Ebony bolted upright. “What is it? What’s happened?”
Melody grabbed hold of Ebony’s hand and pulled. “You have to get up. You have to come quick. Jordan and Hunter are fighting on Rocky Point!”
Ebony’s hand flew to her mouth. “Rocky Point! You can’t be serious!”
Melody towed her out of the room. “Hunter challenged Jordan over you, and they took the fight to Rocky Point. They’re fighting to make the Midnight fluid again.”
Ebony stumbled after Melody. This couldn’t be happening. Rocky Point! Why would Hunter want to fight Jordan there, unless…
They burst out of the house. All around them, people raced out of their houses and into the trees. Cole and his buddies left their battle preparations, and a few people pointed up the hill.
Ebony’s heart stuck in her throat. Rocky Point! This could mean only one thing. If Hunter won, Jordan would have to back down on convincing the Midnight to mate for life. If Jordan won…
Ebony couldn’t think about that. She couldn’t think about one of these brothers walking away from Rocky Point. She couldn’t think of Jordan—or Hunter—leaving his brother’s dead body on the Point.
What if Hunter killed Jordan? Ebony’s heart quailed. She couldn’t face the future without Jordan, not after all the water under the bridge getting ready to mate with him. She might as well be dead if she didn’t have him. She would fall into despair and death if anything happened to him.
Then again, killing Hunter could destroy Jordan as easily as being killed by him. How could he live with the guilt and shame? Ebony braced herself. Get a grip, girl. We’re Midnight. Hunter challenged Jordan. They both knew the consequences. If Hunter winds up dead, he has no one to blame but himself.
More people joined the throng heading up the mountain. Couples held hands, and excited conversation shot back and forth through the crowd. Riley came out and joined Melody. He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple. No matter what happened on that Point, they would be together. They would stand side by side and face the future, even if they had to do it somewhere away from Midnight Moraine.
For the first time, Ebony envied Raven Faulkner. She had the guts to leave this place behind. Raven never had to worry about any kindergarten politics affecting her decision. She mated. She would stick with Azer through thick and thin. Raven didn’t care if she abandoned the Midnight and never saw her home or family again.
How much simpler Raven’s life would be away from all this. Ebony should have grabbed Jordan and run for the hills instead of coming home from the glade. No one could touch her. No one could threaten them. He wouldn’t be defending their love, claw against claw.
The parade surged through the trees. A sense of relief fired the crowd’s spirit. At last they would get the whole mating question settled. Then everyone could go about their business.
A hush fell over them, though, when the trees parted on the mountain peak. Two figures stood out tall and black against the sky on the far pinnacle. The sun shone behind them so Ebony couldn’t tell which was which.
The crowd picked its way over the rocks. In ones and twos, they formed a circle around the combatants. No one made a sound. Every eye concentrated on the two faces. One represented the new way, mating for life, and peace. The other stood for the old way, fluidity, conflict, and war.
Cole stood across the circle from Ebony. He stared at the two men facing off. His attention never wavered. They would decide his future direction, as well as that of the rest of the Moraine.
Ebony caught sight of Wyatt off to one side. He didn’t push to the front where everyone could see him, but he watched just like everyone else. He couldn’t let this challenge pass. This challenge affected him twice as much as the rest. Not only would it shape his future, it would cost him one or both of his sons.
Ebony’s shoulders ached, but she couldn’t relax. She glanced around, but no one noticed her. She would give anything to help Jordan in this, but she couldn’t help him any more than he could help her against Onyx. This was his fight, and he had to fight it.
Jordan and Hunter stood still. Neither moved except for the rising and falling of their chests and shoulders in steady breathing. They carried the weight of their mission on their broad backs. They could both meet this moment in calm certainty.
Jordan’s eyes blazed under his dark brows, but he didn’t flinch. The whole Moraine needed this challenge. They needed to know for certain which way to go, and he would give them that. They couldn’t go on attacking each other and bickering over trifles.
Hunter took the first step sideways, and Jordan matched him going the other way. The brothers circled. Hunter dodged forward, but he ducked right back out again to resume his endless circling.
