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He sighed. “Noah will be fine, Ulf said he just needed time to heal.”
“Time,” I scoffed. “It’s been two weeks. Since when do shifters need that much time to heal?”
It was the thing that was disturbing me the most. Putting aside the fact that we had no clue what the hell had happened, his body had healed within days but there was no sign of him waking. Everything pointed to magical interference, but there were no scents or signs of magic to prove it. All we could do was wait. But the longer he stayed unconscious, the more likely it was that he wouldn’t wake at all.
My dark thoughts stayed with me until the sun began to set and we stopped to set up camp.
I sighed as I watched Vella ordering the beta wolves around. With Cordelia gone, she’d been trying to step back into her alpha female role. I refused to go anywhere near her, but she’d been throwing her strength around like she had the position.
“Dillon, Sully. Set up a perimeter guard,” I barked across the group, cutting off all conversation. “Zeke, Raul. Go hunt down some food. Vella, build the fire.”
She scowled at me but didn’t dare argue. She knew by now that I was happy to publicly put her in her place.
Raul, however, puffed out his chest. “I hunted last night, one of the newbies can go.”
I held his gaze for a long moment, watching him shift uncomfortably but refuse to back down.
“That was an order, Raul, not a request,” I said calmly, folding my arms across my chest.
No one else had moved, silently watching the challenge.
Raul’s fists clenched as he raised his chin defiantly. “Yeh, I heard you, but it’s not my turn.”
I slowly walked towards him, taking calm, measured steps that he watched closely. Stopping in front of him, I pulled myself up to my full height to stare down at him. To his credit, he held my gaze, even as I could see the tension in his shoulders.
“So, not only are you refusing to provide for your pack,” I said, lacing my voice with threat. “You’re directly disobeying me?”
He swallowed hard. “I shouldn’t have to…”
His words were cut off as my hand shot out and grabbed him by the throat. With a sweep of my leg, I threw him over, slamming his large frame to the ground. Planting a knee on his chest, I growled as his hands scrambled at the tight grip I had on his neck. I just squeezed harder, making him wheeze as I leant down over him.
“Are you challenging me, Raul?” I snapped, releasing my grip enough for him to answer.
“Yes, I fucking am,” he spat after sucking in a breath.
A murmur of shock rippled through the watching pack members. It was an insane answer. Putting him down had been a small yet clear demonstration of my strength. I still had his life in my hands. The only sane thing to do would be to submit.
I frowned, my anger simmering down. This wasn’t right. I couldn’t put my finger on why, but something was off about this whole situation. Raul was normally so chilled and good-natured, it wasn’t like him to push back about a simple order. Let alone challenge the Alpha.
Right now, his eyes were flashing angrily, his wolf pushing for dominance as he struggled in my grip.
“Calm,” I commanded, throwing Alpha power into my voice.
Raul fell still for a long moment, his eyes settling as he instinctively reacted to my words. But it was only seconds until he was thrashing in my grip again, the command brushed aside. “Fight me like a wolf, coward!”
His gruff challenge made a low growl rumble through my chest. I released him and quickly stepped back, keeping my focus on him as he rolled to his feet and began tugging away his clothing.
“Raul, be certain you want to do this,” I warned, giving a last attempt to calm the situation.
“Are you denying the challenge, Alpha?” Mina called pointedly.
I ignored her, remaining focused on the enraged shifter in front of me. “Raul.”
He glared at me as he threw his clothes aside. “Liam.”
I stifled a sigh as I realised he was set on this, kicking away my shoes as I tugged off my shirt.
He shifted fast, refusing to wait as he leapt at me. Someone hissed in surprise or outrage at the move as I darted aside, narrowly avoided Raul’s snapping jaws.
