Page 37

I yawned as I walked back into the clubhouse, Ren alert at my side after insisting on accompanying me. He’d stuck close most of the day. Thankfully, the perimeter walk and spell casting had gone without incident this time. No sign of the creep from earlier either.

I was tired but well fed since Warrick had sent a mountain of food to his room for me after he’d been called away by Jag. After he’d kissed me…

Yeah, best you don’t think about that.

“Where’re you bunking?” I asked Ren.

“They gave me my own room. Better than I expected, honestly.”

“What did you tell your folks?” Ren lived in a small self-contained apartment in the basement of the funeral home where he worked with his parents. His parents lived in a house down the street.

“That I was staying with friends,” he said. “You know them, they never ask too many questions.”

I gave him a squeeze. “And you’re sure you’re cool to stay on here when I leave tomorrow?” I wanted to make sure he was really, truly okay and not just trying to prove something to me. “You don’t have to.”

He slid his hands into his jean pockets. “Believe it or not, I kind of like it here. I’ve only had a couple of lessons, but I leaned more in those few hours than all the other classes I’ve been taking combined.”

“I’m glad you’re getting something out of it, more than just the black eyes.” I looked pointedly at his new shiner.

“It’s nothing. Truly, I’m good. More than good.” He smiled, and I could tell he meant it. “And Warrick told me he had you covered. My instincts tell me I can trust him to take care of you.”

There was no missing the relief he felt about that.

My poor fox. I hated how much anxiety this whole situation had been causing him, and how it had messed with us and our friendship. I slung an arm around his waist and gave him a side hug. “We’re gonna get through this, you know that, don’t you? I’ll be back at the shop, and you’ll be back to working your way through Roxburgh’s female population with gusto in no time.”

He laughed, and it was genuine and so achingly familiar that it took me back to a time before the trials, before the fighting and the fear.

I hooked my arm through his. It was the middle of the night, but I was still surprised by how quiet the clubhouse was when we walked through the main room.

The quiet ended though as we headed down the stairs to the underground den.

A cheer echoed from somewhere deep in the caves, muffled and distant, but I knew where it was coming from almost immediately. The fighting pit.

The sound that reached us next had me pausing. Raw rage was the only way to describe it, the kind of brutality that spelled only one thing—death.

I jumped into action, rushing toward it.

“What the hell was that?” Ren said, jogging beside me.

“It’s coming from their fighting chamber. Someone’s getting their ass handed to them.” A weird feeling shifted through my belly. I didn’t know what it was, only that a sense of urgency had surged through me, making me rush toward it. That terrifying sound was drawing me in a way I didn’t understand.

I’d found the fighting pit once before in this maze of tunnels, but I’d still have trouble finding it again if it wasn’t for the noise leading me there.

We rounded a bend and then turned right into a wide opening that led into a huge cavern. It was big enough that it could fit all the hounds and then some.

I knew from before what I’d find: a pit, several yards across, dug out in the middle of the floor, the pit walls blackened and charred. Hounds surrounded it now, their calls for blood lifting goose bumps across my skin and raising the hair on the back of my neck.

Ren stayed close to me as we pushed our way up beside Lothar and Jagger. Lothar saw me first and instantly stepped back so I could see what was going on, unmissable pride on his slightly terrifying face.

I looked down and stopped cold.

Standing in the pit in only a pair of bloodstained jeans was Warrick, and across from him was the guy who had attacked me. Axton, I assumed. The other male’s face had taken a beating, but he hadn’t gone down yet.

“What’s going on here?” I yelled so Jagger could hear me.

“Axton attacked the alpha’s female and instead of begging for his life he chose to challenge War for you and his position in the pack.”

Lothar sneered. “Dumb fuck. He’s always wanted what War has. This was a long time coming.”