack alphas, you’re trying to get every last one of the pack killed in the process. I wonder how many will thank you for your cowardice on their way to the afterlife?”
He charged, and it was on.
His shoulder slammed into my stomach, but I caught his hips and used his own momentum to flip him over my shoulder. My back slammed against the grass, but he hit the ground with an ooof that made my bones cringe in sympathy.
I rolled away as he climbed to his feet again.
Shouts of encouragement to rip off my head or teach me a lesson were echoed around the circle of angry Lycans. Those on my side were silent, like Charlie, who stood stoically next to Garrett. Neither of their faces read worry.
Both knew my capabilities. They were just waiting for me to finish it.
He moved to the left.
I blocked and moved forward, but he pivoted at the last second and hit me with a mean right cross. Pain surged through my jaw, and I could’ve sworn a few teeth moved inside my mouth.
Sonofabitch.
Cheers went up from his side of the ring.
I lunged after his retreating form, knocking him to the ground and landing squarely on top of his chest. He may have gotten a good hit in, but it would take more than one solid punch to throw this fight in his favor.
Chapter 14
CHARLIE
I’d never seen such a nasty fight. Victor had connected a few more good swings, but Travis wasn’t even breathing hard yet. Though Victor wasn’t old by Lycan standards, he wasn’t used to tumbling around a fight ring, either. Inversely, Travis was decades younger and a trained fighter.
Victor had always been a thorn in my father’s side. When he caused more turmoil than normal, Dad reminded me that Victor was family. Still, I never thought he would take his pettiness and desire for power this far.
I could still hear my father’s last words. “Please, kill me and let my family and pack go. They will stop coming into the SECR. They’ll disappear, and you’ll never see them again.” He’d been willing to sacrifice everything he believed in to save us both. Xerxes hadn’t cared. And neither did my uncle, but through everything, I knew my father would still want me to protect Victor. “Be the bigger person” he used to say.
The pain of watching Xerxes murder my mother and father in front of me haunted my dreams. But I could not allow Victor to pull the pack toward the same fate.
Travis wouldn’t let him.
My mate would not fail me. I only hoped he could do so without taking Victor’s life. He was my uncle… and enough of the pack had died already this year.
As the sun drifted lower and the red-orange glow faded to black, the large spotlights on the back of the lodge turned on, and their wash of glaring white light coated all of us.
Victor landed another hard hit to Travis’ ribs, and I winced, turning away from the ring for a moment. Garrett stood a few feet to my right, his focus totally on his brother, as was everyone else’s except Dean; he had somehow moved around the circle to stand right next to me.
Before I could get a word out, he had a handful of my hair and a knife to my throat.
The din of the pack shouting and screaming at Travis and Victor stopped as if someone had frozen time. I wrenched in Dean’s grip, but the knife pressed harder, and a warm trickle of liquid ran down my neck, wetting the front of my shirt.
A roar unlike anythi
ng I’d ever heard split the night, and I was knocked to the ground as a huge wolf threw itself against Dean. A terrified scream came from the young male, and then silence hung heavy in the air. Gurgling noises came from beneath the wolf’s massive jaws, and blood stained the grass around them. The wolf bit down hard, and everyone in the field heard the snap of Dean’s neck. Then the animal wrenched its head back, ripping the young man’s neck to shreds.
The knife Dean had held to my neck lay a few inches from his twitching fingers. My stomach turned as I crawled away from him, but I refused to vomit in front of my pack. The traitor had tried to kill me in front of everyone.
Travis and Victor stood motionless in the center of the circle. My gaze sought Garrett’s face in the crowd, but my nose told me my mate was right before me, taking vengeance on my would-be murderer.
I may not have agreed with how the execution was performed, but the outcome would’ve been the same in the end. Dean’s offense was an automatic death sentence. What he thought he was accomplishing by trying to kill me in front of the pack eluded my reasoning capabilities.
The wolf swung its head, meeting my gaze.
“It is done, Garrett.”
He stepped away from the body and shifted into human form. His face was covered in Dean’s blood, and I mourned the loss of another pack mate, though felt secretly relieved my hand hadn’t carried out his death.
Garrett had sacrificed for me, taking on that weight and the anger that would follow. Surprisingly enough, no one spoke against him as he walked to my side, his bare skin glistening in the harsh light of the bright outdoor bulbs.
“Please forgive me for not getting to him before he raised his weapon.” Garrett knelt before me, bowing his head.
“There is nothing to forgive. He sealed his fate the moment his weapon touched my skin.” I spoke slowly and clearly, allowing my voice to carry across the field. No one else moved or spoke. Not even Victor broke the moment, though I wondered if he were in on Dean’s plot.
No one was allowed to attack an alpha female and live. Millennia of tradition and law decreed it one of the most heinous crimes a Lycan could commit. To hurt an alpha’s Fated mate was seen as an offense to the goddesses of Fate themselves. It was unforgivable.
Bending slightly, I kissed the top of Garrett’s head, sanctioning his actions and ending any dispute another pack member might have had with the execution. As much dissension as I could feel in the air, not a single person disagreed with Garrett’s swift justice.
Dean’s wife stood apart from the rest of the group, quiet and resigned. They hadn’t been Fated mates and had no children, but they’d been married at least five years, and she was a kind woman and a loyal member of the pack.
My heart hurt for her loss. Even love without Fate was a powerful thing. When life stretched over centuries, having a friend and lover could mean the difference between sanity and insanity.
Garrett stood and touched the already healing cut on my neck. I looked down to see several crimson streaks across my breasts where blood had trailed. My shirt was stained as well.
“It’s not bleeding. I’ll be fine. Go get some new clothes from my bedroom. I’m going to go clean up in the kitchen really quick,” I said, keeping my voice low. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Travis’ large body stalking across the field toward me. “This nonsense can wait. Let us tend to you,” he said.
