Page 64 of Forsaken Desire
We stepped out of the community center with me at Lucian’s side. Dusk—the darker stage of twilight—covered the horizon, the cloudiness lending an ominous ambiance.
Lucian guided me past the vehicles and through the edge of the woods. Until we reached the crowd of shifters. Many had shifted, while some stood around, naked and with an air of anticipation. I stopped myself from gawking.
Shifters moved aside, making way for us toward the middle, where Alex stood with Cierra and a bulky male in front of a podium.
Cierra sneered, her anger clear for everyone to see.
“Toby,” Lucian said, and the big male nodded, keeping his gaze lowered. He was built like a damn tree trunk. I clashed eyes with him and I struggled to keep hold of them. He was incredibly dominant.
“If you do this, I won’t sell you the land,” Cierra snapped, fury spitting from her eyes.
Lucian’s face didn’t twitch.
“Pity,” he drawled.
Her shoulders straightened, and she sneered at him and then me. She seemed on the verge of saying something, but then she clamped her lips shut.
Alex’s eyes widened, obviously surprised at his brother’s response.
“You have been challenged.” Lucian’s voice boomed. The yips and cries of wolves melded together. My mate stood on the podium, proud, strong, and hot. The sun had lowered, and energy crackled around us. At the highest peak of the moon, only instincts would reign. The urge to rut and fuck would blanket every adult nearby.
Cierra backed up, her lips screwed up in a sneer. She jerked her shirt off and backed into the middle of the gathering. Toby also unclothed himself, and the bulging muscles were crazy.
Lucian looked down at me, turning away from the scene Cierra was making as she stripped.
She was going to fightthatmale?
“She won’t survive,” I muttered.
“I’m counting on it,” Lucian said calmly. I gawked up at him, but he didn’t seem even a little fazed. This was what he meant by ‘there might not be much of her left.’
When I turned back around, there were two wolves facing each other. One noticeably smaller than the other.
Lucian kissed the top of my head and stepped onto the risen wooden platform that put him a foot taller.
“The winner of this challenge will be one of the dominant three alongside Duane and Bruno.”
Silence fell across the clearing, and the wolves in the middle of the crowd suddenly clashed.
Cierra went for Toby’s neck, sinking her teeth in, but since the wolf was much larger, she only clamped onto fur and skin. It would hurt, but it wouldn’t do the damage it would have if she’d had a secure grip.
Toby easily shook her off, and he swatted her onto the floor with a swing of his paw. She landed with a loud screech. Based on her wheezing, the move had knocked the breath out of her lungs.
Toby opened his maw wide and sank his teeth into her shoulder. She didn’t move away. He dragged her upright and slammed her on the floor with a thud that sent dirt pluming.
She screeched.
Then Toby did the same thing again.
My heart pounded with the pumping adrenaline.
I swept my gaze around the crowd—the pack. They watched with hyperfocus; anticipatory.
“Why isn’t it stopping?” I whispered to Alex.
He jerked as if pulling himself from a trance and met my eyes. The moonlight spilled through the trees, only enough to cause shadows across his face.
“It’s her punishment.” With his words, Toby bit deeper into her shoulder, and blood gushed out of the wound.
