My grip on Fiona’s fingers tightened, the simple touch the only thing keeping me upright as I swayed on my feet. A strong grip on my shoulder had me blinking upward to see it was Elodie who had bolstered me.
“He’s going to be fine. He’s a good male, underneath all his cheeky bravado. Remember that,” she whispered, giving my shoulder a supportive squeeze but not letting go.
Within minutes, the sound of earsplitting squeals and racing hooves dragged our attention toward the other half of the plaza, where Flantian ran, dodging branches with acrobatic ease, spear in hand, a ferocious determination in the set of his jaws, the flat look in his eyes.
He was a man resigned to a gory, brutal death, and I didn’t know how I’d ever missed it now that I knew. The cameras didn’t show the infernabists yet, and my anxiety swelled yet again at the amount of noise they were making.
I turned away, unable to bear another second of staring at Flantian’s doomed expression.
When I blinked back up at the screen, Lucien’s wolf was on his feet, staring intently to where I was sure he could hear the oncoming herd. And a moment later, I almost lost my lunch at the sight that unfolded above me.
The most horrifying beings I’d ever seen scrambled into view, their stubby legs churning up the earth, their rotten, charred-looking flesh something out of a zombie film or a horror flick. But still, I couldn’t look away as Lucien tensed, waited, poised to join the hunt. He let Flantian gallop past and then fell in, waiting for his chance.
He didn’t have to wait long. Flantian threw his useless spear, startling the herd into splitting, and then the champions were separated again. I watched, barely breathing, as Lucien chased his foul prey through the deep shadows of the forest.
Wolf shifters-especially alphas, like Lucien-were no small creatures. But the pig beast towered over him, at least half as tall again and nearly twice as wide. His great bulk alone was a danger, let alone the wicked spines on his front legs or his evil curved and crossed tusks.
I didn’t know how much time had passed as we watched, all clutching each other as if our pack mates were life rafts, the only thing to cling to in a sea of uncertainty. The wind picked up and began to gust, and when I spared a glance for Fiona, I saw her eyes had gone amber. The skin around them was dark blue as she fought for control of her djinn side.
“Easy, Stormy.” Reed’s murmur was the only sound on the viewing platform now, as we were held captive, victims to the hunt in our own way.
A pained scream tore itself from the crowd behind us, the sick crunch of bone telling me the sacrifice had begun. But I couldn’t see Flantian anywhere on Lucien’s screen. It was only the infernabist, and I watched, rapt, as Lucien’s wolf leapt gracefully atop the giant creature’s back, fangs sinking into its thick neck like a hot knife through butter.
And that was when I saw Flantian. The corner of the camera caught him in the clearing, losing against his own demon pig. Blood soaked into the ground, one of his beautiful chestnut legs bent at an awful angle.
I couldn’t bear to look, but I also couldn’t stand to look away. They were both in grave danger, and there wasn’t a damn fucking thing I could do about it.
“Please, please, please,” I whispered, on the verge of tears as I watched it unfold. Lucien took down his beast, executing a clean jump away before the beast could crush him with its excessive bulk as it fell.
I knew the moment Lucien spotted Flantian, wounded and under attack. He had no time and a terrible decision to make.
Lucien’s head turned back toward his prey, and then, he was airborne.
Not toward his fallen beast, but toward Flantian’s, which was charging in to take another chunk out of Flantian’s flank, now that his abdomen was bleeding like his skin was a sieve.
Lucien’s attack startled the beast, and it squealed, trying and succeeding to shake him off, since the angle wasn’t as good as Lucien’s first attack had been. Lucien flew sideways, crashing hard into the twisted trunk of a tree.
But rather than follow, the startled infernabist charged toward a cave across the clearing, its stunned counterpart doing the same a moment later, leaving the two challengers alone.
Lucien shook himself hard, staggering back to his feet as if winded, and limped over to Flantian’s side. A moment later, his fur receded, and a very naked Lucien loomed over the downed centaur, dropping to his knees to apply pressure to his wound.
“Do you have a way to call for help?” he asked, and I nearly wept with relief.
He was alive, and he was passing the test. But on top of that, vibrant red marks curled over his side, disappearing around to the front of his chest. I knew without a doubt that they matched the lines on my own side. I let my eyes rove over his masculine beauty, enjoying every splash of color now painted over his chiseled physique. They made him look even more fierce, and as his eyes glowed soft orange with his wolf, he looked like a wild man from a fairy tale.
Lucien had gotten his mate marks.
Lucien
Iheld my hands over Flantian’s gaping stomach wound, distressed as his blood continued to ooze between my fingers. He groaned at the contact, taunting me even as he lay dying.
“You’re an idiot. Isn’t this important to your people? If your species is dying-” His words cut off on a vicious cough, blood gathering at the corners of his lips as his shoulders hunched with the force of it.
The blood between my fingers oozed faster, and I gritted my teeth as I pressed tighter, leaned in with my forearms to stanch more blood.
It felt hopeless, but fuck me if I was going to lie down and let him die.
He wheezed, laying his head back against his arm as if he were too exhausted to continue holding it up, but still, he taunted me. “-f your blessed Moon Goddess is depending on your sorry ass to save her daughters, shouldn’t you… be… hunting?”
“Moon Goddess save me from assholes like you,” I muttered under my breath. “I didn’t know it was possible to be so sarcastic on one’s dying breath, but if you’d shut up while I’m trying to save your sadistic hide, I’d appreciate it.”
The bastard just laughed, sending a thin trickle of blood spilling down his chin as I scowled at him.
He was sickly pale, and I knew he didn’t have long, my paltry attempts at stanching the wound ineffective for the amount of damage the infernabist had done to his insides.
Shit.
Starting to get desperate, I leaned my head back and bellowed at the top of my lungs. “Somebody help us! He’s wounded!”
The sound of pounding hooves came not a moment later, and my shoulders nearly sagged with relief, but I couldn’t move-he’d certainly bleed out if I did.
To my surprise, when I spotted the charging herd of centaurs heading our way, an older, gray-haired female led the pack, a furious expression deepening the lines on her weathered but still beautiful face.
“Flantian! You stupid, smug fool!”
The male beneath me grimaced. “Mother… You knew what I had to do.”
More Kickass Werewolf Reads
Dive into our collection of free werewolf romance novels—where fierce Alphas, daring heroines, and heart-stopping twists await. Every story burns with forbidden desire, loyalty, and destiny. Don’t wait—here’s a world where love bites hard and nothing is stronger than the call of the mate.
Leave a Reply