Page 53 of The Red Moon

Jade inspects her stomach, fingers grazing each incision and the pieces of her shirt still intact. Three different expressions strain the lines in her face. Shock. Contempt. And finally … Rage. And with the last one, I know there’s no chance she’ll be stupid enough to fall for it again. Everything from her high cheekbones to her jaw pinches tight, and she whips her long black hair to the side.

“You’re smarter than I expected,” she says and flicks the blood to the floor.

“You have no idea what I’m capable of.” I ready myself again, doing my best to breathe through the palpitations knocking at my chest like an unwanted guest.

Jade takes a stance of her own. “I’ve seen enough.” Then, she dashes forward, claws at her sides and prepared to strike. Her speed is remarkable. She closes the gap within seconds while I struggle to keep up. Before I can even pivot for a better angle, she swallows the distance, fingers spreading to inflict as much damage as possible.

I block high.

Jade strikes low. And unfortunately for me, she doesn’t miss.

Pain sears from the four fresh lines carving my abdomen, nearly identical to the bloody scratches on her. This wasn’t an accident. No, she could have attacked anywhere, and instead, she chose to gift me a matching set of claw marks. I thought she wanted to kill me quick, but now, it seems Jade would much rather torture me first.

The crowd roars as I roll to the opposite end of the circle. It doesn’t matter how far I am. Jade is too fast. Too experienced. Here I thought I actually stood a chance against her and she’s fucking toying with me. Blood drips down my hips, some of it pooling at my waistline. I heave in a breath, studying the heiress as she uses her torn shirt to clean my blood off her claws.

Jade’s posture relaxes, and her scowl is replaced with a confident smirk. “I heard a little rumor,” she says, and the catlike grin I’ve grown to despise accentuates her prominent features. “About how you were turned.”

“Wha—” I sputter, keeping my hands raised defensively. “What do you mean?”

Jade stalks forward just enough to raise the hairs on my neck. “I assumed Nik bit you when you first came here. The mark on your neck, you following him around like a stray puppy, it made the most sense. So, imagine my surprise when I hear the real story about that mutt blood flowing through your veins.”

A heavy breath escapes me as white-hot rage settles in my chest.

She laughs and arches a brow. “Oh, there it is. The same look of an untrained dog.” Jade narrows her dark green eyes and a wicked grin appears. “I’d expect nothing less from someone bitten by Viktor Vostik.”

The chamber falls silent, and everyone holds their breath, even Nik. She knows he’s not the one that turned me. How the choice—my choice to even become a wolf was taken from me. There’s no pity in her eyes. No remorse. No, she’s fucking mocking me for it. Laughing at the way I’ll spend the rest of my life cursed by the man who killed my best friend. Who tried to kill me. And as I glare at her, my claws biting into my palms, something inside me snaps.

A blinding white takes over my vision, masking Jade first, then spreading across the entire chamber. Every sound fizzles to a low static. All but one. The vibrations of Jade’s calm heartbeat pulse around a faceless silhouette at the opposite end of the circle. She doesn’t move to defend. If anything, she looks even more relaxed than before. Rage doesn’t just simmer my stomach. It explodes in the form of a threatening snarl. Then … I howl out everything I can.

I charge the heiress, all thoughts of strategy and technique falling to the wayside. Now there’s only one thing on my mind. Death. She slashes and sidesteps, claws slicing into the soft skin of my cheek. I welcome it. Invite every bit of torment she can dish out if it means this pain will make me forget. About Viktor. The scar on my ankle. My fucking humanity. I swing for her wildly, my claws cutting the air around her face and neck.

“Nat!” Dimitri screams, but it’s not enough to stop my rampage. Not until I have Jade pinned to the ground pleading for her life. “Do something, Nikolai!”

“Not yet!” Nik fires back, his voice firm and unwavering.

I push toward her again, fighting on smell and sound alone. She’s quick. Faster than me by all accounts, but the small wounds Jade inflicts aren’t enough. Not now. The gashes only fuel the untethered fury coursing through my veins, and despite the stench of my blood overwhelming the chamber, I don’t let up. I can’t.

The crowd doesn’t cheer anymore, but gasps with every ferocious swing of my claws. They all know the same thing I do. My attacks are getting closer, and it’s only a matter of time before one of them lands. One. Two. Three more vicious swipes for the outline of her head. I miss all of them. All except the last.

A sharp cry adds to the vibrations bringing the world into focus. Inch by inch, the colors of the chamber return, and the first one I see is fucking red. A satisfying red trickling down the right side of Jade’s face. She tries to cup her hand to the wound but it’s too late. Instinct drives me now. Pure animalistic wrath descending upon the heiress of the Duval pack with me at the driver’s seat. And I’m not letting up.

I lunge again, latching my claws deep in Jade’s shoulders, and topple her to the floor with a sickening crunch. The force sends shockwaves throughout those circling us. I feel every tendon, every muscle of her arms quit in an instant, and despite writhing and twisting under my grip, both of her hands fall uselessly to the sides. But I’m not done. No. There’s something darker brewing inside of me. A monster roaring for her head on a fucking plate.

“You have to stop this!” Dimitri’s screams.

I mount the heiress and grate my claws down the length of her torso. Flesh. Organs. Bones. All fall victim to the knives at my fingertips. Blood. More blood than I’ve ever seen fills her chest and stomach, soaking her shredded shirt a disgusting arterial shade. She thrashes her body again and again, but it’s only when I pin her wrists to the floor that the fight in her eyes is replaced with pure panic. I lift my clawed hand and take aim for her throat, every cell in my body roaring for blood.

“Come back to me.”

The whisper is soft. Familiar enough to settle in my bones. My hand trembles, claws outstretched and hungry for Jade’s flesh. Something in me wants to ignore it. The other part of me … can’t.

“You’ve already won, little wolf. Come back to me.”

I tilt my head, anger straining the harsh lines of my face. He’s not going to stop me. Not now. Not when I have Jade right where I want her. He’ll have to rip me off of her if—Nik hasn’t moved. He’s in the same spot, arms still folded over his chest.

I don’t understand. This is what he trained me for. This is what we—god. I stare down at the woman pinned beneath me seemingly for the first time. The haze melts away until all I see is blood. On her. On me. Puddling on the stone floors and reaching for the edge of the circle. Jade’s green eyes peer up at the ceiling half-lidded, and blood doesn’t just spill but gushes from the gaping wounds. The wounds I made. And I enjoyed every fucking second of it.

My chest seizes as I stare at her in horror. The woman I challenged. The heiress of this pack lying frozen in her own fluids.