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Glancing behind me, I counted three soldiers standing at the edge of the beach, watching us all intently. Holden hadn’t been joking around with the rules he’d established after the incident on the dock.
“Good morning, ladies,” Kyle said, stepping forward from where he’d been conversing with Dalton. “Today’s training will be a little different than usual.” Taking a piece of driftwood, he drew a large circle in the sand, approximately thirty feet in diameter.
“Instead of pairing off to spar, I want everyone in the ring at once. You will fight until only one of you remains in the ring. Our normal sparring rules will remain in place—no illegal hits, no shifting. Everyone understand?”
I nodded, raking my gaze over the other women as we all stepped forward into the circle. My muscles ached, still sore from the battle last night, and my leg wasn’t fully healed from where Madison tore into me, but I shoved the pain to the side, finding that place of calm inside that had served me well in previous fights.
Sydnee gave me a vicious grin, staring me down as she stepped into the ring before speaking to Katie, one of the few remaining members of her bitch squad.
“This is a waste of our time,” she hissed. “Why are we sparring when we ought to be challenging each other? Is this the Contention, or is this some stupid game?”
Katie didn’t say anything, her eyes wide as Sydnee got everyone’s attention. “What do you say, ladies?”
We all glanced around, not sure what she was implying. She didn’t actually want us to challenge each other here and now. Or did she?
Kyle was calling out directions from where he’d returned to stand by Dalton to watch our sparring, but no one was listening to him. Brooklyn shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, her eyes darting between Sydnee and me.
“This is nonsense,” she continued. “Why are we going along with this? It’s not like the rules seem to matter anyway.” A barb clearly aimed at me. “This entire thing has become a joke. What happened to the strongest wolf coming out on top? Holden doesn’t want someone weak by his side. So come on, ladies, let’s see who has what it takes to be his mate.”
She must have been planning this all along, because suddenly, Elana shifted, charging straight towards Brooklyn.
Sydnee’s grin was triumphant as the other women began to shift, whether they were in on her plan or were doing so out of necessity. Shit was getting real. When her gaze turned on me, there was nothing but pure hatred shining in her eyes, and I suddenly realized that she intended this to be it. The final challenge, with only one victor remaining. Whoever survived this fight would be the last one standing—becoming Holden’s mate by default, not by his choice. She must have realized where things were headed, that he was going to choose me. This was her last resort.
The instant that realization dawned, Sydnee shifted, running at me full speed, teeth bared and murder in her eyes.
31
HOLDEN
“Holden, sir, you have to come.”
I spun in my chair at the urgency in the assistant’s voice. Garrett and I were meeting with my father in his office, discussing what Kayden had done last night. My nerves were frayed, and I was exhausted from lack of sleep.
“What’s going on?” I stood when I saw her panicked face.
“The contestants, on the beach,” she said, eyes bulging. “Things got out of control in PT.”
I cursed, already running out the door, Garrett rising to his feet.
“What happened?” I heard him ask, but I wasn’t sticking around to hear the answer. I tore down the flights of stairs and raced at full speed toward the beach.
There, in the center of a circle drawn in the sand, stood four wolves staring each other down, teeth bared. Outside the ring, four women stood naked, their bodies covered in scratches as assistants ran toward them with blankets.
“What the fuck is going on?” I thundered, my temper getting the best of me.
Three of my soldiers, along with the trainers and a handful of assistants, were staring wide-eyed, glancing between me and the makeshift sparring ring.
“Somebody answer me,” I roared. The nearest assistant yelped, then rushed toward me.
“It looks like they’re in some type of group duel, sir,” she whispered, her voice shaking.
“Why are you just standing there?” I yelled at the three soldiers I’d assigned to follow the women around today. Then I turned on the trainers, who looked to be at a complete loss. “You’re the ones in charge here.”
“We weren’t sure of the proper protocol, sir,” the soldier said, coming to my side. “This has never happened before; there’s no precedent. We all told them to stop, but any time we get near the circle, all of them lunge for us.” He shook his head. “I didn’t think you’d appreciate us hurting them to put a stop to it.”
I growled in frustration and stormed toward the edge of the ring, opening my mouth to give them a piece of my mind. But as soon as I got within feet of the circle, one of the wolves lunged and snapped, growling in warning.
What the hell was going on? I stepped back, trying to figure out the best course of action as my gaze scoured over the four wolves in the ring—Kayden, Sydnee, Elana, and Riley.
