WESLEY
There were varying reactions to Pierce’s preposterous challenge, but most of them included some degree of a snarl or a growl. The loudest was mine, of course, but Nolan’s, Sebastian’s, and Reid’s were all a near match of hostility and volume.
How dare he. How dare he challenge me for the woman who was mine. For the mate Selene had honored me with. She had chosen me for Haven, for her daughter, and I would not let anyone take her away from me. Not again. Not in this lifetime or the next.
I moved Haven behind my body, my hands still on her hips, her hands resting on the small of my back, and her head peeking over my shoulder. There was a flurry of noise and movement around us, but my cold focus was on the bag of scum in front of me.
“What the hell does that mean?” Haven asked.
“He wants me to fight him for you,” I explained, my voice low and tight.
She tensed, her hands clutching at my shirt. “Can he do that? Try to claim me that way?” she whispered.
I looked at her, and her blue eyes were wide and fearful. My body shifted, so I faced her, taking her face in my hands and tipping her head back to look her in the eyes.
I stood close to her, my stance strong and stable and my voice steady and sure as I answered her. “You’re my fated mate. He can’t challenge me for you. And I wouldn’t fight him, anyway. You’re already mine. And you’re not an object to be fought over. You are a person.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, pup,” Pierce sneered. “She is an unmarked female and therefore still claimable.”
I growled at him and pulled Haven to me, hugging her with everything I had, my lycan snapping his jaws at Pierce in my mind. Her body trembled, and her confusion and fear were palpable. It reminded me that although she had embraced this world and her role in it with grace and without hesitation, it was all still so new to her, still full of unknowns and uncertainty.
“That can’t possibly be true,” I said, looking over at King Malachi for confirmation.
I knew our laws. Or I thought I did. There was no way there was a law that allowed a fated mate to be claimed by a challenge.
He sighed and shook his head. “He’s right, unfortunately. A challenge must be accepted and followed through with, or you forfeit.”
“Even for a fated mate? A true mate?” I pressed, unconvinced. “Even from a male who is no longer the alpha of his pack? Or even a member of it?”
“The laws are old. Ancient. From before fated mates even existed. And they state that any unmarked female can be claimed in a challenge by any male.”
“That’s barbaric,” Sebastian declared, his nose wrinkling. The king raised an eyebrow at him. “What? I know we’re part wolf, but that doesn’t mean we have to act like animals. Someone should change that law.”
“You’d be surprised at how difficult it is to change the old laws,” King Malachi murmured.
I shook my head and tore my eyes away from Pierce’s smug, taunting sneer. I stepped back, took Haven’s hand in mine, and looked towards King Malachi. I would walk away from this ridiculous challenge. The king’s warriors had to be close to finding his witch soon, and once they did, he could command Pierce to stand down and take him into custody.
“I’m not fighting him for my fated mate,” I said to the king. “She is mine.”
“So you give up, then?” Pierce jeered. “She. Is. MINE!” I roared at him.
My lycan pushed forward, fed up with this worm and his crowing. I dropped Haven’s hand and stalked towards him with each word.
My hand reached for his throat, but a protective barrier prevented me from grabbing him. Like a layer of extra skin over his body, it kept my hand only centimeters from touching his skin, from wrapping my hand around his throat and ripping it out. Clearly, he would only let me touch him if I agreed to his ridiculous challenge.
I squeezed my hand, trying to break through that barrier, to no avail. I gave him a low growl and stepped back, and a soft touch grazed my arm.
“Just fight him, Wesley,” Haven whispered.
I turned and stared at her. She held my gaze, her conviction clear and unwavering.
I didn’t understand. Why would she say that? Why would she ask me to do something like this?
I pulled her aside with a quick glance over at Pierce.
“Take your time,” he sang as we walked away and out of his earshot.
“You want me to fight him? You want me to have to fight for you?” I asked her, taking her hands in mine and gripping them.
She squeezed my hands in return and sighed, shaking her head. “No, I don’t want you to. But you can’t mark me. Not for another month. And look at him.” She jerked her chin at him. “He’s crazed. I don’t think he has any control over his lycan. I don’t think he’ll last long. Just fight him, and then we won’t have to worry about him ever again.”
I followed her line of sight and examined Pierce, looking at him through her eyes and with her mind. I could see it. I could see what she was talking about.
His eyes were wild; I had noticed that when we first saw him holding Maddie. They darted about and moved in every direction, even though he stood still, and none of us moved around him, all of us too tense, too on edge, and too afraid to set him off.
But it wasn’t just that. He was thin—too thin—his cheeks hollow and his collarbones jutting out beneath his too-loose shirt. His other clothes barely fit on his body as well. His hair and beard were overgrown and unkempt. It had been less than a week since that ordeal of a night when he got away, and Lennox attacked Haven, but he looked as though he’d been on the run for months.
I looked back at Haven, and she held my gaze again, her jaw set and her eyes determined. She had made her mind up. She had put her faith in me. Haven believed in me—believed I could win in this battle I shouldn’t even have to fight.
