brushed against something metal as I moved. I glanced back to see an open trap buried in the dirt.
Cassian had tried pushing me into it. The force of the trap closing would have snapped through the bones in my leg.
Skye was right; they were definitely playing dirty. I started to growl as Cassian moved again. He turned fast, already attacking again with a snarl. This time when he tried to bite me, I ducked low, clamping my jaws down hard on his back leg.
I released it when he howled, getting out of the way before he could use my own hold against me and bite me in return.
Blood dripped into the dirt, and I smiled inwardly. I’d drawn first blood.
The scent of blood in the air seemed to make Cassian slightly less focused and more unhinged. His attacks became less about power and coordination and more about bloodlust. He wanted to taste my blood.
Another advance gave me the chance to bite his shoulder, but I let myself linger too long and he managed to get a decent bite on my side.
I wrenched away, feeling my skin tear as blood seeped from the wound.
Fuck. That hurt more than I liked.
I could practically feel Skye’s worry, the cloying, overpowering scent of her fear filled my nostrils as I shook my head and regrouped a few feet away from Cassian.
His blue eyes were cold, practically dead as he glared at me, my blood dripping from his jaws, but he was favoring his left side now. His gait as he ran at me was awkward and just this side of clumsy.
I stayed still, letting him attack me head on until the last second. I dropped and shifted my weight to the side even as my side screamed in protest. But the move paid off.
He tripped, trying to chase me to the ground as I ducked, and exposed his throat.
I didn’t hesitate to turn my head and clamp my teeth on the underside of his throat. Wrenching my head to the side, I dragged him down with me into the dirt and rolled him under my body.
With a whine, his legs kicked, struggling to find any kind of traction, but all he found was empty air until I released him and stepped back.
I could have ripped his throat out. Maybe I should have, but I wasn’t done playing with him yet. He didn’t get to check out of this fight so fast.
Skye had spent years being tortured and bullied by him. If I could pay him back a fraction of that pain in the next few minutes by dragging this fight out, then I happily would.
Cassian got to his feet, slower. His eyes blinked into focus, but he didn’t attack me again. He knew what I was doing. He knew he had lost.
The only question was how long I would let him suffer.
I pushed off, using the muscles of my back legs to attack him again, this time rounding on his right side. I bit his shoulder, tearing the muscle to the bone.
He retaliated by biting my shoulder, but there was little force behind the movement. His throat had lost a lot of its muscle and power when I sank my fangs into it before. At best he scratched me with his teeth before I twisted away.
I didn’t give him time to recover before I bit his back leg from behind, giving him zero chance to get to me.
My teeth snapped through the tendon into the bone with a sickening scrape that vibrated from my jaws through my skull like a victory gong. His legs gave out with a high-pitched scream, unable to support his weight with the ligaments shredded. He dropped into the dusty road on a cloud of blood and dirt.
Licking my lips, I stepped away from him, watching as he tried to get up but couldn’t.
Part of me wanted to finish him off for good. To be done with it. But another part of me wrestled with the idea of killing someone who was completely vulnerable. Yes, he had done unspeakable things, but I wasn’t sure I should be his executioner.
I had done that to Preston, and while I didn’t really regret killing him, something about taking his life when he was helpless sat wrong with me.
I hesitated long enough for Cassian’s body to change back, his wolf retreating and leaving him naked and bleeding in front of me, curled on his side. Both arms were bloody and his feet twisted at