But Hector wasn't retreating. His pride swelled with desperate rage as he threw Dante aside and focused everything on Maeve. This was personal now. She'd embarrassed him, beaten him in front of witnesses, proven everything he'd claimed about female weakness was a lie.
He wanted her dead.
They crashed together one final time, all pretense of strategy abandoned in favor of pure violence. Jaws snapped. Claws tore. Maeve felt her shoulder open under his teeth, felt hot blood pour down her leg, but she held on. Her jaws found his throat, not the killing bite but close enough to taste victory.
Yield,her lioness demanded.Yield or die.
For one eternal moment, Hector fought against the inevitable. Then his body went slack in the universal signal of submission.
She held him there, teeth pressing into his vulnerable throat, letting him feel how close he was to death. Letting everyone watching understand who had won.
Then she released him and stepped back.
Hector shifted to human, collapsing in the bloody snow. His pride had scattered to the edges of the square, some fleeinginto the woods beyond the Veil, others frozen in shock at their leader's defeat.
Maeve shifted back to human, ignoring the cold and her nakedness and the pain radiating from a dozen wounds. She stood over Hector, victor and executioner if she chose.
"You lost." Her voice carried across the silent square. "By the laws you invoked, you leave Hollow Oak and never return. Your pride is scattered. Your claim is void."
Hector's amber eyes blazed with impotent fury. Blood ran from his nose, his split lip, the tears along his arms and chest. "This isn't over."
"It is." Dante appeared beside her also in human form, somehow having acquired pants. His back was a mess of claw marks, his shoulder hanging wrong, but his presence was solid as stone. "You challenged. You lost. Now you leave, or the Council exiles you officially and every pride in three territories knows you're an oathbreaker."
"The Council—" Hector started.
"Witnessed everything." Elder Varric stepped forward from where he'd been standing with the other Council members, his silver braids gleaming in the lantern light. "You broke single combat rules by ordering your pride to attack. You threatened civilians, destroyed property, and attempted to murder a member of this community."
His stormy eyes held no mercy. "You have until dawn to leave Hollow Oak's borders. Any of your pride who wish to stay may petition for sanctuary. The rest follow you into exile."
Hector struggled to his feet, his naked body marked with defeat. His gaze swept the square, finding only disgust and anger reflected back.
"This isn't over," he repeated, but the words rang hollow.
"Yeah," Maeve said quietly. "It really is."
Two of Emmett's enforcers, both in human form now, moved to escort Hector toward the tree line. He shrugged them off but walked under his own power, his spine straight despite his humiliation.
Half his pride followed him into the darkness. The other half stayed, dropping to their knees in the snow in a formal request for sanctuary that Varric would have to rule on later.
As Hector's golden hair disappeared beyond the Veil's shimmer, the eastern sky began to lighten. Dawn broke over Hollow Oak in shades of amber and rose, painting the destroyed square in new light.
Someone started clapping.
Then another person. Then another.
The sound built until the entire square erupted in cheers, shifters and witches and fae celebrating together. Children who'd been crying moments before now shrieked with joy. Families embraced. Fighters collapsed in exhausted relief.
Maeve stood at the center of it all, bloodied and victorious, and felt the weight of leadership settle over her shoulders differently than before.
Dante's hand found hers, squeezing gently. She turned her body to face him, seeing her own exhausted triumph reflected in his amber eyes.
"You did it," he said.
"We did it." She corrected, meaning it absolutely. "All of us."
Cora appeared with blankets, wrapping one around Maeve's shoulders with gentle hands. "Let's get you both to Freya. Those wounds need treating."
"After." Maeve gestured to the square full of people who'd fought for their home. "After I make sure everyone else is okay."
