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My jeans and underwear shredded as I called on my own wolf, out of time to do anything but shift and meet his challenge.
Shaking out my silver fur, I planted my feet and released a warning growl as he circled back around to face me. My wolf instinct was pushing me not to hold back; to prove my dominance and put him down hard. But I reigned it in. While my wolf wanted blood in response to the challenge, I knew that more was going on here. I’d make my point and force him to submit, but I wouldn’t hurt him anymore than needed.
With a snarl, he pounced forward again. His large body slammed into mine and sent us both rolling, jaws biting as we wrestled for control. Kicking out my back legs, I forced my weight over his. We were similar in size; he was a strong alpha male, but I had the advantage. Pinning his shoulders to the dirt, I bent and snapped my jaws, catching his muzzle hard enough to draw blood.
He released a low yelp, convulsing under me in an attempt to push free. With a huff of frustration, I pushed one of my back feet into his belly before he could throw me off, digging my claws in enough to break the skin. He froze as he felt the threat, knowing I could rip him open in a heartbeat.
Our gazes met and I let loose a chilling growl. I refused to kill him, he was a good man and a strong member of the pack. He just needed to submit and give up this reckless defiance.
My pulse began to pick up as he held my eye. Defiance shone back at me and my gut clenched as I was faced with the very real possibility that I’d have to follow this through. Backing down wasn’t an option. If I let him free now he would just continue to attack until we were back in this position again.
This was an official challenge. The choice was to submit or die.
I growled again, shoving his shoulders harder into the ground as I pushed my full weight into him.
“Raul, stop this,” Donn called, almost making me glance up in surprise.
Furious whispers met my ears, but I dismissed them as I saw Raul’s eyes finally drop from mine. Relief filtered through me as his body went limp and he bared his throat, submitting and yielding the challenge.
With a final growl, I backed up, releasing him and shifting back to my human skin. I watched as he shifted back, looking down on him as he lay panting with blood seeping from the shallow wounds on his face and stomach.
“Go and hunt,” I bit out, nodding my head at the trees. “Enough of this.”
He nodded, wincing slightly before shifting again and slinking silently into the forest.
Looking up, I scanned the faces around me, their gazes lowered respectfully. Most seemed shocked and concerned by the challenge, though Mina’s expression showed only fury.
I raised a brow at her. “Problem?”
She huffed a breath and waved a hand at me. “Your father interfered, it’s not right.”
“Right?” I asked, my lip curling into a sneer. “You’d rather I’d killed him?”
She sniffed at me haughtily. “We have no way of knowing what would have happened.”
Done with her, I turned my back and walked away. Something was very wrong here, and I was done making excuses and waiting to see what would happen. Weeds had grown in my pack, rot had set in, and it was starting to crumble apart. I had to pull it out at the root, and I was certain that this peace meeting would tell me exactly where I needed to start.
Chapter Eight
Cordelia
Noah’smouthclosedovermine, soft and warm as we knelt on the hard-packed earth.
Running his large hands down my back, he pulled me tightly against him, surrounding me with his body and scent until my head was spinning.
Our bond hummed and pulsed, having leapt to life again at our reunion, and the relief at fully feeling the connection again was almost overwhelming. My fingers clung to his skin like they were magnetised to his body, and he buried his face against my neck again as he just held me close and breathed me in.
A throat cleared softly behind me, making me startle a little as I remembered where we were.
“Ignore them,” Noah mumbled against my skin, refusing to move. “They’ll go away eventually.”
I breathed a laugh, squeezing him momentarily closer before pushing my fingers into his hair and tugging him back a little.
He gave me a mock scowl as our eyes met, his pout making me grin widely.
“Fuck I’ve missed that smile,” he whispered, making tears threaten again.
I kissed him instead, crushing my lips to his until a louder cough from our onlookers made me pull away with a sigh.
