Page 80 of With Fangs and Claws (The Wolf Queen 1)

I got a front row seat to watching her realise her relationship with Dane was over, that I wasn’t just a grubby little human, that I was holding her off from slapping me, the men growling as they clustered around us.

“Get the hell away from Darcy,” Axe snarled. “Whatever deal you thought you had is done!”

His voice rocketed through the throne room and silence replaced the low burble of chatter. Malia jerked her wrist free of me, taking a step backwards and that’s when I thought this unfortunate little scene was over.

Of course, I couldn’t be that lucky.

“Get the priestess,” Malia shouted, Dane rushing to try and silence her. “She will need to officiate, because I challenge the human ‘mate’ of the princes.”

“I’m guessing that’s not to a hand of cards, is it?” I muttered to Axe.

“If only,” he replied. “You’re about to see the stupidity of my father’s court in action.”

“Anyone can challenge another for their position, except those that are protected, like the army,” Gael said, eyeing the girl as she stood there triumphant, the queen’s expression an echo of Malia’s. “In some ways it creates a peace. People don’t spend their life envying another’s position. If they feel they have the requisite strength and numbers, they can challenge for it.”

“And in some ways it creates fucking chaos,” Weyland said. “Mother planned this.”

“Seems like as good a way as any to get rid of Darcy,” Dane said in a terse voice. “Her hands are clean, and she’ll push Malia and the others towards us to help us get over our loss.”

“The lack of confidence in my ability here is not heartening,” I said.

“Not at all,” Axe said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “I didn’t want this for you today, but you’ll put that wench on her arse.”

“Someone was calling for me?”

We all turned to see an older woman wreathed in a silken shawl come forward, eyeing the lot of us.

“Holy mother,” Malia said, dropping a curtsey. “I have wish to challenge this human woman. She has usurped my position by the prince’s side while he was away on the king’s business.”

“Has she indeed?” the woman said, her cool blue eyes sliding over me.

“She is our fated mate, Holy Mother,” Dane said. The woman’s eyebrow jerked up at that, then she nodded slowly. “You must be able to understand that any relationship I might have enjoyed prior fades in importance in the face of finding my mate.”

“Perhaps,” she replied, her voice deep and rich, her pauses feeling like they went on for aeons. “And what do you say young… human?”

“She’ll answer the challenge.”

A masculine voice had us all turning and there on the steps was Nordred, followed by Pepin. She mouthed the word ‘challenge?’ to me and I just shrugged in response.

“Nordred?” the priestess said, all her former hauteur gone. She peered openly at the man.

“Aeve,” he said, moving in to take her arthritic hands and then placing a chaste kiss on her cheek. “How have you fared?”

But the priestess couldn’t seem to answer him, her hand shaking as it went to touch his face before she snatched it back.

“Mother Aeve, you’ve come to witness a challenge?”

The queen stood there then, staring at the lot of us, a quietly expectant air about her.

“It appears I am,” the priestess replied, “though no word was sent of that when I was summoned to court.”

I glanced at the queen then, knowing that all of this had obviously been discussed with Malia prior to our arrival. But then Dane turned to me.

“You don’t have to do this,” he said. “You can nominate someone as a champion.”

He had other advice, delivered in a hushed, urgent tone, but as I stared everyone down, I saw fear in the pack’s eyes, alarm in Pep’s, but that same sense of quiet confidence I always associated with Nordred in his. I decided that’s the approach I would adopt.

“How does a challenge work?” I asked.

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