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“Challenge me?” I repeat with a frown, completely lost to whatever the fuck she’s talking about as Kryll grunts from beside me.

“Ah, fuck. I warned you.”

“I challenge you to a duel,” Leticia declares, raising her hands at her sides. “Right here. Right now.”

“Am I supposed to know what that means?” A duel doesn’t sound like a good old-fashioned brawl that I could totally be down for. I’ve got a lot of pent-up frustration at this point, and an outlet would be great. But a duel? That sounds a little more specific, considering Kryll’s concern.

“It means we fight until death or submission. The winner gets to claim Cassian.”

TWENTY-ONE

ADDI

Woah woah woah. Is this girl insane?

My gaze narrows on hers as she smirks, victory already licking along her skin.

“Claim Cassian for themselves? That’s not what I’m here for. It’s not even something I have any interest in,” I blurt, but it does nothing to calm her.

“Don’t worry about it. You won’t be leaving with him anyway,” she promises as she continues to prowl toward me.

Yeah. This girl has definitely lost it.

Flicking my gaze to Cassian, I expect him to jump in and agree with me, but he simply stands there with his arms folded over his chest, eyes shifting between the two of us. I peer at Kryll, hoping for one of them to be present enough to interject, but his eyes are fixated on the building behind Leticia. Continuing around the group of assholes, I find Brody gaping in surprise at Leticia while Raiden rocks back and forth on his heels with his hands tucked in his pockets.

A low growl ripples from my throat. “Can one of you open your damn mouth and explain to her that I am not challenging anyone for Cassian.” My pleading gaze lands on Kryll as he turns his attention back to the present, but he shrugs, disregarding me immediately. “Great. You’re no help,” I bite out with a scoff.

Despite my gut telling me not to bother, I spin back to Raiden, who stares at me with a bored expression.

Fucking useless. All of them.

Rolling my eyes at him, I turn back to Brody again. He has to help me out. This is all his fucking fault. As if sensing the thoughts turning over in my mind, he lifts his hands in defense.

“She’s not going to hear anything from anyone but Cass,” he admits, which makes sense but does nothing to help this work in my favor.

Turning to look at him, I don’t get to utter another word before Leticia speaks up.

“Don’t waste your time. This is between you and me.”

“Is it, though? You’re not hearing anything I’m saying!” I snap. I can take on a challenge for sure, but the semantics about this being over a guy that has nothing to do with me is what’s pissing me off.

“I don’t need to. I challenge you?—”

“You already said that,” I grunt, pinching the bridge of my nose. “You can challenge me all you want, I don’t mind, but don’t force a prize on me that I don’t want. This duel bullshit is pointless. I’m more than happy to let you have him.”

“That’s not how things work around here.” She stops a few steps away from me, rolling her shoulders at her sides as she prepares to fight.

“Don’t wolf rules apply to wolves only? I think it’s quite clear at this stage that I’m fae,” I point out, and she snickers.

“Wolf rules apply on wolf land, and that’s exactly where we are.”

Nodding, I sigh. “Okay. I can roll with that. But back to the duel shit, I would rather not, thank you. I can fight you, but there’s no prize necessary.”

“Oh, cute. She’s playing hard to get. Maybe that’s why he’s so interested.” Leticia’s deathly glare spins to the wolf in question, who remains frozen in place, arms folded over his chest and his mouth closed. This fucker really isn’t going to say anything. Such a dick.

The sound of hurried feet from the diner pull my attention as a guy rushes toward us. The moment he notices our eyes on him, he skids to a stop. “Is there a duel? I heard there’s a duel,” he rushes out, making my chest clench as Leticia nods eagerly.

“Yes.”