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54

REMY

I t didn’t seem like this should be a day that would decide the fate of my pack and my friends.

Waking up with Skye wrapped around my body had felt nothing but right. It was hard not to be blissed out when I woke up with her at my side. Hell, even the day didn’t seem to get the memo about how serious today was.

We got out of the car and into the clearing the Windale pack used for challenges. The sun shone brightly in the sky, the cool air warming into what would be a picturesque spring day. Even freaking birds chased each other overhead.

I glanced around at the Norwood pack waiting for their Alpha across the clearing. Some of them openly glared back at us, but several just looked bored. I wondered how fast things would change when I beat Damien.

If I beat Damien.

Our people were on the other side, and a lot of the Windale pack had come to watch. Most of them stayed on our side, their allegiance openly showing.

Unease thrummed low in my gut and made my wolf anxious. The urge to start pacing was like a growing itch with no relief in sight.

Skye leaned against me, her arms wrapped around mine as our friends approached.

Katy broke away from them and ran up to me, throwing her arms around my shoulders. “You better win.”

I hugged her back as Skye let me go. “That’s the plan, Kit-Kat.”

Katy stepped back and blinked up at me with suspiciously wet eyelashes. “If I have to go home without you... “ She swallowed roughly.

I nodded, knowing what she meant.

Tate was next, hugging me fast and hard.

“Remember what my dad taught you,” she whispered in my ear before moving back. “You’ve got this, Remy.”

Ryder pulled her back, his tattooed arms wrapping around her chest as he rested his chin on her shoulder and watched me. Dante filled Tate’s empty space and grabbed me in a one-armed hug before clapping my back.

“Whatever happens, it’s going to be okay,” he told me firmly. His gaze flicked to the side where Skye was standing. “You know we’ll protect her.”

“Thanks,” I replied, clearing my throat.

Larkin was last, standing solemnly in front of me.

“Hey, Lark,” I greeted gently.

Her lower lip trembled for a second. “You can’t lose.”

My heart twisted, and I pulled her in for a hug. “You’re not going anywhere except home with Rhodes. Trace won’t touch you.”

She sniffled and pulled away with a deep frown. “No, dumbass. You can’t lose because we need you . Fuck Trace. I’ll claw his eyes out myself.”

I couldn’t stop from laughing. The tiny, soft-spoken kitten was rapidly evolving into a lioness. The change in the last few months had been massive, which was good since now she had to deal with Rhodes for the rest of her life.

“Got it,” I replied with a grin, shifting my attention to Rhodes as he stepped up beside her.

“This fucking sucks,” he said flatly.

I snorted and nodded. “Yeah.”

“I’m going to be pissed if I have to find a new best friend,” he added offhandedly, but I could see the open emotion simmering in his eyes. He was worried.

So was I.

I opted to play it off instead. “Yeah, well, when you put it that way, I guess I have to win.”

He grinned at me. “Exactly.”

After a second of watching me, he wrapped his arms around me in a bone-crushing hug. “I love you, bro.”

I returned the hug and shoved down the rising tide of emotion. “I love you, too, man.”

Sniffing, Rhodes moved away and pulled Larkin with him as a car drove towards the clearing. That would be Damien.

I reached for Skye and drew her away from the others.

“I’m scared,” she admitted, her fingers curling into the belt loops on my jeans.

“Me, too,” I replied softly. I leaned in and kissed her forehead, letting myself take a second to inhale her sweet citrus scent.

“Whatever happens, stay by your dad, okay?” I asked as I looked down at her.

She nodded slowly. “I will.”

A car door closed behind me and I felt Skye tense, her eyes peeking over my shoulder.

“He’s here,” she murmured before sucking in a sharp breath and looking up at me.

“Okay,” I said softly, cupping her face in my hands and kissing her slowly. I licked into her mouth slowly, taking the time to explore and memorize the way she felt. The way she tasted.

But I refused to believe this was the last time I would feel her lips under mine.

Reluctantly, I pulled away. “Go on, babe.”

She bit down on her lower lip. “I love you.”

“I love you.” My eyes tracked her as she headed back to her father.

Nikolai gave me a grim nod as I turned to watch Damien approach with Trace and Griffin. Trace broke away to stand with his pack, a shit-eating grin on his face as he watched me.

“We all know how this works,” Griffin said loudly, standing between us. “Fight to submission or death.”

Damien smiled at me.

Death .

Neither of us would submit.

The realization rolled through me like a thunderstorm.

“Winner gets control of the packs,” Griffin finished. He exhaled slowly and looked at me. “May the best man win.”

He slowly backed away to the Blackwater side, a move Damien didn’t miss.

“If you withdraw now,” Damien said slowly, quietly, “I’ll let you live. I’ll even let you keep your pretty little mate.”

My eyebrows rose. “Making deals? That seems a little... desperate.”

His eyes flashed. “Speaking of deals, where is my uncle?”

