Page 79 of Ember and Eclipse
“No surprise there,” Devdan said.
“And who is yours?” Varus looked around the landscape mockingly.
“I waive my right to a second.”
“I am,” Rel said as she stepped forward, despite Devdan’s hand tightening around hers.
Varus sneered. “She’s no wolf.”
“No, but she’s…” Devdan hesitated, turning his focus to her.
“I’m his mate,” she said, and something shifted and weighed down inside of her, settling.Finally,her soul sang.
Devdan’s look of shock gave way to satisfaction. “She’s my mate.”
“Fine, you both can die tonight.”
Devdan turned to her then, lowering his head so that only she could hear. “You don’t fight. Being my second only means that if both of us are incapacitated, you and his second have to negotiate. Or if I win, but die from my wounds, you are my successor. Then the pack belongs to you, theoretically, but you can relinquish your title. Say you want Naut to be the pack leader, and that’s it.” Even quieter, he said, “If I lose and they come for you… you know what to do.”
Rel nodded. The information swarmed in her head like an angry nest of hornets. “But you can’t die,” she rushed to say, placing her hand against his chest, against where their shared bond was forming like an extra heart. “Promise it.”
“I don’t want to make you a promise I can’t keep,” he said, his tone purposely devoid of any emotion.
And then he moved away from her.
Varus’ second moved back, and so did she, the clearing serving as the boundaries of the fight. Both offloaded all their weapons, tossing them out of reach.
Bria stepped forward. “No weapons, no surrender, no intervening. Only one can survive. You both understand the terms of Aemul?”
They both nodded as they sank into their fighting stances.
“Then it’s on you.” Before the words were even out of the Lunae’s mouth, Devdan and Varus collided. Their strikes and grunts echoed in the quiet wood. Rel watched intently, her body reacting to every hit that Devdan sustained.
Her mate.
The fact that he could be killed filled her with a dread she had never known before. She didn’t want him to leave—she certainly didn’t want him to die. Rel had grown accustomed to his presence, to sleeping on his warm chest, his arms around her, or occasionally grabbing her backside in his sleep. Having someone to forage for food with and cook with, read to, and discover new information about the swamp with.
But it wasn’t just someone. It washim. She wanted him.
And she hadn’t told him.
They shifted in and out of their wolf forms, using whatever was more convenient—claws and teeth, or their fists. Varus was able to wrestle Devdan to the ground and was just about to punch him in the face when Devdan bucked his hips and twisted out of his grip. They both jumped back to their feet.
Once they reset, Devdan waved him forward.
They circled each other, but just as the tension grew into a crescendo, Varus lunged. He shifted mid-leap, jaws and teeth elongating in a blink of an eye. Devdan tried to move out of the way, but the wolf was faster and pinned him down again. The only thing that stopped his throat from being ripped out was placing his hands against the beast’s neck to hold him back. Even so, Varus’ jaws snapped shut so close to Devdan’s face that she took a step forward. Snarling and attempting to push through, Varus was thrown off him a moment later with a well-placed knee.
Varus skidded to a halt, shifting back into a man as he did. But there was no pause this time as he rushed Devdan again. As soon as he reached striking distance, he swung wide. Devdan ducked, dodging the blow and hauling him up. The Lunae was off his feet and slammed to the ground a moment later.
Poroce stepped forward, and she marked the movement. If he tried to intervene, she’d cut him down.
Devdan punching Varus in the face filled the clearing with a sickening and meaty sound. But that wasn’t what concerned her. Varus was reaching for something within the inside of his pant leg. She saw the glint of the knife a second before the Lunae brought it up to stab him.
“Devdan!” she called in warning at the same time Poroce moved toward them.
It was apparent that they were there to kill them, unconcerned with the laws that governed the fight.
If they weren’t going to follow the rules of the challenge, then neither would she.