I shook my head, but Victor spoke before I could.
“Looking for an excuse to get out of your ass-whooping, youngster?”
A growl rumbled in Travis’ throat, but he kept his focus on me. They both were. Garrett hadn’t budged from his spot next to me, standing in all his glory in front of the entire pack.
No Lycan was shy about being nude in front of others, but I preferred not to share the view with other females if it wasn’t necessary.
I turned, seeking Crawley out of the crowd of faces. “The fight will cease until my mate and I clean up and return to the circle.”
Crawley nodded, taking up a protective stance next to Travis, putting himself between my mate and Victor. The rest of the pack silently dipped their heads, bowing to my wish. Even if they were against the three of us, pack honor would protect Travis. The group as a whole would kill another traitor, if one showed.
“Remove the body from the challenge site,” I stated loudly as I walked toward the lodge with Garrett, not caring who carried out the order. Scurrying footsteps behind me and whispers faded into the night as Garrett opened the back door and I stepped through. He turned for the stairs, and I made my way across the living area into the kitchen, eager to rinse the blood from my skin.
Chapter 15
GARRETT
I sucked in a deep breath as I yanked on a pair of jeans. Everything had happened so quickly. So instinctually. If I hadn’t lunged when I did, Charlotte could’ve been killed. The scent of her blood on the air had roused my beast, and I’d killed the bastard without thinking twice.
Killing a pack member the day I claimed to be one of their alphas was not the best way to curry favor, but as Charlotte said… the male had sealed his fate when he spilled her blood. Hurting a woman was a grievous act; hurting a female Fated mate was a banishable offense, but hurting a Fated alpha female… there was no returning from that crime. If not my hand, Charlotte’s would’ve been forced to execute him herself.
At least I’d been able to spare her that wound. Her pack’s hatred would focus on me instead of her.
I was proud. She’d handled the entire incident well. Calm. Collected. She was a true alpha, caring so deeply for her pack that the death of the would-be assassin wounded her. I’d seen her pain reflected in her eyes when my wolf had looked up. She hurt for him. Grieved for his loss even while she knew it was necessary.
The other members of the pack were so blinded by their loss and pain they couldn’t see the wonderful leader they had. They couldn’t see she would give anything to protect them. She’d almost given her life in Savannah. They continued to be angry, forgetting so quickly everything that’d been taken from her as well. They weren’t alone in their pain, but they refused to acknowledge hers.
There wasn’t a Lycan left alive whom death hadn’t touched in some way. Instead of pulling together, many packs had disintegrated into the aether like mine and Travis’. We’d lost track of each other for decades. Joined the military. Killed for killing’s sake. Buried the desire for revenge down so hard that it became easy to not feel anything.
Were it not for Charlotte’s pain, I wouldn’t have considered feeling remorse for my quick decision. I still felt none over the younger male’s death.
Nothing.
I’d ripped his throat out because he threatened the life of my mate. That was reason enough for my wolf and reason enough for me.
She didn’t judge or condemn me. I’d done nothing our laws didn’t uphold. Only my method had been cruel, seeking to cause pain instead of merely providing justice.
I wondered if my brother would make the same choice when he finished the challenge fight.
Wincing as I pulled on a fresh shirt, I rubbed my fingers over the healing bullet hole in my chest. The nearly fatal wound was well on its way to disappearing, but it would be several days before all of the scar tissue was replaced by new growth; until then, it would ache just like a mortal’s wound.
Her footsteps downstairs in the kitchen were headed for the back door. I left the bedroom, hurrying down the stairs. We joined paths at the door and walked quietly back to the challenge circle. Everyone waited until Charlotte nodded.
Victor was the first to lunge, but it was not to his advantage. Travis was using the older Lycan’s confidence against him, wearing his stamina down slowly with each concerted attack. Here and there, my brother allowed Victor to land a blow, but I was the only one who knew they were strategic moves to keep Victor thinking he had a fighting chance. If the fight didn’t stretch out long enough, the pack might not accept the outcome.
Enough me
mbers stood against Charlotte to swing a vote against her if they were pushed to that avenue. Travis winning this fight was only part of claiming alpha status of the pack. They had to believe he earned it, not that he merely took it from a less skilled opponent.
Hand to hand combat came naturally to us both. We’d spent decades fighting for one army or another, never the same army and never caring who we were killing as long as we were allowed to spill blood. Our stories were eerily similar and identically as gruesome.
Rose had invited us both to Sanctuary, and the mix-mashed pack that resided there had accepted us both for as long as we wished to stay.
We were willing to move now because both of us knew Charlotte was our future and her heart was planted firmly in Ada. Even though we would leave friends behind, neither of us expected her to give up on her pack. No true alpha would, and she was as strong and as stubborn as they came.
She winced at my side. Victor landed yet another punishing blow to Travis’ stomach. I didn’t envy his place, but at the same time, I wished that the draw for the challenge hadn’t been automatically placed on his shoulders because of my injury. He always seemed to end up bearing the brunt of each situation we were thrust into.
I wrapped my hand around Charlotte’s small fingers and squeezed gently. “He’s winning,” I whispered.
She snorted a small puff of air, making her lack of belief obvious.
But I was pleased. If he was fooling his mate, he was fooling the rest of the pack, too. Sure enough, a few moments later Travis landed a punch that sent Victor sailing through the air to land on the hard ground with heavy thud. A gasp of surprise rolled through the pack, and many who had been on Victor’s side were beginning to notice the tide turning. Blow after blow from Travis sent Victor careening from one side of the circle to the other.
Once the onslaught started, he didn’t let up until he was sitting on Victor’s chest, pummeling the coward’s face into a bloody mess.
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