“Our champion, Silas Ashwood, will fight Brayden Greywolf. Winner takes the pack!” she roared, and everyone went crazy.
“I hate this,” I muttered to Brayden, and he squeezed my hand.
“Please visit the betting counter to place your bets on who you think will be this year’s champion.” Lynette indicated to one of the little dome alcoves where a man stood behind a money counter.
“This year is extra special,” Lynette purred, “because our beloved Lena is back to see her man fight for the first time in forty winters!”
The crowd went insane then and I felt sick to my stomach. Every single person turned and looked at me and I wanted to shrink into a ball and disappear. Leah slipped her hand into mine and squeezed it for support.
The crowd parted. Lora stood up from her chair and walked over to Lynette, giving her a nod. “On this day every year…” She spoke and her voice was also amplified without a visible microphone; it had to be magic. “…we see our fallen king fight for the privilege to keep his pack.” Everyone clapped and she smiled. “A privilege bestowed to him graciously by me and the other lords.”
Yeah, right, she couldn’t kill Brayden, and that’s why she had to keep up this little arrangement. Keep him under her thumb and in control without killing him and unlinking his magic to his siblings.
Lying hag.
Her eyes zeroed in on me. “What a treat this night will be. He hasa lotto fight for.” She snapped her fingers and a cage suddenly appeared, suspended over the crowd. It was huge, about a forty-foot rectangle, and it was packed full of people.
What the…?
“Brayden! Maddy!” A young blonde reached through the bars as tears slid down her cheeks and it hit me. They were the prize. Silas’ pack. And that was Brayden’s little sister, Nora.
“Maddy!” a tall handsome man with light brown hair screamed over Nora’s shoulder.
Maddy burst into a sob, “August! Nora!” she screamed, reaching up as they suspended the cage over the crowd like a dangling carrot.
The second I heard tearing fabric I knew Brayden was shifting. Seeing his little sister in a cage was too much. Even Maddy looked ready to wolf out.
Lora blurted into delighted laughter at the sight of Brayden’s wolf ripping his tux.
“No.” Maddy placed a hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Keep it together until it’s time,” she said.
He hunched forward, his back snapping as people formed a circle around him, watching the spectacle like hungry vultures.
“Screw off!” I charged at one female vampire who had pulled out her phone to take a picture. In hindsight, it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but these assholes were pissing me off by watching Brayden’s emotional breakdown and getting pleasure from it in some sick way. The woman backed up a few spaces but then burst into laughter.
Leah hooked me around the waist and dragged me backward before I could reach the vampire. “Okay, let’s not piss off the undead, shall we?” Leah muttered into my ear.
I glared at the astonishingly pale woman with red-tinged lips but allowed Leah to pull me away. Brayden was standing upright now, still in his human form; fur was retreating along the sides of his neck. His clothes were torn and Maddy was rubbing his back. She’d been able to calm him down.
“We’ll get Nora, we’ll get them all back this time. You got this, bro,” she told him, and it warmed my heart.
“You totally got this,” Leah said, reaching out to grasp his bicep.
I wanted to smack her hand away but thought better of it. “Give Silas hell,” I agreed, and with our encouragement Brayden stood, facing the cage of his entire pack, and then looked up at the platform that held the Fae Lords.
The crowd had doubled in size since we’d gotten here. There must have been a thousand people now. This was clearly a bigger event than I expected.
“Hey, lass,” a familiar Irish accent called from behind me. I spun, grinning ear to ear at the sight of Ronan dressed in a tuxedo. Clara was next to him wearing an elegant black ballgown.
“We came to show support,” he said, and I tackle-hugged him, which caused him to laugh and wrap his arms around me. He released me and shook Brayden’s hand, wishing him luck as Clara pulled me into a hug.
She squeezed. “Good luck, girl.”
It felt so good to have familiar people here that I knew were on my side. But it was gone all too quickly. A small bell chimed. Ronan and Clara gave us a curt nod before disappearing into the crowd.
People pushed to the outer walls as another cage appeared out of nowhere, this one about the same size as the other. Inside of it stood Silas, grinning like a fool. He was shirtless, and I had to admit he was cut, tattooed like a prison drug lord. I’d never seen him like this but it was intimidating.
The crowd went insane at the sight, and Brayden turned to face his sister, whispering something to her.
