Page 71 of The Wolf

After five tense minutes of parrying and dodging, Scarlet struck out like a viper. Her opponent howled in pain, blood blossoming across the bodice of her dress. Scarlet had hit her liver.

“Give up,” Scarlet bit out, wiping sweat from her face. But she was too close, and the wolf was angry. She slashed out and caught Scarlet’s forearm, ripping the sleeve of her dress and cutting into her skin.

Scarlet didn’t even flinch.

“As if I’d surrender to a wench likeyou,” the wolf spat, though her face was growing paler by the second. The damage Scarlet had inflicted wasn’t fatal—not if it was treated soon—but it was an excruciating wound to suffer through.

Brine knew. He’d been stabbed in the liver before.

Twice.

Dully, Brine realized one of the bouts had finished. A few moments later, the second one did too. The only opponents left fighting were Scarlet and her foe.

The crowd was going insane, the smell of blood in the air whipping them into a frenzy.

Arwen was watching with intense interest, her black eyes shining as she kept her gaze trained on Scarlet. Brine had to wonder whether she wanted Scarlet to die.

Just like my trial. What is her aim in making us face what appears to be certain death?

The wolf shifter was breathing raggedly now, her movements slowing and growing clumsy. She got in another swipe at Scarlet, this time on her left shoulder, but Scarlet had allowed her to do so in order to drive her dagger right into the wolf’s shoulder, barely two inches above her heart.

The wolf sagged to her knees, defeated. She knew she would die if she kept going.

“Yield?” Scarlet gasped, kicking the wolf to the floor. Her opponent yelped pathetically.

“I—I yield.”

A heavy silence covered the courtyard. Then—

The roar that erupted from the crowd was deafening. It practically blinded Brine, it was so loud.

Scarlet was visibly heaving for breath and fighting to stay conscious as she forced herself to bow to the raucous audience. Brine was immensely proud of her; his heart was racing at the mere idea of naming her as his bride in a matter of moments. But there were two other winners who stood beside her and, not wishing to make it obvious that his choice would be Scarlet in order to spare the two wolf shifters’ feelings, Brine maintained a neutral visage as he stood before the three of them and appeared to consider them each in turn for the role of his partner.

“So, who will it be?” Arwen asked from Brine’s left-hand side, her inscrutable eyes watching Brine like a hawk as he assessed his potential brides. Brine did not respond, choosing instead to walk back and forth in front of the brides as if he were inspecting them.

Then, when he found himself standing in front of Scarlet, he stopped and stared at her. Her chest was still heaving, her dress in tatters with blood and sweat covering her skin. The braids she’d woven into her hair were coming undone around her face, waves of ginger and cinnamon and pine emanating off it and filling Brine’s nostrils with their intoxicating scent.

She’d never looked so lovely.

What was the point in putting on a farce for the sake of the audience? Scarlet washis.

He tossed her over his shoulder—she cried out in surprise—and walked away without a single word. The crowd went wild, but Brine didn’t care about that.

He felt his grandmother staring him down as they left, but Brine couldn’t find it in himself to care about that either.

Even if it was just for an act, Scarlet was his. She was his bride. She was his mate.

Even if just for a moment, and even if it were false, Brine allowed himself a fleeting moment of happiness.

THIRTY-FIVE

SCARLET

A small cottage had been prepared upon the grounds of the Betraz Estate for Brine and Scarlet. She was grateful for this—it was certainly an upgrade from her tiny attic room in the manor proper—but her stomach bottomed out at the sight of the pretty front door covered in creeping vines and purple flowers. She knew what would happen once they crossed the threshold.

Not only that, but there were also guards at the door, witnesses to what would come next.

“You’re dismissed,” Brine said brusquely.

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