Anassa braces herself, but the strike of Daemos power is punishing.
I fly clear off of Anassa’s back and land in the sand, rolling and curling up into a ball to minimize the chance of my limbs being trampled.
Did Jonah just…?
Suddenly, he and his wolf are above me, and it’s no longer a question at all. Jonah’s eyes burn with rage as the second blow comes. I turn to diminish the force of it, but my entire body already burns with pain.
An electric tingling shrieks through me, screaming,you’re about to get hit.
I hold up my hands, but it’s useless.
One of those terrifying blows crashes over me. My head snaps to the side.
Something cracks, and my entire skull explodes in pain. I wish I could stop the blood-curdling scream that wrenches from my throat, but the pain is too much. It rips from me, and the vacant space it leaves behind floods with rage.
Anassa senses my fury. For a thundering heartbeat, I’m certain she’s going to attack Jonah and his wolf.
And then someone else does it for us. Jonah is there one moment and gone the next.
Jonah’s body slams against the wall of the training yard. A second after it happens, there’s a rush of wind, like death just streaked past me and only narrowly left me breathing.
Thesheerpower I just felt, like a glimpse of something primordial…
Someone is shouting. Gamma Daegan, I think. The wolves from both packs fall back, parting to give me a view of Jonah’s crumpled body where he’s groaning on the ground. My vision swims slightly as blood pours from my nose.
A dark figure is standing over Jonah, shouting. At first, it’s garbled by the ringing in my ears. Then the words come through in a deep, enraged voice.
“—you donottouch Alpha Meryn that way!”
Stark’s chest is heaving. Cratos isn’t beside him, but he doesn’t need his wolf’s sheer size to threaten Jonah. The menacing way his tattooed hands are clenching and unclenching say it all, like he’s imagining them around Jonah’s throat.
“She’s notmyAlpha, sir,” Jonah says, but his eyes are averted.
“YourAlpha gave you an order not to use your magic on Strategos at full strength, and you disobeyed it!” Stark bellows. His entire pack stirs at the echo of his voice. Some of their wolves’ ears fold back, their heads lowering submissively below their shoulders.
Stark’s voice quiets, but only slightly. It’s still loud enough for the whole training yard to hear, laced through with menace.
“You are a powerful Rawbond, but strength is not the only thing we value in Daemos. You’d do well to remember that if you want to make it through the rest of Proving. And in case my implication is not crystal fucking clear: you touch her again and I’ll cull you myself.”
I shakily sit up and cover my throbbing nose with one hand. It warms as Anassa begins to heal it. A hand closes around my shoulder, and I flinch instinctively.
“It’s me,” Izabel says, her dark eyebrows laced together in worry. “Alright?”
“Alright,” I confirm even though there’s hot blood running down my throat. “Should I be embarrassed?”
“No,” Izabel replies.
I grunt. “Mortified, then.”
She lets out a surprised laugh, then offers me a hand and helps me up. Nevah comes over and claps me on the back.
“You fall like an Alpha,” she tells me with a half-smile. Then she waves at my face, at my surely pulverized nose. “That, too. Very… authoritative looking.”
Nevah has been making an effort since the Purge Trial and since the pack decided to forgive me. She sits with us at meals instead of seeking out a solitary table. She hangs out in the common lounge in the evening, and has even started sleeping with one of the Kryptos women, or so Venna says.
“Thanks,” I tell her. “I can break yours too, if you want to match your Alpha. I’m sure it’ll be the new hot look at the front.”
“Training’s over,” Stark calls loudly, stalking away from Jonah. His hands are still in fists. Muscles are straining so tight that he looks like he’s about to rip himself in two. As he passes us, he growls, “Alpha, my office,” without even looking at me.
