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I might have been able to heal him. For a split second, I hesitated. That would cost us the trial. That moment cost us. By the time I could’ve considered otherwise, he was gone.
Furious, I launched myself at the nearest wolf, Ian doing the same, an angry howl on his lips. They rushed us, and we dissolved into a mass of blood and fangs. A coppery scent filled the air. The room would be painted red in a matter of minutes.
I nearly killed the first shifter I reached on instinct. Doing that would’ve guaranteed me a spot back in the pits, so I had to settle for dismembering my opponent enough that her shifter healing would keep her alive, but she wouldn’t be a threat. It wasn’t quick. My back was to the table. Ian and the Wind-Blood wolves circled it, trying to keep them from getting our flag. We were sorely outnumbered, and unlike the Moon-Ghost, we weren’t a cohesive pack. We might be strong individually, but wolves work best when they know their allies.
Still, I was happier to have the four of them at my side than any of my old packmates.
Someone went for the flag and I tackled them. Another shifter piled on. His scent was familiar, even as he clawed my flank.Daphne’s father.
I didn’t want to maim her blood relatives, however worthless. I managed to fling him aside, buying me time to claw at the underbelly of the other shifter.
Ian was still facing off two others, drawing them away from the table. The other Wind-Bloods were matched one-on-one and barely holding their own. That awful starry glow came over the Moon-Ghost wolf’s eyes, turning their attacks nearly feral.
All that left was Jett, twirling the silver sword in his grip, his gaze trained firmly on me.
I’d been wounded several times over. I could heal myself with magic, but that was as good as forfeiting. If I didn’t, however, I might pass out soon.
I bared my teeth at the Moon-Ghost Alpha and growled.
“So brave for someone so weak,” Jett crooned.
I charged.
He slashed me with silver. The wound burned. I bit his leg, but thatjust gave him the opportunity to fight at my back. There was no way I would let this male ruin our chance at victory. I had people to fight for. Kingdoms to fight for. No matter how he cut me, how he attacked, I would not give up. Even if it cost my life, I would stop him.
An engine roared outside the bar.
What now?
The second of distraction cost me. Jett didn’t lose focus, continuing to attack. I had to keep him away from the flag. Had to. But without my magic, with the silver sword reaching between us, I was on the retreat. My back hit the table leg. Jett’s grin was nearly feral, his eyes promising a world of pain. If he killed me, he would not make it quick. But I wouldn’t let him. I would never let him harm me like that again. I snarled, even as it hurt to breathe, my body shaky from the blood loss.
“Get away from my wife!”
Cole flew through the broken windows, shifting into a massive black wolf that towered over the others. He slammed into Jett from behind, his claws digging deep. Jett stumbled, and I got out of his way before he fell on me. Jett turned as he fell, waving the silver blade wildly. Cole easily dodged it as a wolf, knocking his sword to the ground and crushing Jett’s wrist once more with his massive paw.
“You kill me and you go to Tartarus,” Jett snarled.
Cole shifted back, towering over the other male.
“It’s true, I can’t kill you,” Cole mused. “But I can make you wish you were dead.”
He lifted the silver blade and cut Jett’s right arm clean off. Then the left.
Jett screamed. I’d never heard a sound like that before. Pure wounded animal. No… I had heard those sounds. I hadmadethose sounds.They had been brutal to me, and I had cried. Sobbed, begged, humiliated myself asking for a shred of kindness.Thatwas what Jett sounded like.
Good, the wolfish part of me thought.He deserves it.
A cold gleam came over Cole’s face. It was no mercy to spare Jett’s life.
“You used those hands to hurt my wife. You don’t deserve them.” His voice was ice.
He lifted the blade, his fingers blistering under the silver, but Cole didn’t care. With another brutal stroke, he removed Jett’s left leg.
“You used these legs to chase her.” Another slash. Jett was little more than a stump oozing blood.
Jett kept screaming and screaming.
Then his screams turned to laughter.
