“You did this,” I snarl. “Following in Olcan’s pathetic shadow.”
Steele grins, splitting blood. “It was never Olcan’s fight. It was mine. He was too stupid to see the truth, too blinded by revenge. Weak minds bend to strong ones. When I am Alpha, this pack will rule the tundra, the valley, and beyond. No one will deny us. No one will denyme.”
“You will never be Alpha.”
“Watch me.”
He lunges, claws flashing.
I twist, but he rakes across my side, hot blood spilling down my ribs. I stagger. He’s fast — faster than I expect. His claws rake again, slicing my shoulder. Pain blinds me for a moment. He laughs a maniacal cackle.
“You’re slowing, Thorn. All that heartbreak making you soft?”
I roar and slam into him, both fully shifting midstride. My wolf crashes into his, white against gray in a tangle of fur and teeth. We tumble, smashing into ice walls that splinter under our weight. His teeth clamp around my neck, too close, too tight. Spots explode in my vision.
No.
Not like this.
With a burst of desperation, I slam my skull into his muzzle. He yelps, grip loosening. I twist free, blood pouring, and sink my jaws into his flank. Flesh tears, hot and wet. He thrashes, howling, claws searing into my back.
It’s chaos — pain and fury and the taste of blood. He bites, I rip. He claws, I crush. Until finally, I get it: his throat beneath my teeth.
I don’t hesitate. I bite down. Hard.
He gurgles, thrashes once, but I don’t let up until he falls limp. His blood floods my mouth, staining my white fur and my soul.
I drop him to the ice, his body crumpling, his wolf shifting back into a broken, naked man.
I lift my blood-soaked muzzle to the crowd. I stand in a ring of blood, guts, and corpses — just as I knew I would — the stench of death thick in my nostrils. Ten against one. Even Cullen had supporters beside him in his Challenge. One by one, I cut them down. Blood stains the ice, steaming in the icy air. Ten bodies lie broken at my feet. “Anyone else want toChallenge me for Alpha?” My voice booms, dripping with violence. “Anyone here still deem me unworthy?”
Silence. Only wide eyes and trembling mates remain. Their eyes sear daggers at me, but no one moves.
“Bow,” I command without my Alpha power.
One by one, heads lower. First, the frightened. Then the reluctant, then the defiant, until at last, all bow.
My chest heaves, my wounds burn, but my voice is steady.
“I may not have a mate. I may be alone. But I am — and will continue to be — your Alpha.”
And gods help me, I will fight to keep it. Even if I have to fight until next season. Even if I have to fight until I’m nothing but bone and blood on the cavern floor. Because now I have something — someone — to live for.
Because I will get Ember back, just as I was sure I would decimate those who challenged me.
YEAR TWO
Chapter 34
EMBER
“There it is.” I exhale.
After the longest year of my life, the Ancient Castle looms before us, its spires are a dark silhouette against the dusky violet sky.
“Race ya?” Roman yells. He insisted on coming again this year. He wants to get to know the man who will steal me away from him — his words, not mine. Although, I half expect it’s because of that secret library and Wise allowing him to hang out in there.
“Oh no, I’m not falling for that again.” Even though Roman and I have been more active this year than ever before. I’ve made sure we’ve learned to trap and hunt even in the snow. Mentally preparing myself to be fit to leave the comfort of the cave and know that Roman can survive without me. But I still have nightmares about these stairs of death, so I shift into my wolf and take the stairs two and three at a time, paws pounding on stone.