Chapter 32 #2
Welp. I don’t exactly need a decoder ring to know who he’s talking about.
“The moon isn’t the only way to trigger a transformation.
Your wolf will feel everything you do. Anger.
Fear. Pain. If you die, so does your wolf.
You aren’t two separate halves, but one.
The sooner you realize this, the closer you’ll be to turning without the moon.
” Nik pauses and motions to the sealed hatch.
“So, let’s see if we can draw your wolf out of hiding. ”
We? What does he mean we?
The hatch slams open, swinging into the wall with tremendous force.
Dimitri steps through the threshold, tilting his head to fit past the entryway.
His face resembles the stone of the chamber, only somehow harder.
The lights above us sheen off his bald head as he paces forward, parting the sea of wolves without a single word.
Dimitri isn’t wearing the same button-up he does at every meal in the dining room.
No, the shirt he has on now is sleeveless, leaving the sheer size of his arms on full display.
He marches to the front, determination in his stride.
“Dimitri is a human,” Nik says matter-of-factly. “Should be easy enough for any of you to beat, right?”
This can’t be real. There’s no way Dimitri is actually challenging every wolf here. He doesn’t have claws. Heightened senses. He’s human. A tank, sure, but human by all accounts. One quick slash to his stomach and his intestines will slosh to the floor like sausage links.
Nik scans the crowd, one side of his mouth curving to a smirk. “Any takers?”
The younger wolves take a tentative step back. The other, more sizeable wolves lean in, fanged mouths dripping with spit and anticipation. A sequence of heartbeats thump through the floor, the loudest ones doubling in rhythm.
“I will beat your pet bear,” one announces, shoving his way to the front. He’s taller than most of the pack and judging from the way his claws and sharp teeth extend effortlessly, he’s not exactly a pup. “Then, I challenge you, Vostik.”
Nik’s grin deepens. “Let’s see if you can get past the bear first, Gabriel.”
Dimitri takes a step forward as the wolves circle around them, stretching his neck to each side.
Gabriel is nowhere close to Dimitri in size.
Well, no one is, to be fair. But who needs size when you have the speed of an animal and a matching set of claws.
Gabriel opens his mouth and unleashes a menacing snarl as he takes a powerful stance.
No. This is bad. Dimitri isn’t even armed for Christ’s sake. How in the hell is he going to be able to stop one of their strongest wolves with his bare hands?
Nik crosses his arms over his chest. “Begin.”
Gabriel sprints toward Dimitri, long, deadly claws aimed for his head.
He cuts the distance between them, fingers splayed to shred him to pieces.
No. No, no, no. Dimitri can’t heal. He can’t survive something like that.
This wolf is trying to kill him, and no one, not even Nik, is doing a damn thing to stop it.
That’s when I see it. The way Dimitri shifts into the same defensive position I have done hundreds of times these past few days.
With him, the move is almost instinctual.
A reflex. It doesn’t matter how quick Gabriel closes in, Dimitri is ready for him.
And when I look at Nik once more, the grin on his face deepens.
Split seconds before Gabriel connects, Dimitri grabs him by the wrist and shoulder, planting his leg behind him.
A single twist of his large frame is all it takes for Dimitri to hurl the wolf’s body over his hip and to the ceiling.
Everyone, even Jade, gasps. Then, Dimitri slams the suspended wolf onto the floor, shuddering the entire chamber.
His entire body collapses in on itself, sending shockwaves from the back wall to the hatch.
The air rips out of him, and now the only sound from Gabriel’s wrenched mouth is pure agony.
“You have five seconds,” Dimitri says, adding pressure to his wrist and turning his shoulder in a way it shouldn’t. “Show me your wolf or I break bones.”
God. He’s going to torture the transformation out of him. Nik said the wolf inside us feels the same pain we do, and I have little doubt both Gabriel and his wolf are going to have a very sore evening after this session.
“Four.”
