Misha was the only one who had obviously opposed her. She had the look of a predator watching its prey slowly walk into a trap.
But why? What could she gain by this? Giselle wondered.
After speaking with Brianna and the other Alphas around her, Misha stood again and addressed the crowd. “We will break for ten minutes before the next battle.” Misha turned her predatory gaze on Orion. “Go and clean yourself up. Speak with your daughter and confirm whether she actually wants you to fight for her. When last we spoke, the little werewolf had wished to follow in her father’s footsteps and abdicate her claim to the title.”
Misha’s words had the crowd rumbling again with their dissension. She was playing a keen game, and Giselle hated seeing how the crowd ate up the sweet sound of her words like candy.
Chapter 40
Martina came up behind Giselle, and before she said anything, Giselle felt claws in her right shoulder.
She’d expected her adoptive mother to be mad. She had deceived her. She had stolen her phone. She’d gotten away with it had been because she’d masterminded all this while Martina had been so busy trying to impress the Alphas. And the only reason she was not having her head bitten off that very moment was that her claim to being one of those Alphas was still in contention.
“Before you scream, I’m sorry,” Giselle started to say as she turned to face her adoptive mother, but pain stole her breath before she could finish the sentence.
Mothers must be gifted with a keen sense to know the pain in their children without having to feel it. Martina’s anger changed sharply into worry the moment she saw the strain in her daughter’s face.
Giselle did the best she could to hide her pain and be the little Alpha she was expected to be.
“What did you do?” Martina knelt down and pulled Giselle into a hug.
Feeling as if her ribs might shatter, she breathed through the pain. “I can’t say.”
“Magic,” Martina said knowingly. The realization of what that meant increased her fear.
“Yes,” Giselle answered truthfully.
“How am I supposed to protect you from yourself?” Martina asked in frustration.
There was no answer to that, but one look at her father confirmed it was a Silverman trait.
Orion joined them, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Richard grabbed him a water to drink and another to wash the blood from his skin.
“You are?” Orion asked looking directly at Martina.
Martina stood and met him eye to eye, with the ferocity of a momma ready to fight for her pup. “I am the one who cares for your daughter.”
Alpha as he was, Orion was not a mother. He might exude the power of leadership, but Martina was the deadlier creature at that moment.
Orion must have realized it. The smile that crossed his face wiped away the fierceness and replaced it with admiration. “You have my thanks for that, and I will forever be in your debt.”
“I’ll hold you to that. She’s no easy charge to maintain,” Martina laughed, relaxing her protective stance.
“She’s a Silverman. I’d expect no less.” Orion winked at Giselle, but once his eyes met hers the humor left him. “What happened to you, child?”
Before Giselle could answer, Vivian interrupted. “Your daughter, just like her father before her, has dabbled in dangerous magic.”
“I’ve not yet dealt with you.” Orion turned his anger on Vivian.
“Deal with me when you can, but deal with her first,” Vivian said, with a nod toward Giselle.
“I’m fine.” Giselle sucked in a breath and, mimicking her father’s resolve, put on the best face she could and stood tall. “Besides, if you’re here worrying about me, you can’t deal with what’s happening out there.”
“I’ll defeat any wolf stupid enough to challenge me,” Orion said, too self-assured for his own good.
“But Misha won’t make an open challenge,” Giselle responded.
“Good girl. You were paying attention,” Orion praised his daughter.
“What are you two talking about?” Martina asked, as if she’d been left out of a very important conversation.
“There was no reason for them to deny both my and Ace’s claim to the position,” Giselle answered her adoptive mother. “Even with Vivian’s smear campaign.”
Vivian opened her mouth, but Orion silenced her with a hand over her mouth. “You’ve spoken enough,” he growled at her.
“Even with her badmouthing, there was no reason to pass Aeson up for the title. The Regional Alphas are attempting to control who is brought to power, and they don’t want a Silverman in play,” Orion said bluntly.
“Where is Ace?” Giselle asked, suddenly afraid he might have already been taken out of play.
Vivian mumbled something, and Orion removed his hand. “He’s with the others awaiting their turn, behind the Council’s seats.”
“Why there?” Giselle asked.
“Those who are to fight are kept out of view, so they don’t risk losing their nerve.” Vivian’s voice lacked all arrogance now. Fear had taken hold after hearing Giselle and Orion’s suspicion.
“Can we get him out of there?” Orion asked Richard.
Richard looked up to the Alpha Council and back at Orion. “I will do my best.”
“Go, then,” Orion ordered. “His safety is paramount.”
Richard bowed his way out and disappeared again into the crowd.
“What of our daughter?” Martina asked, placing her hands on Giselle’s shoulders.
Giselle had not a care for her own life; her link with Orion had entwined their fates, and only his ability to stay alive mattered at that point.
“You are her guardian by law. I have no fear you will shirk that responsibility now,” Orion said to Martina. “I will do my part to fight for her honor in the arena, while you keep watch over her here.”
Misha’s voice bellowed over the din of conversations going on around the arena. “It is time. Our next trial begins now.”
“That was a short ten minutes.” Orion dumped half his bottle of water on his head and drank the rest before turning to go back.