Jordan reacted faster than lightning, but when Hunter resumed his place, Jordan returned to his own line. His breath came shorted now. He kept his shoulders locked in tense anticipation
Ebony knit her fingers together. She couldn’t stand this mounting anxiety. If only they would close, she could accept any outcome. Anything would be better than not knowing.
What would happen when they really started fighting? Did Hunter really intend to slaughter his brother over such a disagreement? Did one man’s choice really matter to a whole people?
She didn’t have to look around at the faces surrounding her. Jordan darted forward and made a grab at the empty air, but he didn’t even try to touch his brother. He only feinted and fell back. The crowd spread out to give them room, but no one took their eyes off the fight. Every breath hung on this moment.
Ebony longed for someone’s comforting arms around her right now, but Melody huddled in Riley’s embrace. Layla and Rome clung to each other over there next to Cole. They could hide in each other. Where could Ebony hide? She had no one but Jordan, and he stood out there on the bare, cruel rock staring death in the face.
All at once, both brothers flew at each other. They grappled their arms around each other and crashed to the ground, but neither shifted. Jordan hooked his beefy arm around Hunters neck, but Hunter didn’t try to wrestle him one way or the other.
Fists flew thick and fast. Hunter pummeled Jordan’s ribs and kneed him in the groin, but Jordan clamped his elbow around Hunter’s head and slugged him in the face for all he was worth. Hunter grunted in pain, and blood stained his nostrils.
Hunter ducked his head to avoid those vicious blows, but Jordan never let up. He wrenched his brother’s head back and jabbed his fingers in Hunter’s eyes. Hunter roared in furious rage. He slammed his fists one after the other against Jordan’s midsection, but Jordan doubled over to tighten his abs. Hunter smashed his knuckles against the solid muscled wall of Jordan’s stomach and did no damage.
Voices rose out of the crowd, “Come on, Jordan. Get up, man. Don’t forget your left. Give it to him hard. That’s it. Yeah.”
Ebony couldn’t distinguish one voice from another. One person cheered Jordan while another encouraged Hunter. The brothers paid no attention. Hunter jerked Jordan over on his back and hammered his shoulders into the rock. Jordan twisted Hunter’s head aside to throw him off and spring clear.
Ebony followed the brothers’ movements with her eyes, but she couldn’t breathe. Her whole being ached from racking tension. Her shoulders spasmed to copy every punch Jordan landed.
Jordan flung his brother clear and launched himself onto his knees. He scuttled after before Hunter could recover and lunged on top of him. Hunter thumped back on the rock with Jordan pinned on top. Jordan didn’t give his brother a chance to respond. He nailed his elbow into Hunter’s neck and held his head down while he rained punches along Hunter’s body.
Hunter wouldn’t take this treatment lying down. He brought up his knee and hit Jordan in the ribs. Jordan grunted to catch his breath, but Hunter couldn’t move with that elbow across his neck. His hands landed on Jordan’s face, and he dug his fingers into Jordan’s eyes and nose and mouth. He clawed his brother’s face aside until Jordan’s ar
m loosened on his throat.
All the time, Jordan hammered Hunter’s midsection with blows until Hunter hauled back his own arm and elbowed Jordan in the face. He bowled Jordan off, and Hunter lurched on one side to take the top position.
For a moment, neither brother gained any advantage. A tangled snarl of muscle and fury tumbled this way and that all over the Point. Once, Hunter shoved Jordan all the way to the pinnacle. The crowd drew back.
Hunter clutched his fingers around Jordan’s throat and craned his head back over the precipice. Jordan looked up and back at the immense expanse of territory spread out above his head. He couldn’t meet his death out there. He couldn’t fall, not now.
At the last second, he slammed his knee up into Hunter’s stomach. He hurled Hunter over his head, straight for that sheer drop into nothing. Hunter saw the inevitable coming, and he caught hold of Jordan’s pant leg.
Hunter hurtled over the side. Gravity hauled him down to oblivion. Nothing but a thin scrap of denim held him up. His weight swiveled Jordan around on his back. Jordan’s legs dangled in space with Hunter clinging to one leg. Jordan slid across the slippery rock. In half a second, both brothers would disappear into nothing. They would leave Ebony’s life in ruins and the Midnight future uncertain.
