“Shut up, Stone. I have changed the rules, so get over it. Your job is to enforce them, not question my judgement.”
“Yeah? Well, what if I don’t agree with your judgement? Gen pop isn’t our fight. We need to concentrate on getting the next batch of fighters ready for the ring. It’s only twelve weeks until the next games. And if we’re not ready, or Doherty doesn’t like our standard of fighter, it isn’t you who suffers is it, Connor? No, it's us…”
I tensed at the accusation and resentment in his voice. Was Stone blaming me for this fucked up situation we found ourselves in? Jesus, I had always tried to protect my brothers from the suffering Doherty and the warden could inflict on them. Didn’t they know that?
I glanced at the others, all of whom were now in the room with us. They dropped their attention to the floor. Did they resent me, too? I pulled myself up to my full height and towered over Stone who looked unrepentant, accusation in every line of his face. Deep down, I didn’t blame him for his anger, but enough was enough. If my brothers fell apart, my dominion over the other shifters would fall with them, and this place would turn into a bloodbath. The inmates would rebel, and I’d have to kill over and over to gain any kind of order back, just like I had in the beginning. And I wasn’t stupid enough to think Rawson or the men in this room, would be allowed to survive unscathed through my loss of control. Didn’t Stone realise I was as loyal to them as they were to me? That I killed and sacrificed others to keep them as safe as I could from the warden and Doherty? “Do you think the fact that you haven’t been shoved in that ring for the last three years is a coincidence, Stone?”
“I don’t know, Connor. But maybe I’d rather fight than have the threat of pissing my pants hang over me when that red-eyed bastard presses his little button, or than having my free will taken while I’m shoved in a room with females who pay to fuck me.”
I pulled back my wolf. The things the warden made us do as punishment for what he saw as my offences were totally wrong, and no better than what happened in gen pop. It was one of the reasons it had seemed pointless to stop that kind of thing. The people in gen pop would eventually be rented out to the upstanding members of the world’s rich and famous, no matter what. The wealthy paid exorbitant amounts to do whatever they wanted to a shifter at the warden’s games. Male or female, anyone not fighting in the rings was at risk. And if the females survived the entertainment rooms, they would ultimately end up in the warden’s science wing.
I understood Stone’s anger, I really did, but I couldn’t allow his challenge to go unanswered. I’d tolerated enough attitude from him and couldn’t afford to let his bitterness poison my relationship with my other brothers.
I spun so quickly, Stone had no hope of avoiding me. My hand gripped his throat, and I slammed him into the wall, quickly pinning him in place with my forearm across his neck and his feet dangling off the floor. “I do what I do to keep you out of the death rings.” I snarled into his face. “Because you are my brother. But if you want to die, I can easily arrange it, right here, right now.” I shoved harder, my wolf agreeing our brother needed to be reminded who was more powerful.
Despite Stone’s attempts to punch my belly and face or to kick me, he could not free himself. Lack of oxygen got to him quickly, and his attempts became lethargic and weak.
“Right now, Stone, tell me, do you want to die?” His eyes grew dull, but he managed to shake his head. I loosened my hold very slightly, enough to let him breathe. “Then don’t ever question my loyalty to you and our brothers, and don’t question me about Ember. She gets my protection, that means your protection, whether she wants it or not.”
His eyes focused over my shoulder, at least he had the presence of mind not to meet my gaze. I loosened my hold a little more, seeing he wanted to speak and willing to explain myself a little to him to get him back on