Axil sat on his throne, high above the fighting ring, as I looked my brother in the eyes. I trusted him to get me through this and he always had sage advice, so I prepared myself to absorb whatever he was going to say now.
“You smell like him,” my brother said and looked up at the king.
I stiffened at his words, blushing and then kicking myself for not bathing after bedding Axil.
That was not what I’d expected Cyrus to say.
Leaning into me, my brother whispered, “Use that. Get in Ivanna’s head that you’ve already won the king.”
Then he pulled back and I swallowed hard, giving him a curt nod. Mind games. His specialty. Instead of taunting her about sleeping with her coach, I was going to flaunt who I was bedding. What could go wrong?
Eliza’s coach reached out and placed a hand on both Eliza’s and my shoulders, bringing us closer together. “Use your pack link and the fact that Eliza is the biggest wolf here.”
We both nodded: it had always been our strategy to use Eliza’s large-sized wolf. Her size was a great asset.
I turned to Eliza. “Do you drink mead?”
She frowned, looking confused. “Not really. I’m more of a glass of wine girl … when appropriate of course.”
I grinned. She was adorable and so proper. “Tonight, after we win, we get so drunk we forget our names,” I told her.
Her coach clicked his tongue in disapproval at my words.
That caused a smile to rise on Eliza’s lips and I watched as her anxiety fled. “Deal.”
We were ready.
I stepped into the ring, taking the sword that the advisor offered. I would not be stupid this time and decline a weapon. Not against Ivanna. He offered one to the opposing team and Ivanna picked it up. It looked like we had a similar strategy. We would stay human and protect our partner while they shifted to wolf form.
The bell hadn’t rung yet, but I hefted the weight of the blade in my hands, not daring to look at Axil for fear of losing my concentration. I wouldn’t allow my mind to waver, I had to be ruthless and unforgiving until these two women were either dead at my feet or on their knees crying forfeit.
The advisor raised his hand to quiet the crowd. “This fight must start human, only one partner can use the weapon and only one partner can shift into wolf form. This includes partial shifting.” He looked at Ivanna and me.
We both nodded and Ivanna stepped closer to me, her nostrils flaring as she seemed to take in my scent. Her gaze flicked to Axil and then back to me and she growled.
I fake yawned. “I’m so tired. Last night was pretty wild.” I chose that moment to look at Axil and wink and then the bell rang.
I barely had time to look back at Ivanna and she was advancing on me with a battle cry. I did something insane then, something to put myself at risk but make sure we won this. Cranking my arm back, I chucked the sword right at Ivanna’s partner Charlize as she attempted to change into her wolf form. The blade left my fingers and sank into the girl’s chest, knocking her backwards onto the ground.
She instantly bled out, sword sticking out of her chest. A death blow.
We were halfway there.
The assembled wolves went wild at my bold move.
There was no time to celebrate. I was unarmed now, Eliza was mid-shift behind me, and Ivanna was full of rage intent on driving that steel into my neck. I barely ducked out of the way as the blade whooshed over my head. I dove into Ivanna’s abdomen, taking her to the ground and praying she would drop the sword in the process.
She didn’t. We crashed onto the hard dirt and then she took the butt of the weapon and smashed it into my back repeatedly. Agony exploded across my back as I fought to pin her arms down but she was like a wild beast, thrashing down on me from all angles.
Hurry up, Eliza!
Rearing my head back, I slammed my forehead into Ivanna’s and she cried out in pain as the crowd roared their approval. Suddenly Ivanna’s hips thrust upward so hard that I was thrown off her and onto my side.
I hit the solid ground and then Ivanna tried to pull the sword up between us. Reaching out, I grabbed a handful of fine dirt and threw it right in her face. She coughed and sputtered and then I scrambled to get up to my feet.
Eliza ran to my side in her giant wolf form and I nearly sighed in relief.
Ivanna stood before us, holding her sword aloft and blinking her eyes rapidly to clear the dirt.
Eliza gave me a warning yip but I had already seen Ivanna making her move and turned in that direction.
She was headed right for me with the sword held out, and I knew I’d have to get a little injured so that Eliza could finish her. I’d worked through hundreds of battle scenarios over the years with my brother. We’d run drills since I was a young pup. I was made for this. But this scenario, being stuck in human form with someone coming at you with a blade when you were unarmed, was the worst.
Control where your opponent hurts you. My brother’s advice came back to me as if floating on a memory cloud.
This was going to hurt but I had no choice. Reaching out with my hands, I grasped the blade with my fingers and squeezed as hard as possible to stop the weapon from goring my stomach. The crowd gasped, and even Axil’s voice was among them. Red-hot pain flared to life between my fingers and I couldn’t help the wail of agony that ripped from my throat. My wolf wanted freedom but I had to suppress her as per the fight rules. My natural instinct was to let go of the blade and end the misery, but I forced myself to hold onto it in an effort to keep my guts in my stomach.
I held Ivanna’s murderous gaze as she screamed in my face, pushing the hilt of the blade with all her might. When Eliza’s shadow passed over Ivanna, her face went slack and I looked away as Eliza took Ivanna’s head into her giant jaws and ripped it from her body.
Her skull hit the ground with a thud and Ivanna’s body stayed standing for a moment, which horrified me.
I dropped the blade, my bloody hands shaking as her legs finally crumpled and her body fell to the floor.
The way of our people was something that had gone on for centuries, it was raw, animalistic and instinctual but that didn’t mean I wasn’t traumatized by it.
I looked at Eliza, the blood staining her mouth, and read the horror in her expression. We’d survived but we would never be the same after this.
All the mead in the realm wouldn’t wipe that memory from our minds but I was sure as Hades going to try. The crowd was chanting our names, and then Cyrus was there with clean linens on my hands while Eliza shifted to human form. I flinched as he patched me up, pressing down flaps of skin over my palms that had been cut. Then I moved my gaze to Axil. There was pride in his eyes but it was mixed with something else.
Fear.
What was he scared of? Our next fight would be hard with me injured but I heard the girls were near dead so it wasn’t going to be that difficult.
Axil cleared his throat to make an announcement and the wolves quieted.
“The third team that made it back from the dead lands and was supposed to fight the winners has fled to Cinder Mountain, forfeiting—”
Boos filled the space and a shock ran through me.
“They are now outcasts and will be torn apart if they ever return. That makes Eliza and Zara our final two champions.”
I knew now why he looked fearful.
Nausea roiled through me as I came to the realization that my next fight would be against her. My pack sister.