The Amarok tipped his head back and laughed, and the tightness in my chest eased a little. “That bitty human attacked you?”
Hey, I’m not bitty.
Silas clenched his jaw. “She shot me five times in the chest.”
The Amarok looked at me then and raised an eyebrow. Was that pride in his gaze? I didn’t want to look him in the eyes—er, eye—so I just focused on his forehead.
Brayden cleared his throat. “Amarok, his bite would have killed her. It wasmysaliva that saved her life and changed her. I should own her.”
Own her?I moved to stand up and dispute that crap right here, but Maddy clamped her hand on my wrist and yanked me back down.
The Amarok looked at Brayden and I saw the muscles in his neck tighten. “You changed a human to a werewolf without the Fae Lords’ormy permission.”
Brayden nodded. “To save her life after the bite of another wolf would have killed her, which, correct me if I’m wrong, sir, is allowed without permission.”
The Amarok stared at Brayden so hard that I thoughtImight pass out.
Did Brayden just correct him? Or challenge him or something? Because it sure as hell felt like that.
The Amarok shook his head. “You always were a smart bastard.”
I relaxed a little, and Brayden’s shoulders loosened as well.
“I bit her. So the bitch is mine!” Silas suddenly yelled so loudly that I jumped.
The next thing I knew, an invisible power lashed out from the Amarok. Silas was thrown to his knees as if someone had physically pushed him down. His head lowered, his hands moving behind his back. Brayden froze, unmoving.
“Yell at me again in my house and I will remove the skin from your body, you dirtbag piece of shit.” My skin burned with the power of the Amarok’s voice from all the way back here, so I couldn’t imagine what Brayden was feeling so close to that kind of magic.
“Forgive me, Supreme Alpha. I have a temper that’s hard to control,” Silas sniveled.
The Amarok narrowed his gaze at Silas. “It was Brayden’s saliva that changed the girl and so she ishiswolf. Hell, I can smell him on her from over here. You have no claim on her and my word is final. I will send this in writing to the Fae Lords tonight.” He slammed his fist on the desk like a gavel and relief spread through my limbs.
Silas stood, teeth clenched so tightly I thought they might snap off. “Thank you, sir,” he ground out, and then stormed from the room.
The Amarok watched him go, and when the door shut he looked at Brayden. “I wish this year was a centennial tournament and you could just kill him and be done with it.”
Brayden chuckled. “You and me both, sir. Next year I have that to look forward to.”
I glanced at Maddy with confusion. “Every one hundred years they remove the stipulation that they can’t kill each other and let them go at it. It brings in big money for the Fae Lords.”
Sick. These Fae Lords charged money for this event? That was wrong on so many levels.
The Amarok nodded. “I look forward to seeing you get your pack back. I know this year hasn’t been easy on you.”
Whoa, did the giant bag of rage and steroids have a heart? It was like he was only acting all powerful and crazy for Silas’ benefit, and now that he’d left the room they’d become old college roommates or something.
“No one looks forward to that more than me, sir. I will see you there.” Brayden held out his hand and the Amarok took it, shaking it firmly.
“It’s crazy how much you look like your father. Do I tell you that enough?” the Amarok said.
Brayden smiled. “Only every time we meet, sir.”
The Amarok gave a small chortle and then waved us out.
Okay, that was the weirdest twenty minutes of my life. Who was Brayden’s dad, I wondered? Maddy and I stood and started to walk out the door when the Amarok spoke again.
“Hang on… bring her to me.” His voice was deep and commanding, and fear rose up inside of me.
