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Troy hit the ground with a grunt, and a surprised gasp rippled through the crowd. I wanted to kill Troy now. Every cord of muscle would happily cooperate with me to grab Troy and snap his neck. But I couldn’t yet. Instead, I took advantage of the moment of quiet to start speaking.
“You’re gonna have to do better than that, little brother,” I said, loud enough that the wolves in the back could hear me over the roar of the crowd. “You and I both know that this land is rightfully mine since I am Gregor’s firstborn.”
Another sharper round of shocked gasps spread through the crowd. Onlookers turned to each other to ask if it was true—if Gregor, before becoming their Alpha, could have sired a child. I glanced at Jasper, who shook his head. There was still no word from Dom.
Dammit, Dom! Hurry the hell up!
Troy shoved himself to his feet, roaring at the top of his lungs. “My father abandoned you and your whore of a mother. He disowned you two decades ago! You meant nothing to him!”
I smirked, relishing the rage that reddened Troy’s face. “If that’s true, then why are you so angry now, little pup?”
He roared again, launching at me. Each blow came even faster, even harder than before. No more teasing jabs—Troy was serious.
“When you’re lying dead at my feet, I’ll claim Bryn as my own,” he declared. At the mention of her name, more confused glances were shared through the crowd, but if Troy noticed, he didn’t care. “I’ll spend our first night telling her all about how I beat you.” He landed a punch to my side.
I staggered back, the blow reverberating through me, but I recovered before he could land another.
“Bryn will never be yours,” I growled. “You’re delusional if you think you’re going to survive this fight.”
He laughed, ducking under my roundhouse. “You’re too weak to kill me.”
“You’re too weak to fight fairly.” I caught his wrist and yanked him toward me. As he teetered off balance, I lifted him over my head and threw him down, yards away. With that distance between us, I made another announcement to the crowd. “You had to kidnap my mate to even stand a chance against me. I wonder what Gregor would think of you if he saw how weak his supposed heir is.”
Apparently, that was the final straw for Troy. Between one second and the next, he shifted into his wolf form, kicked off his pants, and sprinted toward me. I had just enough time to shift before his teeth came for my throat. The two of us rolled around in our wolf forms, growling and snapping and snarling at each other. What remained of my pants flew from the pile of teeth and claws and the crowd continued to go wild, lost again in the violence of the fight.
I was putting up a good fight, but I knew I wouldn’t last much longer. As the fight wore on, bloody and painful, claws and teeth digging and tearing and ripping through flesh and fur, I found myself needing to tap more and more into my reserves of strength. That wasn’t good. I needed that strength to make sure I could finish off Troy when the moment finally arrived.
For now, I kicked as hard as I could, knocking Troy back toward the edge of the ring. I stood at the ready while Troy coughed and choked on air after the kick. I also tried to catch my breath. Blood poured from between my sharpened teeth and dripped onto the ground. My body trembled as I stood there, waiting for Troy to recover.
I was buying myself some time, but it wasn’t worth much. Worry flashed through me like a lightning strike. What if my quickly failing strength was because something was wrong with Bryn?
I shoved the thought away. I couldn’t feel that fear right now. I needed to focus on the fight, because my mate, my pack, my sister—everything I cared about depended on how well I did in this fight.
13
BRYN
I braced myself for another session of Troy’s tantrums, but the person I saw walking down the steps was…Dom! My heartbeat quickened as he reached the landing. If Dom was here, that meant Night couldn’t be far away.
He cursed, seeing the state I was in, and crossed the room in just a few quick steps. “Hold still,” he whispered, undoing the straps that kept the muzzle on my face. He removed it in just a few seconds, throwing it across the room like it was a venomous snake.
“Dom, it’s so good to see you,” I said, tears immediately filling my eyes.
“It’s good to see you, too.” He gently touched my chin, and I nearly let those tears fall. It was the first time in so long that I’d been touched in a way that wasn’t meant to hurt me. “Where’s Tavi?”
I inclined my head to the door on my right. “They took her into the room behind that door. We’ve been separated for days.”
Dom stared at the door like it held the path to his future, but he stayed with me. I wasn’t sure what was keeping him here when he so obviously wanted to look for Tavi until it hit me. I was his Alpha’s mate. He’d probably assured Night that I would be his priority. I would have laughed if I had the energy to do it.
“Go get Tavi,” I said.
His eyes, glowing amber in the darkness, flashed to mine. In them, I saw uncertainty. A question. Upstairs, I heard other people walking around. Given the quiet, gentle nature of their steps, I assumed they were more Wargs. That made me even more sure that I’d be okay while he went for Tavi.
I nodded, smiling with as much warmth as I could muster. “The others will help me out of here. Just go and get your girl.”
He seemed surprised at first that I had seen through his worry, but then he shook his head with a chuckle. “Yeah, okay. I’ll get her.” Before he left, he stood to his feet and gave a sharp whistle. Four Wargs immediately came down the steps. “Frankie, I want you and two more to help Bryn out,” he said. “The rest I want with me.”
The group nodded before separating. I closed my eyes as the three crouched around me. A couple of them had brought garrotes to get through the chains. They held my limbs still as they ran the metal back and forth rapidly over the cuffs. With their shifter’s quickness, I was free—finally, gloriously free!—in just a few short minutes. They tried to help me to my feet, but I was so weak, I needed to lean against one of them for support.
