Leader of the Pack (21 page)

It comes to us from the native
peoples. It goes like this… Inside us all, we have two wolves. One is negative.
He is anger, resentment, jealousy, envy, regret, lies, false pride, ego and
greed. The other is positive. He is kindness, love, hope, joy, peace, serenity,
humility, truth, compassion and faith. These wolves are at war with one
another.

And which one will win?
Curiosity filled him. This story touched him somehow.

The one you feed.

Ah.

Feed the positive wolf. Don’t let
anger fuel this fight, Per. Allow your love to lead.

He nodded and pulled her close to
hold her.
Thank you. I needed that.

She kissed him. “Take care, my
love.”

He stepped away from her and turned
to face Dan. He watched the other male shift into his wolf form. He wasn’t a
true white wolf. He had shades of gray running through his coat. Even hints of
silver along his ruff. As a wolf, Dan was handsome, but
Per
had to challenge him. Challenge and win. There could be no other outcome.

He focused inward and fixed on the
image of his wolf self. With the same concentration he used in surgery, he
initiated the shift from human, easing into animal. When it was complete, he
inspected himself. Everything was accurate. Normally, he would have just begun
the task at hand, but today he had to be right. Perfect. He turned to
Yohana
and looked up at her. Her eyes were moist.

My God, you’re beautiful.

Her mental voice was full of awe. He
butted against her leg and she set her hand on his head, bending over him and
scratching under his chin. It felt good.

Thank you,
älskling
. I’m glad you
approve.

How could I not? You’re my Mate, but
you’re also a fine wolf. Are you ready?

Yes,
älskling
.
Let’s get this done.

She stepped to the center of the
clear grassy area, surveying it. “Could everyone back up please? We need a
larger space here.” The spectators obeyed, making more room for the two wolves
to engage.

Yohana
inspected the crowd and saw several pups present. If she
were the parent, they wouldn’t be here because this just wasn’t appropriate
viewing. Pack duels got nasty and often bloody. “No pups near the front of the
circle. In fact, it would be best if they were not present at all. I leave that
decision to their parents, but I strongly encourage parents take them home.”

She heard a few people slip out of
the crowd and some complaints in children’s voices, but then the pups were
gone. At least she still had some pull with her people. Her gaze swept the
assembly while she turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees, then returned
her attention to
Per
and Dan.

“This duel is for leadership of the
pack. It will continue until one of you yields. This fight is
not
to the
death. I want that to be clear. We need
both
of you.”

She said that more for Dan than
Per
, because she knew her Mate would be sensible. Dan just
might refuse to yield, even if he should. Swallowing hard, she continued.

“You will attack only each other,
not the spectators or any other party.” Dan’s lips curled and he growled low in
his throat. “From this point forward it’s between the two of you.
No one
else.”

Dan turned his gaze to
Per
, but somehow she didn’t think he’d dismissed her from his
thoughts. In his typical fashion, he was placing the blame on everyone but
himself. If he could hurt her somehow, he would. At least there was no way he
could use a poisoned blade or any other dirty trick now. He went into this nude
and on a naked body there’s nowhere to hide anything. He’d have to pull
something out of his ass at this point…literally. And she didn’t think he’d go
there.

Both wolves eyed her.
Waiting.
But she didn’t want to give the order.
Didn’t want to set events in motion.
But, she conceded, they
already
were
in motion. Now she just had to allow them to move forward.

“You may begin.”

She stepped back to the edge of the
circle, finding herself flanked by Quinn and Zach. She was glad they were
there. They’d both been helpful since her father passed away and she needed
their strength and friendship now.

Per and Dan slowly circled one
another. One or the other would make a slow feint from time to time, but this
was a time of testing. She knew it. But still, she found herself wanting to scream,
just get on with it
. Instead she bit her lip and clutched her hands
tightly together. Quinn took her arm and leaned in close to whisper.

“Per will be fine.”

“I know. He’s strong and capable.”

“He’ll wipe the floor with Dan,”
Zach agreed, equally quiet.

There seemed to be a strange cone of
silence around this event. Now and again she heard murmured words around the
circle, but overall there was a respectful hush.

Dan bunched up and leaped at Per.
They both went to the ground, twisting and snarling. Dan maintained a superior
position, biting
Per’s
shoulder. Per yelped and threw Dan off, getting away but turning to face the
paler wolf. She whimpered as she realized that the red of blood now marred his
gold fur. Again Dan leaped and got the better of Per. Pressing him to the
ground, he tore at
Per’s
muzzle. Once more,
Per
threw off the other wolf only
to bear wounds.

Dan gave out a hooting call and
Per
went for him, catching Dan’s right hip. He’d been going
for the hamstring but missed. Still, at least Dan now bore a wound too. Dan
backed up and licked his wound while eyeing
Per
.

You
all right?
Yohana
couldn’t prevent the question. He briefly glanced at her before continuing to
watch Dan’s movements.

Fine.

You look a little rusty.

You might say that.

What does that mean?
He shrugged his shoulders.
Per?

I haven’t been in a fight since I
was a kid.

Do you do martial training?

