Page 45 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

The two of them should have looked thoroughly chastised—and Sven did—but Karl’s chin was lifted defiantly, and that was all I needed to see.

“I’ll be handling the challenge myself, Cristian, but I’ll happily accept Sergei as my second.” I clapped the elderly butler on the shoulder, nodded to Sergei, and turned to Leigh.

Her anger seemed to have fizzled some, her posture more nervous now that we were standing beside a training ring as she chewed on her bottom lip.

“Can I kiss you?” I leaned in and murmured the question as I traced the back of her hand with my thumb. I asked it lightly, but her answer felt more life-and-death than this challenge I was about to execute. This thing between us was so fragile, and it felt like the whole shebang hung on the answer falling from her lips.

“I should say no,” she said, squinting at me briefly before her posture softened. “But I’m going to say yes and hope that you’ve got a damn good reason for this.”

I grinned at that and took my time skating my hands up her arms to cup her jaw. “I do, and I’ll tell you everything after. Just remember… from time to time, it’s necessary to teach a lesson so that people respect the pack order.”

“Uh-huh, sure.” She rolled her eyes—always ready with some small defiance, my mate—but didn’t pull back as I lowered my lips to hers, right in front of our friends and the waiting crowd. I kept it firm, but PG. It was a claim beingstaked, if ever there was one. But also, I wasn’t ready to put on a show. It wasn’t only fragile—our bond was precious.

It wasn’t for their eyes—just me and Leigh.

When I pulled back, there was a hungry heat burning in her that I couldn’t wait to explore. It was a crime to get interrupted before I’d gotten to taste her again.

But duty called, so I released her reluctantly after pressing another soft kiss to her forehead. Rolling my shoulders a few times to loosen up, I stepped into the ring.

TWENTY-THREE

Leigh

My heart pounded and my palms were a little sweaty as I watched Gael kick off his shoes and step into the ring. I’d seen him coach Shay, yes, soin theoryI knew that he was skilled. But I’d never seen him fight before. When we were running from Ushagat Island, he and Dirge had double-teamed a vamp, yes… but that felt like a distant blur.

This was right now, and there was no darkness, no running or terror to skew my perception of the fight.

Okay, so there was still terror. Mine.

The two guys standing across the ring from him didn’t exactly look like slouches—they were heavily muscled, wore buzz cuts, and still sported their black pack security uniforms.

If I were standing in the ring against two of them, I’d be shaking in my boots. But Gael? He was confident, like he owned the space. He briefly rolled his head from shoulder to shoulder and stretched his arms as the other two men stripped down to just their uniform pants, much like he wore nothing but sweats.

I watched it all with bated breath and flinched in surprise when two familiar touches came almost at the same time. Mygirls were bracketing me, silent support as we stood on the sidelines.

Olivia hovered just on the other side of Brielle, wearing a worried frown. “He’s going to fight both of them at once? Shouldn’t he at least go against one, then the other? Either way, he’s at a disadvantage.”

Kane laughed lightly. “Technically, sure. But Gael is a master, in skin or in fur. Those two would have to be top of their packs for the two of them to pose a threat. And from what Cristian told me before you two arrived”—Kane shot a look at me—“they’re nowhere near the top of the pecking order for Caelestis. Frankly, we should probably tie one of Gael’s arms behind his back or something.”

That was all well and good tohear, but until the father of my baby—and my fated mate, I realized with a little thrill—stepped back out of that ring in one piece, I didn’t want to hear it. Or believe it.

I wanted to dig my nails into my palms with the anxiety, but then I’d have to let go of Bri and Shay, and they were the only ones holding me up right now.

But Reed, Kane, and Dirge didn’t look worried. That had to mean he’d be fine, right? They knew about the baby; they wouldn’t let him kill himself over something minor.

“I have called this challenge today because Karl and Sven participated in behavior unbecoming of not only our pack, but of wolves anywhere.” Gael lifted his chin as he spoke, projecting his voice so that everyone gathered could hear every single syllable.

“In Pack Blackwater, we respect our pack mates, but most especially our females. These two”—he pointed accusingly at the two of them—“think that it’s funny to make off-color jokes about the females of the pack and use slurs that are well beneath us.”

Oh, oh, no. It felt like all the blood drained from my bodybetween one heartbeat and the next. Off-color jokes and slurs? In the gym… and I was the only woman in there this morning.

Shit, shit, shit.

I swayed a little, and Bri gave me a worried look. I felt the familiar cool wash of power flow out from her palm, and I immediately felt less light-headed. But even an omega gift couldn’t remove my worry.

“That is why I’ve called this challenge. It will be to first blood or submission, whichever comes first. Afterward, they will be escorted from the grounds and no longer be in the employ of Pack Caelestis, effective immediately.”

Had he found out I was half-human from these idiots? Or worse, did henot believe them? Oh Goddess.

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