Page 50 of Rejected Forced Mate
All I had to do was win.
Chapter 22 - Sage
The sun hadn't even risen when I woke up, half of the bed cold where I expected a tall, warm wolf to be. My heart didn't sink immediately, but as I waited for him to return and the minutes ticked by without my mate crawling back into bed, I started to get worried. Then, when it was all too clear that Noah had gone elsewhere, that worry quickly switched to anger.
I had hoped for a few more hours of blissful time together, neither of us acknowledging the outside world or all the messed-up things going on there, but Noah apparently had other ideas. I fought to swallow my bitterness, but it was hard.
Alone and in the bed we had shared just a handful of hours ago, I let my hands drift down to my belly and rest there. I wasn't far enough along to feel any movement or even a bump, but the knowledge that Noah's child rested within me was enough to get me on my feet. He'd snuck out on purpose, trying to avoid me noticing, and that could only mean that he was going to attempt something I didn't approve of.
It wasn't a difficult conclusion from there to assume Noah had snuck off to fight Joe, and that thought planted a seed of panic in me. There was no good outcome, but Noah was so wrapped up in himself and his desperation to prove that he could go toe to toe with Joe, he hadn't stopped to consider that fact.
If either Alpha died, the packs would go to war. Even the losing Alpha managed to limp away with his life, war was still a distinct possibility. Alphas didn't take well to their honor being damaged.
That, and they both had something to prove—Joe, that he could protect his pack members and save them when they were in danger, and Noah that he could keep his mate.
As I got dressed, all I could think about was how stupid it all was. Both men claimed to be progressive pack leaders, but when the time came to give a she-wolf—me—a chance to choose her own fate, they balked and proved that those old Alpha tendencies didn't disappear all that easily.
The worst part was that after last night, I was a lot closer to accepting my new life as Noah's wife, mate, and the Luna of his pack. We still had a lot to work through, with the kidnapping, Richard, the baby, and the truth that Noah had forced me to face.
And that truth was that I didn't really want to go back to the Brokenclaw pack, not if it meant I could never see Noah again.
I would have faced that misery for my child if I had to, but Noah's wholehearted acceptance of me gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe he would be okay with our child having magic. But I needed time, and Noah forcing the fight between him and Joe meant I was totally out of time.
I had to find them and stop the battle before their egos shattered the two packs irrevocably.
After pulling on clothes, I slipped out the door, looking around for anyone who might have foiled my plan. I half expected guards to have been posted outside the house with all of the uncertainty coursing through the pack, but I was almost more disturbed to see that there was no one.
My heart was in my throat the entire walk through the woods, but the path to the sparring grounds wasn't a complicated one. It was ridiculously early, and the pathwaywould have been pleasant under different circumstances, with the dew clinging to the leaves and the birds chirping.
When I finally reached my destination, daylight was close, and a crowd had formed. Wolves had gathered, some of Noah's top wolves, and all of the warriors had brought with them. Some cheered, while others waited in uncomfortable silence.
They were there to watch two men kill each other.
It made me sick, sicker than just my morning pregnancy nausea, and I had to breathe slowly through my mouth so I didn't throw up. With a jolt of horror, I realized that the spectator wolves had formed a circle, which meant the two men I was looking for could only be in the center.
Nausea was already rising in me; it had been from the moment I woke up, but it reached a fever pitch when I saw Noah and Joe in the middle of that damned circle.
Both men were in wolf form, snarling at one another, and their growls and the jeering voices of the crowd were nearly deafening. I shoved my way through the crowd, not caring who was angry at me for pushing them out of the way. "Move!" I yelled. "Move!"
I reached the circle, and there was blood. A lot of it. I had no idea who had drawn first blood, but they were both bleeding by that point.
"Stop it!" I screamed. "Stop fighting! Both of you are acting like children, and—"
They ignored me, only Noah pausing long enough to shoot me a single glance before jumping right back into the brawl. I felt crazed, my head pounding and my stomach rolling, but I couldn't just stand by and watch.
It was stupid. I knew it was, but I felt helpless. Determined, and with no one else stepping up to help me, I took a few steps towards the two Alphas, called my power to me, and shoved my hands out to the side.
Noah and Joe lunged for each other again, but when they did, they were both met with a solid wall of my power. It wasn't much; I was a healer and not well-trained in battle magic, but it was enough to break the berserker rage that they had worked themselves into.
"Enough!" I screamed loud enough that my throat felt raw."What is wrong with the two of you?! You think killing each other is the right decision!" Before I could think it, though, I rounded on Noah, "And you! You can't...can't..."
The words hung unspoken in the air. 'You can't leave me'. In an instant, Noah was there, on two legs once more, bloody and battered but whole. His wounds were superficial, thank goodness, and he wrapped me in his arms before I could start my screaming tirade up once more.
"You beautiful fool," he said, voice quiet. "Only you would throw yourself into the middle of an Alpha battle to prove a point."
"Prove a point!?" I was furious, and the words flew out of my mouth, "The only point I wanted to prove is that neither of you has the right to dictate my life! Not you, and not him!"
"I know," Noah breathed into my hair. From the corner of my eye, I could see that Joe had shifted back, too, but he didn't approach us.
