All of us grew up training for challenges, so it was expected that anyone who mated with a vampire or a human—the second of which was extremely ill-advised because of the difference between a human’s lifetime and an immortal’s—would be fighting in their place in the case of a challenge.
For unranked wolves, challenges were extremely rare.
For those of us who ranked, they were expected.
All of the werewolves gathered on the lawn went silent as Bloom and I approached.
Every set of nostrils flared. The wind was on our side, if nothing else, because it blew the scent of recent sex right into their lungs.
A few faces scrunched.
The line of female challengers remained unchanged for ten seconds.
Twenty seconds.
Thirty.
The first woman stepped back, shaking her head. “I can’t challenge fate.”
She walked away.
“Are you supposed to fight all of them?” Bloom murmured to me.
“Yup.”
She paled.“One at a time, right?”
“Yeah. I’ve handled worse, Sugar.” I kept my voice light.
She didn’t need to know how long it had been since I had handled worse. It didn’t matter, and most of these fuckers were going to leave.
Three more women stepped away in the next thirty seconds.
Five more in the following two minutes of tense silence I let pass.
One of the men looked over at the line of women, his expression growing slightly grimmer.
Now, I was only looking at thirteen women and ten men. That was a little better. The men were the ones I really needed to work on, though. The women were much smaller than me, and size was absolutely an advantage for someone who had spent as much time fighting as I had.
I released Bloom for a moment, stepping up in front of her and blocking her from everyone else’s sight.
“Welcome to the newest Erren challenge. I recognize a few of you assholes who’ve eaten dirt at my feet before.” My gaze scanned the line. A handful of the men went red.
Good.
I wanted them to remember the way I’d beaten them, so they could realize I wasn’t fucking around this time.
They’d threatened my mate.
This was war.
“On a normal day, you all know I love a good challenge. This isn’t a normal day. A bunch of fuckers in this pack have declared themselves better matchmakers than Fate herself.” I glared daggers at the women.
Two more stepped back and walked away.
One of the men followed them.
Down to eleven and nine.
