Murmurs ran through the pack.
Resuming her own form, Greta made a slow circle, her gaze resting on each man and woman present. “The choice is yours. Those of you who wish to follow Victor, please stand behind him. Those of you who wish to follow me, join me on this side of the circle.”
Kay held her breath, wondering what the outcome would be. Marriages had broken up when couples refused to follow the same Alpha.
Brett was the first one to make a move. He went to stand at his wife’s side.
Victor looked at Kay; after a moment, she went to stand beside him. She lowered her head, hands clenched at her sides, unable to meet her aunt’s disbelieving gaze.
In a surprisingly short time, the pack had made its decision.
And Victor had lost his bid to be the Shadow Pack’s Alpha.
It took all Kay’s self-control to keep from smiling. She had done what Victor asked and the pack had rejected him. He couldn’t blame her for that, she thought, until she saw his face. His eyes glittered with anger. Tension rolled off him in waves as he fought to keep his wolf in check.
The pack members felt it, too. Their unease was a palpable thing in the taut silence.
Fear’s cold, clammy hand curled around Kay’s insides. This wasn’t over, not by a long shot.
* * *
Chapter 37
Victor made a slow circuit around the circle, his gaze resting on the face of each pack member. Most of them held their ground; a few glanced away.
He stopped in front of Greta. “You’re not strong enough to hold the Shadow Pack. Either surrender to me, or fight me for it, here and now.”
“No!” Brett sprang in front of his wife. “The pack has made its decision, Rinaldi. Go home, where you belong.”
“My wife is here,” Victor replied with a sneer. “So here is where I belong.” His gaze shifted back to Greta. “Surrender or fight?”
Head held high, Greta stepped around her husband. “I will never surrender to you.”
Victor smiled as if the fight was already won. “So be it.”
Kay placed a restraining hand on her aunt’s arm. “Don’t do this.”
“I have to,” Greta said. “To refuse would be to dishonor everything my brother stood for.”
Kay nodded. She embraced her aunt, then moved away, her heart aching because she knew Victor was right. There was no way Greta could win.
As Kay walked away, she felt Gideon’s presence. Looking up, she saw a familiar black wolf standing beneath a tree about a hundred yards away. Just knowing he was nearby made her spirits rise. Maybe there was still hope after all.
Silence descended over the pack as Victor and Greta shifted.
Kay felt her heart sink when she glanced from one to the other. Victor was larger, more muscular, easily the stronger of the two.
The wolves faced each other, ears twitching back and forth, nostrils flared. Victor snarled, then lunged forward, his teeth snapping but biting only empty air as Greta spun gracefully out of the way.
Kay watched breathlessly as the two wolves circled and snapped at each other. For a time, neither one did any damage. To Kay’s surprise, her aunt drew first blood. Victor howled with rage as Greta sank her fangs into his shoulder, but he shook her off with ease, then sprang forward, his jaws closing on her left foreleg.
Kay flinched when she heard the bone snap.
Victor let Greta go and took a step away, his lips peeled back in a wolfish grin of triumph as she struggled to her feet. Blood dripped from her injured leg.
Kay watched in horror when Victor closed in on her aunt again. Greta tried to defend herself, but it was no use. On three legs, she couldn’t outmaneuver Victor; running away was not an option even if she could manage it. Once begun, it was a fight to the death.
Kay’s horror turned to fury as she watched Victor viciously attack her aunt again and again. Instead of granting his opponent a swift, clean death, it was obvious Victor intended to torment her, to inflict as much pain and damage as he could before delivering the final, killing blow. What was worse, he was enjoying it.
With a cry of rage, Brett darted forward, only to be pulled back by three other pack members. He struggled against them, but they refused to let go. In his human form, he had no chance against Victor.
Kay’s anger grew stronger, harder to control, as Victor sank his fangs into her aunt’s shoulder and gave it a sharp twist. If only she could put a stop to it. But there was nothing she could do… .
Suddenly, it was too much to bear. She had lost her mother. She had lost her father. She couldn’t stand by and let Victor take her aunt from her, as well.
Anger surged up from the very depths of Kay’s being and with it a rush of preternatural power that put fear and caution to flight.
Her clothing shredded as, with a feral cry, Kay shifted.
She stood there for a moment, stunned by the realization that she had changed when the moon was no longer full. But there was no time to think of what that might mean, not now, when her aunt’s life was in danger.
Not when she was violating pack law.
She growled a challenge low in her throat, sank back on her haunches, then launched herself at Victor’s back, her teeth sinking deep into his neck.
Rearing back in surprise, he shook her off, but only for a moment. Regaining her feet, Kay attacked him again and again, her teeth sinking into his side, his shoulder. He was bigger, but she was faster. And as the fight progressed, she proved she was stronger as she drew blood again and again.
A part of her was repulsed by what she was doing, but another part reveled in her newfound strength. Was this how her father had felt? High on the power thrumming through her, she was impervious to the bites Victor managed to inflict on her.
She attacked him again, her teeth tearing a chunk of flesh from his side.
Howling with pain, Victor broke and ran through a break in the circle, only to come to an abrupt halt when a large black wolf bounded into his path.
Victor tried to dart past the strange wolf, but the creature blocked him at every turn, herding him back toward the circle.
Kay met Victor before he reached the pack. Snarling, she flung herself at him, her teeth clamping down on his jugular. She tore his throat out with one savage shake of her head.
Stepping away from the body, she stared at it, exhilaration and horror warring within her as she watched Victor’s body morph from wolf to human.
Panting, her sides heaving, she lifted her head and stared at Gideon, who remained in the shadows, watching her. What would he think of her now? Would he ever look at her the same?
But there was no time to worry about it. The members of the pack were cheering, shouting her name, proclaiming her as their new Alpha.