Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 114617 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114617 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
“Get strong,” she whispered, “and then get even.”
“And when that doesn’t work...” I slipped her something, then backed away—winking.
Nia looked from me to Liza to Badr, back to me, and then Liza again. Making up her mind, she stepped up to the mat.
“Ready,” Orion called, stepping up beside them. The white slash of his scar shone starkly on his sun-kissed cheek. “Take your stances.”
Nia planted her feet and raised trembling palms. With her mahogany skin and butterfly clips in her hair, the girl looked like a tiny, bare tree shaking in the breeze.
“As you know, everything goes on the mat as it does in nature,” Orion said. “No mercy.”
Liza’s grin was terrible. “No mercy.”
“Begin!”
“Argh!” Bellowing, Liza charged Nia—fist raised high—and pulled up so fast, her feet tangled and she dropped, falling flat on her face.
Nia blinked at her—shaking fists still bumping her chin.
“What the fuck are you doing!” Badr shouted. “Get up!”
Tossing her head, Liza shoved up on her feet, confusion riddled on her face like she had no idea what just happened. She looked at Nia through narrowed eyes, confirming my suspicions.
Seemed it wasn’t until someone tried to harm Nia that their wolf was tagged in the ass by her super-Nia-omega-wolf tranquilizer. Until then, they assumed she was like any other omega. They never saw her coming.
I cut eyes to Badr. It also explains why he was laughing when I chose her to be my champion, but he’s not laughing now.
“Don’t move!” Liza commanded, her alpha power washing over all assembled. “Stand there and take it, bitch!”
Liza rushed Nia again, then braked so hard, she looked like a mime who crashed into an imaginary wall—her arms comically up above her head and legs spread and planted.
“Nia!” I barked, flapping my hands at her.
She jerked—not in the least bit affected by Liza’s command. “Oh, right.” Quick as a snap, Nia’s leg flew up and busted Liza across the temple—the most beautifully executed roundhouse kick I’d ever seen—and it dropped Liza dead on her ass.
“Ahh!” Nia shrieked. “I can’t believe I did that! Daze, did you see that? Oh my gods.”
The smile she gave me was as bright as the one I returned. I wanted Nia to overcome her fear and reconnect with her wolf again. Years as a priestess showed me what happens when a werewolf doesn’t.
Our wolf was half of our soul. Losing trust in our wolf, or even fearing them, was like your right arm being so afraid of your left that it cut it off. Sure, you’d survive and continue on, but you’d never be the same as before.
Werewolves who couldn’t get over the hangup eventually lose their ability to shift. Their wolf is still inside them, but they can’t reach them anymore. And in Wolf Nation, if you’re not a shifter, you’re a mundane, and mundanes don’t belong in our world.
Liza got her arms and legs under her, and Nia kicked her again—catching her right in the stomach with another shrieky screech of surprise.
Doesn’t look like that’s in Nia’s future anymore.
“Liza, what are you doing?” Allard shoved to the front of the pack, falling in beside Badr. “The joke is at an end now. Fight for real!”
“I’m trying!” Finally on her feet, she shook herself as she bounced side to side on her heels. “Argh! ARGGHH!” she roared, golden wolf eyes beaming lamplights. Narrowing in on Nia like the lion narrows on the gazelle, she leaped and—
—and fell at Nia’s feet, doing a whole lot of nothing.
“My wolf?” she cried. “She won’t— She won’t come out!” Liza shook and waved her arms like a madwoman, clearly trying to summon forth her claws. “What did you do to me!”
“Hiya!” Nia kicked her in the chest, sending Liza flopping and rolling head over heels.
“Liza!” Allard never looked more incensed in his life. “If you lose this fight, it’ll be you who’s knocked down to the omega track! Get on your feet and kill this fish! Now!”
I shook my head, tsking. Pretty sure instructors weren’t supposed to use slurs against their students, or encourage one to kill the other. Where did Dagem find this guy? Her hiring choices were as shit as her morals.
Liza goggled at the mat, and the pool of blood her dripping nose was making on it. She was obviously shaken. Werewolves could shift as babies. This was the first time her wolf had let her down, and she couldn’t handle it.
The only ones handling it worse than Liza, were my fates. Edric had finally braved getting closer to me and stepped up to join Badr, Nyx, and Orion. The four of them huddled up beside the mat, angrily whispering back and forth and gesturing wildly at me.
I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Too many people shouting abuse at Liza and Nia for my wolf hearing to pick their whispers out of the noise, but they were mad.