Page 49 of Reject Him

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Unsure and uneasy, Eme pulls Logan’s coat tighter around herself. She knows that this can’t end well and that one of them will die. Though she doesn’t like Dillon, she doesn’t wish him dead, either. And if Logan dies, she’d rather go with him to the afterlife than be forced to be with Dillon.

She barely notices her father sliding up beside her as the other wolves come to stand behind her, a solid wall of support for the Head Alpha and his mate.

“He’s not in his right frame of mind,” her father whispers angrily.

“He’s never been in the right frame of mind.” And she knows it to be true. Even when they dated, he had been off on occasion. Obsessive. Compulsive. She should have known then that he was a mistake, should have known that he’d take things too far to keep her as his.

“No, Emeline, that’s not what I mean.”

She looks at the side of his face. “What do you mean, then?”

Lee points at Dillon. “He’s on wolfcalm.”

Wayne steps forward on Eme’s other side. “How do you know?”

“Look at his face,” Lee advises. “His eyes. They’re bloodshot. That’s consistent with an addict.”

Eme covers her mouth. “He’ll be stronger than Logan,” she murmurs behind her fingers.

Neither man says anything, and when both Dillon and Logan get into a fighting stance, Lee steps forward. “A fight to the death,” he calls out. “On three, you will begin the challenge.”

Eme hitches a breath and tries to calm her erratic heartbeat. This fight defines her fate. She doesn’t want to be without Logan. She doesn’t -

“One. Two. Three!”

Dillon rushes forward, arm swinging, but he misses Logan’s face. Logan had moved his head at just the right time. Eme has the urge to bite her fingernails after clenching them when Logan jabs Dillon in the stomach. Dillon doubles over, but recovers quickly, righting himself to tackle Logan to the ground. He succeeds, and both men fall to the snow with a thump.

“Oh, God,” Eme whispers.

Dillon punches and punches again, and just when Eme is going to call for Logan to get up, Logan hooks his leg and slams Dillon onto his back.

Dillon shouts in pain, having landed on a rock. He swings and punches Logan in the jaw. Logan’s head snaps back, and he lifts Dillon to slam him back on the rock. Dillon takes both hands, fists them together, and slams them against Logan’s sternum. It’s stunning enough to make Logan fall off Dillon. Eme hisses at the pain he must feel.

As soon as Logan is on the ground, Dillon rises to two feet. It takes him a second to shift, and shredded clothes fly everywhere.

“Shit,” Wayne hisses.

Her ex-boyfriend’s wolf is a musky gray, fur just as messy and crazed as Dillon’s hair had been.

“He’s going to have to shift, or this fight will end quickly, and not in Logan’s favor,” Lee says to them. “Dillon is a lot stronger as a wolf than in his human form.”

Eme doesn’t have time to respond because Dillon darts forward, but he misses his opening because Logan has recovered and stands just in time. He grabs the wolf, picks him up, and tosses him. The wolf skids against the snow on his side then scrambles back to his feet.

“Shift, Logan!” Eme calls. She knows he can shift just as quickly as Dillon can. “Why won’t he shift?”

“Because he thinks he doesn’t need to,” Lee says.

Wayne growls under his breath. “Because he doesn’t.”

Does he really have so much faith in this fight? Eme thinks to herself. The man is on wolfcalm, for god’s sake.

To her dismay, Logan doesn’t listen to Eme’s warning. Dillon bounds for him again, and Logan lifts him by the scruff, slams him on the ground, and wraps his fingers around the wolf’s throat. The wolf scrambles, kicking his legs until one paw scrapes down Logan’s abdomen. She can hear Logan’s grunt of pain. His shirt is ripped, and blood wells and spreads across the cloth.

Logan releases the wolf and stumbles back.

“Now would be the time to-” Lee calls, but he’s interrupted by Logan shifting. “Finally,” Lee grumbles. He crosses his arms and leans forward.