Page 21 of Rejected Mate

CHAPTER EIGHT

Thiswasn’tashow.It was an all-out brawl.

I didn’t know what I’d been expecting, but a fight for their lives certainly hadn’t been it.

The vampires ran at each other at a speed faster than I knew was possible, and once they reached each other, they didn’t pull any punches. In the span of a few seconds, several vampires were hit so hard they flew halfway across the gym and smashed into the concrete wall, sending chunks flying.

Some of the girls gasped. In our human form, something like that would be deadly. Yet, in our wolf forms, we wouldn’t have a problem hitting a few brick walls or taking a punch from a vampire. I was reminded once again of how vulnerable we were without our powers.

But none of that mattered now. What mattered was the gladiator-type battle taking shape before us. As I watched, Ares ducked under an opponent’s punch in time to whirl around and strike another in the chest. The blow knocked the vampire back several yards. He only stopped when he smashed into the far bleachers, splintering several.

“They’re going to get hurt,” Violet said, grabbing my arm with her thin, cold fingers.

“They’re fine,” I said, pointing. “See. They get right back up. That one has a dislocated shoulder, and he’s going to just—” There was an awful popping sound as the vampire snapped his shoulder back into place. “There. See. He popped it right back in. They’re just showing off.”

Violet made a strangled sound as her hand flew to her mouth. Apparently, she had as much experience with vampires as me. Little to none.

“It’s wonderful,” a voice behind us said.

I dragged my eyes away from the brawl to find Laurel on the bleachers behind me.

“The senseless violence?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “The useless destruction of property?”

Laurel didn’t seem amused by my sarcasm. She flipped a long strand of curled blond hair over her shoulder. “They’re very strong. Any female who wants to be able to dominate would be wise to pick one of them for their mate. Anyone who doesn’t, well…” Her eyes ran over my body and she shook her head. “Well, let’s just say some packs might not be around much longer.”

As I stared in disbelief, I did a complete reassessment of Laurel and her behavior, which started to click into place. Whether she could mate with one of these vamps or not didn’t matter to her. She was after power and control, something someone like Ares would definitely afford her. And her comment about some packs not being around much longer. She was referring to my pack and the Grimhowls constant desire to take our place.

My blood began to boil.

“Are you threatening me?” I said. It was one thing not to like me, but it was another to bring my pack into this.

Laurel responded with a threatening smile, revealing perfect white teeth I wanted to punch down her throat.

As I was about to respond with either words or strangulation, Violet yanked on my arm. “Wren, look!”

“Violet, I don’t…”

The words died in my throat. Any thought I had of Laurel and her stupid threats dissipated as I watched vampire minions roll out a rack of weapons, which clanked as blades knocked into each other.

Real. Sharp. Lethal weapons.

“What are they doing?” I gripped the wood beneath me. Punching and fighting were well and good, but this? “This has gone too far.” Though maybe them killing each other was the best thing that could happen to us. It seemed brutal and cruel to think such a thing, but maybe that was the only way we could be free of them.

“Do you know nothing about vampires?” Laurel asked like we were idiots. “Those blades can’t hurt them. Not really. They’re just grandstanding. It’s sexy and very… informative.”

Sexy? Hardly. Informative? Maybe if I considered her desire for dominance. To me, it was foolish and stupid. And a pity, really. I didn’t like senseless violence, though those vamps could stand to be knocked down a peg or two.

At the moment, each vampire was selecting a sword or ax and pairing off against another.

The sound of metal against metal rang out as the vampires faced off. They parried and thrust, slashed, and dodged. It was clear some were quite good swordsmen and others hadn’t spent much time with a blade. And Laurel was right. Unfortunately, the blades didn’t seem able to cut too deep, though several of the losers were slashed like artisan bread and others seemed to have broken arms or wrists. Painful but by no means deadly.

I watched as one sliced his sword into the arm of the other, a line of dark blood appearing. That wound in our human forms would be a major injury, but the wound barely seemed to bother him. He just gritted his teeth and charged after the one who’d wounded him.

“I thought vampires were supposed to heal quickly?” Silvia asked behind me.

“I thought so too,” Nanette echoed.

“Strange.” This was from Laurel.

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