for Damien to go in for the kill.
His teeth pulled apart with a roar as he lunged for my throat. I rolled at the last second, twisting under him and locking my jaws on his throat. I grunted as he tried to shake me off, but all that did was tear his flesh in my teeth more.
Blood gushed into my mouth, and I blocked it out, focusing on him struggling to break my hold on him. He pushed down on my injured leg, but the flaring pain that sliced through me only made me clench my teeth more.
I lost track of how long I held onto him, but I could taste the life bleeding out of him, until he finally sank to the ground and the blood flow slowed. I felt his body start to shift back and I let go. Only then did I push myself up to my feet, keeping the broken one off the ground.
Damien’s lifeless eyes stared up at me.
I was covered in blood. It made the ground squish under my feet as I moved back.
“Blackwater wins,” Griffin announced.
I shifted back, groaning as the bones in my wrist tried, and failed, to knit back together. I dropped to the ground.
“Fuck,” I whispered, cradling my arm to my side as I managed to push myself up.
Skye was next to me almost immediately, sinking to her knees despite the blood around me. She started to reach for my arm and stopped, her eyes wide. “Remy.”
“I’m okay,” I assured her. I would be. Bloody shoulder and broken arm aside, I would heal and be fine.
I looked across the clearing to the silent Norwood pack. Silent until Trace stepped forward.
“We don’t accept defeat,” he snapped.
Griffin’s eyes narrowed. “Norwood lost.”
Trace’s chin lifted. “I’m an heir. Blackwater doesn’t win unless I also cede the pack, and I don’t.” He looked down at me. “As the Norwood heir, I challenge you for my pack.”
55
Skye
My heart sank as Trace threw down his challenge. I looked at Remy and swallowed hard. Bruises were already forming on his chest and torso. His shoulder was bloody and likely needed stitches, and his wrist … His wrist was destroyed. No way he could take on Trace like this.
Rhodes slowly approached with Remy’s clothes, dropping into a crouch beside me.
“Hey!” Trace yelled. “Did you hear me? I said I challenge—”
“We fucking heard you, dipshit,” Rhodes snapped, standing up with a growl as people gasped. “Calm the fuck down. We all know there’s protocols and he doesn’t have to accept your challenge right this goddamn second.”
Trace’s eyes went wide. “Who do you think you’re addressing, beta?”
“Enough!” Griffin’s voice cut through the bickering and whispering. “Rhodes is right. There’s protocols for a rebuttal challenge. Remy has the right to respond to the challenge within the next three hours. Calm down.”
“Fine,” Trace spat. “Take all the precious time you need.”
Rhodes and I helped Remy into his clothes and off to the side where our friends and my family were waiting.
“Let me see the arm,” Lulu demanded, pushing between Dimitri and my father. She drew up short and frowned. “I might be able to accelerate the healing, but it won’t fix that fact that your bones are broken.”
“No magic,” Remy told her, shaking his head. “We can’t look like we’re cheating.”
Lulu’s mouth flattened. “So, me just standing here and making his brains liquefy is also off the table?”
Ryder stared at her. “You can do that?”
Dimitri snorted. “Yeah. Don’t piss off the tiny magic wielder.”
Remy looked down at his arm, and I could already see the wheels turning.
“No,” I said with as much force as I could. “Rem, your arm is broken.”
“I know,” he murmured, frowning as he met my eyes.
Griffin joined our group, his eyes narrowed. “Look, you have a few hours. Maybe enough time to get your people out of here. Trace is stupid and these people aren’t inclined to follow him anyway. He’s not the Alpha his father was.”
“Running away from this won’t fix anything,” Dante argued.
“He’s right,” Nikolai agreed, nodding. “If anything it will make you look weaker.”
“He can’t fight with a broken arm,” I snapped, whirling around to glare at my father. I needed someplace to put all this fear and anger churning in my gut, and he was unfortunately about to be on the receiving end.
“If I may?”
We all turned to see Elias standing near us.
The old man cleared his throat. “Remy doesn’t have to fight.” Elias looked at me. “There are ways around it, especially since it’s