Page 69 of Fated to the Wolf Prince

“It is at High Alpha Kane’s insistence.”

She snarled and whirled back toward me, shoulders taut as a bowstring.

“You may begin!” he shouted, and she charged. There was no hesitation, not a breath of oxygen between the-inand her motion.

She was fluid and graceful, her fangs already protruding from her mouth, and I did the only thing I could think of. I charged straight back at her.

I couldn’t stay at the edge, not with her running that fast, or she’d knock me out of the ring, and I’d lose.

A second before we collided, I lowered my shoulder and grabbed for her right arm. She wasn’t expecting it, and I managed to semisuccessfully toss her over my shoulder, lessening the brunt of the impact from our bodies meeting at full speed.

She landed on her feet, though, and charged toward my exposed back before I was completely turned to face her. This time, her attack landed, and she drove me into the ground like a pile driver. There was dirt and grass in my mouth, and I had to blink back shock, but there wasn’t time.

She was trying to flip me over, expose my belly and throat, and end it.No.

Using every bit of strength I possessed, I wedged my legs between us and pushed, bucking her off me. One of her hands shifted, and I felt a searing pain as she flew free, one of her clawed hands dragging through the tender flesh of my side.

Blood was flowing freely as I staggered back to my feet, and time slowed around me as the shock kicked in. My hands felt disjointed from my body as one fluttered up and clasped my gaping flesh, the wet ooze of blood between my fingers making the gorge rise in the back of my throat.

I heard a distant howl and realized that she’d stopped tocelebratedrawing first blood, completely unafraid as she threw back her head. Fists clenched with rapture, her back was to me as members of her pack howled back, praising her.

Assuming her victory.

If I didn’t pull it together, itwouldbe her victory. The cold reality of blood loss meant I wouldn’t have much time left, if I didn’t act right now.

I spared a glance for Kane and saw his teeth were bared, fangs dripping with rage as he watched my blood begin to puddle at my feet. His alpha dominance hung so heavily in the air, the wolves around him had formed a three-foot perimeter, backing away from him on instinct, even as they watched the ring.

It didn’t choke me, though. It called to me, like a siren’s song or a lover’s caress.

The Goddess’s words echoed in my head,Your wolf knows. Let her guide you.

Help me!I cried to her, still reaching for Kane’s raw power, caressing me like his skilled fingers down my inner thigh.

Something snapped inside me, and instead of caressing me, Kane’s power, his essence, hisdominancebegan to pour into me, filling me up. It was heady and wild, urging me to fight, attack,kill the bitch.

Wound forgotten, everything around me grew sharper, crisper. I could feel her arrogance, smell the putrid stench of vanity, like rotting flowers left too long in a vase.

But none of that mattered. A red haze dropped over everything, and I attacked her unguarded back. Whether she heard me coming or someone warned her to watch her back, I couldn’t say. The world narrowed to me and her, and I could no longer see or hear anything but the pounding heart in her chest, the drumbeat of blood pulsing in her arteries.

Blood I was about to spill.

For only the second time in my life, my fangs descended in human form. My fingers were tipped with claws, and as she turned to face me, I slashed.

She caught the blow on her forearm, but my claws split her flesh like a hot knife through butter, and I caught a glimpse of white bone before she dropped it with a hiss. I didn’t stop, barreling into her like a locomotive.

She kept her feet, dancing back toward the boundary line before twisting out of my reach. I followed, pursuing her like she was fresh meat and I was a wolf starved. Iwasstarved. Starved for justice. For revenge. For my mate.

She stopped and spun, sweeping out a kick, but I leapt into the air, over her leg, and made full contact with her torso as I tackled her to the ground.

Clawed hands scrabbled underneath me, and I felt a few hot slices make it through, but my target was one thing: the throbbing pulse in her throat. Once I controlled her neck, she’d be forced to submit. Gael had shown me a way to incapacitate someone with a choke hold that would cause them to pass out, but I was on top of her, and I didn’t know how to accomplish that hold from this position.

My knees dug into her stomach, and her breath came in shallow pants as my hands closed around her bare flesh.

“Submit.” The words weren’t recognizable as mine.

She thrashed, shaking her head and trying to dislodge me, but I squeezed tighter, cutting off her air.

“Submit!” I snarled again, not giving her an inch. Not a second’s reprieve.

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