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“Too little too late.” I stifled a yawn, feigning boredom with our conversation and rolled to my side; essentially giving him my back. “Talia and I are overdue for the rendezvous point. They’re closing in on you.”
“Did you pass a lot of cell towers on your way through Deadhorse?” It was Bjorn’s turn to laugh, but his amusement was genuine and at my expense. “As for satellites, well, if they’re even turned toward Prudhoe you can bet it’s on the oil fields. They don’t give a shit what happens out here unless we mess with the refineries or the icebergs. Ironic, since one destroys the other, but that’s the way of bureaucracy, isn’t it? Sort of like the alliance. They don’t give a shit about you, an active member, anymore than they do a disenfranchised alpha like me.”
“I guess we’ll find out together, won’t we?” I replied with far more confidence than I felt.
There was a tracking device in my pack. I had no way of knowing if they’d brought my backpack or if it was back at the boarding house in Deadhorse. If it was, Bjorn’s story about us disappearing in the Alaskan wild had a slim chance of playing out.
And slim was better than none.
Hell, it was better than my chances of getting out of my cage alive.
“Maybe.” Bjorn ran his hand over his beard, smoothing the coarse silver hairs. “Or maybe you’ll die in battle after all. You want to challenge me for alpha? Prove you’re worthy enough to stand in a ring with me.”
“I’m an alpha. That’s the only proof you need.”
It seemed Bjorn had forgotten my status. So I made a point of reminding him.
“I’m familiar with your pack, Galen Long Claw and how you came to be alpha. You inherited your position; unchallenged by anyone in your community. Your wolves are weak. They gave you control without even questioning your authority and look at you now. Locked in a cage.”
“Then let me out. We’ll see how long you last in a fair fight.” I adjusted my position, turned to face him and met his gaze with the full force of my wolf’s eyes.
Bjorn punched a code into the keypad and unlocked the door to my crate. He stood, dusted off his pants and stepped back just enough for me to crawl out into the aisle. The alpha pressed the sole of his boot against my back and held me down.
“Get him cleaned up and bring him to the training facility.” Bjorn removed his foot from my spine and walked down the aisle toward the exit. “No excessive force unless absolutely necessary. I want him at his best when he enters the ring.”
Bjorn’s guards reached under my arms, lifted me off the floor and dragged me off to the showers. The hot water soothed my aching muscles. I stayed under the spray until the water ran cold and the pink tinge turned clear as it disappeared down the drain.
I slipped on the basic gray sweatpants, pulling the drawstring tight around my waist and stepped into a pair of fur lined boots. One of the guards finished outfitting me with a black sweatshirt, heavy coat and gloves.
“Let’s go, Long Claw.” He hiked up the hem of his coat, revealing a nine millimeter handgun holstered to his side. “You know the drill and what kind of ammo we’re packing. So, just make this easy on all of us, all right?”
I nodded my agreement and followed them out of the kennel, across the main road of the encampment and into their training facility.
It was a large metal prefab building that I estimated to be around four thousand square feet, and most likely the largest building in the Deofol camp. There were several pieces of workout equipment pushed against the back wall and portable risers set up around a section of the floor covered with tumbling mats.
The guards shoved me forward, pushing me in the direction of the makeshift fighting ring where their alpha waited with his arms folded over his chest and a smirk on his face.
A large fluorescent light hung from an exposed metal beam that ran along the ceiling to shine a spotlight over the fighting area. A stool, metal bucket, white terry cloth towels and a water bottle had been placed on either end of the mats. One for each fighter.
People trickled in and filled the tiered bench seats that surrounded the mats. I scanned the crowd for Talia, but her face wasn’t among those peering down at me from the stands. Part of me hoped she wouldn’t come. She’d seen enough violence. The other part would have killed for just a glimpse of her.
Bjorn pinched his thumb and forefinger together, stuck them in his mouth and let out an ear piercing whistle. His pack fell silent, hanging on their alpha’s every word.
“It’s been an exciting day for the Deofol pack.” He flicked his gaze to me, his lips curled back in a deviant smile, and I knew the excitement he mentioned had something to do with Talia. “But the festivities are far from over.”
He raised his arms above his head and the crowd cheered and quieted again when he lowered them back down at his side.
“You all recognize the Long Claw alpha. He has laid down a challenge for this pack and the demon wolf god’s betrothed.” Bjorn paused for the boos and jeers from his loyal subjects. “But first he must prove his worth. Who among us is willing to put this wolf to the test?”
“I will.” A massive hulk of a man who looked more like a descendent of cave trolls than any werewolf I’d ever seen, stood with his hand raised.
“Yosef of the Bone Clan.” Bjorn acknowledged the contender in the crowd and welcomed him to the opposite side of the mats from me. “Take your place in the ring.”
“The Blood Clan is willing.” A second man, half the size of Yosef but no less formidable based on his muscle mass, stepped down from the risers and stood in line.
“Choose your opponent.” Bjorn motioned between the two men. “You must defeat them both in hand to hand combat before the Deofol pack will accept your challenge for alpha.”
“Yosef.” I jerked my head in the direction of the larger wolf.
