Page 109 of Campfires & Canines
He hesitates. "Does he for sure know you aren't going to be his mate?"
I roll my eyes. "Of course. But maybe try to tell him the plan. That we are trying to free him. Just to be safe."
He sighs.
Slate
“An heir for an heir," Heath announces.
I face Jasper in the training ring. It's an outdoor space for sparring. The entire crowd has moved around us, the Granite Ridge pack on the southern side closest to the road.
We have both taken our shirts off so we are ready to shift. I'm taller but Jasper is more muscled.
We are evenly matched, except his exhaustion is written into every movement. It's not the kind of exhaustion from a sleepless night. It's the soul-deep exhaustion from a life slowly killing you. It's what I saw in Hazel when she first arrived.
Hazel grips Marigold's hand tightly. Sienna paces back and forth across the circle. Heath and Ferris stand stoically opposite of each other.
I focus on my opponent. I hope he isn't too stupid to realize we are trying to help him. I have to figure out how to tell him our plan. It'll be impossible once we shift. All of this is a huge risk.
He starts to circle so I move too, keeping distancebetween us.
He darts towards me, feinting to the right and swinging with his left. I block easily. But he follows up with a jab on the right which hits my ribs. Pain radiates from the impact and I snarl.
I react with a quick swing which he ducks. Lightning fast, I follow with a kick. As he jerks away to dodge, I strike again and connect with his chest. He reels back.
Sienna screeches instructions at him. I can't process the dissonance of yelling from all sides.
He comes in for a second attack. I block his first blow, but he surprises me by ducking and ramming his shoulder into my gut. I slam into the dirt, his weight on top of me. Gasping, I manage to grab his arm, keeping him from punching my kidney.
His free hand swings for my face, but he’s angled all wrong.
"She wants to rescue you, jackass," I hiss.
"And be a slave to your pack?" He grunts, finally breaking free of my hold. "No, thank you."
I shove him away. We both roll to our feet. He's managed to push me towards my pack and away from his.
"We don't keep people against their will," I say.
"That would mean more coming from someone I could trust," he grunts, surging forward with another punch I block.
"This wasn't my idea." I bare my teeth.
"You don't have a lot of those, do you?" he taunts.
"Hazel wants you to lose," I growl, dodging a kick. "Otherwise, she could have just come with you."
He pauses, and I restrain myself from landing a hit.
"I don't lose," he hisses.
He advances with a barrage of swift, hard blows. I block everything I can but blows litter my ribcage. He is well trained and he has a few pounds of muscle on me. But he never goes for a knock-out.
As he comes in close, I try one last time. "Then you're condemning Hazel to belong to your mother."
He jerks back as if I landed a punch. He meets my gaze and the smallest nod lifts his chin. I hope he is truly cooperating and not tricking me. Regardless, I’m on guard.
We circle each other for a moment before he shifts into a magnificent white wolf and I follow his lead. Normally, this is when the fight really begins. We meet in a clash of snapping jaws and snarls, my umber against his snow.
