As they spoke, Stella walked up to me. She hadn’t been back to the cabin all day, and she looked just as exhausted as she had last night. “I think I managed to talk some sense into them,” she said wearily, running her fingers through her long, dark hair.
“I’m sure you did great. People listen to you.” I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. For years, Stella had been playing the role of alpha female, even though she'd never asked for such a role.
“He’ll be fine,” Stella said as she watched Kaden, almost like she was convincing herself instead of me. “He’s the best fighter we have.”
“I’ve never seen him lose a fight,” I added. “Back when we were looking for the Cancer pack, we took down several Taurus wolves. Most of them were his kills.”
Stella nodded and clenched her jaw while Clayton, who was officiating the challenge, stepped forward and called for silence. It fell immediately, and it was startling how quickly things went from lively to quiet.
“State your intentions,” Clayton said and stepped back.
Tanner moved to the center of the circle. "I challenge Kaden for the right to be the alpha of the Ophiuchus pack."
“I accept your challenge,” Kaden said as he stepped into position, facing Tanner down. He sounded unbothered, and he stood with his hands loose at his sides.
Tanner, however, looked like he was on edge. His eyes darted around the clearing. The feeling of unease crept back up and my fingers tightened around Stella's.
“Do you both agree to fight without weapons until the death, or until one concedes?” Clayton asked, and both Tanner and Kaden gave their verbal consent.
“And none of your moon magic either,” Tanner said.
Kaden bowed his head. "Fair enough."
Clayton nodded. “Begin.”
At first, the two male shifters just circled each other, not daring to look away. Tanner was the one to throw the first punch, with a loud roar of defiance. Kaden sidestepped it calmly, and I realized Tanner was angry as hell. That alone would give Kaden an edge.
Kaden threw the next punch, but Tanner managed to sidestep it as well, and I watched Kaden correct for the momentum. The next punch from Tanner connected with Kaden’s side, and I sucked in a breath as Kaden turned away. His teeth were bared, and I knew that it had hurt. Kaden followed up with a series of brutal, quick punches.
He wasn’t playing around any longer. I saw the shift go from wary to deadly serious. Tanner huffed out a breath as one of Kaden’s hits connected, and then he followed up with another one, not letting Tanner recover.
Tanner stepped back, lips drawn back in a snarl of his own, and then he shifted into a large gray wolf. He lunged at Kaden and I flinched, but I’d forgotten Kaden could shift in the blink of an eye. His large black wolf appeared instantly, and he met Tanner, blow for blow.
They rolled around in the dirt, a flurry of teeth and claws and fur. The crowd was completely silent as they watched, as if all of us were holding our breaths, waiting to see what would happen next.
There was a yelp, and when the two males parted, Kaden’s muzzle was bloody, and it was Tanner who was limping backward. The tang of blood hit the air, and I scrunched up my nose. It was almost too much, grating on my already over-exposed nerves.
The two shifters attacked each other again, and it was clear as time went on that Kaden had the upper hand. He was a better fighter, and their wolves were equal in size, but Kaden was faster. Kaden had Tanner pinned, and another yelp emanated from the two fighting shifters.
A sudden movement caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. A pretty brunette female broke free of the crowd, looking at the fight with obvious malice in her gaze. She paced back and forth a few times along the edge of the circle, obviously agitated.
“That’s Lindsey,” Stella said quietly. “Tanner’s mate.”
Lindsey ripped off her dress and shifted into a brown wolf. She was smaller than the two wolves tussling on the ground, but it didn’t matter. Kaden’s back was to her, and she looked like she was getting ready to attack him. Her muscles bunched as she readied herself to leap, and I made a split-second decision.
Fuck no, I thought, and let go of Stella’s hand. I wasn’t going to let Tanner’s mate mess this up, not when Kaden was fighting fair and square. As she lunged forward, fangs bared, I began shifting without even stripping out of my clothes. My white wolf body slammed into Lindsey’s before I even had time to fully comprehend that I was completely shifted. I'd never done it so fast before, but then again, I'd never been fighting to protect my alpha before. My mate.