Jordan floundered for a hold. His arms flapped, one on each side. He had to find some way to check his fall, but his brother’s weight scooted him closer to the cliff.
He slapped back and forth. His fingernails caught a crumb of flaky granite. He held on for a second before his fingers tore free again. A tattered cry broke out of Ebony’s aching throat. “Come on, Jordan. Hang on. You can do it.”
He didn’t hear her. He bared his teeth from the strain. His pants rode low over his hips to reveal the black arrow of hair pointing from his navel to his groin. His groaning efforts exploded out of him in a helpless cry. He couldn’t hold on. He stared to slide over the Point toward that edge.
He threw back his head in despair when, out of the clear air, a black paw shot over the ledge. It anchored its pinpoint claws in his pants, and a jet black panther crawled hand over hand, up Jordan’s pants, to the flat rock where the brothers fought.
The panther stepped off Jordan. Jordan didn’t take the time to hitch up his pants before he flipped over and rocketed to his feet. The desperate cry of helpless, hopeless defeat changed to a furious bellow. He charged the panther with his hands stretched out and his fingers flexed to grab.
In mid-spring, he shifted. A shadow crossed the sun, and Jordan Faulkner ceased to be. Another panther leapt at the first. Hunter wheeled to face his brother, and the two cats closed in matched animosity.
Chapter 15
No one could tell one cat from the other in the flurry of fur and slashing claws. No one shouted encouragement anymore. The panthers couldn’t understand that. They knew only the call of their enemies’ blood. Neither would rest until they pierced the other’s jugular.
In the first rush of enraged energy, Jordan hit his brother hard and sent him sprawling back, but Hunter got his feet under him faster than Jordan expected. The two cats rose on their hind legs to clamp each other in a deadly embrace. Their jaws attacked open mouth against open mouth.
Hunter cut Jordan down the cheek with his fangs. He tore Jordan’s lip, and blood spurted onto Jordan’s tongue. That metallic tang sent him into a blind rage. He shivered all over to rip his brother to pieces. He made a dive and wedged his spread jaws into Hunter’s open mouth.
Hunter tried to bite, but he couldn’t close his mouth with Jordan jammed between his lips. Hunter thundered in impotent rage. He compressed Jordan’s skull to the breaking point. A panther’s jaws aren’t designed to bite that way, though, and he couldn’t gain enough compression power to do the job.
Hunter did his best to pull away, but Jordan matched his movements to keep his head inside Hunter’s mouth. The two danced this way and that. They sank their claws into each other’s shoulders, but neither could do any more.
In the end, Hunter had enough. With a powerful twist of his neck, he jerked his mouth free of Jordan’s head. He landed to one side on all fours with Jordan at his side. The two brothers regarded each other for a fraction of a second. Then both brothers exploded in a fresh burst of motion. They wheeled, but didn’t embrace again.
Hunter jumped on Jordan’s back and made a bite for Jordan’s neck. Jordan whipped around and slashed Hunter’s shoulder to the bone. Hunter screeched in pain. He tried to bite back, but Jordan danced the other way to slither out from under Hunter. Hunter flexed his claws, but he missed his grip and came up empty-pawed.
Jordan darted in a circle and rushed his brother from the side. He slammed Hunter in the ribs with his head and knocked him on his side. Hunter rolled on his back and lashed his claws at Jordan. Jordan pounced on top of him with his mouth open. He fought between Hunter’s paws to sink his fangs into Hunter’s side.
Hunter kicked and scratched with his hind feet, but Jordan crouched low. He lay on his brother’s stomach and bit deep into Hunter’s side. At the same time, he brought his own hind feet in close and fixed his claws into Hunter’s groin.
Hunter lay still and quiet. He didn’t dare move for fear of ripping Jordan’s teeth and claws through his own skin. Jordan settled down, too. He could wait all day for Hunter to submit, but Hunter’s tension never softened. He didn’t come to Rocky Point to submit. He let out a feral scream and cut his feet up against Jordan with all his might. His claws shredded Jordan’s skin, and he dislodged the hold Jordan got on his stomach.
