Page 50 of Trial of the Thunder Moon

Just like with Jillian, Blaise didn’t waste a second or a movement. She charged me, blades flashing, and I met her with a crack of claws on steel. The howls of my pack of half breeds were music to my ears as I dodged and leaped, sailing right over her head and landing behind her.

“Smooth,” she said, swiping at my belly as I lunged to claw her arm. Both of us drew blood, and the watching vampires seethed with bloodlust. I caught the lucky break of snagging her largest knife in my claws, slinging it across the pit where it thudded into the dirt.

Blaise parried again, getting another nick at the ruff of my neck, and my reflexes snapped back. A snarl split my jaw wide as I lunged, my teeth closing over her wrist.

I could have crushed the bone, but I stopped just before, throwing my body weight on top of her instead as we tumbled to the dirt. My paw pinned her other arm, and I snapped my way up to her neck, teeth circling her throat like a vise.

She could have gone for my belly, but I could have torn her throat out before the blood loss became too much.

“Nice job,” she whispered as the mist flowed in to separate us, marking me as the winner of the first round. “Just don’t count on it happening again, wolf,” she added, raising her voice a little as she stood, swiping a bead of blood from her neck. I paced backward a few steps, debating whether to shift back and fight naked or stay in my wolf form for the second round.

Blaise used a knife to rip a section off of her tunic and bind her wrist before handing over the rest of her weapons to the waiting guards.

Before I’d fully decided my strategy, Merden called for the next round, and Blaise lanced out at me with a killer blow of icy mind magic.

I staggered backward, realizing my fatal mistake too late. I couldn’t access my full ice magic power in the wolf form - even though my strength was greater on four legs, my magic was weaker to compensate for it. And now, Blaise had her own kind of vise grip around my mind, paralyzing my shift.

She was stronger than I’d bet on, and I was fucking stuck.

I worked at prying loose her mental grip, building those interior walls as fast as I could, but I’d always lacked the confidence and real skill to keep strong, skilled vampires out of my head. The extra magic that could have saved me was locked in my two-legged form.

“This will be quicker if you lay down like a good pup,” Blaise hissed, advancing on me with sure-footed steps. Each pace closer intensified her magical hold on me, and a pitiful whine escaped through my gritted teeth. I could sense Kana watching me from the edge of the arena, staring down with a carefully blank face as Blaise froze me out.

I fought harder, but she was just better.

The crowd roared as the mist swept between us, blocking Blaise’s magic long enough for me to catch my breath and quickly shift. Nakedness be damned. Of course, that only made the crowd’s noise double, and I felt my cheeks heat as Blaise cackled a laugh.

“Well, I guess I could give you a minute or two to put that armor back on,” she taunted, and the crowd booed.

“Fight naked,” someone yelled, and cheers erupted around the pit. Even Kana was grinning down at me now, enjoying theshow. I smirked up at her, willing my cock not to get fucking hard in front of everyone. I’d never give Blaise that kind of easy target.

As it was, the mist didn’t give me the option. We both sprinted for our weapons as the guards tossed them down into the pit, and I rolled over on my back, firing an arrow from the crossbow just as Blaise flung a knife, end-over-end.

Neither of us missed, but my arrow had hit truer, landing square in her left shoulder. Her knife only grazed my arm, and the race was on. I gathered my magic around me, flinging wave after wave of ice at her mind, even while I loaded another arrow. She stumbled but charged anyway, and I had to shift out a paw, claws out to block the short sword she’d armed herself with.

The concentration of staying half-shifted made my magic waver, though I was still able to swipe my claws across her injured shoulder and lunge out of the way of her sword.

With a snarl, Blaise unleashed her own magic at me, flinging another knife that bit into my side while I cringed away from the icy ache in my head.

Giving up on the magic, I flung myself back into my shift, landing squarely on her chest just as she thrust upward, her knife going deep into the soft part of my belly. She rolled, pinning me this time and almost stabbing my neck. But my paws were bigger, and I knocked her to the side, scraping out the knife and snapping at her shoulder.

Blaise leaped back, crouching as she assessed her wrist and shoulder, and I clenched my stomach muscles against the lance of pain in my gut. I didn’t think she’d hit anything vital, but the blood was flowing free enough. It was a fair fight - we were down to strategy now.

Just as I felt the creep of her paralyzing magic, something behind me caught her attention. The magic dropped, and I lunged, but Kana’s scream cut my motion short. I rolled overBlaise, dragging her with me and pinning her to the pit floor as she struggled like a wild thing. Except she wasn’t trying to hurt me - she was trying to get away from me.

Glancing up to see what had made her react so strongly, I saw Merden standing at the edge of the pit, drinking deeply from a young blond vampire.

Oh, fuck.

That was Valentina.

Trust me, I hissed into Blaise’s mind, doing my best with the mind speak as I set my jaws loosely around her neck. Understanding and accepting my poor excuse for a plan, she went limp against me, giving up the fight to end it, and the mist allowed it.

As soon as I stepped away, sitting back on my haunches to lick at my belly wound, Blaise screamed a war cry and vaulted up the rope ladder toward Merden. The Queen only cackled, shoving a limp Valentina down into the pit.

I snarled and bolted, making it under her tumbling body just before she smacked into the hard dirt. Blaise was there in an instant, cradling Valentina in her arms.

“I’m good, girl,” Val breathed, eyes fluttering open. She stared up at Blaise, and the fierce warrior began to shake, her eyes misting.

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