Page 40 of Cursed by Death

Two of Rally’s men grabbed hold of Ginger and myself and dragged us back, away from the fighting. We were next to Hunter who had taken the baby out of the stroller and was now holding him in his arms.

The men fanned out in front of us, keeping us separate from the fighting and everything else. They were there to keep us safe and I was betting Rally had given them specific orders regarding how to treat me and what to do with me before everyone had gotten here tonight.

I didn’t mind because it kept Ginger and the baby safe but I did not need protection from anyone.

I didn't know what to expect when I came here tonight. I hadn’t put much thought into it really but it hadn’t exactly beenthis.

Rally and the man who’d challenged him stood toe to toe with each other and they were exchanging blows. It was like some kind of backyard boxing match that nobody had shared the rules with me for or told me what to expect.

I was glad that so far, they’d kept it to just between the two of them and hadn’t involved anyone else. I was grateful for it since there were indeed women and children here.

The man, whose name I still did not know, sucker punched Rally in the stomach, taking him down to a knee in the grass.

I desperately wanted to scream at him to get up and off the ground, damn it, but I kept my mouth shut. Everyone else was strangely quiet as they fixated on the fighting. I didn’t want to further do something wrong by yelling at the Prince or cheering him on.

Why weren’t people cheering their Prince on and telling him to get the fuck up? What was the matter with these people?

I flinched when the man hit Rally in the cheek with a solidthwack.His head jerked to the side and before he’d had a chance to right it the man hit him again. This time in the mouth, splitting his lip open and spilling first blood.

I’d had enough and would no longer remain silent. Fuck that.

I moved up until I was standing between two of Rally’s men. They didn’t try to touch me but the look in the both of their eyes said they’d try to stop me if I tried to go any further. I wasn’t stupid and I wasn’t about to jump in between two male shifters beating the shit out of one another.

“You need to stay back,” the one on the right told me.

Mr. Helpful was this one. Someone give him a gold star for the evening.

I shrugged without taking my eyes off of Rally. He had climbed to his feet and punched the other man in the gut. He let out a pained groan as he hunched over, bending at the waist.

“You don’t need to tell me not to go running into the action. I’m not stupid. I just wanted a better view; your big asses were blocking me from seeing the action.”

He looked down at me as if he couldn’t tell if I was being serious or not. I shrugged again because I didn’t really care what he thought.

“Don’t do anything to make me have to drag you out of here,” he growled at me and I thought just maybe he was kind of a dick.“That could distract my Prince and get him killed. You don’t want to be at fault for that.”

He didn’t need to say something like that to me. I didn’t think I wanted to be Rally’s mate but I already considered him to be a friend and I never would have wished any harm on him. Not ever.

The other man lunged at Rally, wrapping his big arms around Rally’s waist and taking them both down to the ground.

I gritted my teeth as I watched them roll around on the grass, fighting for the dominant position on top. If this was the level Rally usually fought at then I did not understand how he’d gone this long being undefeated. It must have been a goddamn miracle.

“What is he doing?” I muttered angrily under my breath. “This is bullshit.” and it absolutely was. He should just kill the other man if he could and be done with it.

Sometimes, in order to be a good leader, you had to be a little bit ruthless. Sometimes, for the sake of your survival and the betterment of your people, you had to be able to do the unthinkable, even when it was the very last thing you wanted to do.

The man who previously spoke to me answered my question. I hadn’t been expecting an answer, it caught me slightly off guard.

“Rally always tries to be the peacemaker first. No matter how badly they behave or insult him, he tries not to severely injure them unless it cannot be avoided. As much as I hate it, I hate being forced to stand by and watch him take the abuse, he is my Prince, I have sworn my absolute allegiance to him, and I must do as he says.”

Huh.

Okay, so, his little speech had changed my opinion and I no longer thought of him as a total dick. Maybe just a partial one.

“What’s your name?” I quietly asked.

“Fox,” he stated, answering me just as quietly.

That caught my full attention and I finally looked away from the fighting to openly stare at him. “You’re a wolf named Fox?” I asked him in disbelief. He had to be messing with me.

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