Through the Ether (Force of Nature Book 5) - Amber Lynn Natusch Page 0,42

Knox narrowly avoided it by slipping left, but with the injury to his side, he was a beat too slow to recover. The wolf caught him with a spinning backfist that sent Knox flying into the crowd. They parted, and he hit the concrete floor with a crash, his arms and legs sprawled wide.

He was on his feet in a hurry, but the other guy just kept on coming, which made sense, given that he hadn’t just fought someone else. Knox dodged a flurry of punches and kicks, finally landing a few of his own, but every blow that landed on his trunk was strategically placed to punish those gaping wounds in his sides. Then the other wolf, Seth—according to the chants echoing through the room—let his claws free. He stabbed Knox in the abdomen and drove him backward, still impaled on the blade-like extensions.

“Knox!” I screamed, heart frozen in my chest.

He grabbed Seth’s neck and head-butted him so hard that I swore I heard a skull crack. The challenger staggered back, his aggression and his claws retracting until he was on his ass, scrambling to stand. Given the way he teetered on his feet, it seemed Seth’s bell had been sufficiently rung. Knox took Seth’s mohawk in his hand and drove an uppercut into his chin that snapped his head back and sent the wolf flying into the crowd.

He, like Knox, hit the ground hard—except he didn’t get up.

Again, Knox turned to the crowd, his face bloody and bruised. “Who’s next?”

One after another, different members of the pack stepped forward to challenge Knox. And one after another, they were rendered unconscious. But the alpha’s continued success was taking a toll, and the rest of us knew it. It was then that I realized what was really happening; the real plan at play here.

“They’re wearing him down,” I whispered, a new kind of terror snaking up my spine. “They’re going to keep this up until someone beats him.” The wolves around me said nothing, and I could only assume that was because they already knew and were praying that it didn’t come to pass. “He can’t keep this up forever,” I continued, an edge of panic rimming my words. “We have to do something!”

“There’s nothing we can do,” Foust said sadly.

“Why won’t he kill them? I mean, I know that’s not who he is—who he wants to be—but they’re not going to stop if they have nothing to lose!”

“We know,” Brunton replied. The steel that normally filled his voice was absent altogether, and I officially slipped into freak-out mode.

“Then make him take it back! Make him live!”

A sickening crack rent the air, and I looked down to find Knox’s leg bent strangely. He struggled to stand, and I launched forward. I made it halfway through the crowd before either Foust or Brunton caught my arm and hauled me back. I kicked and struggled and threatened to use magic on them if they didn’t let me go, but they held fast regardless, and I realized how deadly serious they’d been about not interfering.

So, instead of continuing to fight them, I reached out for Knox with my magic, tugging on the tether between us. Exhausted, empty eyes met mine through the crowd.

“You have to do it,” I said softly. “They will never stop…”

Yellow flashed in his gaze, and he forced himself to stand just as the wolf attacking him slashed at his throat. Knox caught his hand and snapped his wrist, then dropped him with a vicious elbow to the face. Standing over his opponent, he looked like a bringer of death, his body covered in blood, his blond hair stained red. The other werewolf began to stand, and Knox took his head in his hands. He stared down the pack until his eyes found mine again.

“I know,” he said.

Then he snapped the wolf’s neck like a twig.

Chapter Sixteen

The room went silent just in time for the body to hit the floor. Magic surged, and Knox’s eyes flared like a lighthouse as he inhaled that power. The veins in his arms and neck bulged as he threw his head back and howled.

Then his attention snapped to Keegan, who was slowly coming around. The moment he got to his feet and turned to face off with Knox again, the alpha tore his throat out.

Another rush of power.

Another blood-curdling howl.

One by one, those who’d dared to challenge Knox for his position were cut down. And with every death, the wolf within the man took