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Xander clenched his fists so tight that his nails dug into the supple skin of his palms. He was keenly focused, projecting his energy into Lexi as he stared, unblinking, watching her movements like a dancer’s performance.
When the healer faked a clothesline and smashed her foot into the back of Lexi’s head, Xander froze, mortified. His heart stopped, and every muscle in his body clenched like it held onto a very thin wire.
“Lexi!”
He couldn’t help himself. He knew the tradition of the pack, of the royal wolf shifters in general, but he’d never been so deeply in love that it physically hurt him to see his darling fall to the ground. Stephen held him back as much as he could, taking the king’s wrist in his own hand with gentle firmness.
“You have to let it go on,” Stephen said through gritted teeth. “You’re the king. Act like it.”
Xander griped, but Stephen was right. But the moment he tried to soften, the healer spun around Lexi, who was on her knees and smashed her foot into the tip of his love’s chin.
His blood ran hot and cold at the same time. His wolf growled with a guttural rage.
Lexi fell to the ground on her back with a loud smack. The crowd jeered and awed as she remained still, the healer pacing around her lifeless body in an egotistical pose.
“I can’t let this be,” Xander crooned to Stephen.
“Just wait,” Stephen implored.
Lexi wasn’t moving. Xander could still feel her breathing through his own body, their mate connection remaining, but it was waning. Instead of screaming out loud, he did so in his mind, his wolf whispering to the pup he knew existed somewhere inside her.
Get up, Lexi. You need to get up.
A few moments later, she sat up, making the crowd cheer. The healer, though, wasn’t having any of that.
She went for Lexi again, a clenched fist stretched backward in a catapult movement. Lexi anticipated another takeout, the fist missing altogether, and gave the healer a swift leg sweep.
“Oohh!”
The healer landed on her back with a thud, thundering the earth below. Lexi stumbled to her feet and stood swaying, her fist held up like a boxer in the final round.
Xander could feel her getting tired, but God, he was so damn proud of her. He projected that pride into her very soul, and he could have sworn he saw a yellow streak of light move through the magical sea of her eyes.
But alas, the victory did not last. Being the fair person that Lexi was, she waited for the healer to recover, perhaps for her to submit. But the healer didn’t apply the same rules of engagement.
As the healer lay on her back, her clothing began to rip apart. Xander knew what was happening, as did everyone else, who stood in shock and awe.
“No!” Xander screamed. “An ultimate forfeit!”
The healer was a practiced shifter, so time didn’t matter. She turned into her wolf, which had the same blazing red shade of fur, snarling and foaming at the mouth with a fury few humans have felt a flicker of in their lifetimes.
She leapt at Lexi, who was frozen with fear. She raised her fists to her face as the ravenous animal came for her, intent on death and suffering.
Xander knew that he had only two options within that split second of a moment. It rang through his mind like a chime of wind. He could shift and cast the healer aside physically and easily. She had disobeyed the rules, so any harm that would come to her would be granted.
Then, there was the second option. The option that would bring both peace and meaning into the heart of the only woman he would ever love.
Xander focused hard on Lexi as the wolf sprang midair. He shot out golden love from his heart, as well as all the emotions he had for his mate. He shot to her the image of their future, rolling around in bed laughing hysterically, kissing in fields of endless green.
Her wolf was dormant inside her. He had guessed it from the moment they’d met, detecting the scent on her like the lingering scent of coffee in the morning air. He didn’t want to overstep his boundaries at this time. But he knew she could find her wolf, and it was only within that moment of survival that he knew how to summon it.
The wolf nearly plummeted onto Lexi’s face before something magical happened. Lexi’s clothing split apart, and her body began to swell. She shot up two feet into the air before landing on all fours, her feral wolf howling and whimpering in ecstasy as her bones cracked and grew beyond her human body.
The eyes remained. The sea-green stillness locked onto the healer and knew exactly what to do.
Lexi’s wolf grabbed the healer by the throat in midair and proceeded to thrash her back and forth like a rag doll. The healer was massive and seemed strong enough, but all that paled in comparison to a newborn shifter. Lexi sank her glistening teeth into the fur and threw the healer around. She winced and cried out in horrific agony until Lexi was tossing around a limp corpse.
Lexi finally let go, tossing the dead body nearly ten feet behind her. It landed in the botanical gardens and crushed the sunflower display. Damn, she loved those.
