Page 69 of Brutal Reign
A metallic rumble thunders through the arena as everyone rapidly drums their feet against the bleachers, whooping and cheering with excitement. Madd swivels to face Jake and I with a gleam of exhilaration in his own eyes. “Keep it clean,” he reminds us, nodding in a signal for the two of us to come together and shake hands.
I slap my hand into Jake’s for the sake of sportsmanship, even though doing so makes my skin crawl. I’ve never liked the guy. His vibe has always been off, and since he’s been at training camp, his true colors have finally started to show. I was right to be wary of him; he’s a fucking snake.
Not only is Jake trying to steal River’s birthright by issuing a challenge for Alpha rank, but I still feel like there’s more to the story of what happened between them after they brought Hayden back from the bar a couple weeks ago. The thought of him trying to force himself on her makes me want to rip him limb from limb, but I maintain my composure as I meet his eyes, calm and controlled as ever.
“Not too late to back out,” Jake says with an arrogant lift of his chin, retracting his hand.
The corner of my mouth ticks up in a smirk, but I don’t dignify him with a response beyond that. I’ll go ahead and let him think he’s got this in the bag. It’ll only make my victory over him that much sweeter.
The two of us break apart, heading to opposite ends of the arena to strip off our clothes and shift to our wolves. I flicker a glance up at the bleachers on my way, locking eyes with Seb. He gives me a subtle nod of confidence, Beau and Eli beaming grins at me from their positions on either side of our future Alpha.They know I’ve got this.
Seb’s the only one who understands how much is truly at stake in this matchup. If we want this bond with River, then we need to win her back somehow, and helping her overcome Jake’s challenge to her position could go a long way in accomplishing that. Losing this battle will shake his confidence. Feeding Riv intel about his weaknesses will build hers.
Shedding my clothing piece by piece, I fold each item and assemble them into a neat pile, placing it atop my sneakers before calling my wolf forward. The air around me shimmers with my shift and I smoothly transition to my animal form, fur sprouting and body rearranging. Landing heavily on my front paws, I trot back toward the center of the arena, my maw gaping to expose my razor-sharp canines.I’m going to enjoy sinking them into his flesh.
Jake’s tricolor wolf lopes forward to meet me, his lips pulling back in a snarl. It’s meant to be a threat, but I’m not fazed in the least. If anything, I’m tempted to laugh at his predictability.
The two of us begin circling one another, my muscles coiling with tension as we await the sound of the buzzer. The moment it rings out, Jake launches himself in my direction; a move I see coming from a mile away. It’s almost too easy to dodge.
Jake has approached every matchup the same way throughout the tournament, so I’ve planned every one of my counter-moves like a choreographed dance. When he comes at me a second time, I fall to my back, delivering a swift kick to his abdomen with my hind legs and sending him sailing over top ofme. He lands with a grunt, and I promptly roll over to leap onto his back, sinking my fangs into the thick scruff of his neck.
He shakes me off with a whine and I let him, springing to my feet and allowing him to reset. It wouldn’t be any fun to take him out within the first minute. No, I plan on making this last the full eight, prolonging his humiliation for as long as possible.
A feral growl rumbles in Jake’s chest as he pushes to his feet, baring his teeth and snapping his jaws. He’s already rattled, and rather than pausing and taking a second to consider his strategy, he launches himself in my direction again. I easily evade his next few advances, toying with him like a cat with a mouse.
Brute strength alone doesn’t win battles. My wolf is larger and more muscular than Jake’s, but the real edge I have over him is technique. The more riled up he gets, the sloppier his attacks are, while I keep my own movements tight and controlled. He leaps toward me, knocking me to the ground with his front paws, but I throw my weight when I land, easily rolling him beneath me and seizing the upper hand. He gets a bite of my shoulder, but is forced to yield when I lock my own jaws around his throat.
We reset. Again and again, the two of us clash, jaws snapping and fur flying. Jake gets more and more agitated as the minutes stretch on, and he gets desperate when it finally starts to dawn on him that he’s losing this fight. He clamps his jaws around one of my paws, drawing blood as he jerks his neck forcefully to rip flesh from bone. I return the cheap shot by stomping down on his nuts.
Whoops.
Jake releases my paw with a low whine, curling in on himself as I spring to my feet and limp away to reset. Nothing feels broken, but my front leg is bleeding like a sieve, staining the dirt beneath me a sickening shade of crimson.
No matter. This’ll be over soon.
‘Did that one hurt, Conway?’Jake’s taunt filters into my head through the mind-link as we begin circling one another again. He must be desperate if he’s resorting to psychological warfare.‘Good to know,’he chuckles.‘I’ll be sure to use that move when I go up against River and take the Alpha rank.’
The box in my mind containing my rage explodes into smithereens, a snarl rattling from my lips as I’m overwhelmed with the violent urge to maim him. I see the smug satisfaction in his eyes as I fight to regain my composure, hackles raised and muscles bunched tight. He’s goading me, but I can’t allow myself to take the bait. If I lose control and go after him how I really want to right now, I’ll be disqualified, and he’ll win by default.
I draw a deep breath in an effort to quell my rage, reminding myself why I’m doing this. It’s not to take Jake out or cripple him permanently so he can’t rise to the challenge he declared. If I know one thing about River, it’s that she’s always hated being made to feel like she can’t fight her own battles. That’s part of the reason she and Seb have so much friction– he wants to protect her, while she wants to protect herself. Jake’s challenge for Alpha rank ishersto meet, but this tournament ismine.
The crowd of spectators grows impatient, drumming their feet against the bleachers and jeering as the seconds tick down. We’ve got about a minute left, and I’m not done wiping the floor with Jake Decker. Not evenclose.
He comes at me again, our bodies colliding, and I finally stop holding back. I give him everything I’ve got– within the confines of the rules, of course– taking him down to the dirt and sinking my fangs into his neck while fighting the urge to rip out his goddamn throat. Then I let him scramble away only to attack again, tossing him to the dirt and pinning him beneath my weight. Over and over, I let him go and reel him back in, asserting my dominance and leaving no question as to who the stronger wolf is.
Jake kicks and flails and tries his damndest, but I don’t allow him to get a single strike in against me. As the final seconds tick down, I get one final strike in, locking my jaws around his neck until the coppery tang of blood slides over my tongue. The buzzer sounds, but I don’t release until Jake yields with a whine, his body going limp beneath mine.
“Alright, looks like we have a winner!” Madd announces, stepping toward the center of the arena as I back away from Jake. He hangs his head as he struggles to his feet, knowing he’s been beat, while a sense of pride surges within me.
The two of us retreat to our respective sides of the arena, shifting back to our human forms and dressing before returning to join Madd in the center. Blood steadily flows from my left wrist, leaving a trail across the dirt, but I can’t find it in me to care that I’m injured. Not when I just accomplished exactly what I set out to do.
Madd reaches over to take my right arm, holding it up above my head to officially declare me the victor. The crowd erupts in a cacophony of cheers, and as I gaze out over the bleachers, my eyes immediately drift to Seb. He grins back at me, and the understanding that passes between us means more than all the other congratulatory cheers combined. He’s the only one here who knows what this was really for.
This victory isn’t mine; it was for our girl. And I can’t wait for her to get back to training camp so we can tell her all about it.
24
“I’ll bet the cut list is gonna be huge today since we’re almost halfway through,” Hayden chirps, her violet ponytail bouncing as she speaks animatedly to Kendrick and Gus. “I mean, I’m not worried about any ofus, but just watch, they’re gonna clean house with this one.”