He thrusts his other claw for Dimitri’s thigh, but the giant pins it to the ground beneath his boot and squeezes like he’s expecting fur to appear on his forearm next.
“Three.”
The wolf flails, thrashing his long legs. It doesn’t work. Not with Dimitri bending his arm at a horrible angle, inches away from ripping it out of the socket. The wolf shrieks in surrender, displaying his neck in forfeit. But Dimitri doesn’t relent. He twists even harder.
“Show your neck to a wolf, not to me. Two seconds or I break it.”
“Fuck you,” Gabriel screams, his voice at an excruciating pitch. Then, the wolf does something that widens every pair of eyes in the chamber. He spits at Dimitri, and a long stringy mess of saliva lands square at his chest.
“Time’s up.” Dimitri stomps on his sternum with enough force to shatter every set of ribs in one blow.
I don’t need an X-ray to know it, not when I hear each of the bones splinter and crack at an earsplitting decibel.
The wolf’s mouth grows impossibly wide as a strangled howl flees him.
The other wolves in the chamber watch, and a collection of grimaces and groans work around the circle.
When Dimitri releases his wrist, I take note of the unusual calm in his expression.
You wouldn’t think he just poleaxed one of the strongest wolves here.
No, Dimitri looks like he did something as insignificant as lacing up his own boots.
Gabriel rolls on the ground swallowing what little air he can as some of the wolves rush to his aid. They hook themselves under each of his arms and carry him to the hatch, his feet dangling the entire length of the chamber.
“He will live,” Dimitri says over his shoulder, and returns to the spot next to Nik.
“That’s one way to do it,” Nik says with a chuckle and places his hand on Dimitri’s shoulder. “How about we give their wolf a little more time to come out, yeah?”
Dimitri crosses his large arms. “He spit on me.”
Nik considers this for a moment and nods. “Fair enough. Who’s next?”
The younger wolves, already as far away from the front as they can get, take another step back in unison.
“Gabriel attacks like a rabid dog.” Someone struts forward and stands a few feet from Dimitri.
“Let’s see if you can handle a wolf with formal training, human.
” The crowd begins to circle again, roaring with excitement for Clément’s only child.
The woman that’s made my life a living hell since we arrived here. Jade Duval.
Nik glances to his right, eyebrows lifting.
“Silver spoons bend easy, heiress,” Dimitri says with a scoff. “You sure this is what you want?”
Jade snarls. It’s low. Deadly. And I can’t shake recognizing the vibration patterns in her throat.
It’s the same sound she made my first night here.
The sound she makes now whenever I enter the room.
It’s a challenge. And as each of her nails disappear behind claws, I know she’s challenging Dimitri.
Not for some training exercise. Not to draw out her wolf. This one is personal.
Dimitri sighs. “As you wish.”
A pit settles low in my stomach, leaving the rest of my organs in freefall. Clément agreed that I am off-limits. She can’t kill me and she knows it, so why not the next best thing? Nik’s oldest friend. The person he calls brother.
“Stop!” I scream and lunge through the crowd, pushing aside the wolves standing between me and the front of the chamber. Dimitri’s jaw loses slack when I emerge from the outer circle, and every pair of eyes land on me, including the heiress positioned at the center.
“Stay out of this, mutt,” she hisses.
Nik narrows his gaze on me, his body tensing.
I don’t care that he doesn’t think I’m ready.
That every wolf in this castle thinks I’m his fragile little pet.
I am done letting everyone fight my battles.
If she has some score she wants to settle, we will settle it right now.
He wanted me to show the world my teeth, right?
Well, message well fucking received. I am a wolf.
Maybe not by choice. But that doesn’t change the fact I have the cursed blood running through my veins, same as her.
I draw in a deep breath, freeing the claws buried beneath my skin. Each finger burns at first, but it’s nothing compared to the fire radiating in my chest. I pin her with a glare, my snarl a clear warning. “This mutt, Jade, is challenging you.”