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Stone deftly stepped aside and dodged the attack, causing the Longroad shifter to stumble forward. The crowd roared as the two men continued to circle each other. The Longroad shifter kept charging Stone, trying to intimidate Stone with his sheer size.
But Stone was quick on his feet. He moved swiftly around him, looking for an opening. Suddenly, he saw it. The Longroad shifter had left his left side exposed.
Stone lunged forward and connected with a solid punch to his ribs. The Longroad shifter grunted in pain and stumbled back. He tried to regain his balance, but Stone was already upon him, delivering several quick blows to his face.
The crowd was in a frenzy as Stone pummeled him into submission. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth as Stone landed blow after blow.
The man finally turned and fled. Stone aimed a kick at his backside, sending the man reeling across the teak dancefloor. A laugh went up from the crowd, but as the man fell, he was shifting. He transformed into the wolf and whirled on Stone.
"I can't watch,” Liam muttered, but he made no move away.
Stone didn't back down, his eyes locked onto the wolf's as he slowly took a step forward. The wolf growled, baring its teeth, but Stone didn't flinch.
The two circled each other, both waiting for the other to make a move. Suddenly, the wolf lunged forward, its jaws aiming for Stone's throat.
But Stone was ready. He sidestepped the attack and delivered a swift kick to the wolf's side, sending it tumbling to the ground.
With lightning-fast reflexes, Stone was on top of the wolf, pinning it down with his knee on its chest. The wolf snarled, its eyes blazing with fury, but Stone didn't let up. He raised his fist, hammering it into the wolf's hard skull over and over. The animal let out a whine as Stone's knuckles burst open, but the wolf finally went unconscious, slamming into the ground.
“My turn,” Joshua called, stepping forward. After all, Stone looked as if he were exhausted. He was one man who had fought three wolves.
“Of course,” Stone said. “What did you do, Joshua?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Joshua said.
“You killed Louisa, didn’t you? For whatever it was you slipped in my drink. Whatever’s keeping me from shifting.” Stone gave him a disdainful look. “You’re arrogant enough to think you can lead this pack, and yet you’re not strong enough to stand on your own.”
“To stand on my own?” Joshua let out a bitter laugh. “You used magic against your own pack. Why shouldn’t your pack use magic on you?”
To my surprise, as Stone and Joshua clashed, Joshua stayed in his human form. The two of them fought back and forth.
I wouldn’t expect Joshua to have any sense of honor, even knowing how exhausted Stone must be from three back-to-back fights for his life.
And then it made sense as Joshua pulled something out of his pocket. Our eyes met just briefly and he winked at me.
He took a step forward right before he slugged Stone. For the first time, Stone staggered back. He looked unsteady on his feet for a second.
It was a trap.
“Stop!” I shouted.
Joshua was poisoning Stone with some kind of new magic.
Shaw grabbed my shoulders. His voice was low and insisted in my ear. “Amelia, I know you want to help, but none of us can help him. This is the way things are. If there was a way I could go in there for him…I’d already be there.”
“But there is,” I said. “You can’t go, but I can.”
Shaw tried to grab me, but I was already bolting out onto the dance floor. The crowd gasped as I ran to put myself between Joshua and Stone.
“According to the rules that govern challenges,” I called, “magic isn’t allowed.”
Joshua raised his hands, which were empty now. “I’m just a wolf. I don’t have any magic.”
I looked out at the crowd, and so did he. He added, “If I have any magic, it’s just fate choosing me as the alpha of this pack.”
They stared back at him. Most of the pack did appreciate Stone, despite his flaws. He tried to be fair and he tried to be a good leader and he genuinely cared about all of them.
Well, except for Joshua, probably.