“What do you want me to do?” Vivian asked.
“Nothing,” Orion said. “You’ve done more than enough.”
Unable to stop him or tell anyone why, Giselle whimpered helplessly as he strolled back toward the gate of the arena. Even if she could tell him, he was a Silverman. Stubbornness was in their genes. He’d still fight as long as there was a sliver of a chance he’d win. Giselle braced herself as her father walked back into the arena. If he had any fear at all, it didn’t show. That he could hide; but his pain was still there. Ribs had begun to heal, and the ache had lessened significantly. His neck had been tweaked; Giselle felt it as she turned her head left – a pinch that almost forced her to avoid that direction entirely. It could pose a problem if a wolf attacked from that side.
Before she could let that fear sink in, another challenger presented himself – a deceptively thin male who had to have stood nearly six feet tall. He stepped freely into the arena to the sound of cheers, clearly a favorite despite his lanky stature.
Giselle, Martina, and Vivian all retook their seats with the rest of the crowd.
The crowd roared for blood, only falling silent when the cage door closed and both wolves had shifted.
Snarls and teeth and more dust. All battles looked the same, with wolves both dark and light going head to head.
The long tan wolf swiped a claw, connecting with the darker brown of Orion, and Giselle’s head tilted sideways with the blow.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Vivian gasp at her reaction to Orion’s wound. She might have been able to hide it if Orion had been doing better in this battle.
“Whatever magic you used to bring him back, it will get you both killed,” Vivian whispered under her breath.
“That should make you happy,” Giselle responded in kind. She scanned the crowd again,
searching for familiar faces. Jay she spotted immediately, though he was not in the same spot he’d been in last. It looked to her as if he were strategically seated. His vantage point placed him in direct line of sight of his mother as well as the Alphas at the end of the arena. Whether it was for Vivian’s benefit or his brother’s, she didn’t know, but if he was able to see the Alphas, she was willing to bet he was trying to keep an eye on Ace behind them.
Asher, however, was nowhere to be found, and neither were her sisters. For that matter, Gavin and Christina were out of view too. “Where is our family?” Giselle whispered to Martina.
“We were given special seats there.” Martina pointed to a place just next to where the Council were sitting. The arena and all of its dust as the two wolves battled made it nearly impossible to see them.
If they were in danger, she would have no way to reach her family. A knot formed in Giselle’s throat. Their only saving grace was Fallon. Giselle knew her new friend was not part of any plot. She, Giselle trusted. But as she looked at Fallon and her mate, she noticed another wolf was missing – Brady.
He should have been with his brother. Where had he gone and why?
The uncertainty of everything turned her anxiety up to eleven, and there was nothing she could do to bring it back down.
Dust kicked up in the arena as the two wolves had begun to circle each other, but it wasn’t until a sharp pain in her leg snatched her attention that she dared to look and see what was happening.
The crowd was cheering at the snarling and growling, but neither wolf had really connected their attack until the tan wolf lunged low, snapping at Orion’s tail, and Giselle shot upwards from her seat with a yelp.
She didn’t want to watch. It was bad enough that she’d feel every wound, but knowing how much hinged on these fights made it that much worse.
“Are you okay?” Martina asked, with all the care and concern of a mother. She might have been annoyed by what Giselle had done, but in that moment, it didn’t matter.
“I don’t know,” Giselle answered honestly. Her hand moved instinctively to the pouch around her neck. The small stone that seemed so insignificant the first time she’d laid eyes on it had quickly become the most important thing in her life. Keeping the title of Alpha didn’t matter to her as much as it mattered to her father, but his life was tied to it all, and that was what was at stake.
“I didn’t not want this,” Vivian said to Giselle, not looking in her direction. “I never wanted it to come to this. You need to know this.”
Giselle rolled her eyes, but didn’t respond. Vivian was a snake. She’d shown her hand early on. No amount of kind words would change that now.
A sharp pain in her side made Giselle yelp in her seat. She jumped up, feeling the bite, but this time not from teeth; she turned to find not another man standing behind her, knife at the ready, dripping with her blood.
Chapter 41
Derek, the butler who’d served in Vivian’s home and waited on the Council meeting in Washington, snarled, “For the Long Teeth,” as he swung his blade at Giselle.
It all happened so fast, she could hardly make sense of it, but she jumped back, narrowly escaping wide swing of his knife. Another pain sent her knees buckling. Orion had been injured in the arena. A shrill yelp from a wolf confirmed it, but as she crumpled to the ground, there was no way for her to look back and see if he was all right.
Had she been alone, Derek might have overtaken her and plunged his knife straight into her chest, but Vivian and Martina had her covered, taking the bastard down before he could make another attempt.
“What is going on there?” Misha cried, as she called the trials to halt.
Vivian hauled up her butler and put his knife to his throat. “Who put you up to this?” She shouted angrily.
“Don’t play games, Vivian. We know who it was,” Martina sniped at her.
“Tell us,” Vivian said, pressing the blade harder into his skin. A small cut opened and blood began to bubble at the knife’s edge.
“Death,” Derek said proudly.
