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“I promise I won’t let you down. You have my word as a wolf, a doctor, and as a man.”
That was all I could ask for.
12
NIGHT
After the examination, we resumed our run, and I felt a bit lighter on my feet than before. Dom, Evan, Doc, and the rest split from us while Jasper and I continued along the main path into Kings’ territory. We shifted and pulled on clothes before entering through the gate into the compound.
The Kings were already lined up to greet us with taunts and hisses. As tough of a time as they’d had with Troy as their leader, it was clear that they still hated us Wargs more.
“Stay close,” I thought to Jasper as we headed toward the arena with Kings wolves literally at our heels. “And don’t let them see you flinch.”
He nodded and pulled in a little closer to me. He was a good soldier, following my orders exactly as I gave them. Good, that was what I needed right now. While I was fighting Troy, Jasper would be the only way I would know whether Dom had gotten to Bryn and Tavi. Essentially, Jasper was my lifeline, my only connection to what was going on outside of the ring.
“When you hear Dom’s whistle,” I said, “I want you to reach out to me with your mind.”
He glanced at me. “I could whistle, too—”
“No. I don’t want to risk tipping the Kings off to what we’re doing.”
“Got it. I won’t let you down, Alpha.”
So many of members of my pack had been telling me that today, and even though I didn’t expect to survive the fight, my heart was full. This was something that Troy and other Alphas who ruled with fear could never understand. I had complete faith in my team, and I knew that no matter what, they would do their best. These were wolves I would have loved to run into battle with another day, fighters I felt proud to have on my side, people I trusted.
The Kings pack battle arena was a larger circle than the arena in our compound. The ground was patted smooth, and surrounded with flat rocks of similar, medium size. I was shirtless, as was the custom, and across from me stood a shirtless Troy. He bounced from foot to foot like a hyped-up boxer. His hair was in a loose ponytail, and it swished from side to side with his movements like a metronome. He sneered at me as he bounced around, a poor attempt at posturing that did little more than annoy me.
I purposefully turned my back to him and addressed Jasper, who looked even more disgusted about all of this than I was.
“You’re a good kid, Jasper,” I told him out loud.
His eyes widened. “Sir?”
I smiled. I couldn’t blame him for being surprised. “I’m sorry I was hard on you.”
“No, it was my fault for not seeing what was going on. I’m actually super embarrassed about—”
I shook my head, and he stopped talking. “None of that matters now. For what it’s worth, I don’t hold it against you.”
He looked at me for a moment, and then nodded. “Hang in there, Alpha.”
I nodded, but as I turned from him and looked at the ring, I thought, I’ll try. I would go out making sure that Bryn, Tavi, and my pack were safe from Troy. That was the very least I could do as the Wargs’ Alpha and as Bryn’s mate.
That said, I wouldn’t roll over and let Troy do what he wanted. I owed it to my pack and myself to give it my all once my girls were safe.
Around me, the entire Kings pack had gathered, just as Troy had wanted. They sent me looks that alternated between curious glances and outright glares. Most of them heckled me, but they wouldn’t physically attack me because it was against the rules. But just in case someone forgot, I had wolves stationed near the arena and around the territory.
When midnight arrived, it was time for us to begin. Both Troy and I stepped into the ring. The Elders were close to oversee the fight and ensure that nothing illegal happened. They’d be watching for double-teaming, forfeiting without making the promise to later die or be banished, and outside weapons. This needed to be as fair as possible, though I wanted to scoff at the idea. If anything about this situation was fair, Troy wouldn’t have taken my mate from me.
We approached each other, fists raised. We would stay in our human forms for now, but as tradition dictated, the killing blow would be dealt in our wolf forms.
Troy, unsurprisingly, threw the first punches. I dodged and weaved between that first volley of jabs—but I didn’t have time to dodge his surprise left hook.
I blocked the blow with my forearm and felt the strength of the hit vibrate painfully through my bones. I grunted, and Troy grinned, increasing the speed of his punches; he threw a couple of legitimate swings into the mix at unpredictable intervals. I did my best to fend him off and keep my distance without making it look like I was trying to run away.
It was difficult to admit, but he’d truly come into his Alpha power—he was a better, stronger, and faster fighter than he’d been on the night I saved Bryn. All of this annoyed me more than worried me, which was good. Being annoyed would keep me on my toes; being worried would make me slip up.
Troy’s unpredictable onslaught of blows was disorienting, but not impossible to deal with. I was losing power by the second, but that didn’t mean I was going to let Troy have an easy win. Amidst the cheering of the Kings around us, Troy threw another hard punch. I ducked under it, moving in close to Troy, then I dropped and swept his legs out from under him in one swift, hard movement.
