Page 51 of The Red Moon

God. He’s going to torture the transformation out of him. Nik said the wolf inside us feels the same pain we do, and I have little doubt both Gabriel and his wolf are going to have a very sore evening after this session.

“Four.”

He thrusts his other claw for Dimitri’s thigh, but the giant pins it to the ground beneath his boot and squeezes like he’s expecting fur to appear on his forearm next.

“Three.”

The wolf flails, thrashing his long legs. It doesn’t work. Not with Dimitri bending his arm at a horrible angle, inches away from ripping it out of the socket. The wolf shrieks in surrender, displaying his neck in forfeit. But Dimitri doesn’t relent. He twists even harder.

“Show your neck to a wolf, not to me. Two seconds or I break it.”

“Fuck you,” Gabriel screams, his voice at an excruciating pitch. Then, the wolf does something that widens every pair of eyes in the chamber. He spits at Dimitri, and a long stringy mess of saliva lands square at his chest.

“Time’s up.” Dimitri stomps on his sternum with enough force to shatter every set of ribs in one blow. I don’t need an X-ray to know it, not when I hear each of the bones splinter and crack at an earsplitting decibel. The wolf’s mouth grows impossibly wide as a strangled howl flees him. The other wolves in the chamber watch, and a collection of grimaces and groans work around the circle. When Dimitri releases his wrist, I take note of the unusual calm in his expression. You wouldn’t think he just poleaxed one of the strongest wolves here. No, Dimitri looks like he did something as insignificant as lacing up his own boots.

Gabriel rolls on the ground swallowing what little air he can as some of the wolves rush to his aid. They hook themselves under each of his arms and carry him to the hatch, his feet dangling the entire length of the chamber.

“He will live,” Dimitri says over his shoulder, and returns to the spot next to Nik.

“That’s one way to do it,” Nik says with a chuckle and places his hand on Dimitri’s shoulder. “How about we give their wolf a little more time to come out, yeah?”

Dimitri crosses his large arms. “He spit on me.”

Nik considers this for a moment and nods. “Fair enough. Who’s next?”

The younger wolves, already as far away from the front as they can get, take another step back in unison.

“Gabriel attacks like a rabid dog.” Someone struts forward and stands a few feet from Dimitri. “Let’s see if you can handle a wolf with formal training, human.” The crowd begins to circle again, roaring with excitement for Clément’s only child. The woman that’s made my life a living hell since we arrived here. Jade Duval.

Nik glances to his right, eyebrows lifting.

“Silver spoons bend easy, heiress,” Dimitri says with a scoff. “You sure this is what you want?”

Jade snarls. It’s low. Deadly. And I can’t shake recognizing the vibration patterns in her throat. It’s the same sound she made my first night here. The sound she makes now whenever I enter the room. It’s a challenge. And as each of her nails disappear behind claws, I know she’s challenging Dimitri. Not for some training exercise. Not to draw out her wolf. This one is personal.

Dimitri sighs. “As you wish.”

A pit settles low in my stomach, leaving the rest of my organs in freefall. Clément agreed that I am off-limits. She can’t kill me and she knows it, so why not the next best thing? Nik’s oldest friend. The person he calls brother.

“Stop!” I scream and lunge through the crowd, pushing aside the wolves standing between me and the front of the chamber. Dimitri’s jaw loses slack when I emerge from the outer circle, and every pair of eyes land on me, including the heiress positioned at the center.

“Stay out of this, mutt,” she hisses.

Nik narrows his gaze on me, his body tensing. I don’t care that he doesn’t think I’m ready. That every wolf in this castle thinks I’m his fragile little pet. I am done letting everyone fight my battles. If she has some score she wants to settle, we will settle it right now. He wanted me to show the world my teeth, right? Well, message well fucking received. I am a wolf. Maybe not by choice. But that doesn’t change the fact I have the cursed blood running through my veins, same as her.

I draw in a deep breath, freeing the claws buried beneath my skin. Each finger burns at first, but it’s nothing compared to the fire radiating in my chest. I pin her with a glare, my snarl a clear warning. “This mutt, Jade, is challenging you.”

THIRTY-THREE

NATALIE

Oh, god. What have I done?

Jade doesn’t scoff or laugh, but the sound is somewhere in between. “I can’t touch you, remember? Your alpha made that very clear.”

We both turn to Nik who glances at each of us. When he finally stares at me, his mouth opens and closes enough times to deflate the air in my lungs. He’s not going to let me fight. And if Jade thought I was weak before, how pathetic am I going to look to her entire pack now?

“Natalia,” he says, his rough voice smoothing over.