Unless you want blood to flow and bodies to decorate the streets of this city, I suggest you do your best to survive.
Connor raced down the steps of the arena. Seeing me standing in the pit, he shouted something at the others before heading for the pit’s edge.
Nathan and Daniel grabbed his shoulders, struggling to hold him back as they spoke urgently in his ear.
I didn’t have time to see how the exchange ended as my opponent arrived. The platform rose into view. A feral wolf chained to the post at its center.
The wolf snapped and bit at the air. He reared onto his hind legs, thrashing his head back and forth as he tried to rid himself of the restraint.
I eased back a step. “Oh fuck.”
I don’t think things are going to be as simple as you assume, I thought at Ahrun.
Silver lining—Caroline and her pack mates no longer had to wonder about their alpha’s whereabouts.
Because I’d just found him. Lucky me.
A chant started in the stands. The audience demanding blood.
“Hey there, Brax,” I called softly.
The wolf’s head snapped toward mine, his struggle easing as the intensity of his growls lowered.
Something moved in his eyes. I was afraid to call it intelligence or reason but it gave me hope that he could still be reached.
“I’ve been looking for you, buddy. What do you say we forget this whole death match thing and reunite you with your pack?”
The wolf cocked his ears, his head tilting as if to catch the lift and fall of every word.
Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as I thought. Brax was an alpha. From what Liam had let slip, one of the most powerful in the United States. It was possible that all he needed to slip the enthrallment was a slight push.
The terrible snarl that reverberated from his throat dashed that hope. His head lowered as his lips peeled back to show me his teeth.
Very well then. Reasoning was out.
I eyed the iron dagger that I’d taken from Baran’s shoulder. Why couldn’t it have been silver?
At least then I might have had a chance.
What are you doing?Ahrun thundered as I dug the blade into my forearm to draw blood.
“Getting his attention,” I muttered, using the tip of the dagger to flick my blood onto the sand around me as I backed carefully away from Baran’s unconscious body.
Much as I disliked the Fae, I didn’t want him dead yet.
The good thing about my opponent’s current state was that he was a slave to instinct. Brax’s wolf would lock onto the scent of my blood and come after me.
In that sense, I was lucky he’d gone feral. If he was sane, he would have eliminated the weaker target before dealing with the more troublesome one. I wasn’t strong enough to protect two people. Especially when one was unconscious.
This won’t help you survive,Ahrun snarled in a surprising loss of temper that made me smile.Kill the alpha. Do it now before he is released.
“You have your way of doing things. I have mine.”
And mine didn’t involve starting a war with the pack. My best friend would never forgive me if I murdered the man she was trying so hard to save.
Fool!
He was learning. And he’d been so certain he could make me dance in the palm of his hand.
