from deep in her throat. Grey turned and set intense eyes upon her. Something glinted off his chest in the sunlight.
“Can you hold this for me?” He unhooked the leather necklace and held it out. On it was her engagement ring. How long he had been wearing it around his neck? Against her hand, he pressed the ring, a small and crucial symbol of his devotion. He’d offered so much more than a wedding the day he’d given it to her. He’d offered his life to protect her.
“My body was made to keep yours safe,” he breathed.
She gripped the treasure he’d given to her for safekeeping, and he brushed his lips against her knuckles.
Rodrigo loped from the woods. He was a large wolf, dark gray with a lighter belly and legs. Brown eyes stared steadily back at Grey as he cocked his head and studied his opponent.
Watching Grey was her guilty pleasure. He was unashamed of his Change and rightly so. When he Turned, it was like magic. His wasn’t like any other wolf she had ever seen. If he wanted, and if he pushed hard enough, his transition from man to beast could last just a moment. For other wolves, it dragged on for minutes.
She was terribly private about her own Changes. They took so long and were so painful, she always made anguished noises by the end. It was borderline embarrassing. She didn’t even want to imagine what she looked like. There was a substantial amount of time she was in between states. Not human, not wolf, but a creature fighting to take on either form so it didn’t have to stay as the defenseless other.
Grey had been Turned by a beast. A monster among monsters had unleashed Grey’s inner Wolf onto the unsuspecting world. In contrast to his utter lack of control over his animal, his Change was absolute magic.
Grey stood upright, staring down Rodrigo, and then he was Wolf. His transformation blended so seamlessly, he blurred from human to animal. Rodrigo might have been big for a werewolf, but Grey was a beast. His fur was black as pitch, and his lips pulled back over razor sharp teeth. His chest was broad and his legs powerful. Sharp, black claws made for ripping adorned his giant paws.
Grey was all weapons.
Dean and Wade scaled the stairs and stood on the porch beside her while Jason leaned on the railing at the bottom. Rodrigo’s second stayed on the opposite side near the trucks.
“You know the rules,” Dean clipped out. “One bark means one of you gives. No bark means you’ll fight to the death. Bark it loud and proud boys. If we don’t hear it, no one yields. Understood?”
Both wolves nodded, circling each other slowly, eyes completely focused on the task at hand.
Rodrigo lunged.
Snapping back, the gray wolf missed his mark and Grey struck with snake-like speed. Bowling him over before he could recover, Gray latched onto the fur of his neck as Rodrigo bit into his shoulder.
Ducking, dodging, spinning, and snarling, the dance of the frenzied wolves was so violent she wanted to look away, but so beautiful she didn’t dare. She’d seen wolves fight before, but not like this. Playing and wrestling were part of pack life, but this? This was deadly.
Gnashing teeth clacked, echoing through the yard in near misses, and the scent of thick iron filled the air. Gray fur, black, gray, black—their coats mingled until she couldn’t tell them apart as they spun and battled. The smell of blood grew thicker by the moment, and she fought the instinct to Change to protect her mate.
Dean, Wade, and Jason looked passively on as if there weren’t two wolves ripping each other to shreds in the yard.
Grey was beautifully lethal, like one of the swords in her collection. Sometimes it was obvious that he was meant to be what he was. Wolf. When he Changed so fluidly, or he hunted with exact pack logic, or his ability to kill with little remorse when her safety was concerned. He dodged away from Rodrigo’s attack to return with the upper hand. More proof that fate didn’t make mistakes. He fought like he was born to, and an unsettling combination of pride and fear welled up in her chest.
A single bark rang out. The flurry of motion slowed and she tried to decipher between the two snarling animals. The light was dimming and the battle had stopped as quickly as it had started. Grey was on top of Rodrigo,