There was a distinct hesitation. Dan
began to circle
Per
again. Her Mate’s body language
was entirely defensive and Dan’s tongue lolled in a canine smile.

Per?

No, I don’t train. I do surgery.

Oh God.

I can do this.

I’m sure you can. But Dan trains
daily. He goes to some dojo in Denver where he claims he’s earned a black belt
in karate.

Shit.

Don’t worry. It’s one of those
McDojos
people talk about.
Shady
black-belt mills.
You can succeed, love.

I fucking hope so. I was hoping my
size would deter him.

No such luck. But I believe in you.

Yohana
fought a groan, which would belie her words of
encouragement, so she quashed it. She clamped down on feeding any emotion or
negativity to her Mate. He didn’t need them, because there was a solid chance
he could lose. Any fighter learns early how to offset size and brute strength.
Hell, she could do it. Then she remembered how easily she’d taken
Per
down the night they first met.

You’re going to have to surprise
him. Do something unexpected.

Per tensed as Dan went for him
again. This time he focused on
Per’s
back legs. Her Mate whipped his hips away and set his teeth on Dan, catching
his ruff.

Dig in. Cut off his air
,
Yohana
called to
Per
, but he let go. This time she groaned.
Honey, you had
him.

Per backed away from Dan and a gasp
went through the crowd. The two wolves eyed each other.

I might have injured him.
Fractured his larynx or something.

You’re going to have to injure him,
Per
.

But
not like that.

She wiped her hands over her mouth,
not sure if she wanted to yell at
Per
or be proud of
him for his commitment to care for others…even Dan.

“What’s he doing? Is he playing with
Dan?” Zach asked.

“No. He’s not.”

Out of the corner of her eyes she
saw both males look at her in shock, which changed slowly to comprehension and
morphed to horror.

“He doesn’t have any fighting
skills?” Quinn muttered.

“Skills, yes.
Practice, no.”

“Oh shit,” Zach groaned. “If that
slimy little whelp ends up as pack leader—”

“He won’t. Per will win. He
must
win.”

She watched feints and circling.
Some of the crowd grew restless. She could hear people call to them to get on
with it. Again Dan gave that hooting cry, chivying her Mate. Dan made running
passes at
Per
, catching his shoulder on one pass. On
the next engagement, Dan bit
Per’s
side, but her Mate’s response was always a second late. The crowd groaned as
they realized the truth.

“Dan’s toying with him,” Zach
muttered in disgust.

“Don’t you talk about my Mate like
that,” she snarled.

“He is,
Yohana
.
If Dan can take him, he should just do it. This is more of his bullying and it
disgusts me.”

“Oh.” He disapproved of
Dan
,
not
Per
.

She turned back to the fight. A
sense of pain seeped into her, and shame. But she knew she wasn’t ashamed of
him. She regretted subjecting him to this but she wasn’t ashamed, but then she
realized she sensed
Per
’
s
emotions. She allowed the link between them open.

Are you all right?

I’m sorry,
älskling
. I’m embarrassing
you. I should have let you fight him. I’m going to lose your pack.

It’s all right.

No, it isn’t. You were meant to lead
these people. Can I concede and allow you to take over?

No. This isn’t a tag team event, my
love. Don’t give up on yourself. Dig deep. Feed the positive wolf. I love you.
I believe in you and this crowd wants you to succeed.

I disgust them.

No, it’s Dan. He’s toying with you
and they disapprove. It’s not you.

Then they know he can win. Maybe I
should just—

His inattention cost him as Dan
leaped, bringing him to the ground hard.
Yohana
gasped, taking a step toward her Mate. Quinn and Zach held her back. Dan got
Per
by the throat. The wolf equivalent of a wrestling pin,
but
Per’s
back wasn’t on the
mat yet. Dan didn’t have a solid grip, so he twisted, snarling, and threw his
body weight into it. He completed a reversal and took Dan down. The crowd
cheered as he used his weight to pin Dan to the ground, fastening his jaws
around Dan’s throat. She could see the care he took not to injure, but he held
on.

Dan brought his paws up, slashing at
Per’s
chest and belly. If
they’d been feline Dan would have gutted
Per
. But as
it was, he inflicted non-mortal injuries. In spite of Dan’s frantic attempts,
Per
held tight. He used his weight and paws to immobilize
Dan. Finally, her cousin quit trying to get away. He lay still. Then he let his
head fall back, opening his throat completely.
Yohana
couldn’t believe it. He yielded. Dan actually yielded. Per continued to hold
him, and Dan remained still.

You can let him go, love. Dan has
submitted.

Per let go and Dan skulked away. At
that point, Quinn rushed to
Per’s
side to attend to the vicious wounds he’d taken.
Yohana
took a step toward
Per
, nearly stumbling, but she
caught herself and dropped her face into her hands and closed her eyes. He was
covered in small wounds.
God.
What had her need for
leadership done to her Mate?

Per ached. Dan had marked him too
often and too well. He was out of practice and that had been far too close. He
looked for
Yohana
. Saw her stumble and he strained to
go to her. Quinn held him back. He growled but subsided. He knew he needed
treatment, but the wolf wanted to go to his Mate. This didn’t feel over.