Vivian gritted her teeth and looked as if she might slit his throat, but before she moved, Martina had the butler by the balls. She squeezed them tight, and the butler’s eyes bulged as if they might pop from their sockets. A vein pulsed at his temple and his face all but turned purple under the strain.
“Talk. Or before your death comes, I will dismantle you piece by piece for messing with my child. Do you understand me?” Martina had never looked as scary as she did that moment.
“They’ll do me worse,” Derek whimpered, but his eyes revealed the truth before it escaped his lips. Nervous glances up to the Alpha Council seat all but pointed out the guilty parties.
“Oh, I highly doubt that,” Martina said. She leaned in close and whispered something Giselle could not hear into Derek’s ear.
Whatever it was, it worked. He broke down in tears and whispered a name in response: “Misha’s mate, Brianna.”
All three sets of eyes – Martina’s, Vivian’s, and Giselle’s – looked toward the Alpha Council to the spot where Brianna had sat. But she was gone.
Panting and out of breath, Jay appeared at his mother’s back as if he’d run top speed around the arena the moment the scuffle had started.
Before he could do or say anything else, Vivian whacked Derek in the head with the handle of the dagger and knocked him out. “We’ll need his testimony later, but first, find Brianna.”
Jay nodded and headed back into the crowd on the hunt.
“You think this proves your innocence?” Giselle asked Vivian, still trying to find the link between her and Misha.
“I know you think it so, but I am not your enemy. I am sworn to secrecy by the same magic that brought you into this world, or else I could explain more, but this you must know: I had nothing to do with what happened to your father.” Vivian spoke truth. There was no hint of a lie there, but her half-truth still cloaked in mystery gave her no added trust.
“I ask again. What is happening over there?” Misha called out across the now-silent arena.
The crowd and the two wolves in the arena awaited the answer. All eyes were on Giselle, still crumpled on the ground.
“This man assaulted my daughter,” Martina called up to the Alpha Council.
“Don’t you mean Orion’s daughter?” Misha corrected.
“Don’t twist words with me when one of your henchman attacked my girl,” Martina said.
“You would dare to accuse me?” Misha rose up to stand and addressed Martina directly.
Orion shifted back to his human form. “Who dared to attack my child?”
Martina looked to Vivian. “You want to prove yourself? Keep her safe while I deal with this.”
“No,” Giselle protested. Weak and bleeding, she did not want to be left in the hands of her enemy.
Vivian heaved a deep sigh. “It’s all right. I am family, remember? If nothing else, trust in that.”
Giselle turned away, not wanting to answer, and watched as her adoptive mother headed toward the Alpha Council.
“This paragon of the central territories has conspired against your family to disrupt the balance of power,” Martina said as she walked. “And when we find her accomplice, they will both meet with my justice.”
Orion exited the arena and began to follow in Martina’s wake.
Martina continued, “Her assassin has named Brianna as the guilty party, but we all know that the word came down from you, Misha Noels.”
“Accusations are easy. But will you put your life on the line to hold them up?” Misha looked as menacing as any Alpha, but Martina had the fierceness of a mother protecting her pup.
Orion looked just as murderous, and as the two of them walked, it became a race to see who would be first to strike.
“It’s a fight you want, then?” Misha hardened her eyes, looking at Martina.
“I will cut you down where you stand,” Martina said.
“No
t before I do,” Orion snarled.
“One to one fighting is our way. You may both bring your challenge, in turn, but not together.” Misha looked as if she welcomed a fight.
She should have looked scared, with Martina and Orion both vying for the opportunity to cut her down. But their anger only added to the pleasure in Misha’s eyes. And the fact Misha looked so confident was unnerving.
“Of course you know I cannot be asked to fight. I am a Regional Alpha, and should I fall, my absence would be noted. I name...”
“No naming. You are accused. You will stand in the arena and fight for your honor,” Orion said.
“What do you know of honor?” Misha asked. “You who deserted your people for a witch.”
“At least I don’t conspire to kill children. Now come down off your high seat and fight, or I and Martina will both drag you down by your hair.”
Misha heaved a sigh and looked to her fellow Alphas. “Will you allow this insult to my honor to stand?”
Charles immediately came to her aid, rising to his feet in support. “An Alpha cannot be called to fight.”
“She is no Alpha – dishonoring herself by hiring someone to kill my daughter,” Orion said. “An Alpha must be willing to spill blood if that is the sentence they pass on a lesser wolf. They do not cower behind the acts of others.”
“Where is your proof that Misha Noels conspired to kill your child?” Charles asked.
Orion stopped in his tracks, but Martina continued to prowl ever closer to the Alpha Council seats, only stopping when she heard a woman struggling behind her. “I have the word of the would-be assassin.”
“The word of a killer,” Charles scoffed. “Is that what you expect me to believe over an Alpha of this Council?”
Jay pushed his way through the crowd with Brianna struggling in his grip. “Here’s your proof.”
Anger burned in Misha’s eyes as she watched her mate being pulled up through the crowd.
Brianna had not the poise of an Alpha nor the strength to fight. She held her head in submission as Jay roughly walked her up front.
Fearless Little Werewolf Page 25
