Page 110 of Sapphire Flame
The gallery was completely silent. Kryder turned his back to Grant and opened his arms to his pack. “Look at these worthless sheep. My question to you is why would you ever want to be their alpha?” He didn’t seem to notice the occasional, if slight flurry of moment that Ryan created.
“I see so much more than you ever could,” Grant replied. “I see wolves torn from their families because of thealterserum. Not one of us made a choice to be here, to be consigned to a pack with you as alpha. I see people who want to be free to live the lives they would choose. They will have that when I’m alpha.”
At that, Kryder turned back to him. “You will never be alpha of the Meldorin Pack, not while I live.” Kryder’s men set up a cheer mixed with howls, but the gallery remained silent and still appeared as if bespelled. By now, Ryan was over halfway through the pack.
Grant’s nostrils flared. “Before the night is out, you will break the bond with this pack.”
“Like hell.” Kryder reached up to unhook his cape and tossed it near the back wall. He stripped off his headdress and threw it to join the cape.
Like Grant, he wore only a leather cloth, though his had been died a deep blue. He was three hundred pounds of powerful muscles that rippled as he began to flex and move.
Kryder walked toward him slowly then at the last second dipped down and levitated like a missile toward Grant’s waist.
Grant was faster though and slid out of the way to then levitate and land on Kryder’s back.
Natalie expected Kryder to stay face down in the sand. Instead, he bolted upright and threw Grant off him.
Grant flew backward onto the sand, landing on his ass. Kryder whirled and shot forward, throwing himself on Grant. But again, Grant slipped sideways.
This time, Kryder landed face first and came up spitting sand from his mouth.
He slowed his movements as he dusted himself off. He said nothing. As he began to walk sideways, Grant matched him so that they turned in a circle, always opposite each other.
Natalie glanced at the stands. Ryan was well over halfway, but she wished he was almost done.
“You’ll have to engage me,” Kryder said with a smile. “You can’t keep darting away. Or is that what you think this will be: Dominance by running away?”
“Sounds like a plan.” Grant’s voice was low, even heavy.
Natalie found herself mesmerized by how Grant looked, not just by his warrior presence but by the intensity of his concentration. He saw only Kryder.
This time, Kryder walked toward him, head lowered, jaw tight. His stride was slow, deliberate. A challenge.
Grant stood his ground and raised his fists, but he also levitated an inch above the sand.
When Kryder drew close, he lifted his fists as well. A sneer curled his lips. He whipped his right fist toward Grant.
Grant moved, but not fast enough. The blow slid off his chin and would have toppled him sideways, but he caught his balance.
He ducked at the next swing and with a slight arch of his back, swung up with his right fist hard and caught Kryder underneath his chin.
Kryder’s body jerked upward since he, too, had started levitating. He was airborne and falling backward onto the sand.
Natalie glanced at her team. This would be the perfect time to trap Kryder with the net. But two of the men were looking up into the gallery. She followed their line of sight and saw that Ryan had only finished waking up two-thirds of the pack.
With that many still in a trance-like state, Kryder would be able to control the situation. There was nothing the team could do.
She shot a message to Grant.Ryan has one-third of the pack to go. Stall Kryder if you can.
Will do.
By now, Kryder was on his feet, but blood poured from his mouth. He wiped it off with the back of his hand his expression mulish. His men cheered him on, though the wolf-pack was still silent.
Natalie was amazed by the self-control the wolves were showing. But from what she understood, Grant had set the example himself the many times Kryder had beat him while trying to force Grant to bid for a dominance battle.
Kryder once more came at Grant, walking on the sand slowly, lifting his fists when he got within three feet of Grant.
But Grant didn’t hold back. He shot toward Kryder, head-butted him then levitated swiftly to come down hard on Kryder’s forehead with two fists.
