Page 174 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

“I’m asking for your help.”

He laughed. “Really? You? I’m surprised you’d want to work with me.”

“Believe me, you weren’t my first choice.”

“That does not surprise me.” He smirked. “So, what do you want to know?”

“I want the names,” I emphasized my words with punches, “of the wolves who might be working with Troy, and I want to know which wolves are most resistant to the pack merger.” I kicked again, faster this time.

“I want anything you know that can help.” I huffed when my leg zipped through the air where his head was a moment before.

“You know, you’re asking for help,” he said, “but you’re acting like you’re trying to beat me, not spar with me.”

I smirked. “No idea what you mean.”

“Ha. Liar.” He lunged at me, grabbing hold of my shirt.

I jerked back, and my shirt tore. As bits of cotton drifted away in the wind, Lance and I looked at each other. All pretense of this being a training session had disappeared the moment we heard the fabric tear. It wasn’t first blood, but it was close enough.

Lance grinned. “First point’s mine.”

“The next point won’t be.”

When we stepped toward each other again, we didn’t speak—talking would waste breath.

He jumped around, light on his feet. His attacks were quicker, perfectly accurate.

When I went harder to get him off his game, he smirked and matched my ferocity.

He was so fast, all I could do was duck and weave between attacks.

I stepped back, trying to get space between us, but he closed the distance.

I had a greater arm span than him. If he gave me the inches I needed, this would be over quick. Lance knew that.

He was a much tougher fighter than Peter or Xavier.

The only other man who matched me was Dom, and that was only because he’d known me for years and knew all my tricks.

This guy had never fought me before, but he anticipated my every move and countered it.

He was resilient and smart, not a man to underestimate, and I hated having to admit that.

Lance closed in again and grabbed at my tattered shirt. Yanking me closer, he lifted me. He was going to put me on the ground to get me on my back, but there was no fucking way I would let him get the advantage.

So, I let him pull me against him, but when he got me on the ground, I gripped his wrist and yanked until I could wrap my legs around his arm. By the time the dust settled, we were both on the ground, but his elbow was locked in place.

“Yield!” I demanded, my muscles holding him firmly in place.

“Fuck you!” Lance growled as he tried to push himself to his knees. If he got to his feet, he might have the leverage to get out of my hold.

“Dammit.” I applied more pressure on his joint, pressure I knew would hurt.

He growled again, the sound carrying pain and resistance. He was so damn stubborn.

“Yield!”

A few tense seconds passed, and then Lance chuckled. “Ah, Night,” he said through clenched teeth. “I think we both know this is no way to make friends or ask for help.”

I said nothing. He was right, but I didn’t give a fuck. He’d pissed me off.

“You’re lucky I don’t want anyone else to die at Troy’s hands. I’ve seen what he’s capable of, and you’re going to need as much help as you can get.”

Slowly, very slowly, I eased my hold on him. He pulled his arm free, rubbing his elbow and upper arm. We sat on the ground, glaring at each other.

“So, does that mean you’re willing to help us?” I asked.

He gave that dark chuckle again. “I’ll think about it while I lick my wounds.”

My lips started to pull away from my teeth. “Lance, this isn’t the time to mess around—”

“Alpha Night, there you are!”

Jasper’s voice interrupted me. He was running in our direction, his copper curls flopping around his head. Lance and I got to our feet to meet him.

“Listen, I—” Jasper stopped, his dark blue eyes widening as he took in my ripped shirt, Lance’s bruised arm, and the dust that covered our bodies. “Is everything all right?”

“We’re fine,” I said. “What do you need?”

“Right. I just got word from the hunting party.” Jasper was keeping in contact with the hunting party, occasionally leaving pack grounds to meet up with them.

“Good,” I said. “What did they have to report?”

He hesitated, glancing at Lance before meeting my eyes. I was glad Jasper was asking for permission. It was hard to believe that when Bryn and I had just met, I’d wanted to tear the poor kid up. He was a great wolf to have on my team.

“You can speak freely,” I assured him.

Lance raised an eyebrow, as if he were skeptical of what I was doing. He turned his body toward Jasper, which told me he would listen even if he doubted my intentions.

“All right,” Jasper said. “We still haven’t had any sighting of Troy yet, but we’ve found a lot of wolf bodies in unmarked territory.

Sometimes a single wolf, sometimes two or three.

From what we can tell, these wolves are either out hunting for smaller packs, or they’re looking for new packs to call home. ”

“So some of them don’t have pack affiliations,” I said. The disappointment on Lance’s face mirrored my own. That wasn’t the news I’d been hoping to hear. “Do we suspect that Troy killed these wolves?”

“There’s no direct evidence, but the deaths are close to the Camas Pack lands. It’s impossible to predict Troy’s movements because his scent is all over the place.”

“Perhaps Troy is looking for something connected to the portals he thinks exist.”

Lance snorted.

“You got something to say?” I demanded.

“Nope.” He smirked at me.

I’d known talking to this guy would piss me off, but that didn’t make me any less frustrated.