Into the Dark (Red 1)

“He needs to see what he’s fighting for.” She stands with her arm around my waist, grounding me. It’s good because without it, I feel like I might float away. Suddenly, the whole world seems a bit too big and a bit too scary. “Take a deep breath,” Aunt Germaine urges. “You’re going to faint if you don’t.”

I do as she says, taking big deep breaths as I look toward the center circle. Nash and Jeffrey are both naked now and Nash looks over at me one last time before he shifts. He smiles and winks and my whole heart just swells.

“He’s got it bad,” Aunt Germaine mutters, but she still holds onto me.

The men both shift and begin circling each other.

“How much do you know about wolves?” Aunt Germaine asks warily.

“Not as much as I should, considering.”

“It’s custom to fight as wolves. Live as wolves, die as wolves,” she says carefully. “You do know that when someone challenges the Alpha, the fight ends in death, yeah?”

“I know.”

I wish I didn’t. I wish there were many things about wolf life that I didn’t know. This is just one of them. While I grew up in the human world alongside my brother, he became absorbed with the world of shifters when he found out who he really was.

Still, as I look around the pack, I can’t help but be a little shocked.

There are so many of them.

I always knew Jeffrey was among his own kind, but I didn’t realize just how many of “his kind” there actually were. My own ignorance embarrasses me, but I can’t dwell on that now. Right now, the only thing I need to do is make it through this fight.

Right now, I need to see Nash conquer my brother once and for all.

“He’s got this,” I say to Germaine, squeezing her hand. “He’s got this.”

She nods, and we turn to watch the two males circling each other. Nash’s fur is a beautiful, luscious blue-grey. Jeffrey’s is a mange of black, matted fur. How is it possible that they’re so different? Two wolves from the same pack, yet they’re opposites.

Nash grows as Jeffrey eyes him, walking around slowly. All eyes are on the duo. I wonder how many of these wolves have seen a battle like this before. How many of them have seen a fight that’s so raw and dirty?

Jeffrey strikes first, leaping at Nash, and it’s all a blur from there. The crowd goes wild, and I notice an even mix of cheers for both wolves. Dammit. Even if Nash wins – and he has to win – he’s going to have a tough time getting the pack under control.

They roll around, scratching and biting at each other. At one point, Jeffrey has Nash pinned and I think it’s all over,

but Nash manages to flip them so he’s on top. He pulls his paw back and is about to scratch Jeffrey’s face with his claws, but Jeffrey suddenly shifts, catching Nash off guard.

“What the hell?” I say, and step forward, but Germaine holds me firmly in place.

“Patience,” she whispers. “This is normal.”

“But he’s cheating,” I say.

“It’s okay,” Germaine insists. “Nash has this under control.” She turns to me then, her eyes bright and shining, and she says, “He was born for this, love.”

I know she’s right. Nash has Alpha’s blood in him. Still, hearing his shrieks and cries as he battles my brother do nothing to help the waves of nausea rolling through my body. They’re both bleeding and crying out with every slash and hit. It’s all I can do to stop myself from running between them and trying to get them to just stop.

I take deep breaths as I watch. Nash is an incredible fighter. Even in wolf form, I can tell that he’s built for this. He’s lean and long and his eyes never leave Jeffrey.

Not once.

They’re both getting tired and moving a bit slowly. Their bodies are covered in so much blood I can’t tell which one is in worse shape. My heart hurts for Nash as I watch him fight.

He takes blow after blow after blow, and then, just when he’s on the ground, just when Jeffrey is about to saunter over and get him, he leaps up unexpectedly and goes for the throat.

Jeffrey lets out an unholy scream as Nash tears into him.

He went for the kill.