Page 39 of Stargazer

He looked at me mischievously.

I knew his game. He was taunting him, using his sarcasm and condescension to push all of River’s buttons. Not to mention Zander's. The Beta was almost vibrating with the anger he was working hard to restrain.

Knowing Griff, he was probably also punishing them on my behalf, while having his fun.

Riv pulled himself away from Griffin, deciding not to deign him with a response. He walked up to me instead. “It’s okay, Vee.” Seeming to have fully calmed, he put his arm on my lower back and gently led me towards the Jeep. “Let’s get the stuff from the car.”

I nodded and Zander walked up to us, silently offering his help too but not before glaring back at Griff. The others still hadn’t resumed their various forms of training but they tried to look busy now.

“Aww don’t go, Zander. I can feel you checking me out from here. I know you want a piece of this,” Griffin drawled and then lazily stuck his hand out, gesturing for Zan to come at him.

Zander growled, no longer able to hold in his rage. But he quickly glanced at his Alpha for approval.

River nodded at him and I saw Zander’s eyes glaze over as they passed a silent message between them.

I stilled, fear coating me all over again.

But Riv gently reassured me. “Don’t worry, it’s just for training. Zander won’t take it further, even if he wants to. Skylar and the others will cut in if they need to. We’ll be back in a few minutes. Let them get it out of their system in a healthy way. They need this more than me.”

“Are … are you sure that they won’t hurt each other?” I stumbled out.

“Not too badly at least. They can handle it.” He gently pushed me further along. “The wolves have their command from me. It’ll be okay, Vee.”

“What if Griff—”

River didn’t let me finish. “It won’t take us long to bring the stuff back, I’ll get Dalton and Koda to help us so we can get it done quicker. Zander is strong enough to last a few minutes, and if Griff is getting a bit too riled up, I’m sure he’ll listen to you when we return.”

I had stopped to look back and River gently cupped my face, letting his warmth ease my nerves and calm me down. I wasn’t so sure about his proclamation that Griffin would listen to me, but I trusted Riv. I could see how sure he was, and it settled me enough to convince me to leave them to it. They’d both dealt with way worse. Maybe River was right and they needed this. Pride at the fact that he didn’t swelled in my chest.

I did everything I could to hurry along the process of unpacking the equipment, anticipation at making sure I could confirm that the two hotheads hadn’t killed each other gnawing at me with every passing second.

With Dalton and Koda’s help, the four of us only needed to make one trip and I was relieved to find both idiots alive but still going at each other.

They used no weapons, choosing hand-to-hand combat instead.

Everyone had stopped to watch, forming a haphazard fight circle around them, some of the wolves sitting while others stood. All of them had their eyes trained on the pair.

They threw jab after jab at each other, Zander coming at Griff again and again like a force to be reckoned with. But Griff effortlessly ducked and dodged, seeming to go with the option that would tire the Beta out.

While Zander was less strategic, his supernatural strength paired with his muscular build kept him in the game. He’d clearly been well-practised when it came to recreational boxing and I’d witnessed him train on occasion. But Griff had all those techniques and many, many more—as well as his hunter powers, which always kept him one step ahead of Zander. I mean, he was literally made to fight these creatures … and it showed.

A less stubborn and energetic wolf might not have held up this long, but no matter how many times Griff seemed to get Zander on the ground, he picked himself back up with such speed that Griffin hardly had a chance to land a blow. For once, the Gray heir did not look bored. He seemed … enthralled.

At first glance, to any unassuming spectator, the Beta would look like he’d be the obvious winner based on his sheer size in comparison to Griff. The Knight was proving that wasn’t the case. Not that Griffin was small by any means. He was taller than River, with muscles I didn’t even know existed so defined and chiselled that I’d wondered if he’d drawn them on. But he didn’t have the burly, bulky build that River and Zander did.

Regardless, the Knight had the poor shifter in constant dead locks and used an array of feints to block essentially all of the attacks against him until Zander was puffed and slowing. But just when Griff was getting cocky that he’d worn the wolf down, Zander used a final burst of energy, aiming right at Griffin’s jaw.

He saw it just in time, ducking enough that the blow scraped his chin instead of breaking the bone and knocking him down like intended. Once Zander’s hand was extended past his jaw, Griff ducked low, aiming a hunter-powered punch at full strength to the Beta’s gut. When Zander was bent over in pain, Griff angled himself somewhat under him, grabbed his arm and stepped in front, before pushing himself backwards, simultaneously flipping the giant male over his shoulder and to the ground.

Zander landed with a loud thud.

Griff was over him in a second, his shin on his chest pinning him down as he dealt him the blow that Zander had missed; full, and powerful, and directly to his jaw with a sickening crack.

“Zander!” I cried. But River held me back, ducking his face down to my ear. “He’ll heal quickly, Vee. It’s alright,” he breathed out.

With Griffin still above Zander, I prepared for all hell to break loose and for Zan to lose his shit.

But instead, he laughed.

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