She stepped forward to address Daniel and the Council. “If I’m the prize, don’t I have the right to demand whether or not I get to fight for myself?” She turned on Ain. “Please don’t edict me out of this,” she begged in a soft voice. “I know what I’m doing.”
“Elain, you don’t know what this means! You—”
Cail and Brodey grabbed his arms. “Let her,” Brodey whispered. “She’s right.”
“Are you out of your fucking gourd?” Ain asked Brodey.
“Ain,” she begged. “Please!”
He looked at his two brothers. Finally, he shook his head in resignation. He grabbed Elain and kissed her before stepping back.
She turned back to Daniel. “Let’s settle this bullshit once and for all. Right here, and right now. I call him out.”
Abernathy’s self-assured smile faltered. “What?”
She stalked over to him and got in his face. “Right here, old man,” she growled. “And right now. When I win, this bullshit is over for good. You leave me alone, and you leave Mai alone.” She looked at Daniel and the rest of the Council. “If they refuse to accept the terms, I declare they be ruled in forfeit and the blood oath is cancelled.”
Daniel was finally following her train of thought. His eyes narrowed as he stared at her and slowly nodded his head. “Agreed.”
Abernathy’s eyes widened. “No! Fine, we’ll do it right here and now.” He waved Paul over to him.
Elain fought the urge to laugh in the guy’s face. He was only a couple of inches taller than her, and he didn’t look at all happy to be there.
Daniel consulted with the Council, then turned back to them. “Okay, but let’s do it outside.”
They reconvened in the large field next door. Everyone who’d been inside gathered along the edge of the field to watch. Abernathy huddled with his grandson and flunkies near the sidewalk leading from the parking lot to the building. Daniel and the rest of the Council were grouped in the middle of the field. Daniel pulled Elain off to the side.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” he softly asked her. “I can’t throw this fight for you. If you lose, there’s going to be a serious shit storm.” He glanced at the jaguars, who stood in the shade of a tree at the side of the building and watched. “We’re running out of options.”
She grinned. “Oooh, yeah. I know what I’m doing.”
He shook his head. “I sure hope you do. I don’t want to have to rule against you, but if you lose, I won’t have a choice. The Council won’t let me break the Code even if I could find a loophole.” He lowered his voice so only she could hear. “Ortega is ready to put our plan into gear if you lose, you know.”
She kicked off her shoes and handed them to him. “Don’t worry,” she said lightly. “I won’t lose.”
He and the rest of the Council left the center of the field. Elain took a moment to warm up, stretching her body, remembering her days running track and field and cross-country.
Remembering how she easily earned her black belt in karate far sooner than any of her instructor’s other students.
No, I will not lose.
Once Abernathy had briefed his grandson, Daniel called Elain, Ain, Abernathy, and Paul over to where the Council members stood at the edge of the field.
“Here are the rules,” Daniel said. “Fight to submission.” He looked at Elain. “Winner take all. Got it?”
She grinned, which apparently unsettled the elder Abernathy even more from the way his eyebrows raised. “Got it,” she said.
“Take your chosen position in the field. When my hand drops, that’s when you start. The only rule is you do not leave the field. Anyone who leaves the field loses by default.”
Elain glanced behind her with a goofy grin as she skipped further out into the field. The tactic worked. Now Paul was also frowning, not looking nearly as cocky as he had a few minutes earlier as he followed her into the field.
She turned to face him with a beaming smile, watching as Paul stopped a few feet away from her. In the distance, she saw Daniel standing with his hand raised.
When Paul turned to watch Daniel, Elain immediately dropped into a ready crouch. As soon as Daniel’s hand started to descend, she bolted.
Paul let out a startled cry when she took off. He stumbled, then gave chase. Elain felt the grin crease her face as she circled the perimeter of the field, easily staying out of Paul’s reach. After a few minutes, she realized was seriously fighting the urge to shift. She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t lose control and shift. Her strategy depended on it.
Fortunately for her, Paul’s self-control wasn’t as good. With an enraged snarl he stopped, ripped off his clothes, and shifted.
“Ha!” She turned and dropped into a low stoop. “Here, puppy puppy puppy,” she said with a growl.
With a fearsome snarl, he charged. She dipped her shoulder, easily scooping him up and using his own momentum against him to throw him ten yards through the air. He hit the ground on his side with a startled yip and a thud that knocked the wind out of him.
She had already turned and was waiting for him by the time he regained his footing. He shook himself, his sides heaving as he tried to catch his breath.
She turned her hand palm up and motioned for him to come hither with her index finger. “Come and get me, asshole.”
He snarled and charged again with the same result. He was a little slower to regain his footing that time. His eyes narrowed as he studied her, considering his next attack.
Slow-learning fucker, aren’t you?
Ain needed all of the others to hold him back. But it was Carla’s soft whisper in his ear that comforted him the most and finally relaxed him.
“Ain, remember. She’s a cross-country champion and has a black belt.”
Mai nodded in agreement. “She will kick Paul’s ass. He’s a pussy and he hates pain. I outran Paul and I’m pregnant. Elain won’t have any problems wearing him down.”
Liam put his hands on Carla’s shoulders. She grabbed his hands for comfort. “Elain is the spitting image of her mother,” Liam said. “Maureen was a fierce Alpha. I wouldn’t have tried fighting her even if I hadn’t wanted to be her mate. I damn sure wouldn’t try fighting Maureen Alexander’s highly brassed-off daughter. Only a fool would dare challenge her.”
Ain let that sink in and tried to relax. Still, he didn’t shake off Cail’s and Brodey’s hands from his arms.
He watched as Paul circled Elain, who never let the insane grin slip from her face. He didn’t dare risk a look at the elder Abernathy, who had to be nearly crazed with anger by that point.
Then he and everyone else watching gasped as it looked like Elain tripped and rolled onto her back. Brodey and Cail clutched Ain’s arms more tightly to prevent him from running into the field to help her. With a triumphant howl, Paul launched himself onto Elain.
That’s when his howl turned into an inhuman scream of pain. Elain rolled on top of him, her hand buried between his hind legs.
“Submit!” she roared at him, her face a mask of rage. Her arm jerked as another scream of pain rolled from Paul.
Paul shifted back into human form. Everyone except for the Abernathy contingent broke out into hysterical peals of laughter. Elain had a death grip on his dick and balls, her nails dug in to the point she was already drawing blood.
He let out another wail of pain and outrage when she twisted her arm again.
“Submit!” she roared.
Ain couldn’t hold back his laughter as he followed Daniel and the other Council members out onto the field.
“All right!” Paul screeched. “I submit!”