Page 76 of Cursed Wolf

Stepping outside the hut, beyond the small yard are trees and more homes. By the looks of it, there are people over there, but it’s hard to tell with all the woodland, which I hope also means they can’t see us clearly.

Hooting and shouting come from the front of the house, and it kills me to be running from my men when they are doing everything to protect me.

My breaths coming hard, with my hand in Stone’s, we sprint along the back of the huts. Heartbeat in my ears, my mind is too blurry to come up with an alternate plan to go back for my men. The feeling I’ll regret this day stabs at the back of my mind.

A bitter breeze whistles past us. Reaching the last home in the long line, we pause to catch our breaths. Stone peers around the corner, then snaps back just as fast.

“Fuck,” he mutters under his breath. “Fuck. Fuck.”

“What’s going on?”

“Martell’s men have snuck out of the compound and are climbing back in over the corner where we were going to escape, but that’s not the worst.” Shadows whip under his gaze. “This is what I was about with the plan, but it wasn’t as if we had many options. Maybe Ragnar realized the risk.”

“What are you talking about?”

He turns to me, a hardness stiffening his face.

“These warriors are going to get behind Ragnar and surround them. I knew that fucking turd, Martell, would never play fairly.”

I fumble with his explanation as he’s talking fast and in a hushed voice.

“His men are going to attack my men if they look like they’re winning? Of course, he would.” A coldness slices through me that Ragnar knew this all along. He’d never make such a mistake.

“My guess is he’s hoping the local pack will assist him, but I don’t know if they will.” Stone swallows hard, as wrecked as I feel.

“We can’t leave them! You know deep in your heart we’re leaving them to their deaths if they are surrounded.”

His shoulders bunch up.

“I’m no longer the scared girl. I’m not running! Fuck, Martell. We’re a team, and our family needs us.”

Stone licks his teeth, and I know he’s thinking the same thing. His gaze suddenly snaps back down to me.

“Ragnar will be pissed at us, but I’m with you. Leaving is a massive mistake.”

“I don’t care as long as we save their asses.” I grin, and Stone steals a quick kiss.

“Let’s be their backup.”

No more words are needed.

We move like wildfire the way we’d come, and the urgency to be there for my men replaces the fear. Darting between two homes, we come up on the commotion. There are enough gaps between the people standing around for us to see what the hell’s going on.

It’s hard to work out what I see as the Alphas move with unimaginable speed.

Nikos is suddenly tossed across the ground, and the air is expelled from his lungs. Bruised and bleeding, smears of crimson streak his clothes and his face. He’s beaten, and when I see the barbarian stomping toward him, looming over the man I love and grinning, my heart’s about to give out.

He raises a fist just as Crius lunges onto his back, punching his head. Looping an arm around his throat, he snaps his neck. The sound echoes in the air, and the man drops to his knees. Crius jumps back as his opponent falls face first to the dirt.

Nikos gets to his feet just as Martell barrels into him, bringing him down with force. Nikos throws himself onto Martell, and before I know it, there’s a mountain of men battling in a tangled mess.

My head pulses with pain, and with it comes the flow of power that tingles through me.

“Not yet,” Stone whispers harshly, his hand on my shoulder.

“Why the hell not?” I snap, jerking my head to look up at him.

“If we interrupt the challenge, Martell automatically wins.”

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