Page 59 of Cruel Mate

Jack straightened his back, dropped his hand from Zander’s shoulder, and said clearly, “You have my alpha’s oath that none of my men shall intervene. This is between you and Zander.”

Seeing the indecision remain on Christian’s face, Zander stepped in front of Jack and goaded him, “Unless you are too scared to face me?”

It was then that Zander knew he had the man right where he wanted him. He saw the over-confident flicker that passed through Christian’s eyes. The man was self-righteous, self-confident, and clearly filled with arrogance. There was no way he could turn down such a challenge.

Zander growled low in his throat as Christian squeezed his arm tight around Layla’s throat and planted a hard kiss upon her cheek. “Something to remember me by while I take care of your little boyfriend.”

Then, he shoved her hard, forcing her to her knees on the cabin of the porch.

“She stays right there or this is off!” Christian snarled, and Zander nodded acknowledgement of the condition. It didn’t matter to him where Layla was so long as she was away from him.

“Zander, please, don’t do this!” Layla protested, crawling to the edge of the porch. “He will kill you! He’s too strong.”

Zander could no longer tell whether she was pleading with him to goad Christian into over-confidence and sure failure or whether she was actually trying to warn him away from the idea. Either way, he wasn’t about to back down now. He was so close to making her safe, so close to tearing apart the asshole who had tried to take her from him. Soon, one way or another, it would all be over.

Christian strolled confidently down the porch steps. “How do you wish to do this? Human or wolf?”

Zander gulped, unsure which was better. Yes, his wolf was stronger than his human form, but that was just as true for his opponent.

Deciding that it didn’t really matter either way, Zander lifted his head and said, “You choose.”

Christian stopped a few meters away from him, met his gaze and looked thoughtful for several seconds before finally answering, “Wolf.”

Zander gulped. A shift would surely help to heal Christian a little from his wounds, but it would also sap some of his energy. Perhaps that was a good thing.

Either way, the odds were still against him.

“A countdown?” Zander asked, stepping up to face Christian, and when the man nodded, Jack stepped forward.

“Shift in three, two,” he called loudly, raising his arm between the two of them. In the final second he nodded to Zander. “One!”

Shaking off his human form, Zander dropped down onto all fours, and knowing that his opponent would simply go for using his sheer strength and speed, he immediately dodged left. Narrowly, he avoided the snapping jaws that closed right beside his ear.

The sound ringing in his ear, he whipped around to face Christian again, lashing out with a paw. His claws barely scraped through the fur of the alpha’s tail before Christian spun to face him once more.

They danced around each other for several minutes like this, their blows narrowly missing each other or just grazing the flesh.

Zander’s cheek stung from a claw that had connected just enough to draw blood, and he snarled. When he managed to land a blow of his own to Christian’s ear, he couldn’t help but notice that Christian’s shift had indeed helped him to heal a little. Though his eye was still bloody, he could see the eyeball itself beginning to grow back. It wouldn’t be long before he had his full vision back again. He had little time to use the injury to his advantage, so he aimed every blow he could at the wounded side, charging at Christian to knock him flying with his shoulder.

The attack was well aimed, and Christian was knocked away, landing awkwardly on his side with his bad eye turned towards the sky.

In an instant, Zander was on top of him, pinning him to the ground. But it seemed that the shift hadn’t sapped as much of Christian’s strength and energy as Zander had hoped. Christian rolled, grabbing Zander’s fur as he went to drag him down with him.

Almost like a crocodile, he rolled and rolled until Zander found himself pinned beneath the heavy weight of the large, dark-furred wolf.

Pain shot through him as Christian tore his fur out of his chest with a strong yank of his head. In the seconds it took the other wolf to spit out the mouthful of fur, Zander clawed at his opponent’s underbelly, but the attack barely made the other wolf flinch. His fur was far too thick, almost like soft, fluffy armor that caused his claws to glance harmlessly off his flesh.

“No!” Layla screamed, and Zander’s heart hammered when he realized what was coming. Christian aimed his fangs right at his throat. Clearly, Layla had seen the move before, and Zander just barely managed to turn his head enough to avoid the other wolf’s grabbing his windpipe.

“Stop her!” Jack yelled, and out of the corner of his eye, Zander saw Layla darting down the porch steps toward them.

Seeing her running right into harm’s way gave Zander the strength he needed to fight through the pain and pull his neck free of his opponent’s grip, forcing himself to roll, dragging Christian with him. The wolf’s fangs were torn from his neck, and the taste of blood filled his mouth.

It was a dangerous wound, one he could feel sapping his strength. But as he saw Kane and Eddie holding Layla back, he knew he couldn’t give up. He could feel her terror, her concern, her love. And sickeningly, he imagined what it would be like never to hold her again, never to kiss her lips or make love to her.

Knowing that if he died here in this clearing, she would have no choice but to go with Christian—Jack was truly a man of his word—there was no way he could lose this battle. The consequences were too much to bear.

And so he fought on. He rolled and rolled until he managed to get a solid grip on his opponent, his teeth meeting in Christian’s throat fur.

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