Page 88 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

“You have heard it alongside me, and I, Kane, son of Kosta,son of Konstantin, high alpha of the nine great packs, find Alpha Varga guilty of murder and high treason, and sentence him to death in the manner of his choosing.”

I held my breath as he spun on his heel, stalking across to Varga and ripping the gag from his mouth.

“You spineless bastard!” Varga snarled, but Kane held up a hand, and I swear to the Goddess, Isawthe power crackle between him and Varga, pinning the weaker alpha to the seat.

“Enough. You have your choice. Death by challenge against my second, or by injection. Choose wisely.”

I felt a little light-headed as I processed what he’d just said.

Challenge against his second means Gael. Please, no. I hadn’t let myself look at him, not once since we’d been sitting here, which was hard because he was right there next to Kane. But I couldn’t. I was angry, and disappointed, and… I couldn’t even name all the emotions. There were too many, and it was all one big, angry tangle in my stomach.

I’d swear that was the source of my constant nausea if I didn’t know better.

And if I let myself look at him, I’d remember all the kind things he’d done for me and Petal. I wasn’t ready yet. I needed to stay strong and not accept less than what I deserved. WhatPetaldeserved. I had to let go of that weak woman who took shit from men because I felt like I was unworthy as a half human.

But with him in danger… I looked.

And Goddess damn it all, he was gorgeous. He stood tall and proud, arms crossed and biceps popping in his enforcer uniform. The formfitting black shirt emphasized every line of his stacked muscles, and the heavy black cargos couldn’t hide his powerful thighs.

But it was more than just muscles. His eyes were sharp, his aura powerful, and even though I knew it was a stretch at this distance, I swore I could get a tiny hit of his scent. That littletwinge of musk and ylang-ylang that nobody else but me could smell as his mate made me want to leap onto the stage and climb him like a tree.

We’re not doing that shit. He can be hot as hell and stay over there, and you can shut the fuck up, ovaries.

My ovaries were definitely not going to shut up. But I’d ignore the traitorous organs and stick to my guns.

Even still, seeing him standing tall and proud settled something inside me, something primal and deeply buried. He was fine. And Varga might have been a threat when he was throwing around an unseemly amount of money to pay off a magical assassin, but one-on-one, I believed Gael could wipe the floor with him.

I twisted my ring around my finger and forced myself to look back at Varga. He was grumbling as he twisted in his restraints, as if he was trying unsuccessfully to spew more venom at Kane, but the words couldn’t quite make it out.

“Failure to choose defaults to wolfsbane. Is that what you want?”

Varga’s eyes glowed, and he thrashed harder before finally going limp against the rough seat back. “No. I choose the challenge.”

“So let it be,” Kane said, turning his back on the other wolf. His eyes glowed, I noticed, for the first time during the trial, evidence of how loose his grip was on his wolf now that the decision had been made.

“It’s going to be okay,” Shay whispered, gripping my fingers and making me stop twisting the ring. “Dirge says Gael’s a really good fighter, just as good as him. Though he didn’t want to admit that until I pressed.”

“You knew he might have to fight?”

She nodded, giving me an apologetic look. “Dirge told me this morning it was one or the other. I figured Varga was cowardly enough to take the injection, though. I’m sorry Ididn’t tell you. I just didn’t want you to worry if it wasn’t going to happen anyway. You’ve had enough happen in the last few days. You didn’t need this too.”

I bit my bottom lip and nodded, looking away. I wasn’t mad—she was right that I would have just stressed about it, and I’d had my fill of that. And then some. “He’s going to be fine.”

“Yes, he is,” she agreed, squeezing my fingers and leaning in closer so our shoulders touched.

“Anyone who does not want to witness the execution should leave now. It will begin as soon as the stage is cleared,” Kane announced, stepping off to the side of the stage as several members of Pack Caelestis swarmed around, clearing extra chairs and the microphone.

“Do you want to go? Oli and I can go with you. Dirge and Bri have to stay, but you don’t have to watch if you don’t want to. With everything that’s happened?—”

“No, I’m staying. I can’t— I can’t just leave. He’s still my mate.” The words felt right, even though I surprised myself by saying them.

“Well, then, make some room on that grass,” Brielle said, squeezing in next to me and dragging Olivia down with us. “Because we’re sitting with you.” I caught Dirge smirking as he stood guard over us, but he wisely didn’t comment as we formed a semicircle on the grass.

“How’s Kane holding up?” I asked Bri, desperate for a distraction from the sounds of metal chair legs scraping wood and what would happen when it stopped.

“It’s tough, but he’s tougher,” she said with a grimace. “I’m doing my best to soothe him through the bond, but his wolf wants to be the one to challenge Varga. It’s killing him to have to follow tribunal procedures.”

I grunted agreement, understanding perfectly. Humans didn’t like getting their hands dirty, for the most part. But the wolves inside us didn’t see things that way. It was kill or bekilled.Survivalof the pack.Varga was a danger to everything Kane held dear, and his wolf wanted to wipe it off the face of the earth.

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