Then she sweeps away, looking regal and untouchable, as if she came over here to give me a talking-to. And delivered it.
I turn my attention back to the fight. McCaffrey’s men, with help from a couple of the Canadian packs who seem to be internally divided,keep throwing themselves in and getting smacked back. Ty simply stands there, his arms crossed, looking forward.
Straight at the old man who’s the only one still standing against him.
Until, finally, McCaffrey throws back his head and roars into the night.
“Finally,” Ty growls.
He leaps up, shifting in midair, before landing once again—this time with his teeth bared and hackles raised.
Then the real fight begins at last.
It’s vicious and fast. It’s loud. It’s high octane, two alpha wolves clashing together and tearing out chunks of each other as best they can.
McCaffrey gets a good swipe in, raking his claws down Ty’s side. Ty howls, but he doesn’t retreat.
If anything, taking a hit makes him go harder.
And in the end, there’s no real contest.
It becomes clear almost immediately—to me, anyway—that TyletMcCaffrey swipe at him. That what he’s doing is toying with McCaffrey and exhausting him.
Stalking him. Luring him in and tearing him down.
Until, in the end, Ty has McCaffrey on his back, by the throat.
Ty shakes the old man like he’s nothing more than a fractious cub.
“Give me your fealty,” Ty growls. “Or I’ll rip your throat out here and now.”
McCaffrey growls back at him. “Go fuck yourself.”
There’s shuffling all over the hills. Low rumbles, but it’s hard to tell if it’s unease or excitement.
Maybe it’s both.
Ty shakes McCaffrey again. Harder. “Don’t be a fool, man. This is how you want to die? Going out like a bitch?”
“Fuck you,” McCaffrey barks at him. “And your ego.”
The fighting ring is smaller now. Too many wolves are pressing in, watching. Growling.
“One pack,” a familiar voice cries out. I glance back and see Rafael, nursing the wounds he sustained fighting one of Janus’s men. “One king.”
All around us, wolves take up the chant. “One pack, one king.One pack, one king.”
“Last chance,” Ty tells McCaffrey, pitilessly.
“You will never be my king,” McCaffrey growls at him. “Never.I would rather die.”
“Then die, asshole,” Ty replies, and then—in one harsh, smooth motion—ends it.
A flash of teeth, then McCaffrey’s throat is gone.
Ty moves back, but leaves the old man to bleed out there in the circle.
It only takes moments. We all know when he’s dead.