And she was right. I didn’t have another choice. I couldn’t mark her until the next new moon, so I had only one other option. I had to fight.
“Fine. I accept your challenge, Pierce,” I snarled, leaving off the title that was no longer his.
I kept my eyes locked on my mate as I spoke to him. He wasn’t worth a glance. Not when the stakes were this high. Not when the outcome might mean losing her. “What are your terms? Which form? To submission or to death?” I asked.
“We fight in whichever form we prefer. To the death, of course,” he replied, confidence and nonchalance dripping from his every word. “I’ll let you prepare and say your goodbyes,” he offered as if he gave me some sort of gift by allowing me time instead of attacking me right away.
He turned and moved back to the center of the field, standing in the same spot he’d been in when we arrived. My dad met my eyes over Haven’s head, and he nodded before stepping off to the side with my mom, Maddie, Benjamin, and Oliver.
Sebastian, Reid, and Nolan moved towards us, surrounding Haven and me. I brought her close to me, breathing in deeply to capture every bit of her scent in my lungs, drawing strength from her and from the men who would be our support in the years to come. Our friends. Our family.
“He’ll try to use your impulsivity against you,” Sebastian said, coaching me. “You can’t let him. Don’t let him get under your skin. He knows your
weakness—Haven—and he’ll try to use that to get you to lash out in anger, in defense of her, and give him an opening.”
“Haven isn’t my weakness. She’s my mate,” I said, furrowing my brow. “Exactly.” Reid nodded. “And he’ll taunt you with crude remarks about
her because he knows it will set you off. Remember, it’s just that—just talk. Just him trying to get you to lose your focus and forget your training.”
I blew out a breath and nodded at them both. They each clapped me on the shoulder, neither of their faces holding even a hint of the mirth or playfulness usually found there.
As they walked away, my eyes met Nolan’s for a moment. I didn’t need to say anything to him. He knew what needed to be done. What he would need to do in the worst-case scenario. His resolve was clear, his loyalty unquestionable.
I turned my attention to my mate. My Haven. My Sugar Plum. Her eyes held that same determination from before, but underneath, I could see her worry. Her fear. I wished I could promise her everything would be fine, but I couldn’t. I didn’t know that for sure.
I hoped it would, hoped with everything in me this wouldn’t be the end of our story. But I couldn’t guarantee that.
I pulled her to me, holding onto her as though I would never get to touch her again. My nose pressed into the top of her hair, and the strands tickled my lips and stuck in my short beard as I spoke to her.
“If… if something happens to me, you run with Nolan. You run as fast as you can, and you don’t look back. Let him carry you if you have to. I don’t care. Just get away from Pierce.”
“If you lose, we won’t let him take her. He’ll be dead before he can even touch her,” Nolan reassured me.
“He is not going to lose,” Haven declared, her arms tightening around me. “You are not going to lose,” she whispered, looking up and into my eyes.
Her words and her gaze left no room for argument. It wasn’t a request. It was an order from my luna. A command I had to follow.
My throat tightened as we continued to stare at each other. Our hearts beat as one entity as we continued to hold on to each other, neither of us wanting to be the first to give in and let go.
“I know he’s not. I’m just letting him know. Just in case,” Nolan said.
But neither of us spared him a glance or a thought. His words were important, but not as important as this moment with each other.
Nolan understood the unspoken dismissal, understood we weren’t ignoring him or being rude. He knew we needed each other, needed to be alone and have this time together. He walked away, joining my brother and Reid near my parents.
“Fight him and take him out,” Haven whispered. “Show him why Selene chose you to be my mate. Show everyone what kind of man you are and what kind of alpha you can be.”
The shine in her eyes and the quiver in her voice told me what her words didn’t. I pulled her somehow closer and smashed my lips against hers. Brutal and bruising, the kiss left no doubt in anyone’s mind as to whom she belonged to, whom she would always belong to, no matter what happened to me.
Her hands moved to my face, scratching through my beard, holding me in place so I couldn’t pull away from her. Not that I wanted to.
But I had to. I had to face this challenge. I had to follow through. I could not go back on my word because losing her that way wasn’t an option. If I
was going to lose her, it would be because I fought with everything I had, fought until my last breath.
I would do as she said. I would show everyone why she was mine. I would show Pierce exactly who he had challenged.
We broke apart, and I squeezed her shoulders with my hands. “I love you, Wesley,” she breathed. “And I will be standing right here when you are done.”
I nodded at her, then turned and walked to Pierce before either of us could say anything else. I felt her eyes on me, though, as I strode through the training field, my shoulders back and my head held high, my lycan mimicking me in my head. Her love, her pride, and her faith in me pushed through the bond towards my end, and I drew on it, using it to keep my thoughts focused and my movements controlled.
“You should say thank you, pup,” Pierce told me as I approached. “You should be grateful I allowed you one last kiss with your mate before she becomes mine.”
“I am ready to fight you, Pierce,” I snarled, my fists clenched at my sides, ignoring his taunting as Sebastian had advised.
“Perfect,” he sneered, crouching and readying his stance. “Let’s begin.”
