I bent, trying to keep from doubling over, and slashed.
He dodged, smacked my wrist away, making me drop the knife, and grabbed at me. His hands spun me around, his arms closed around me, and then he started to drag me, wrestling me out of the clearing.
“No,” I yelled, fighting for all I was worth.
He paused for a moment to bash two quick fists into the side of my head. My thoughts got hazy and my world swam but I didn’t stop. The trick to fight or flight was the commitment. Choose one or the other but keep doing it until you couldn’t physically do it anymore... and then wake up and try again. My nails raked skin off his arms. My teeth ripped out a chunk of foul-tasting flesh. When he stopped to strike me again, I took advantage of the opportunity and twisted in his grip, freeing an arm. I reached over my head, poking a finger into his eye. When he pulled his head back and roared in agony, I hooked my finger into his open mouth and pulled until his cheek tore. It was something.
His swear made me feel better. He stopped to get a better purchase, ready to deliver a blow to knock me clean out, and I angled my body away from the blow I knew was coming. I had the benefit of already knowing all his tricks. He wasn’t very creative when it came to administering pain, probably because no one was ever allowed to fight back.
I connected a knee to his ball sack while I jammed the heel of my hand into his nose.
The battle around us slowed. The wolves gradually stopped fighting.
Fear consumed me that his people were able to take Weston’s down.
The fear turned into adrenaline.
“Fuck!” I punched his throat. “You!”
His fist arced... but then went wide as he turned, looking around us. In a moment his arms were gone, his body torn away.
I staggered, doing a quick glance for the nearest knife and then ducking just in case. No fist came.
He and several others ran from the clearing, all in human form. Wolves around us continued to slow, the enemy dropping to their bellies, a couple I recognized still standing. A handful of others broke away, and I recognized them, too. They ran after Alexander and his people in their human forms, snarling.
A moment later, though, I heard the sounds of retreating hooves. Alexander had brought horses. The wolves wouldn’t be able to take those down fast enough.
“Aurelia.” Tanix reached me in human form, nude and bloody with scrapes and cuts. He’d heal. “Are you okay?”
“What happened? Why’d everyone stop fighting? Alexander took off. Did we win?”
“Fuck.” He peered into my swollen eye, now completely shut. His thumb gently trailed over my cheek, which also felt swollen. “How bad?”
“My face is fine. My ribs are probably cracked. That’s about it, though. I’m good. He took off before he was able to really lay into me. What happened?” I asked again.
“I don’t think we’ll ever truly win until they’re all dead.” Tanix tried to lift my shirt and I pushed his hands away. “I need to see your ribs.”
“Honestly, it’s fine. It’ll heal. This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with his fists. I know how close I am to the danger zones and I’m good. Trust me.”
He straightened a little and gave me a hard look. “Please.”
It hurt to frown. “Fine, go for it. I’m sure the bruises are already forming. Those will look bad, but it’ll heal. Can you please do two things at once and tell mewhat happened?”
“They had someone powerful holding their pack bond.” He peeled my shirt up gently and then sucked a breath through his teeth. “Damn it, Aurelia, this isn’t nothing.”
My heart squished that he cared, the warmth of that sentiment filling my body. Still, he didn’t seem to grasp that this really was tolerable. Compared to what I’d endured in the past, this could easily be ignored.
He checked my other side and went back to the first.
“I didn’t say it was nothing, I said it would heal. What does that mean to the battle, someone holding the bond?”
He peered into my eyes for another moment before steering me toward the supply carts. “Our alpha is the most powerful alpha I’ve ever heard of. It isn’t just his might, it’s his magic. He has an innate ability—a natural gift—to form bonds and control a pack. Usually, he can rip a bond away from another powerful alpha, no problem. But your... product makes grabbing a bond difficult. The other night, he had a hard time grabbing everyone up. It’s why the battle lasted as long as it did.”
“That’s why he was backing away from the fight? He was trying to get ahold of the bonds?”
“Yes. This time, though, there was an additional hurdle—someone fairly powerful controlled their pack bond. The alpha not only had to work against your product, but also against the already established leadership in their pack. It’s a testament to his ability that he was able to do it. We would’ve been lost if he hadn’t.”
“The other alpha would’ve struggled holding onto the pack as well, right?”
