Page 50 of The Red Moon

I sit up straighter, doing my best to ignore how every heartbeat in the room raises the hairs on my neck. Growls start at the farthest table and pass through each wolf until it becomes a choir of threats from the entire pack. They’re ready to attack. All of them. But they can’t. Not without an order from their alpha.

Nik takes one last drink from his glass and stands, his impressive stature looming over us all. Dimitri and I move to do the same, only to be stopped by his clawed hand. Tiny black fractures travel from his wrists and down each finger.

“Nikolai,” Dimitri warns, glancing around the hall.

Nik snarls in response, earning a flinch from every council member besides Clément.

“I will only ask this once,” he says, voice familiar but not completely his. There’s something else. Something darker and unrecognizable in his tone. He clenches his jaw, and more fractures appear on his forearms and neck. “Do we understand each other?”

Clément’s brow pinches while he considers Nik’s words. If it weren’t for the collection of heartbeats, the entire room would marinate in this silence long enough to unsettle anyone, even a werewolf. When the alpha finally lifts his head, his intimidating posture eases, and the glow in each red eye dims.

“Yes, Nikolai. We have an understanding.” The growls in the dining hall cease, and everyone watching our table returns to their plates and conversations. Clément makes it a point to pass by our side as he exits, pausing near Nik and whispering, “Your father would never sacrifice himself, not even for his sons. I’m glad to see one of the Vostik apples fell far from the tree.”

I survive the first session in the chamber easily enough. More breathing exercises with those who have years of moon-induced shifting under their belts. To be honest, it was hard to focus when I’ve had to swallow down the unanswered questions burning in my chest like acid. She will fight when she’s ready, Nik had said. Not, she’s learning faster than expected. And he certainly didn’t hint at the fact I’ve been able to parry his strikes and drop him to the floor repeatedly the past two nights. I’m still not ready to fight in his eyes.

What do I have to do to prove myself? I’ve tried to tell him I’m not the same Natalie he met in his club. The human that was taken and caged on his family’s property. And if words won’t change his mind … maybe I have to show him how ready I am.

“Fall in,” Nik announces to the lower ranking wolves after the last elder exits, a single-file line of cursed ones reaching what must be the kitchen with how many pour in through the maze. Jade hangs back, much to my annoyance, but I’ve come to expect it as much as the disgusted glares whenever she thinks I’m not looking. I do. I can practically taste the vitriol radiating from her even with my back turned.

They filter into the chamber, lining themselves in four separate rows spanning the entire length of the stone floors. I can’t help but compare myself to each one entering this time, taking note of how many in this pack I’d have no problem besting. Kind of hard not to consider when they’ll be fighting during the blood moon.

“We’re going to do something different today,” Nik says, pacing at the front of the wolves waiting for him to continue. “Some of you have only experienced a few full moons. And some of you have yet to feel the power of the transformation.”

Welp. I don’t exactly need a decoder ring to know who he’s talking about.

“The moon isn’t the only way to trigger a transformation. Your wolf will feel everything you do. Anger. Fear. Pain. If you die, so does your wolf. You aren’t two separate halves, but one. The sooner you realize this, the closer you’ll be to turning without the moon.” Nik pauses and motions to the sealed hatch. “So, let’s see if we can draw your wolf out of hiding.”

We? What does he mean we?

The hatch slams open, swinging into the wall with tremendous force.

Dimitri steps through the threshold, tilting his head to fit past the entryway. His face resembles the stone of the chamber, only somehow harder. The lights above us sheen off his bald head as he paces forward, parting the sea of wolves without a single word. Dimitri isn’t wearing the same button-up he does at every meal in the dining room. No, the shirt he has on now is sleeveless, leaving the sheer size of his arms on full display. He marches to the front, determination in his stride.

“Dimitri is a human,” Nik says matter-of-factly. “Should be easy enough for any of you to beat, right?”

This can’t be real. There’s no way Dimitri is actually challenging every wolf here. He doesn’t have claws. Heightened senses. He’s human. A tank, sure, but human by all accounts. One quick slash to his stomach and his intestines will slosh to the floor like sausage links.

Nik scans the crowd, one side of his mouth curving to a smirk. “Any takers?”

The younger wolves take a tentative step back. The other, more sizeable wolves lean in, fanged mouths dripping with spit and anticipation. A sequence of heartbeats thump through the floor, the loudest ones doubling in rhythm.

“I will beat your pet bear,” one announces, shoving his way to the front. He’s taller than most of the pack and judging from the way his claws and sharp teeth extend effortlessly, he’s not exactly a pup. “Then, I challenge you, Vostik.”

Nik’s grin deepens. “Let’s see if you can get past the bear first, Gabriel.”

Dimitri takes a step forward as the wolves circle around them, stretching his neck to each side. Gabriel is nowhere close to Dimitri in size. Well, no one is, to be fair. But who needs size when you have the speed of an animal and a matching set of claws. Gabriel opens his mouth and unleashes a menacing snarl as he takes a powerful stance.

No. This is bad. Dimitri isn’t even armed for Christ’s sake. How in the hell is he going to be able to stop one of their strongest wolves with his bare hands?

Nik crosses his arms over his chest. “Begin.”

Gabriel sprints toward Dimitri, long, deadly claws aimed for his head. He cuts the distance between them, fingers splayed to shred him to pieces. No. No, no, no. Dimitri can’t heal. He can’t survive something like that. This wolf is trying to kill him, and no one, not even Nik, is doing a damn thing to stop it.

That’s when I see it. The way Dimitri shifts into the same defensive position I have done hundreds of times these past few days. With him, the move is almost instinctual. A reflex. It doesn’t matter how quick Gabriel closes in, Dimitri is ready for him. And when I look at Nik once more, the grin on his face deepens.

Split seconds before Gabriel connects, Dimitri grabs him by the wrist and shoulder, planting his leg behind him. A single twist of his large frame is all it takes for Dimitri to hurl the wolf’s body over his hip and to the ceiling. Everyone, even Jade, gasps. Then, Dimitri slams the suspended wolf onto the floor, shuddering the entire chamber. His entire body collapses in on itself, sending shockwaves from the back wall to the hatch. The air rips out of him, and now the only sound from Gabriel’s wrenched mouth is pure agony.

“You have five seconds,” Dimitri says, adding pressure to his wrist and turning his shoulder in a way it shouldn’t. “Show me your wolf or I break bones.”