Chapter 10

EMERICK

I watched as Sam transformed into a snarling Ayisha. The enormous wolf tilted her head back and let out a deafening howl, her white fur shimmering in the sunlight.

The crowd responded with their own howls, many shifting into their wolf forms in solidarity.

Across the ring, Gregory stared at me with clear unease. I had no doubt that he’d been expecting her wolf to resemble Sam’s petite human form, just as I had the previous day.

I couldn’t help but smile. Gregory had always been an arrogant jerk. In his mind, he probably thought he should have always been the alpha.

But he had expected a delicate she-wolf. Instead, he was now realizing he had volunteered to face a powerful alpha—teeth bared and ready for battle.

Zef growled in my head. It would be my own challenge to keep him under control during the fight. But I had made a promise to Sam, and I intended to keep it.

Gregory raised his arms, letting out a battle cry before shifting into his wolf form—Xander.

Xander was slightly smaller than Ayisha, his fur a reddish-brown, and while not an alpha, he was still a formidable opponent.

I sparred with him many times as a teenager, and he always tried to hit harder than necessary—just because he could.

~Sam will win,~ I reassured myself.

The two wolves circled each other, their heads low, fur bristling. They growled, baring their fangs as their snarls filled the arena. Each locked eyes with the other—waiting for an opening.

Xander lunged first, but Ayisha dodged him, snapping at his back leg. Xander yelped as she made contact but recovered quickly, feinting toward her front leg.

Ayisha snarled and latched onto the back of his neck, and suddenly, they were locked in a fierce struggle, rolling together, teeth and claws flying.

I saw red pooling on the ground around them and noticed a large gash on Xander’s front right shoulder.

Ayisha’s fur was coated in crimson, but it was hard to tell whether it was her blood or Xander’s.

Ayisha pulled away and launched herself off the edge of the ring, tackling her opponent.

But he recovered by twisting onto his back and kicking her off. She went flying and landed on her left side with a sickening crunch against the wall.

She stood and shook her head before once again lunging at a still-wobbling Xander.

A sharp yelp echoed through the air.

As the dust settled, Ayisha stood over Xander as his piercing whine filled the air.

Her jaws were locked around his neck. Blood and saliva dripped from her teeth while he struggled beneath her, trying to find purchase on her chest with his claws.

Ayisha let out a low growl, and I could tell she was telling him to submit.

He struggled beneath her a little longer, but she stood firm, tightening her grip. I sensed she would kill him if she had to—but was giving him the chance to live.

At last, Xander yelped, whined, and finally relaxed, submitting to his alpha.

Ayisha released his neck, and Xander’s head dropped to the ground with a thud. She threw her head back to let loose a deafening howl, and a chorus of wolves from the stands joined her.

I would’ve shifted had I not been concerned about Zef trying to finish off Gregory.

Sam shifted back and walked to the edge of the arena. She faltered while trying to climb over the wall and met my eyes with a pleading gaze.

I ran over and helped her up, where she stood tall and waved to the crowd with a triumphant smile. The stadium once again erupted in a cacophony of cheers.

She winced and grabbed her left side. Her clothing was coated in blood, but I still couldn’t tell what was hers and what was Gregory’s. I looked her over for injuries and found nothing obvious.

“Take my arm and get me in the building,” she hissed through gritted, blood-stained teeth.

“I’ll carry you,” I told her and moved to pick her up.

Her eyes snapped to mine. “They can’t see me as weak. Just do as I asked.”

I understood what she meant. She wanted the victory to look easy. She wanted to put the thought of any other challenge to bed right there and then.

I gave her my arm, and she looped hers through it, stealthily leaning her weight into me. The nearer we got to the doors, the more I could feel her footsteps faltering.

I kept a composed expression, and Sam kept smiling, but I knew it was taking a great effort.

“I’m having trouble breathing,” she said, wincing a little despite the smile on her face. She was losing blood.

I gave her a short nod and moved my arm around her waist to take more of her weight. When she didn’t fight me, I knew it was worse than she was letting on.

As soon as we stepped through the doors and rounded a corner, she collapsed. I caught her, pressed her to my chest, and started running through the pack house.

“Shit,” Sam whispered.

“Jonathan! Prep the MedBay!” I barked.

He and Jackson started giving orders over their comms to lock down the pack house completely: “Essential personnel only, no exceptions.”

“Please, don’t leave me, Em,” Sam murmured.

“I’m with you.”

“Am I going to die?” There was sadness and fear in her voice, and her breathing was becoming ragged.

“Of course not.” Just the thought of it sent a pain through my chest. “Werewolves are very hard to kill. We’ll get you patched up, and you’ll be right as rain.”

“Mmm…”

I ran toward the MedBay doors on the other side of the house and burst through.

“On the table,” Dr. Yvonne Martin ordered. “X-rays now.”

I set Sam down, and her hand reached for mine. I held it as I sat by her side, and her eyelids fluttered closed.

Nurses rushed to hook Sam up to the monitors and take her vitals while another rolled the x-ray machine closer.

“Everybody out!” Dr. Martin shouted. She turned to me. “That includes you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said firmly.

A nurse tapped my arm and motioned for me to move as she held a needle and tubing in her hand. “I need to start an IV, Beta Stone. She needs pain meds and a blood transfusion.”

“Is she going to be okay?” I asked.

Dr. Martin pointed at the x-ray machine and then looked back at me. “She’s lost a lot of blood, and her broken ribs have punctured her left lung.

