Page 85 of Rejected Mate

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Wereduellem.Had I been stupid or desperate to invokeWereduellem?

The ancient ritual was older than anyone knew, a werewolf challenge that was used mainly before the Modern Era to settle disputes. TheWereduellemwas fought when a wolf’s honor had been sullied, and nothing could resolve it. It was used primarily in disputes between packs, but families with drama also invoked it when nothing else could be done.

Nowadays, it was a last resort, a brutal fight to the finish where some never walked away. A wolf would only tap out when there was no other option. If you lost, you were disgraced and often shunned by your pack, sent out as a pariah to live alone.

And I was willingly signing myself up for it. I’d done a lot of boneheaded things during this game, but this had to be the worst one.

But my hands were tied. I had no other avenue to stop Laurel, Callan, and William. If I walked away, the fate of my pack, my family, and any wolf on this side of the world would be at risk. Compelling Laurel to tell the truth did nothing. William didn’t care about fairness, so this was my only course of action.

As it turned out, the game had changed and whoever won the challenge would win the competition and pick their mate. It had taken me too long to realize that William only cared about finding a match for Ares. All flare and fanfare had blinded me to the fact that this had never been about helping his vampire cohorts, but only about strengthening the Raith coven through Ares.

Except I couldn’t let him be forced to marry Laurel. And I wouldn’t give him up without a fight, not after what had happened between us.

Laurel couldn’t say no to the duel, not with my Alpha necklace on. And William couldn’t stop her. Wolves who disobeyed direct Alpha orders often went mad with the Alpha’s command looping in their heads over and over until insanity set in. Laurel knew this as well as I did.

But she would cheat. I also knew that. I just didn’t know how. I had to be prepared for anything.

They let me back into my old room. The vampire guards threw my bag to the floor and glared at me as if wishing they could shoot laser beams out of their eyes and burn my flesh from my bones. I gave them a smirk as my hand strayed to my necklace. I could shift any time I wanted now, and they knew it.

“Want another go-round?” I asked, my eyes narrowing.

I remembered the crunch of breaking bones as I tossed them about like rag dolls. It was clear why they were lesser vampires. Those with more power made up the upper echelons of vampire society, while the weaker were servants, guards, and the like. I might not have as much luck against William or Callan, but these guards knew they were no match for a full-grown werewolf.

They clearly remembered it too because they gave me a dirty look and shut the door, leaving me alone to prepare.

But prepare how?

I spent the time I had thinking over every possible scenario and working it through until my brain hurt. Still, I felt woefully unprepared when the guards came back a few hours later, cameramen behind them filming my every move.

I expected to be taken out to the gardens where we’d competed before, but instead, they walked me toward the front doors.

“What’s this?” I asked, a funny feeling tingling in my gut.

“The contest will be held off-site,” the less assholey of the two vampire guards said.

“Off-site? Where?”

That question he did not answer.

Outside, it was barely twilight, but safe enough for my captors to venture out. When we left the castle, I glanced around, waiting for an attack of some kind, but none came. Instead, I got into one of their black town cars. The vampire guard shut the back door behind me as the front passenger door was opening. One of the men with the cameras slid into the seat beside the driver and turned the camera on me.

“Tell us how you feel, Wren.”

“I feel like ignoring your questions,” I replied, wishing I could toss him out of the car, but I doubted that would fly. He might though, for a little while at least.

“What do you think your chances are of beating Laurel tonight?” The camera was still trained on my face.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “I’m going to crush her. I’m going to demolish her. I’m going to beat her so badly her fake eyelashes will flutter away all on their own.”

There. That was what they wanted, right? A soundbite to play for their audiences. Now, maybe he’d leave me alone.

But instead, he continued to ask me asinine questions about my feelings and what I thought Ares would think about the contest. I gave one-word answers and stared out the window, wishing I could be alone now more than anything.

After about half an hour, we pulled up to a gate that swung wide for us. We drove deep into the woods. When we were quite a way off the main road, the trees pulled back and a giant structure came into view.

It looked as though someone had created a miniature version of the Roman Colosseum. I stared up in wonder at the circular, cream-colored stone structure. This one appeared to be about one-fourth the original size, but it was still spectacular, with ornate carvings, arched doorways, flags flapping in the breeze, and uplighting enhancing the best features.

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