People scattered in every direction.Someoneshouted for them to stop while someone else yelled encouragement andIbacked away quickly, clutching my purse to my chest as the two men traded blows in the middle of the street.
Harris was clearly enraged, and it showed—he was swinging hard and wild, trying to overwhelmKorwith sheer brute force.
Kor, on the other hand, fought like he meant business.Therewas nothing reckless about the way he moved—every punch landed exactly where he intended it to, and every movement looked controlled and deliberate.
Harris managed to clip him across the jaw, andIgasped whenIsaw blood appear at the corner ofKor'smouth.Butunfortunately forHarris, that seemed to make the youngerAlphaeven more determined.Amoment laterKorburied a punch in his stomach and followed it with another to the jaw.Harrisstumbled backward whileKoradvanced relentlessly.
“You fucker!”Harrisshouted at him, spitting blood.“You’refucking her!Youthink you already own thePackbecause you’re fucking the oldPackLeader’sbitch!”
“I haven’t touched her,”Korgrowled, glaring at him.“She’saMoonWidow, you sick bastard!”
The crowd murmured andInoticed several of the localAlphasexchanging glances.Forthe first time,Irealized they weren't simply watching a fight.Theywere judging…measuring…evaluating.Theywere seeing howKormight perform in theAlphaChallengeand from the looks on their faces, they were impressed.
“Fucker!”Harrisscreamed and swung wildly again.
Kor slipped easily under the punch and hit him so hard his head snapped back.Bloodsprayed fromHarris'snose and the largerAlphacrashed into a parked truck hard enough to rock it on its wheels.
The crowd gasped and somewhere behind meIheard someone whisper, “MoonGoddesshave mercy!”
I couldn't disagree.Ihad never seen anyone handleHarrisMurdochthis way before.Theman was feared throughout thePackand yetKorwas making him look slow, clumsy, and old.
Finally several of the larger males rushed forward and grabbed them both.Ittook four men to pullHarrisback and two more to restrainKor.
“You'll be sorry!”Harrisbellowed, struggling against them.Oneeye was already swelling shut and blood ran down the front of his shirt.“You'llbe so fucking sorry you challenged me, pup!Justwait for theAlphaChallenge!”
Kor shook off the men holding him and wiped blood from his mouth.
“I can't wait,” he said coldly.
“You smug pup!You’llbe sorry!You’llbe fucking sorry!”Thelook onHarris'sface as he was dragged away was almost comical.Ifhe hadn't been such a hateful bastard,Imight have laughed.
Instead,Ihurried straight toKor'sside.
“Are you all right?”Iasked anxiously.Nowthat the danger had passed, my hands had started shaking.Itwas allIcould do to pull a tissue out of my purse and dab at his face.
“I’m fine.”Hetouched his split lip and winced.“ThoughIthink he got one lucky shot in.”
“You got a lot more than that,”Ipointed out.Itook a deep breath and looked him over.“Well,I'mafraid that shirt is a total loss.”
To my surprise he laughed.
“Yeah, well—what are you going to do?It’shard to stay neat and clean when you’re punching an asshole like that in the face.”
The sound of his laughter eased some of the tension inside me andIfound myself smiling back despite everything that had just happened.Thenhe looked around at the wreckage scattered across the sidewalk.
“I'm sorry,Vivienne.Ithink the groceries might be a loss too,” he said, making a face.
Several potatoes had rolled into the gutter and the strawberries looked more like jam than fruit.Theyhad all escaped from their tiny plastic coffin and had been trampled by the onlookers.Theeggs, likewise, were all crushed into a gooey mess on the sidewalk.
BeforeIcould answer,Chetcame hurrying over with a fresh package of berries and another carton of eggs.
“Don't you worry about them groceries none,” he declared.“Onthe house.”
He handed the strawberries and eggs to me and then looked atKor.Therewas open admiration in his eyes now.
“Very impressive,YoungMaster,” he said solemnly.“Veryimpressive indeed.”
Kor rolled his eyes.
