Wait—what was this?
Jack shoved away from the pack and rose to his full height, finishing swallowing the vampire’s cranium with a loud gulp. Blood stained his teeth, matting his fur a motley red. His eyes glowed an eerie jaundiced yellow in the waning light.
Kalin settled his stance. “We’re going to need the electric prods.”
As one, the devouring beasts stood, turning to face him, death in their eyes.
All former shifters, all former soldiers, they could fight better than any other wild animal. But animals they were ... and they needed a master.
A young Kurjan soldier hustled up, handing them both tweaked prods. The altered devices emitted enough electricity to shock a werewolf into unconsciousness. Kalin leaned on his, smiling when Jack eyed the weapon. “Don’t worry, my friend. You’ll kill soon. All you want.”
Jack lifted his feral gaze to meet Kalin’s directly.
He swept a large hairy hand out, a guttural snort coming from down deep. As one, the remaining werewolves stood down, heads bowed.
Kalin eyed the monster. Very interesting. “I’m the master here, Jack.”
The beast smiled.
Chapter 9
Standing next to Conn, Jordan rested a shoulder against the wall in the gym, slowly opening his right hand as the broken fingers mended. Nothing like a sparring session with a friend who had no problem taking your head off. His tennis shoes left deep imprints in the worn grappling mats as he tested his steadiness. He’d fought many times in a Kayrs gym ... though this was the first time they grappled aboveground in the main lodge. The ocean rolled lazily below, sending salt through the open windows.
He allowed his mind to blank in order for several concussions to heal. The past flashed back with a vengeance. Three hundred years ago, after the Kurjan massacre, peace was impossible.
Still in the new colonies, Jordan shoved the pain somewhere to be dealt with at another time. Sitting in a hastily built meeting room in the middle of thick trees and dark rocks, he glanced out the window at an unfamiliar world. With the death of his family, the world had changed.
Conn sat across the rough-planked table, anger and sorrow cutting new lines into his face. “What do you want to do?” His deep voice echoed in the silent room as the rest of the leaders had taken a break outside.
“I don’t know.” Jordan needed guidance. He needed his father. . . or Kyle Bomant, their former leader. Their deaths were fresh ... too fresh. “I just don’t know.”
“You don’t have to do anything.” Conn leaned forward, ensuring their conversation didn’t reach through the holes serving as windows in the pine walls. “Dage said your cousin will arrive later today and is considering allying with the Kurjans. What do you know about him?”
Jordan shook his head. “He’s an asshole. Beat the crap out of a girl last year because she didn’t respond to him. I can see him backing the Kurjans, considering they just took out half the Realm.” Over three hundred years older than Jordan, the other shifter had never grown up.
Conn paled. “If you align with the Kurjans, that makes us ...”
“Enemies.” Jordan met his friend’s gaze squarely. “Not only that, both our forces will be depleted and we’re at war. Nobody knows if the demons will jump in and if so, which side they’ll take.”
“Not to mention the damn witches.” Conn exhaled, the sound full of anguish. “I’ve never understood those crazy magic users and hope to God I never have to deal with a witch. Though Dage secured the canine and multi nations as allies, and they’re sending troops to fight.”
“That’s good.” Well, that was good if Jordan’s people remained allies with the Realm. Otherwise, the wolves would be chasing him. His mind spun, and his gut ached as reality settled hard. “Since Dage has relocated Realm Headquarters to these mountains in the new world, we have the opportunity to take care of business quietly and without a formal challenge to Brent.”
Conn lifted his chin, a veil dropping over his eyes. “Are you ready to challenge your cousin for leadership?”
“Yes.” The word weighed heavily in the room, and even more solidly in Jordan’s stomach. The choice might be out of his hands. His people were too scattered and scared for anyone else to step up, with the exception of Noah Chance. But Noah was a fighter, one of the best, and they needed him on the front line now more than ever. “I want to meet with Brent first and make sure he’s unwilling to align with Dage.”
No expression crossed Conn’s broad face. “You’re a good fighter.”
“Thanks.” Jordan allowed acceptance of the unspoken words to filter down his back. “But Brent is three hundred years older, is more experienced, and has fought before.” Fear at the decision he was considering made Jordan’s head pound. “I’ve never killed anyone.”
“Me, either.” Emotion broke through the false calmness on Conn’s face. “I think that’s about to change.”
Two weeks ago Jordan’s biggest decision had been what woman to woo. The world wasn’t the only thing that had changed ... he and Conn were next. Destiny slammed him right in the face. “If Brent turns against the Realm, there’s really no choice.”
“What are you saying?”
Jordan studied his friend. Conn knew exactly what Jordan was saying, but sometimes the words had to be spoken. “If necessary, I’ll challenge him. If I lose ... I need you to ...”
“Kill him.” Conn’s lids lowered to half mast, and suddenly, he looked like a killer. An unwilling, truly unhappy killer, but a killer nonetheless.
Spikes poked the back of Jordan’s eyes. The last thing he ever wanted to do was turn his best friend into a cold-blooded killer. “If there was anybody else to ask ...”
“I’m just meeting my destiny faster than I’d hoped.” Inevitability echoed in Conn’s low tone. “From day one of my life, I knew I’d be the soldier in my family. The fighter and the one on the front lines. I just didn’t think fate would come calling this soon.”
Fate had arrived for them both. Jordan extended his hand across the table. “This goes against everything we’ve been taught, and everything we believe in.”
“War leaves us no choice.” Conn took his hand in a strong grasp. “If we do this, Dage can never know. He has enough on his shoulders with the family and now with the Realm. He shouldn’t live with this.”
“No. This is ours.” Jordan released Conn and stood. “Let’s go issue the challenge. May God have mercy on us someday.”
Conn shook his head and stood. “What we do, we do because we have to. Mercy has no place—and neither does God.”
The words sent shards of pure ice down Jordan’s spine. Not because they were dismal ... but because they were the absolute truth. The world had changed, indeed.
Back in the present, Jordan opened his eyes in the large gym, his concussions healed.
“You’re stronger.” Conn popped his neck, grimacing as the vertebrae probably snapped back into place.
“I know.” Every day since being infected, his vision had sharpened, his hearing clarified, and his strength increased. As had the need to fight and kill. “I’ve been craving raw meat like you wouldn’t believe.”