“Well, Ragvald?” Conleth knew he should be modeling good sportsmanship for the kids, but he couldn’t help smirking at the wyrm. “Still want to go through with this? It seems your unbroken string of victories might be about to come to an end.”
“Yeah!” Archie grinned evilly at Ragvald as well. “Prepare to get totallyhonked.”
“Hey!” A stocky girl stepped out from the crowd. Conleth recognized her as Flora, one of the campers from Ragvald and Moira’s pack. “If you’re all going to help your counselors, we should get to help ours.”
“No, no, brave hatchling.” Ragvald waved her back. “I must abide by the traditions of my people, even as you outlanders must abide by yours. My honored shield-siblings may call upon their warband as dictated by the customs of their ancestors, but I must face this challenge alone.”
“But it’s not fair!” protested another camper. “Especially if Hetta’s allowed to shift and you aren’t.”
“If anything, we’re at adisadvantageif Hetta shifts,” Estelle countered. She curled her arms in demonstration, hands crooking. “In her other form, her arms are too short to reach the rope.”
Hetta nodded agreement. “And my teeth are too sharp to hold on to it with my mouth. I’d bite through it.”
“Your concern does you credit, young hatchlings, but there is no need for my opponents to bind themselves with oaths as well,” Ragvald said to his campers. He wound the rope around his forearm. “I would not wish them to hold back their full strength. They are only outlanders, after all.”
“Okay, so we’ll put Hetta on the end, behind Conleth,” Beth declared. “Then if she accidentally shifts, she can get out of the way.”
“I think I should go back there too,” Archie said. “I mean, I’lltrynot to shift, but I probably will. And I don’t want to make Nancy jump again.”
As the kids sorted themselves along the rope, Paige leaned in close, lowering her voice to the barest whisper. “Are you sure we should let them do this? Even with all of us, Ragvald’s still likely to win.”
“Probably,” he murmured back. “But I trust him to be careful. He may be all too happy to whip me around like a dog with a rabbit, but he’d never risk hurting a child. Are you sureyouwant to do this? You’re right, this is likely to end up with us all in an inglorious heap.”
“You can’t expect me to stand back and watch my mate struggle.” She kissed his cheek. “If we faceplant in the dirt, at least it will be together.”
He caught her waist, pulling her in for a proper kiss. “I’ll do my best to catch you,” he murmured against her mouth. “Though if you’re on top, I can’t guarantee a soft landing.”
“Conleth! Paaaaaaaige!” Archie hollered from behind them. “Stop being gross and concentrate!”
Grinning, he released his mate. Setting his feet, he gripped the rope. “All right, pack. On the count of three. Together.”
“Three…two…one…” Moira dropped her raised hand. “PULL!”
Paige threw her full weight against the rope as shouts of encouragement filled the air. Behind her, she could feel Conleth straining with every ounce of his shifter strength, giving his utmost for the kids once more, as he always did.
The combined force of the pack seemed to take Ragvald by surprise. The wyrm stumbled, taking a hasty step forward before managing to brace himself.
“We’re winning!” Estelle screamed. “PULL!”
The campers redoubled their efforts, leaning so far back they were practically sitting in each other’s laps. Paige suspected her own merely human strength wasn’t contributing much, but she tightened her grip anyway. Ignoring her protesting muscles, she pulled with all her might.
For a moment, she thought they might actually do it. Ragvald had lost his grin, his whole face tight with concentration. No show-boating now; he clung two-handed to the rope, biceps standing out like boulders.
But try as they might, their team couldn’t gain so much as another inch. The rope might as well have been anchored to a mountain.
Paige felt the moment the kids started to falter. Little by little, the knot in the middle rope started to slide toward Ragvald, despite their team’s best efforts. Teeth gritted, the wyrm edged backward half a step, then another.
“We can…still do it!” Beth panted. “Don’t…give up…now!”
The kids dug in their heels, but it didn’t do any good. The knot crept ever closer to Ragvald’s side. Still, the campers were making the wyrm work for his victory. They clung to the rope, refusing to concede.
It wasn’t fair. Intellectually, Paige knew there was nothing at stake in this competition; no grand prize to be won. Yet the game still meant something to the kids. They’d finally come together as a true pack, facing their fears and helping each other. If there was any justice in the world, they should win. Theydeservedto win.
But they were going to lose. Estelle, Beth, Hetta, Nancy, Finley, Rufus, her own brother, her ownmate—they were allputting their hearts and souls into winning, and it still wasn’t enough.
Protective fury burned in her chest, swelling until it felt like her skin would split. They were going to suffer yet another disappointment, and it wasn’t fair, and she had todo something?—
She bent over, grabbed the rope, andyanked.
