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He glances over at me with a single arched eyebrow, the corner of his lip curling up as if implying that he thinksI’mthe crazy one. There’s still caution in his expression, and it’s because he doesn’t really know why I’m asking him to spend the day with me tomorrow.
Taking a deep breath, I clutch my hands together in my lap. “I just think that it’s good to have allies in all this.”
This place is toxic, and the council is dangerous. At least, they are for anyone who doesn’t fit into their hierarchy, which puts people like me and lone wolves like him at risk. That makes having friends in the trials all the more important. I’ve got enough enemies out for my blood in these tasks.
His expression shifts as I speak, and he looks away, staring up at the ceiling as he lounges back on the bed. “I still plan on failing the next trial so I can get out of here.”
My heart thumps hard in my chest. “Oh, of course.” A note of vulnerability shows in my voice, which Ihate. While I hadn’t forgotten, not really, I hoped that he might want to stick around. I’ve known him for all of a few hours, but I’m a pretty good judge of character, and I want to get to know him better.
Healer Lilly steps through the curtains, looking haggard, and she wears an apologetic expression.
“I know I told you to rest, but we’ve got an influx of champions about to come through who are in pretty bad shape, and we’re going to need the space. You’re both clear to go, just make sure to keep those bites clean.” She points to me for her last comment, attempting to look stern.
Nodding, we get up from the beds, pulling the blankets they supplied us with tighter around our bodies. She pulls the curtains back right as a limping figure steps into the tent—Bates.
My lips pull back over my teeth in a snarl, and I’m halfway across the tent before anyone can stop me. However, I’m soon brought to a halt by a wall of muscle that suddenly appears between us. Growling in the back of my throat, I look up at Scott to see him wearing a tight expression. He shakes his head slightly in warning, which is the only thing that makes me pause, but before I can order him to get out of my way, the rival alpha notices me.
“You,” Bates sneers, his teeth gleaming in the artificial light of the tent as he bares them at me threateningly. His eyes slowly trail over what he can see of my body, and he appears disappointed that I’m not sporting any major injuries. Shaking his head, he spits on the ground at my feet. “I can’t believe you got one of the top spots.”
Scott growls quietly at the insult, but he doesn’t move from his position, keeping himself between me and the alpha. It doesn’t bother me, however, as I have something that Bates doesn’t, and not only is it one of the few top spots, but thelasttop spot, so hedidn’tget one. A slow, vicious smile pulls at my lips as I step around Scott to meet Bates’s stare head-on. I don’t go far, just so I’m no longer hiding behind Scott like a frightened pup. I can’t afford to show any weakness.
Anger flares in his expression at my refusal to back down, and then a glimmer in his eyes warns me he’s about to retaliate, but not physically like I expected. Instead, he clears his throat. “Well, you know that the only reason I didn’t finish sooner was because I wanted to give your friend a proper greeting to the trials.” He grins like the Cheshire cat, and I want to leap at him, wishing not for the first time that I was like my packmates and could shift and slice him with my claws.
Nicolai, he’s talking about Nicolai. It threatens to break my control over not only my wolf, but the creature residing inside me. I know that if I let her out now, she would literally tear him to pieces. While tempting, I can’t guarantee that everyone else would get out unscathed, so I grit my teeth and grab onto every scrap of control I can muster.
“Don’t, he’s not worth it,” Scott reminds me, as if sensing how close I am to giving into my anger. “He’s just trying to wind you up. Look at the state of him.”
Stopping to take a real look at Bates, I realise Scott’s right. The alpha looks awful. He’s completely naked, so it’s easy for me to see he’s covered in scratches and bite marks, and blood coats him like a second skin. Some of it isn’t his own, but several vicious wounds cross his body from his left shoulder to his right hip. The fact that some of the wounds haven’t yet healed tells me how brutal they must have been. Had he been human, he’d be dead by now.
I keep telling myself that the reason Joel isn’t back yet is because he’s helping Nicolai return, yet the dark, doubting part of my mind keeps whispering about all the horrible things that could have happened. Given the state of everyone exiting the arena, I’d hazard a guess that their experiences were similar to ours, which only serves to encourage my overactive imagination.
Unable to back off, especially against someone like Bates, I continue to stare at him and see he’s waiting for me to do the same. Backing down would feel like I was accepting what he said, which I refuse to do. He’s a bully, and I won’t bow to bullies.
I don’t know what would have happened next, perhaps we would have been locked in a battle of wills for hours, but a figure bursts through the tent entrance, his eyes wild. It’s Syn.
Gasping, I move to step towards him, forgetting how we parted, but I force myself to stop when I remember that we’re not alone. Instead, I examine him from a distance.
He looks awful, but then I’m sure we all do. He’s also naked save for a towel that’s been thrown over him, and I don’t know what happened in the short time since we separated, but his left leg is bleeding profusely. Looking closer, I can see a large bite is the source. One of the healers hurries towards him and tries to lead him away, but he spotted me, and his eyes are locked on mine. His eyes trail over me, looking for injuries, and even though he was there when it happened, I sense the darkness settling over him when he sees my bruised jaw. However, things change very suddenly when he sees Bates, my rival, and how close he is to me.
Syn storms over, snarling loudly in warning, barely caring about his injured leg or the fact that he’s trailing blood across the tent. “Back the fuck away from her,” he orders, finally reaching us and slamming his palms against Bates’s chest. I’m sure he was just trying to get him to step back, but Syn’s blow happens to land on the other male’s wound.
Roaring with pain and anger, Bates stumbles back and wraps his arm across his chest to protect it further. His eyes flare brightly with the power of his wolf, his alpha aura filling the tent, and I can see his jaw clenching and unclenching as he tries to control his inner wolf.
A fight’s about to break out, and Scott senses it too, putting his arm out in front of me and using it to back us away, giving the two alphas room. It’s within an alpha’s nature to retaliate to a blatant attack like this, however, they are both injured and exhausted from the trial, and I honestly don’t know who would win in a fight. Bates must be wondering the same thing, because I watch him take a deep breath and release some of the tension in his body as he lets go of the breath.
That doesn’t mean the fight is over though, oh no. Instead, Bates decides to war with words.
“What’s wrong, Syn?” He tries to sound casual, like the two are friends, but it’s clear they dislike each other. His face twists as if something disgusting has just occurred to him. “You can’t tell me that you agree the little witch should live?”
Syn answers with a growl, his body poised and ready to leap forward at the first sign of aggression from the other male. He doesn’t verbalise his answer, but his response is clear from his body language and how angry he seems to be over this. Honestly, I’m surprised how violently he’s reacting to Bates’s taunt. I don’t understand this thing between us, but I can’t deny that there’s a connection of sorts. The goddess told me he was important, I just wish she’d been a little more forthcoming.
I’m obviously not the only one surprised by Syn’s reaction. Shock crosses Bates’s face. He’d meant the question as a jibe, and he never thought that he was right, that Syn would care if I died. After all, who wouldn’t want a witch to be slaughtered?
“You actually do.” Bates shakes his head in disbelief, disgust crossing his face. “What the fuck has happened to you? Didn’t you learn from your mistakes?”
My ears twitch at this piece of information. Did the death of his mate and pack happen because of a witch? It would explain the anger on his face when he first discovered me. Hehatedme, yet something has changed.
Bates had been one of the wolves to travel from pack to pack with Syn, giving out the summons for the trials. I sensed back then that Syn was apart from the others, but it’s becoming clearer that he hadn’t chosen to travel with that group and there’s no love lost between them.
