Chapter 55 - The fight

Rosie

The pack had been buzzing about the trial for the entire week, and everyone had been talking about it nonstop, with pack members excited and happy to see their young alpha in action and put someone who’d hurt their young Luna in their place.

But people weren’t seeing it from my eyes because I was scared, terrified actually. I’d never seen Jude in a fight before, although I’d seen his enormous majestic wolf, but this was different.

No one else seemed worried as I watched some pack members walk around smiling as if Jude were already the winner before the trial even started.

Was that how much faith they had in him? It wasn’t like I didn’t believe in Jude because I did—but a trial by combat was always brutal and nasty in every historical movie I’d ever watched, and I wasn’t ready to watch my mate get pounded on in some arena.

God, I could feel my head thump with a headache, with nausea creeping up my throat that made me swallow the lump down. I didn’t want to send my distress through the bond to Jude and make him worry.

The arena was set up like something out of a medieval tale, with high wooden barriers forming a circle and tiered seating rising up on all sides.

Jude’s pack filled one half, cheering and chanting already, while Josh’s pack was silently silent on the other side, and the elders sat at a high table overlooking everything, murmuring to each other with grave expressions.

I sat in the front row of our section with Maya beside me—Elena and Marcus at the high seat, also with River standing behind them like a shield.

My fingers fidgeted restlessly in my whole lap. I glanced across the arena and immediately regretted it because Josh’s father was glaring at me. His face twisted with hatred, and the intensity nearly made me want to hide. I looked away quickly, my heart pounding as I sent a silent plea out to whoever was listening.

Please don’t let my mate get hurt, and let him come out of this victorious.

Maya must have sensed my discomfort because her hand came down gently on my arm, rubbing soothing circles. "Jude will be okay, Rosie. He’s the strongest fighter we have."

I smiled queasily at her, but my smile abruptly froze when the big bell rang once, echoed, and Jude walked out into the arena.

The crowd erupted with people cheering and shouting, "Young alpha! Young alpha!"

My breathing hitched in my throat because there he was, my mate, half-naked, wearing only red shorts that hung low on his hips as he strode confidently across the sand. He was beautiful and powerful with every muscle in his body defined and on display.

His eyes scanned the crowd and found me immediately; then he jogged over to the barrier in front of me. He smiled reassuringly. "Watch me win, sweetheart. Trust your mate."

I nodded while my chest thumped so loudly I could hear it in my ears, and he turned and walked back to the center of the arena.

The opponent came out from the other side, and I felt my stomach drop because he was big, not as big as Jude but muscled and looking dangerous. Josh’s father leaned down and whispered something in the fighter’s ear, and the man nodded, and I gulped at the exchange.

One of the elders stood and raised his hand for silence, and immediately, the crowd quieted. "This trial is judged by the goddess herself," the elder’s voice rang out authoritatively. "This is not a fight to the death. No sneak attacks. No unapproved weapons. The fight will be conducted in wolf form only and will end when one party taps out or can no longer continue. Do both fighters understand and accept these terms?"

"Yes," Jude hummed and stretched his muscles.

"Yes," the opponent smirked.

The elder nodded. "Then let the trial begin."

And just like that, both men started to shift, and I watched in horrified fascination when I heard the cracking of bones. The sounds made me squirm in my seat because they sounded painful.

Within seconds two massive wolves stood where the men had been, with Jude’s wolf enormous, powerful, and terrifying and so beautiful that it made my chest ache, while the opponent’s wolf was slightly smaller built and leaner, which I hoped was an advantage for Jude.

The elder dropped his hand, and immediately Jude lunged forward while I gripped the rim of my seat tightly, moving closer to the edge or tip of my seat.

My eyes were glued to the fight, unable to look away as the wolves collided in the center of the arena.

The opponent’s wolf was fast, and for a moment they were circling each other, and my heart nearly jumped out of my ribcage when the opponent lunged first, going for Jude’s throat, but Jude dodged easily.

Jude countered with a bite to the other wolf’s shoulder that made him yelp and stumble back. The opponent tried again, throwing its claws at Jude’s side, and my breath hitched and my stomach churned, but I swallowed in relief that the impact nearly grazed Jude.

Call it instinct because I saw Jude’s wolf turn away from his opponent for just a split second and look directly at me, then yip as if he was reassuring me that he was okay.

As he wanted to turn back to the fight, the opponent wanted to sneak attack, but Jude was faster, and without wasting time, he used his size to his advantage and jumped on top of the other wolf, pinning him down with his massive weight.

The opponent struggled, thrashing wildly, wanting to get free, but Jude’s jaws locked around his front leg, and then in one brutal pull, Jude’s wolf practically ripped the limb. Everywhere, I mean everywhere, is still and silent.

Everything was like in slow motion as the limb hit the ground and blood sprayed across the sand. Then suddenly the winter pack erupted as people jolted to their feet, cheering, clapping, and screaming Jude’s name so loudly.

I slumped back in my seat in relief; my entire body went lax with my hands trembling and my breathing coming in short gasps, but it was over; he’d won; he was safe.

The opponent’s wolf whined on the ground in pain, already shifting back to human form as pack doctors rushed forward to tend to him while the elders stood to make their official declaration, but I wasn’t listening to any of it.

Maya grabbed my arm, grinning widely. "I told you he’d win!" she said, but I barely heard her because my eyes were locked on Jude, who already shifted back to human in the center of the arena. His eyes found mine across the distance, and he smiled, which made my heart skip.

I didn’t wait another second as I stood up and pushed past Maya, who was still cheering, and scrambled out of the barricade section, sprinting across the sand toward Jude, who had his arms open wide waiting for me.

My step faltered a little when I saw it, silver glinting in the sunlight, a knife. I didn’t alert him and just ran faster, then threw myself forward using my body as a shield just as the blade came down.

I felt the sharp burning pain as the silver knife pushed into my flesh, searing. Everything seemed to freeze as Jude’s eyes went wide with horror, and he grabbed me while I fell forward, slumping into his arms.

His face was etched with fear and worry, and I hated seeing him look like that, so I smiled up at him even though it hurt to breathe. "This expression doesn’t fit your beautiful face," I whispered as I winced from the pain radiating from my side and lifted my hand to touch his face.

"I’m okay," I choked out, wanting to reassure him, only to cough out blood.

"CALL THE PACK DOCTOR!" Jude roared, and his voice shook the entire arena.

"Don’t shout," I said, managing a small smile. "My ears are ringing."

His hands were pressing against my side, trying to stop the bleeding, and his face was so close to mine. "Stay with me, sweetheart. Stay with me. Don’t you dare close your eyes."

But his voice sounded faraway, like he was speaking to me from underwater, and everything was getting fuzzy around before everything went dark.