not had a good life. Happen she was terrified to speak lest her witchy mother beat her again. She is of age, but her mother refuses to let her mate since she uses the lass as a slave. It’s time your father stepped in and found Ellen a mate who will cherish and protect her. She will come and live with us until this can be settled. That way, I may vet any male who petitions for her.”
“She will not fucking live with us,” Eric says hotly. “We are newly mated and have newly mated needs. Then there are your other two mates. My home is already fucking crowded!”
I raise a brow at the news that Gwen has two other mates. This is unheard of within the clans.
“She will stay with us,” Gwen says, voice sharp like she is thinking of skewering Eric if he does not let the matter drop.
Fen chuckles, but I don’t spare this nonsense a glance. “Fuck!” I say, scrambling to my feet.
Far below, the Lyon warriors are hoisting a wooden framework up into the trees. In the middle is a body. A freshly killed body that is dripping with blood. The dyed leather of the victim is typical of the Halket clan.
Eric roars.
I shift. Shaking out my coat and hungering for the taste of Lyon blood.
Here it is, the beginning of the war.
The Lyon warriors turn as we charge, drawing weapons and shouting to each other to ready. The two sides meet, crashing like great waves into one another. Clashing strikes of weapons, the screams of pain, and my snarls fill the air.
I take a man from behind, knocking him to the ground, teeth closing over the back of his neck.
I shake.
Under my teeth, blood pools, and bones snap.
My focus remains alert to Fen. We have fought together all our adult lives, and even before. We are honed to one another. Seamlessly, I support him, even as I take down the bastards of the Lyon clan.
Some fall.
Some scatter.
And some stand and fight.
At my side, Fen punches, cleaves, and batters any who stand in his way.
A scent fills my nose. My wolf has a good memory for those who have crossed us. I recognize the Beta before me as one of those who tried to take the lass. With a savage snarl, I leap for him, taking his weapon’s arm at the wrist. As his bones crunch, he drops his sword with a yowl. A heartbeat later, I have him by the throat, and he crashes to the forest floor. Blood pools in my mouth. My claws rake his chest as I tug and tug until his throat pops free.
Dead.
Turning, I find a man battling with Fen, an Alpha, and his scent is also familiar.
Barry is the bastard who slapped Ellen when they tried to snatch her. Fen batters his sword away, and swinging his curving ax, hamstrings Barry as he tries to flee. Barry stumbles, gets his good leg under him, and tries to limp away.
Fen hamstrings his other leg.
My wolf growls his encouragement.
Around us, the sounds have turned from the frenzy of a skirmish to the moaning penance of dying men begging for mercy.
It is over. I shift. Chest heaving, I turn to watch Fen have his sport.
Barry begs. Dragging himself along the ground, legs limp and useless. He is bleeding, leaving a red stain over the loamy forest ground.
Fen smirks, watching the dying man.
“We should string the bastard up,” I say as I come to stand beside Fen. Barry is still trying to crawl, but it is slower and weaker now.
“No,” Fen says, never taking his eyes from the fallen man whose begging has turned pitiful. “He will die slower this way.”
I cannot argue with that.
A call comes from behind, and we turn to find Eric has subdued Danon. The Lyon Alpha snarls and curses as they bind him and set him to his knees.
“There will be retaliation,” Fen says.
Eric nods, face and torso dripping with blood, although I see no obvious wound. His enemy’s blood, I presume. “There will be more than retaliation,” he says. Stalking forward, he punches Danon in the face, sending the bound Alpha sprawling. “They wanted war. War is what they shall get.”
Pivoting, he calls to a nearby warrior. “Cut my father down.”
Only then do I remember the dead man strung up like a gruesome offering.
As I look up, cold sweeps my spine.
The dead man is Karry, the Halket king.
Gwen wails, the guttural sounds of a woman in