My mate’s first challenger stepped out onto the field. Her expression was determined, her black hair tied back securely, but her tan skin was ashen.
If she was scared, the rest of them were going to shit their pants after watching me nearly kill her.
She could withdraw her claim in the middle of the fight, of course.
For her sake, I hoped she would.
I pulled my mate’s sweater over my head and stripped out of my jeans. Nudity was a part of being a werewolf, but that didn’t stop anyone from staring any less.
Bloom’s gaze burned into my back as I stepped out of my boxer-briefs and turned around to hand her the clothes with a wink.
She didn’t look amused.
I may have forgotten to mention the indecent exposure part of the challenges.
Olivia was already naked when I turned back around. Without wasting time, I shifted and lunged toward the woman.
In my bones, I was no different than any other wolf. At birth, we all shifted equally fast and fought equally well. But years of doing nothing but training, fighting, and killing had honed me into a weapon. I could watch someone’s body position and know what move they would make before they made it. I could react faster than them. Dodge smoother. Bite harder.
Olivia was a warrior too. One who should’ve known better than to challenge me.
I was the fucking king for a reason.
I snapped my jaws at her as she finished her shift and rolled away. Tonight wasn’t for fun and games—it was a statement.
Fuck with my mate, and you’ll regret it.
The challenger was lucky I would let her off the field at all, because she was far too slow.
Before she was back on her feet, I was tearing through the muscle above her back leg.
Olivia covered her cry with a growl, snapping her teeth at me as she took the weight off that leg.
I dodged easily, and tore a chunk from her opposite shoulder.
She collapsed to her belly, and I made a show of ripping through the muscles on her other four joints as well, because she didn’t surrender.
When I went for her throat, she finally conceded with a shout through the pack’s mental link, knowing I was connected enough to hear it.
“I WITHDRAW MY CLAIM.”
I tore her throat anyway, leaving her with a wound just shallow enough to avoid any lasting damage.
It would still be a bitch to heal.
With that, I stepped back and howled.
Responding howls rang out through the entirety of the crowd gathered around the field, echoing through the hills and trees around us as every wolf within hearing distance responded to my dominance.
I bled, fought, and killed my way into my position. If anyone thought they could challenge my mate just because they didn’t like that she had fangs, they were going to suffer.
Shifting back to my human form, I made a show of sweeping my glare over everyone in the row of challengers one by one.
Most of the women looked like they were at least a little nauseous. One looked like she was going to pass out.
Someone carried Olivia’s broken body off the field. I didn’t bother watching her go.
I was too busy waiting for the line of challengers to shrink.
