Page 53 of Wolf Trap

He rolled his eyes and gestured dramatically. “What, and slaughter the shifter? Hardly fairgame,missy pissy pants! You think I couldn’t take down that hulking mess of a demon-werewolf, whatever the heck it is? Life isn’t fair, Elsa. That shifter needs to learn how to fight, if he’s to survive. You shouldlook at his maker, it’s his fault. The lad is too frail to be a werewolf. Clearly. Bloody hell…” he looked back into the ring before us.

Lycaon had stripped off his jacket and T-shirt and entered the ring. He grabbed the young shifter’s hands, giving the young man a slight smile and a nod.

Then he faced the beast, puffing up his chest and stretching out his toned arms. Calmly, he assessed the monstrosity before him.

Hakon continued, “Well, that’s blown your cover. They are here, you know. It’s Adara who set this up. And your idiot boyfriend has just walked right into a trap!”

“What?”

His face wrinkled. “It’s clearly a trap. You believed they didn't expect you here and released a monster by chance for someone else? Elsa, there’s nothing they don’t know about. And now we’ll get to see the first ever werewolf get torn apart by a creature that damns the immortal world.”

I faced the cage. Hakon was spewing nonsense. How could they have known? We hadn’t known ourselves. Either that or Jax had set us up. She had said she wanted our souls.

The pit of my stomach lolled… Oh God.

Flexing his muscles, Lycaon strode around the cage, never taking his eyes off the beast. He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling it away from his face.

The monster towered over him, both of them weighing up the other. A bell rang, but neither stepped forward. Rolling his shoulders back, Lycaon growled, crouching slightly.

A fire flickered, clouding his pale eyes to scarlet for a brief second, then the monster lunged forward.

It was so fast. The next thing I saw, Lycaon staggered back, a rip in his chest, blood spilling as his hand gripped the wound. Sweat beaded on his forehead. My heart was in my mouth…

The creature leapt up, moving like a cat, claws extended. I held my breath as Lycaon seemed to look too late, but then skittered to the side as it landed. Pulling back the monster’s arm, Lycaon landed a punch on the side of its head.

It didn’t flinch.

Lycaon doubled over, the pain from its strike taking effect. His chest was still bleeding hard. Spinning around, the beast grabbed him, throwing him across the ring. The strike winded him and he shuddered, spluttering as he crashed into the bars and landed in a heap.

I couldn’t breathe. I could feel Hakon’s judging eyes burn a hole through me.

Slowly, I registered Anthony who was standing on my other side, away from Hakon. He bent down, his lips close to my neck. I moved my fingers, ready…

“Don’t worry. Lycaon is old, watch… You’ll learn.”

Rasping and coughing, Lycaon slowly pushed himself up. His legs were weak as he stumbled, the wound bleeding faster.

Then, straightening himself, he rubbed away his hair from his face, smearing it with the blood from his wound.

“What is he doing? He’s going to die. Why isn’t he fighting?” Hakon cried.

I couldn’t swallow. Or breathe. He was right. This was a trap, and I couldn’t stand here and watch Lycaon be beaten to death. With my hands by my side, I wiggled my fingers.

Tapping my shoulder from behind, Austin whispered in my ear, “None of that. Have faith. Don’t believe everything you see. We’re surrounded, outnumbered.”

Exasperated, I stared at him for a second before looking back.

Pounding across the cage, the monster swept up its outstretched arm, talons out ready to slice into Lycaon, who was now standing with knees bent, still clinging to his wound.

Abruptly, Lycaon leapt up from standing and snap kicked the beast straight in the chest, sending it toppling backwards. Landing and watching it, Lycaon raised his head, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his arm. Narrow eyes burned into the were-demon. He lunged over, got behind it and, shoving its arm to the side, pulled its head back whilst whispering in its ear. The creature struggled, and screamed an ungodly cry that burned my ears.

Every onlooker’s face wrinkled at that sound, covering their ears. The beast lashed out violently, but the more Lycaon spoke, the quieter it became before Lycaon thrust it forward. It landed on its knees, pounding its fists into the floor, then started changing. Its screeching cut through to the bone.

Lycaon strode to the front of the beast, bent down, and continued talking.

Shouting and roaring now ripped through the crowd, men banging on the bars, chanting kill, kill, kill…

The monster lashed out, Lycaon stepped back, then pummelled his palm on the forehead of the creature. A flash of scarlet light bolted down his arm and straight into its head, sending it flying backwards, smacking into the bars. Its body glowed red, a hush fell over the crowd, then its skin, its bones ripped, cracked, split open. The beast morphed, spasming.

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