“The lung has started to heal, but we need to reset her ribs before they fuse together incorrectly. She also has a broken tibia on her left side. You carried her from the fight, right?”

“Only once we were in the house. She walked the rest of the way. Insisted on it.”

Dr. Martin frowned at Sam. “With the extent of her injuries, I figured she was the loser. The fact that she walked away… It’s incredible, actually.”

She shook her head. “She’ll be okay if we act fast, but I can’t do that with you panicking and growling at me and my team.” She pointed at the door again. “Outside. Now.”

***

In the hallway, I was pleased to see Jackson and Jonathan standing guard on either side of the door, ever Sam’s fierce protectors.

When Christian had been in charge, they’d normally monitored his security from afar and only acted as his personal bodyguards when he left pack territory.

Even then, they kept their distance to be discreet.

Given Sam’s current state and her not being familiar with werewolves and werewolf culture, I suspected they were planning to monitor her constantly.

~Doubt she’s going to like that.~

“How is she?” William asked as he approached me.

I gave him a rundown of her injuries and what the doctors had said. He nodded and leaned against the wall next to me. At the sound of footsteps, I looked up to see Emilia coming down the hallway.

Zef was immediately fighting to be released. The rage I had stamped down while with Sam suddenly boiled over.

I snarled and stalked toward her. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

She looked indignant. “As a former luna, I’m checking on the alpha, of course.”

William stepped up beside me. “Mom, I think you should go.”

She scoffed. “I have every right to be concerned.”

It was the innocent act that had me ready to rip her throat out. Zef flashed a million ways we could kill her through my mind, and I was more than ready to strike.

I felt a hand on my arm and turned to see Jackson shake his head slightly at me as if to say, Not here.

“Mom, I don’t think it’s concern you are feeling. Right now, tensions are high.” William glanced in my direction. “You need to go.”

Emilia threw up her hands and rolled her eyes. “Are you not even going to ~ask~ about Gregory? He’s your cousin, too, you know?”

With that, it was William who jumped in her face. “~Gregory~ wouldn’t be hurt if ~Gregory~ hadn’t challenged the rightful alpha,” he bellowed.

“Do not pretend you had nothing to do with this. Do not act like the victim. I will not entertain the idea that Gregory was capable of thinking this up on his own.

“Samantha didn’t choose this. She was chosen, and by the Moon Goddess, no less. If she could have, she would’ve kept living her life in peace.”

“Now, GET. OUT.”

With Emilia standing in stunned silence, William turned to Jonathan.

“Have someone escort her home. She is not welcome in the pack house until further notice.”

“Excuse me? I am a member of Red Claw’s council, and you are no longer alpha. I have every right to be here, same as you.”

William stepped up close to his mother, towering over her. She was a terrifying woman, capable of so much. But under the shadow of her son, it was hard to see her as anything but an old wolf.

“You lost your seat on the council when you committed treason against the alpha.”

“I—I did no such thing!” Her lip quivered. “Any wolf has a right to challenge the alpha if they see fit.”

“Any other pack member, yes, but as a member of the council, more is expected of you. And now we know you do not believe in Alpha Paulson, your seat on the council is vacated.”

Emilia’s gray eyes were shaking with rage. “William, you have no right t—”

He put up his hand. “You’re right, I don’t.” He turned to me. “The alpha is currently incapacitated, which means the beta makes such decisions, isn’t that right, Beta Stone?”

“But…” I cleared my throat. “But I was Christian’s—”

“Has Samantha named a new beta?”

I shook my head.

“Then you’re still the pack’s beta until she says otherwise. Can I confirm my mother is hereby excommunicated from the council and to be placed under watch until further notice?”

I shifted my gaze to Emilia. We could have burned holes into each other’s heads had there been any more anger in our eyes. “Jonathan, please escort the former luna from the pack house.”

Jonathan mumbled into his ear comm, then moved to Emilia’s side, ushering her back the way she’d come. Emilia scoffed before stomping down the hallway.

I stared at William for a moment before asking, “Are you—?”

“No, I’m not,” he snapped. He rubbed a hand over his face before crossing his arms over his chest.

Just then, William’s wife came flying around the corner. “Oh my God, William.” Serena wrapped him in a warm hug. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry I wasn’t at the fight. You know how I am with blood.”

She moved from William to me. Christian and I had been so close growing up that I’d spend most of my time around the Alpha’s Residence—the house the alpha was expected to live in.

As such, Serena had been there for most of my important moments in life. She was like a second mother to me. When she wrapped her arms around me, I let myself sink into her comforting embrace.

Suddenly, a piercing scream rang out. It was Sam. I lunged for the MedBay doors, only to find they were locked.

I roared and pounded against the wall as I heard her scream my name.

William and Jackson pulled me back, but Zef was relentless in his pursuit.

~I can’t lose her.~

My mind was racing at a hundred miles a minute. Zef was tearing his way through. I could already feel my canines starting to grow and split my gums.

~“Zef, stop,”~ I begged my wolf. ~“If you barge your way in there, you’re only going to make things worse.”~

But there was no calming him down. He would rip right through me if it meant getting to Sam.

I didn’t know what to do…

I felt lost and powerless…

With great effort, I forced myself to walk away from the MedBay doors.

Slowly, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and brought up the contacts list.

I scrolled down to the name I was looking for and tapped it to dial.

It only rang twice before the voice on the other end greeted me, “Hello, handsome. I was wondering when you were going to call again. I’ve been so lonely without you.”

“I—I need you…”