Chapter 42

Zara

Lucian dove at Adrian right as Adrian jumped for him. The two collided in mid-air, Adrian shifting as he moved so that two wolves crashed to the ground together.

The fighting wolves were between me and the door. I sidled along the wall, keeping a close eye on the battle. It was dangerously easy to catch a wolf’s attention on the full moon, and then a fight between two wolves became a hunt. And I did not want to find myself as their prey.

Adrian snapped at Lucian’s flank. Lucian twisted out of his reach and swiped at his eyes with one massive paw.

Natural wolves were large, averaging somewhere around 150 to 200 pounds, and roughly two feet tall at the shoulder. A wolf form werewolf was absolutely massive, easily doubling that weight and close to four feet tall at the shoulder. Finding myself trapped in a tiny shack with two enraged wolves was like being stuffed back in the car’s trunk only now with razor blades and the car was rolling.

I was pretty sure neither wolf wanted to hurt me. Adrian wanted to bond to me. Lucian wanted me back so I could calm his wolf. Both of them needed me alive. Neither of them seemed to remember that little fact right in that moment.

I dodged snapping teeth and swiping claws as I continued to work my way around the shack. I needed to get out of there. I had to escape.

Whoever won, I would lose. I did not want to be forced into bonding with a Rogue. Adrian had his chance to be my mate, and he chose Chloe instead. I’d rather die from bond shock than be his.

Lucian would be furious that I tried to escape, and he still believed I had tried to poison him. The last punishment had nearly driven me mad. What would he do now? He was creative, and cruel, and I knew he could come up with something horrific that still left me useful to him.

I didn’t think Adrian had much of a chance of victory. He was smaller, weaker, and less experienced. Lucian had fought and won four Alpha Challenges. He hunted down and killed Rogues while his brother ran the packs he conquered.

Some part of Adrian had to know he was outclassed. He hadn’t tried to fight Lucian when the twins first took the pack. He knew he couldn’t win. So why was he fighting Lucian now? Why not just surrender? This wasn’t a proper Challenge. He could just roll over, show his belly, and beg Lucian for mercy.

Lucian swatted Adrian across the floor of the shack. There was blood staining his muzzle, and more blood on his flank. They’d wounded each other sometime during the scuffle. I shuddered. With blood in the air, neither wolf would surrender.

The door was close. Well, the hole in the wall where the door had been was close to me. I leaned out around the ragged edge of the hole to make sure there wasn’t anyone waiting outside to grab me.

Thankfully, the clearing outside the shack remained empty. I darted outside, leaving the maelstrom of teeth, fur, and rage behind.

The snapping and growling continued. I looked around. The shack was surrounded on all sides by dense forest. I couldn’t spot the trail Adrian had followed to bring me here. I did notice some shattered branches that told me which direction Lucian had come from.

Should I follow his trail back wherever he came from? Or should I go in the opposite direction in the hopes of avoiding any back-up he might have brought? Where were the rest of the Rogues likely to be?

I didn’t know, and my hesitation cost me. Either Lucian, Adrian, or both noticed I had left the shack. One wolf leaped for the door. The other tackled him. I couldn’t tell which was which; they moved too quickly.

I slumped against the nearest tree. I knew better than to try to flee. They’d run me down like a rabbit. All I could do was wait for the fight to end. Then I’d be at the mercy of the winner.

Adrian rolled out from under Lucian and jumped for me. I yelped and braced myself to be slammed hard into the trees. Lucian knocked him over and pinned him, baring his teeth over Adrian’s throat.

I winced, expecting him to bite down any moment. Somehow, though, Adrian got his feet under him and rolled Lucian off. Then they returned to circling and snapping at each other.

Adrian snapped his fangs and caught Lucian in the rear leg. Lucian yelped and snarled, before knocking the other wolf into a tree. Adrian hit hard, and staggered when he tried to stand again.

Lucian sensed an opportunity and darted in, snapping his teeth around Adrian’s knee joint and pulling. Adrian crashed to the ground, and Lucian pinned him with his fangs around Adrian’s throat.

The fight was over. Lucian won, and Adrian was about to die.

I probably wouldn’t die with him, because our bond was incomplete. And mated wolves didn’t always die of bond shock. My step-mother didn’t.

But it was a possibility. My bond had been acting up since the twins arrived. Maybe because they were my second chance, or maybe because of the distance to my first fated mate. I didn’t know. No one ever really studied the effects of a fate bond on hybrid wolves.

Also, I just didn’t want to watch someone die. Adrian was a jerk and he betrayed me, yes. But that wasn’t enough reason to kill him.

I just had to convince Lucian of that. Somehow.

“Stop!” I shouted, stumbling towards the two wolves. “Don’t kill him.”

Lucian shifted, taking his human form so he could speak.

“Why shouldn’t I?” he asked.

“Please,” I said, “Please don’t.” I couldn’t think of a reason that would make sense to Lucian. He didn’t enjoy killing; he just saw it as the most efficient way to remove a threat and achieve his goals.

Well, I could work with that. What was the threat? Adrian. But more precisely, losing access to my ability to soothe his wolf. What was the goal? To get me back.

“If you kill him, I’ll die,” I said. “He’s my fated mate.”

Lucian tilted his head. “He rejected you. Chose another she-wolf over you.”

“On our wedding day, yes,’ I admitted. I wasn’t surprised he knew. The whole pack knew. Someone would have told him. “And I would like to kick him in the balls, but I can’t watch you kill him because even an incomplete claim could snap back and kill me if he dies.”

Lucian nodded slowly. “I see.” He looked down at Adrian. “Shift back.”

Adrian whined and tilted his head, obviously asking ‘why?’ without words.

“So she can kick you in the balls. Obviously,” Lucian said.

I snorted, thinking he was mocking me. But Adrian shifted back, and Lucian locked his hands behind his back.

“Go ahead,” Lucian said.

I hesitated. Should I? It was petty. But he had just tried to force me to complete the bond with him.

Well, why not? He deserved worse. I stepped up to him, pulled back my leg, and brought my knee up hard into his groin.

Adrian groaned and doubled over in Lucian’s grip. Lucian smirked and let him drop.

“We should go,” Lucian said.

“Yeah. What about him?” I asked.

Lucian shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t usually leave my enemies alive.”

“Oh.” I crouched in front of Adrian. “Go back in the shack,” I said, “and stay there until we’re gone.”

He glared up at me.

“And I never want to see you again,” I said. “This time, I’m the one rejecting you.”