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“Why not, Mama?” The other girls had been talking the day before at lunch about true mates, and how it would be like a fairy tale story if they ever met theirs. They’d made it sound like it was the best thing that could ever happen to a girl, but when I’d walked over and tried to ask them how you knew who your true mate was, they’d said bad words. One of them had thrown her yogurt cup at me and splattered my clothes. Joke was on her, though. The lid was mostly still on, and I’d gotten to find out what her fancy lunch yogurt tasted like.
Strawberries, yum.
“A true mate can hurt you, cut you deeper, than any other creature on earth,” Mama said, tracing the scars on her face. “There’s no way to heal when he gets his claws in you.” Her eyes went cloudy again, and I sighed. This was always what happened before she had to go into her room and cry until she slept.
I stood, bending down to kiss her cheek.“I promise, Mama. I don’t care if he’s the nicest man in the world. I’m never gonna mate some boy.”
She had warned me. For years, I’d thought I could escape the trap of a mate, but now look what had happened.
Luke was the one. The Alpha’s adopted son, the one who believed in the sanctity of the pack, who upheld every last rule like it would kill him to bend even one. He’d seen me tortured for years and not stepped in.
How long had he known we were true mates? Had he known all those times I’d been beaten and kicked, had food dumped on me, been called names and ridiculed in front of the pack? Had he known and never protected me?
Suddenly, I didn’t feel guilty for stabbing him. I wished I’d stabbed him a few more times. Mama had been right, and I was going to do what she hadn’t been able to.
Escape.
I found the huge gap Luke had torn in the fence and slipped through, keeping hidden behind the rows of brambles and scrub bushes. From the jabber of the girls who were walking that way, the first fight would start in twenty minutes. My fight.
Just enough time to cover my scent. I grabbed a few handfuls of rosemary from one of the fancy gardens I passed and rubbed it all over, covering my skin and the boy’s clothes I wore. I grabbed the hat Del had packed and pulled it low over my face, rubbing some dirt on my face. At the last minute, I saw a garbage can so full the lid wouldn’t close. Nice. I spent two precious minutes rubbing some greasy paper towels on myself. Much better to smell like old bacon than shit, yet equally as effective.
I ran as fast as I could to the main training yards then, slipping silently between the outermost circles to get closer, blending in with the crowd. At least one or two of the visitors had shifted, maybe to fight in their wolf forms. Their growls and yips sent chills up my spine.
I hadn’t really considered the idea of having to fight a shifter in his wolf form. But Del did, I reminded myself. He’d made me train against him, even though he only had three legs. Whoever I was fighting now surely wouldn’t be better than Del, even lame.
The shifters around me gave me dirty looks, backing away. “Damn, boy, you smell like crap,” a male I’d never met said.
His friend nudged him. “That’s the smell of Southern, Dave. Be thankful we only have to put up with it for a few more days.”
“Same here,” I muttered, slipping closer to the fight. I kept my eyes and face in the shadows of taller wolves as much as possible and leaned out to see who was in the front rows of spectators.
Alpha Callaway was there of course, dead center, seated in some sort of chair he’d had painted gold. It looked homemade, and the paint still smelled fresh, like he’d just had it finished that day. I sniggered quietly, wondering if Walmart had run a special on gold spray paint and unfinished pine furniture.
Like Glen had said, the other Alphas weren’t there yet. I wondered why they hadn’t come for the whole week. Then again, who would want to spend a week in Alabama in the summer?
Near our Alpha sat the Alpha Heirs, Luke by his right side. He didn’t look injured, but there was something in his eyes that made me think he was hiding it. Then Brand next to Luke, and on the other side of Brand, Glen.
Where was Finnick? It seemed weird that he wouldn’t be sitting with his friends. But then I saw him in the clump of waiting competitors. Was he fighting tonight? That didn’t make sense. Still, I didn’t think there was a rule that Alpha Heirs couldn’t participate—just no Alphas, for obvious reasons. But he hadn’t mentioned it.
It seemed sort of unsportsmanlike for Finnick to be there, especially if he was going up against unranked shifters. Maybe he was there to boost morale? I saw some other fighters nearby, big Enforcer types. Maybe he was supporting a pack mate.
He seemed antsy, his eyes scanning the crowd. Then I heard the announcer shouting his name. “Finnick McDonnell of Eastern, step into the ring.”
Finnick stepped under the rope that marked the area for the fights. He looked nervous, and something more. Panicked, almost.
“Will L. Rains of Southern, report for your fight against Eastern. Will L. Rains, step into the ring.”
What the hell? For a moment, I looked around with everyone else, wondering where the fighter was. Then it clicked.
Oh right, that was me. I was Will Rains, for tonight anyway.
The whole crowd got quiet. “Last call for Will L. Rains.”
“That’s me,” I said, my voice cracking.
The wolves around me laughed. “Boy, why’d you sign up to fight the Alpha Heir? Ain’t nobody got that much to prove.”
Oh, that chickenshit, Finn. I had something to prove, all right. I stalked forward, the crowd parting for me. I stepped over the rope, slipping my tennis shoes off as required.
