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"Uh, well... I guess, nothing,"Loch said. "Apart from any loss of respect and honor in the eyes of theclans."

"Hrm."I looked to Perry. "What do you think about this?" I was skeptical—outside of trained fighters, nobody talked about dueling or challenges unless it had to do with an old story. It was hard for me to imagine something like that being officially recognized by the law thesedays.

"Idon't thinkGregor would ever accept a challenge to a fight," Perry said. "He'd know he'dlose."

"It does haveto be on equal ground," Lochsaid.

"If it were an equal challenge,though... And the eyes of the clan were on him... He cares a lot about his status in Elclaw. If he turned down a fair challenge, he'd lose honor amongst the clan, and thatmightbe enough for him to compel him toaccept."

"So, what's an equal challenge?"Mom asked, and added in a quiet voice, "Something not toodangerous."

At that moment,it came to me. "A wolf-cycle race. That's it. He's a racer, too. A well-known one in Elclaw. That would be double the shame if he turned down a racingchallenge."

Perry's eyes widened."Hounds ofHell..."

"Ithink this might be it!"Isaid.

"Awolf-cycle race,"Mom said, soundingfaint.

"What dowe need to do to start the process?" I asked Loch, a grin plastered on my face. My body thrummed with so much excitement, I was trembling.There washope.

As the leaderof our clan, my brother Christophe was called to come oversee the drafting of the challenge and to put his official endorsement on it. While we were waiting, Perry pulled measide.

"Idon't knowhow I feel about you doing this," he said. "You'd be risking your safety out on that track forme..."

"Iriskmy safety every time I race," I told him. "This time will be nodifferent."

"If you get hurt?Or worse? I don't know what I'ddo."

"Iwon't."I took his hands in mine. "Don'tworry."

"Ihate feeling so useless.This is my battle to fight, and you're doing it forme."

"We're doing it together.You've been fighting for a long time, Perry. Look, I don't believe it was just chance that you found me yesterday. It's obvious we've both been trying to get back to each other this whole time. This is how it's meant to be.We'remeant to be. We've been given a real chance. So let's make thiswork."

He noddedand hugged me tightly. "I love you, Arthur," he said. "I've never stopped loving you all this time." He touched my cheek and drew me into akiss.

We kissed again,long and sweet. My heart overflowed with love for him, a feeling so incredible and overwhelming in both its foreignness to me and its power.This is how love feels.Remember?

By the endof the day, a copy of it was already submitted to the other ranking members of our clan, and the main, paper copy was en route to Elclaw, along with a digital copy sent directly to Gregor Houndfang and the leaders of the Silver Sun Clan. There'd be no avoiding it—the challenge was out in the world, and would soon be seen and acknowledged by both ourclans.

Icould win this.I could help Perry andJupiter.

* * *

The tiresof my wolf-cycle tore up a cyclone of dirt and debris as I gunned the engine, ripping up the weeds and overgrowth that littered the Golden Forest Proving Ground. The White Tree track was only open on certain days for practice and training runs, and I wanted to get as much wheel time as I could. The truth was that while I was skilled, I was not a professional racer, and Gregor was. In fact, I'd never even seen him race before. That didn't worry me. I'd beaten top professionals in open racesbefore.

Stephen hireda team to help us set up monitoring electronics so that Perry could act as my pit crew and track guide, watching my runs from a trackside monitor piping in a live feed shot by a drone hovering far above the track. Perry may not have been a racer himself, but he still had extensive knowledge of the sport and of racing technique. It felt amazing to be working as a team with him, like a dream come true. That was really what the past few days had been—a dream cometrue.

"Watch the upcoming corner,"Perry's voice buzzed in the speaker clipped to myear.

"Copy that,"I growled, my voice the graveling tone of a wolf's. I tilted my left front paw while lifting up just ever so slightly with my rear right one, sending my bike arcing around the corner. On the heads-up display projected on the panoramic cockpit window was a map of the track, along with several data readouts. A targeting reticle blinked a warning to me, showing a pothole in the track. With my enhanced senses, I'd detected it far earlier and swerved easily to avoidit.

"Damn track is coming apart,"Isaid.

"Careful out there.Wouldn't want to lose the challenge before Gregor even responds tous."

"Funny,"I said, gunning the throttle and pulling into The Walls obstacle. Gravity pulled at me as my bike curved up the slanted track, exploding through vines that hung down the sides. With the size of the wolf-cycle and the speed I was driving, running through the debris felt as soft as the vibration of rain on a windshield. The difficulty with practicing here instead of at White Tree was that we were missing certain obstacles, and others were far less treacherous. For example, The Forest obstacle here only had three rows of pylons, a quick pass-through compared to the hundreds that were at WhiteTree.