Page 32 of The Wild Moon
To him, it probably did. To me, it was nothing. Worthless.
“I don’t care,” I told him. “I want nothing to do with you.”
“It can’t be severed,” he said harshly. “Stop denying it. You’re only going to drive yourself insane if you try.”
“I’d rather that than willingly go with you,” I said, my voice cold. “I’d ratherdie.”
“If you keep defying my father, you just might get your wish,” Johnathan said. “I was barely able to keep him from coming here tonight.”
“Am I supposed to thank you for that?” I said with a laugh, reaching back to braid my hair to keep it out of my face as best I could. I didn’t have an elastic to tie it closed, but I made do. It was better than nothing.
“I suppose not,” Johnathan said. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because maybe it’ll teach you to leave me alone,” I said.
He shook his head. “If I win?”
“You won’t,” I said. “Remember, I already beat you once.”
He flushed angrily at the reminder. “If I win?” he repeated hotly.
“If you win,” I said, “then I’ll go back with you. Willingly.”
I had no intention of doing that.
“Fine,” he said. “And if you win?”
“If I win, you leave me alone. Forever.”
“Won’t happen,” he said bluntly. “I can’t. The bond calls to me.”
I gritted my teeth. “Fine. For a week, then.”
That would put me precariously close to the next Wild Moon. Maybe by then, I’d have found a way to hide from him. To stay safe. Because, come the Wild Moon, both Johnathanandhis father would be after me.
“Fine,” Johnathan said.
I still doubted he meant it, but I should at least get the rest of the night to myself. That would be a small victory. I could find some way to run. To get away.
“Well, come on then,” I said, lifting my hands like I was going to box.
Somewhere, someone rang a bell. There was no ref this time. No judge. It was just a straight-up fight until one or the other submitted. That simple.
Johnathan lifted his hands, and he came into the center cautiously. I circled the outside, forcing him to turn with me. He easily kept pace. I kept circling. And waited.
It took two laps of the ring for Johnathan to grow impatient. He launched his attack at me, a roaring hammer blow that would have leveled me.Ifhe connected. I easily ducked under it and past him, driving my fist deep into his stomach as I did.
Johnathan let out an “oof”as I drove the air from his lungs, his body folding over the blow. I only pulled my punch enough so that I didn’t send him flying backward, which would have drawn far too much attention from the crowd. But he dropped to his knees from the blow anyway. I tried to follow it up, but he rolled away from me, getting to his feet, slowly sucking in air.
“Howdareyou come here,” I spat, advancing on him, not planning on letting him recover. “Howdareyou come to ruin my life again. How dare you think you own me!”
I feinted with my right and then darted to the side and connected hard onto his ribs. I let myself fall through the blow, avoiding his backhand and coming to my feet with some distance between us.
Johnathan growled and charged at me, moving faster than I expected. Faster than a human should. The crowd roared, obviously not realizing what he’d just done. I wasn’t prepared for it, and he hit me like a linebacker, delivering a brutal bodycheck that hurled me back against the far side of the cage.
I hit hard and fell. The crowd gasped.
There was no time for me to waste. I forced my screaming muscles to respond, pushing myself away and to the side. Johnathan’s knee came flying toward me, narrowly missing my skull. The cage shook as he made contact, and his bellow of frustration cut through the crowd’s noise like a knife.