Nothing remained to hold the brothers together but Jordan’s teeth locked in Hunter’s side. Hunter didn’t care anymore. He jerked away to rip Jordan’s teeth out, but Hunter’s sudden movement startled Jordan. He relaxed his hold just enough that Hunter broke free without tearing the skin.
Hunter scuttled to his feet and left Jordan lying flat on his chest on the bare rock. By the time Jordan got to his feet to make another rush, Hunter already gained a few yards’ advantage and spun around to attack.
In a heartbeat, their positions reversed. Hunter lunged at Jordan and sent him flying. Hunter pounced on top of him and drove for Jordan’s throat. Jordan scrambled to defend himself, but Hunter was too fast. Jordan slammed down on his back, and no amount of pawing and slashing could stop Hunter from sinking his fangs into Jordan’s neck.
Hunter’s first clumsy maneuver got him a mouthful of fur. Jordan broke away and scurried for cover, but he didn’t have time to turn around before Hunter came after him in all his menacing power.
This time, Hunter didn’t drive for the throat right away. He knocked his brother to the ground, and when Jordan raised his paws to catch and hold Hunter, Hunter ducked under them. Jordan’s paws closed around Hunter’s back. Now nothing remained to stop Hunter from taking a death grip on Jordan’s throat.
Jordan struggled and fought, but Hunter overpowered him by sheer ferocious hatred. He slashed one fang upwards and laid open Jordan’s jaw line. When Jordan winced and screamed in pain, Hunter made his move. His mouth closed around Jordan’s neck and tightened against the windpipe.
Jordan flew into a mania of kicking and scratching. He ripped his brother’s shoulders to pieces. He kicked his hind feet against Hunters midsection. Hunter lowered his body against those cruel claws to stop them flailing, but nothing could stop him consolidating his grip on Jordan’s neck. In a few minutes the fight would be over.
Jordan floundered in desperation, but he couldn’t break free. His head twisted, and his eyes rolled. His gaze fell on Ebony a few yards away. She compressed her lips to stop them trembling. Her hands kneaded one against the other in white-knuckled anxiety.
Did Jordan really come all this way to lose her love now? What would happen to her if Hunter won? What did Jordan care about Hunter compared to her?
His destiny unfolded before his eyes. He wasn’t certain until that moment, but he was now. He would win this fight. He would put Hunter in the ground, and he would
never think twice about this brother again. He would go on to live his happy life with Ebony. He would build her a house and make her happy, and that would be the end of that.
Something monstrous billowed out of his soul. He never understood the raw animal power of the panther before that moment. He exploded against Hunter. One foot hit Hunter under the ribs and sent him spinning into space
Jordan didn’t see how close he’d come to the precipice. He only knew he had to get Hunter off him. Hunter somersaulted over Jordan’s head. He would have slammed down on his back on the rock, but the rock wasn’t there. He catapulted into thin air.
The panther let out a tremendous screech. That sound sent shudders through the crowd, but no one could help him. Nothing separated Hunter from the void yawning all around him.
Jordan wriggled around onto his front just in time to see Hunter dangling in mid-air. He stretched out one paw, but it was already too late. He hooked his claws into the loose skin on Hunter’s foreleg the way Hunter caught Jordan’s pant leg before, but Hunter’s weight ripped those claws out in nothing flat.
Hunter’s eyes rolled in their sockets to show the white sclera surrounding the black iris. The sky wheeled in all directions. The mountains wobbled, and he fell.
Jordan didn’t have time to shift. His claws in Hunter’s skin dragged him the last inches toward the precipice. He had to retract them to save himself. The wind tore Hunter’s scream away, and he plummeted out of sight. Then, as suddenly as the whole thing happened, a human hand strapped its white fingers around Jordan’s forepaw and cinched tight.
Jordan shrieked in surprise. He dug his claws into the rock for any scrap of purchase. He caught himself just in time before Hunter dragged him over the edge, and there was Hunter, spinning and twirling with nothing to hold onto but Jordan.
In an instant, Jordan shifted. He wedged his toes into the ground and grasped the rock with his other hand. He gasped and panted for breath. His face swelled purple and grotesque from the effort of holding himself up.
Bruins Peak Bears Box Set (Volume II) Page 47
