Page 23 of Werewolves Don't Howl
“You’re saying that she can protect herself because of her speed?” Old Blackbeard gave Max a squinty look.
“No, Alta. I’m saying that she kept running away from me when I mentioned that she needed protection. It’s taken fifteen years to catch up to her.”
The Alta snorted. “Is she any larger in her human form?”
“About twice that size.”
“So still very small. Well,” he said, coming to stand directly in front of me.
I wagged my tail and looked up at him adorably.
“Are you ready to be mated to a strong protector?”
I stopped wagging my tail and couldn’t help backing up into Brick, who was rather similar to a brick wall, come to think of it.
“No? Then you’re here to challenge me as Alta?”
I crouched down, because that’s not what I wanted.
Old Black beard leaned over to study me with concerned eyes. They reminded me of Max’s. Were they related? He came from a prestigious family, so it was very likely. “These are dangerous days in Singsong. Monsters roaming the night, sorcerers plucking souls from the air, even the angels coming down to burn everything to the ground.”
“What about Ridley?” a woman said, dropping off the ledge and coming to stalk towards us.
Old Blackbeard got a pained look. “Alpha Golden. Your nephew pushed his limits further than could guarantee his safety.”
“Her blood was mixed with his in that alley. There was no other. Ridley would have drawn the blood of any other creature there.” Unless he was already unconscious.
“How do you suppose this female,” the old man said, gesturing at me. “Killed your son?”
“You haven’t seen her beast form. My son will challenge her. It will be good for her to show her strength so the males may know if she is a worthy mate.” Her curled lip showed what she really wanted, and it was my death and pain, not a happy match for me.
I whined and looked up at Max.
He put a hand on my head, but didn’t look at me. “She needs a protector. That’s why we’re here. If a male isn’t strong enough to make up for her weaknesses, then he need not apply. Asking her to fight Silas is an exercise in brutality.”
The woman hissed as she stormed across the clearing, her eyes burning gold from her rage. “Her blood mixed with his. It is pack law. She has been challenged. She will accept or die.”
Pack law was so stupidly archaic. It really did need to be entirely rewritten.
Max growled at her, but old Blackbeard stepped between the two, arms raised in a placating gesture. “She’ll receive no permanent damage, just a spar. Silas will be gentle with her.” He shot a warning look at the shirtless guy who had his long hair pulled back in a topknot, the sides shaved.
He was staring at me intently, like he wanted to taste my steaming entrails. “I will test the female.”
The female? Why didn’t that alpha chick slap them all? Oh, right. Because she was completely insane.
Max turned to me. “Are you okay sparring with him? He can’t do any permanent damage, but that’s not saying much, considering how much we can heal from.”
I wagged my tail and licked his hand. I could handle pain. I was a werewolf. It would be fine.
At first, it really was fine. Silas shifted into his large, fierce, golden wolf and I had no trouble evading him. I was fast, agile, and he was big and slow. But we were pinned in a circle, and he ran me around, saving his energy while I got more and more exhausted from running and twisting away from him. I was fast, but my energy wouldn’t last forever.
After fifteen minutes of running, I twisted away from the swipe of his claws a second too late, and those claws raked across my ribs, sending me flying, stunned, pinned by him in the next second.
He put his jaws over my throat and squeezed. Not enough to break the skin, just enough to slowly suffocate me, like his weight on my lungs wasn’t enough. I kicked and twisted, trying to get him off me, but he was too heavy.
“If she’d been in the woods, he never would have caught her,” Max rumbled.
“It’s essential to be capable of holding your own, no matter the terrain,” the old man said.
