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Jonah looked down at the ground, feigning disappointment. “Well, that’s a shame,” he said. “I suppose that means the current duel is forfeit, and we’re free to engage your pack with hostility.”
“Yousnake!” Jude cried.
Delilah could see a twisted smile creep up along Jonah’s mouth.Just ignore him, Delilah’s mind screamed.There’s no reason to fight him now! Don’t be stupid!
“Can I count on your participation?” Jonah asked.
“I’m going to end your little pack, once and for all!” Jude said, with an animosity Delilah had never before heard from him. “You want to bury yourself with the old ways? Fine. We’ll bury you with the old ways.”
“Fantastic,” Jonah said, in a singsongy voice before nodding at Travers.
Was this a strategic play? Was the whole point of this really just to unsettle the duel between Graham and Travers?
Delilah could hardly watch as now Jude was drawn into the conflict. She could see Samson, Sarah, and Dakota now approaching from the teahouse, left to watch the pack by default as its enforcers.
“This is getting ridiculous!” Miranda hissed. “That can’t be legal by pack laws!”
“Still think we can’t do anything?” Delilah asked.
Miranda glanced back at her. “No, Delilah,” she said. “You need to sit back. You cannot interfere.”
“So you keep saying,” Delilah replied.
“Look. I’ve been exactly where you are, like I keep telling you, and I’m not going to let my friend throw her life away, endangering the pack in the process.” Delilah scoffed, but Miranda continued, “I know how scary this is. But—”
“You don’t, though,” Delilah said. “You’ve never watched a man you love endanger his own life for the sake of laws that don’t care about you. Picture that, twice over, and you might know what I’m going through!”
Miranda grew quiet, returning to watching the scene unfolding before her eyes. “If you go in, I’m going to stop you,” Miranda muttered.
Delilah felt a small pang of guilt as she had made Miranda—her biggest advocate and best friend—angry. In a world where everything worked out, and Jude and Graham both triumphed, maybe Miranda would forgive her.
She wondered how she had arrived at this point. What had she ever seen in Clark, the distant figure whose stare had never left her and who was now eyeing her as prey? He had been possessive, domineering, and self-involved. This was not a man, not even a wolf. This was a monster.
Her eyes returned to the conflict playing out in front of her. As neither Jude nor Jonah had moved, she could see Graham looking sideways at the new combatants, looking irritated. She couldn’t tell if he was more upset at Jonah for challenging him or Jude for agreeing to the terms of the battle.
“I’m sorry, Miranda,” Delilah said.
“It’s okay, Del. You know it is,” Miranda replied. “I keep trying to understand what you’re going through, but I’ve got no idea.”
“You’re the only one who understands,” Delilah said, smiling grimly.
Miranda nodded and then returned to watching the fights. It had seemed so long since the fight between Graham and Travers had started, and Delilah and Miranda were both sitting ducks.
She was wrong before. This was nothing like a sporting event. This was a brutal spectacle that would result in lost lives, no matter who won.
Chapter 31
Jude
HadJudebeenstupidfor accepting the terms of this duel? Jude looked from Graham, whose face expressed obvious disapproval, to Jonah, whose face was contorted into something far more sinister than he’d ever seen.
Jude wasn’t fighting the collected, albeit stubborn, cruel, and outdated figure he’d seen Graham speaking with on numerous occasions. This was a demon of a man. To think that such brazen cruelty—such entitled selfishness and callous disregard—had been lurking just beneath the surface this entire time?
Jude was bewildered.
He looked back at Delilah, and this cemented the wrongness of his decision. Not only was the cruel, sneering juvenile she had broken up with staring back at her, she was staring at him, in betrayal, helplessness, and disbelief.
Jude had abandoned his pride for the sake of an ego fight, or as Jonah might call it, an “honor round.”
