“Back off!” A loud voice shouted from outside the tent. “You do not want to challenge me!”
It was Gage.
The music in the tent stopped instantly, and the musicians set down their instruments. Everyone leapt to their feet.
“What’s going on?” Daphne said, looking up from her book.
“Stay put. Someone’s about to find out that when you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.”
I rushed out of the tent and found a circle of curious onlookers surrounding the scene. Gage stood with his arms raised, facing off against a snarling alpha. Thaddeus, the pack alpha of the Valley Prowlers, a pack that was a couple of jumps down the ley line and had challenged us repeatedly.
The Valley Prowlers had sent assassins to attack us several times. We’d killed some and sent the others limping back home with a message: back off or else. Apparently, their skulls were too thick to let the message in.
“He bumped into me on purpose,” Thaddeus snarled. There were about fifteen of his pack members gathered, watching. Nearby were about as many Iron Claw members, watching and not moving to join in with my crew, which they should have because, by contract, they were our allies.
Well, they could argue that the contract wouldn’t be official until I’d claimed Daphne on the full moon, but they should have been showing their support nonetheless.
“No, you walked over and rammed into me!” Gage raised his voice.
“Back off and apologize,” I said to Thaddeus.
“Or what?”
Fur rippled over my entire body and my claws shot from my fingertips. “Or me and our allies, the Iron Claw pack, will send you home in pieces for your families to cry over.”
Thaddeus let his ears go pointy and his fangs descend.
I glanced over at Royal, who was trying to take steps back. He froze in place. He wasn’t afraid of a fight—he was too dumb for that. He didn’t want to support us.
A long moment stretched out. Too long.
“That’s right!” he called out. “We have a contract.”
Thaddeus withdrew his fangs and rounded his ears again. “I didn’t know that!” Thaddeus barked in protest.
“Doesn’t matter,” I snapped at him. “This should be neutral territory. You start something with us. We will finish it.” Because showing weakness meant the end of a pack.
We’d gathered a huge crowd now. Witches, warlocks, and shifters were watching.
“Kneel or die.”
Thaddeus swallowed hard. His face went scarlet with anger.
I walked over and cuffed him so hard he fell over with a snarl. He didn’t get up again. He knelt, head inclined to reveal his soft, tender neck.
“You may stand,” I said loudly. He shot to his feet and stormed off and waited until he was about fifty feet away, with his pack members surrounding him, before he let out a stream of screaming curses.
I stood tall to make sure everyone saw it.
“There’s nothing else to see here. Get back to your night,” I announced to the crowd. “Enjoy yourselves. This is supposed to be a party!”
The noise of the evening soon resumed as I returned to the tent, shooting my own scowl toward Royal as I passed.
“What?” He raised his hands, palms extended. “I stood up for you!”
“Under protest, and you took far too long. Don’t let it happen again.” I turned away, deliberately not giving him a chance to answer. Aurora stood in the crowd with several of her female friends, her face blank and neutral, neither angry nor gloating.
Daphne was waiting outside the tent as I came back. “I thought I told you to stay put! I need to know that you’re safe, Daphne, and I was busy with the fight.”