Page 38 of Howl You Doin'

"Oh, I heard it." Caleb's voice dropped lower, deadlier. "You think you can control my pack through fear. That hurting the innocent will make me bow down." He took another step forward, satisfaction curling through him as several Nightfang members tensed. "But here's what you don't understand, Victor. My pack isn't weak because we care for each other. We're stronger for it. And tonight? Tonight, you proved exactly why you'll never lead them."

"Damn straight," Wade muttered.

Fiona's fingers brushed Caleb's arm, a small point of warmth in the cool night. "Tell him about the punch bowl incident next. Really drive it home," she whispered.

Caleb bit back another inappropriate smile. Here they were, facing down their enemies, and she was still trying to make him laugh. The woman was impossible. And wonderful. And currently creating tiny flames that danced between her fingers, ready to strike.

Victor's laughter echoed across the mansion's grounds, setting Caleb's teeth on edge. The other alpha's smugness radiated off him in waves that made Caleb's wolf want to lunge for his throat.

"You think I haven't done this before elsewhere?" Victor's voice dripped with condescension. "Every pack I've taken fell the same way. First the fear, then the doubt." He gestured to his assembled followers. "Ask any of them how well their previous alphas fared against me."

Rachelle's lips curved into a predatory smile. "The Northern Ridge Pack lasted three months before begging Victor to take over."

"Your little festival was cute," Victor continued, "but after tonight? Those elders you tried so hard to impress will see you for what you really are - weak. Unable to protect your own." He spread his arms wide. "They'll come to me, just like all the others did. Because strength is all that matters in the end."

The wound in Caleb's side throbbed, as if emphasizing Victor's point. But before the doubt could take root, he felt Fiona shift beside him, the heat of her magic warming his skin.

"Wow," she whispered. "Does he practice these speeches in the mirror? Because that was very dramatic. The arm spread really sold it."

Wade coughed to hide what sounded suspiciously like a snort.

Caleb fought back his own smile, drawing strength from her irreverence. She was right - Victor's posturing was almost comical. Here was a man so desperate to prove his strength that he'd attack children at a festival.

"You know what I think?" Caleb called up to him. "I think you're scared. Because for all your talk of strength, you've never faced a pack that truly stands together. That's why you attack the weak - because you know you can't beat us at our strongest."

Victor's facade cracked, just slightly. "You dare-"

"Oh, I dare. And after tonight? After you proved to everyone exactly what kind of leader you are?" Caleb let his own smile show teeth. "I think you just did my job for me."

Caleb's heart nearly stopped as Fiona's voice rang out across the mansion grounds.

"If you were even half the alpha you claim to be, you'd have shown up to crash our party yourself instead of sending your lackeys to do your dirty work!" Her words crackled with the same intensity as her magic. "But I guess that's what common, unrefined bullies do - hide behind others while pretending to be powerful!"

The air seemed to crystallize around them. Wade's sharp intake of breath was the only sound that broke the sudden, dangerous silence. Caleb's wolf stirred restlessly beneath his skin, caught between admiration for her fearlessness and terror at having the woman he was falling for painting a target on her back.

Victor's face transformed from smug superiority to murderous rage in the space of a heartbeat. His eyes locked onto Fiona like a predator spotting prey, and Caleb's protective instincts screamed at him to move, to shield her, to get her out of there. But his muscles seemed frozen, his mind struggling to process the sheer audacity of what had just happened.

Here they were, outnumbered on enemy territory, and this five-foot-nothing fire witch had just called one of the most dangerous alphas in the region a coward. To his face. On his own front lawn.

The flames dancing between her fingers cast shifting shadows across her determined expression, and despite the gravity of the situation, Caleb couldn't help but notice how the light made her hair look like living fire. Even Victor's most battle-hardened warriors seemed unsure how to react to this tiny woman's bold challenge.

Rachelle's mouth hung slightly open, her usual vicious smile completely forgotten in her shock.

The rest of the Nightfang members shifted uncomfortably, glancing between their alpha and this unexpected threat, waiting for someone to make the first move.

And through it all, Fiona just stood there, chin raised, practically vibrating with righteous indignation, as if she hadn't just upended the entire confrontation with a few well-chosen words.

Caleb's brain finally caught up with what just happened.

The tension in the air crackled like Fiona's flames as Caleb moved smoothly between her and Victor. Every protective instinct he possessed screamed at him to get her out of there, but he forced himself to maintain eye contact with Victor.

"This isn't over," Caleb said, his voice carrying across the grounds. The wound in his side protested as he straightened to his full height. "But I think we've made our point."

"Several points, actually," Fiona muttered behind him. "I had a whole list prepared."

Wade made a strangled sound that might have been either a laugh or a groan.

"We're leaving," Caleb announced, fighting the urge to throw Fiona over his shoulder and run. His wolf approved of that plan, but he suspected she'd set his tail on fire if he tried.

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