I glanced back at Dimitri and nodded. A second later, Elias was pulled forward. He looked old and pitiful, his head hanging.

“Maren,” I gritted out.

Damien waved his hand, and Maren appeared a second later between two huge guys. I heard Katy suck in a deep breath behind me.

Maren looked okay. A little dazed, which turned into panic as soon as she saw Katy and started to struggle in earnest.

“Tate, no ,” Ryder hissed behind me, likely restraining her physically to get to her best friend.

“Let her go.” I didn’t hesitate to give Damien the command, but I knew it was likely useless.

His eyes locked with mine. He slowly stripped his shirt over his head. “No. If you want her, you’ll have to win.”

I started taking off my own clothes, readying to shift. Still, it was hard not to size up Damien.

He was in shape. His muscles moved fluidly as he took off his clothes. He might have had twenty years on me, but he was fit and ready for this fight.

I shoved away the last of my insecurities and worries, surrendering to the shift with a snarl that cracked through the air.

A second later, Damien was in front of me, his gray and black wolf pulling his lips over his teeth as he growled.

I held my ground, turning as he started to circle.

Patience .

That was Luke’s number one rule; be patient and let the other person come to you. Analyze how they attack and figure out how to counter.

Apparently Damien had gotten the same lesson because he seemed just as content to circle me, watching my shoulders to see when I might lunge.

The sharp cry from the side caught my attention and stupidly broke my focus.

One of the guy’s holding Maren must’ve tightened his grip, causing her to yelp, and giving my opponent the opening he needed.

Damien surged forward, too fast for me to counter. His teeth raked across my shoulder, splitting the skin open with a hot, searing bolt of pain. I grunt and tried to bite his flank as he jumped away, licking his lips.

He’d drawn first blood.

Fuck .

I could practically feel Skye’s fear spike through our bond, but I couldn’t afford to look at her and risk breaking my attention again.

Damien’s guys had set me up for a cheap shot, and I’d walked right into it.

Luke would’ve reamed my ass out for that.

I pushed my paw down, testing my weight. It stung, but it wasn’t a crippling wound. But it did make me look like I could be easily distracted.

Again, we circled each other, waiting for the other to make a move. My ears flicked every time I heard a twig snap or someone move.

I studied Damien and noticed the second his front left shoulder twitched. He spun in a snarl, launching himself at my uninjured side. I scrambled to the side, flinching when I dropped too much weight onto my sore leg.

He crashed into me with a growl, all snapping teeth and swiping paws that I managed to deflect. We locked together, balancing on our hind legs, the sounds of our snarls echoing in the clearing.

He was bigger than I was and used his weight to his advantage, pushing me back until one of my legs caught on a root.

As soon as I started to roll, I realized what was about to happen. Worse still, I knew there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.

I tilted, my right paw exposed. Damien didn’t hesitate to latch onto it as I fell, and I heard the sharp snap of my bones before I felt the blinding rush of pain as my body collided with the ground.

“No!” Skye’s scream cut through the hazy fog of agony that rippled down my body.

Damien let me go and stood over me, his head cocked to the side as my blood dripped from his jaws. I could see the triumph in his eyes as I struggled to get my three working feet under my body.

The only comfort now was that I had figured it out.

Both times Damien had bitten me, he’d gone in from the right, leaving his left side exposed.

I stopped struggling, stopped moving. After a beat, I lowered my head and stayed on the ground. I focused on coiling my strength and waited for Damien to go in for the kill.

His teeth pulled apart with a roar as he lunged for my throat. I rolled at the last second, twisting under him and locking my jaws on his throat. I grunted as he tried to shake me off, but all that did was tear his flesh in my teeth more.

Blood gushed into my mouth, and I blocked it out, focusing on him struggling to break my hold on him. He pushed down on my injured leg, but the flaring pain that sliced through me only made me clench my teeth more.

I lost track of how long I held onto him, but I could taste the life bleeding out of him, until he finally sank to the ground and the blood flow slowed. I felt his body start to shift back and I let go. Only then did I push myself up to my feet, keeping the broken one off the ground.

Damien’s lifeless eyes stared up at me.

I was covered in blood. It made the ground squish under my feet as I moved back.

“Blackwater wins,” Griffin announced.

I shifted back, groaning as the bones in my wrist tried, and failed, to knit back together. I dropped to the ground.

“Fuck,” I whispered, cradling my arm to my side.

Skye was at my side immediately, dropping to her knees despite the blood around me. She started to reach for my arm and stopped, her eyes wide. “Remy.”

“I’m okay,” I assured her. I would be. Bloody shoulder and broken arm aside, I would heal and be fine.

I looked across the clearing to the silent Norwood pack. Silent until Trace stepped forward.

“We don’t accept defeat,” he snapped.

Griffin’s eyes narrowed. “Norwood lost.”

Trace’s chin lifted. “I’m an heir. Blackwood doesn’t win unless I also cede the pack, and I don’t .” He looked down at me. “As the Norwood heir, I challenge you for my pack.”