The still night air shattered under the impact of a Lupine battle cry, at least three—maybe four—males joining together to howl out their intent to kill. What followed was the most bone-chilling sound Logan had ever heard. A single female howled back, her call a lonely symphony of rage and violence and farewell.
Before the last note had sounded, a huge dark shape flung itself through the door of the cabin and into the woods, leaving behind nothing but a splintered panel of wood and a bloodstained bandage, glowing white and black in the silvery light of the moon.
Astonishment failed to overtake Honor when her four challengers stepped forward. Each man wore an identical expression of smirking arrogance, and each one stared at some point south of her face when they stopped a few feet in front of the oak stump to issue their challenge. They had their backs to the fire, but that didn’t keep Honor from reading their expressions.
“I protest your claim, little girl.” Darin spoke first, typically. He was neither the strongest, nor the most dominant male in his little group, but that didn’t stop him from having the biggest mouth. “But I’ve got in mind to feel something a whole lot more interesting than your wrath, baby.”
His leer would have been comical if it hadn’t made Honor long so desperately for a shower. She said nothing, letting her curled lip and rumbling growl speak for her.
“I protest.” Greg Carpenter stepped forward next, followed closely by Richard Maloni, the man whose face she hadn’t seen earlier.
“Me, too,” Maloni added eloquently.
“I protest, bitch.” Peter Scott managed to combine his own leer with what Honor guessed was supposed to be a sneer. The mating of the two expressions ended up looking something like what she pictured on the faces of first-trimester pregnant women who’d been force-fed rancid sauerkraut, then taken for a rough-weather sailing trip.
“Your protests have been acknowledged,” Hamish said, stepping up onto the stump beside his niece. It was the responsibility of the pack elders to ensure that any challenges were heard and settled according to pack law. “As this is an alpha challenge presented to a female claimant, you have the right to a choice of methods. You may select either—”
“We claim the option of the Alpha Mating Rite.” Darin looked at Hamish and grinned with taunting menace. “Don’t waste our time, old man. We’re ready to get down to business. We got bitches to fuck.”
“I hope you don’t mind the cold,” Honor snarled, “because you’ll have to kill me and hump my corpse, Major. I wouldn’t let you near me any other way.”
Darin spat something vicious, but it was drowned out by the growls and barks of the other males. The crowd at the edges of the stone yard had gone eerily silent as the pack awaited the outcome of the challenges.
“Save your energy for the challenge circle,” Hamish snapped. “You all know the parameters of the challenge. An Alpha Mating Rite has been called. Having failed to win the unanimous support of the pack, the unmated female claimant must now accept her strongest male challenger as her mate. There will be no quarter given. If the female is defeated while more than one challenger still stands, the remaining males fight to the surrender or to the death for the right to mate her.
“Do you all understand?”
“I understand that your ass is mine, little girl,” Darin threatened, licking his chops as he stared at her exposed breasts.
“You’ll be dead before you touch it.”
Hamish extended his hand high overhead and raised his voice to be heard over the growing chorus of growls and snarls. “Let the Mating Rite begin!”
His hand dropped, the male challengers surged forward, uttering battle cries, and Honor flung herself into the fray with a fierce howl, shifting in the air like a molten gray nightmare.
Sixteen
The wolves jolted together in midair, two feral shapes made of claws and fangs and fury. The male, a dull, sandy-blond color, outweighed the female by at least thirty pounds, but she drew first blood, sinking her teeth into the meat of his side before they even hit the ground. The blond wolf screamed in pain and anger, landing in a crouch to snarl at his smaller opponent. She licked her chops, then made a loud hacking, gagging noise, as if she had tasted something that turned her stomach.
The male howled and surged forward. The female danced out of his reach and flicked her tail in disdain.
Honor had identified Darin as her attacker immediately. Even if she hadn’t seen his wolf form a hundred times during her life, she would have recognized his stupidity. He had never learned to control his temper, which was one of the reasons she had known she could easily defeat him. When he was angry, what few brain cells he possessed began to shut off like a light switch. He wouldn’t be the one to bring her down.
Quickly, she chanced a look at the other three. All had shifted and begun to spread out, clearly looking to surround her. She knew they would use Darin’s impulsive assault to their advantage, letting him distract her and wear her down until they got themselves into position to attack her from behind. It was sneaky and something less than honorable, but it was a time-honored hunting technique among wolf packs. And it would probably prove to be effective, unless Honor found a way to counter it.
She knew her strengths and weaknesses. She would never match the males for size or power, but she was quick and agile and could move in ways they simply couldn’t. Her best bet would be to stay out of reach and slip under their guard when the opportunity presented itself.
And, of course, to thin the pack.
A single glance had told her that Carpenter was the weakest link. He might have enough brains not to have gone for her immediately like Darin, but he was smaller than the other three, and younger. Inexperienced. He’d never had to fight for his life before. It was an advantage Honor could exploit.
She waited for Darin’s next rush, held her ground until she could all but feel his breath in her face, then twisted to the side and launched herself at Carpenter’s unguarded flank.
He never saw her coming. Her jaws opened, teeth flashing white and deadly, and closed on his near hind leg, slicing through his hamstring and effectively hobbling him. That made one less wolf who could sneak up on her. If he stayed down, he’d heal eventually. He’d probably limp, but he’d heal.
Carpenter was made of stronger stuff than she had reckoned, though. Instead of immediately crumpling to the ground, he howled in pain, but then shifted his weight to his opposite leg and lunged for her.
She felt the graze of his fangs against her shoulder, felt the shock of pain as he opened a slice in her side, and yelped as she threw herself to the side. When he turned to come at her again, though, she was ready. He made the mistake so many men made and headed for her straight-on. Honor braced herself, then dropped into a crouch just before impact and threw back her head. Her jaws clamped around his throat and pulled using his own momentum against him. He was dead before he hit the ground.
A part of Honor mourned. The alpha in her hated to lose even a single member of her pack, but he hadn’t left her a choice. In this moment, it came down to life or death, because Honor would sooner die than allow herself to be condemned to rape and a life mated to her rapist. No female on earth deserved that.
Maloni hit her next. He slammed into her like a professional wrestler, knocking her to the earth and attempting to pin her beneath him. Allowing him to do so would doom her.