Sapphire Flame: A Paranormal Romance (The Flame Series Book 7)

by Caris Roane

  Kryder snickered. “Sure you’re ready for this?”

  Natalie knew Grant had moved to make certain the battle took place away from the wall. Once he called for the net, Kryder would need to be out in the open.

  The gallery was completely silent. Kryder turned his back to Grant and opened his arms to his pack. “Look at these worthless sheep. My question to you is why would you ever want to be their alpha?” He didn’t seem to notice the occasional, if slight flurry of moment that Ryan created.

  “I see so much more than you ever could,” Grant replied. “I see wolves torn from their families because of the alter serum. Not one of us made a choice to be here, to be consigned to a pack with you as alpha. I see people who want to be free to live the lives they would choose. They will have that when I’m alpha.”

  At that, Kryder turned back to him. “You will never be alpha of the Meldorin Pack, not while I live.” Kryder’s men set up a cheer mixed with howls, but the gallery remained silent and still appeared as if bespelled. By now, Ryan was over halfway through the pack.

  Grant’s nostrils flared. “Before the night is out, you will break the bond with this pack.”

  “Like hell.” Kryder reached up to unhook his cape and tossed it near the back wall. He stripped off his headdress and threw it to join the cape.

  Like Grant, he wore only a leather cloth, though his had been died a deep blue. He was three hundred pounds of powerful muscles that rippled as he began to flex and move.

  Kryder walked toward him slowly then at the last second dipped down and levitated like a missile toward Grant’s waist.

  Grant was faster though and slid out of the way to then levitate and land on Kryder’s back.

  Natalie expected Kryder to stay face down in the sand. Instead, he bolted upright and threw Grant off him.

  Grant flew backward onto the sand, landing on his ass. Kryder whirled and shot forward, throwing himself on Grant. But again, Grant slipped sideways.

  This time, Kryder landed face first and came up spitting sand from his mouth.

  He slowed his movements as he dusted himself off. He said nothing. As he began to walk sideways, Grant matched him so that they turned in a circle, always opposite each other.

  Natalie glanced at the stands. Ryan was well over halfway, but she wished he was almost done.

  “You’ll have to engage me,” Kryder said with a smile. “You can’t keep darting away. Or is that what you think this will be: Dominance by running away?”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Grant’s voice was low, even heavy.

  Natalie found herself mesmerized by how Grant looked, not just by his warrior presence but by the intensity of his concentration. He saw only Kryder.

  This time, Kryder walked toward him, head lowered, jaw tight. His stride was slow, deliberate. A challenge.

  Grant stood his ground and raised his fists, but he also levitated an inch above the sand.

  When Kryder drew close, he lifted his fists as well. A sneer curled his lips. He whipped his right fist toward Grant.

  Grant moved, but not fast enough. The blow slid off his chin and would have toppled him sideways, but he caught his balance.

  He ducked at the next swing and with a slight arch of his back, swung up with his right fist hard and caught Kryder underneath his chin.

  Kryder’s body jerked upward since he, too, had started levitating. He was airborne and falling backward onto the sand.

  Natalie glanced at her team. This would be the perfect time to trap Kryder with the net. But two of the men were looking up into the gallery. She followed their line of sight and saw that Ryan had only finished waking up two-thirds of the pack.

  With that many still in a trance-like state, Kryder would be able to control the situation. There was nothing the team could do.

  She shot a message to Grant. Ryan has one-third of the pack to go. Stall Kryder if you can.

  Will do.

  By now, Kryder was on his feet, but blood poured from his mouth. He wiped it off with the back of his hand his expression mulish. His men cheered him on, though the wolf-pack was still silent.

  Natalie was amazed by the self-control the wolves were showing. But from what she understood, Grant had set the example himself the many times Kryder had beat him while trying to force Grant to bid for a dominance battle.

  Kryder once more came at Grant, walking on the sand slowly, lifting his fists when he got within three feet of Grant.

  But Grant didn’t hold back. He shot toward Kryder, head-butted him then levitated swiftly to come down hard on Kryder’s forehead with two fists.

  Before Kryder could react, Grant shot away from Kryder to float in the air twenty feet distant. He was breathing hard, his gaze fixed on Kryder.

  Kryder flew slowly, low near the sand in the direction of Natalie and the net-team. Each wolf stood his ground, but it was like watching a wall of muscle the size of small car approaching. Kryder kept wiping blood off his mouth.

  The team started levitating backward to get out of his way, but Kryder finally stopped. He then turned back to face Grant. He reached behind him, and Natalie watched in horror as he removed a small, needle-like blade from the waistband of his leather loin cloth.

  She’d heard of this before. Alpha Fergus had almost died from a similar attack in a dominance fight.

  Grant, watch out. Kryder has a blade in his possession, very small and needlelike.

  I’m not surprised.

  She glanced up at the gallery. Ryan is almost done with the wolves. Your pack has incredible discipline.

  Yes, they do. One more reason to finish this…now.

  She smiled as she said, Do it.

  She waved to the wolves around her and spoke quietly. “This is it.”

  Each nodded, then secured the net more firmly. Discipline was exactly the right word. She knew Grant ran drills with his wolves over and over and not just those who had warrior abilities or inclinations. All the pack wolves drilled with Grant.

  Her heart set up a terrible racket. She knew a thousand things could go wrong and if Grant wasn’t careful, that blade could end his life.

  ~ ~ ~

  Grant descended slowly. He noted Kryder’s left hand curled around what was no doubt the blade Natalie had mentioned.

  Her voice entered his mind. The team is ready with the net.

  If Ryan isn’t back in time, use your judgment, Natalie. I trust you.

  We’ll act as soon as you knock him down again.

  That was all he needed to hear as he levitated to once more hover just a few inches above the sand.

  Kryder no longer walked but flew toward him. He picked up speed, his left hand now a fist and ready for action.

  Ryan’s back, Natalie said.

  Good deal. He switched telepathy and threw a final command at Ryan. Kryder has a blade. Let’s take this bastard now.

  We’re headed your direction, Ryan said. Try to get him on his back.

  Grant bent his knees and kept his eye on Kryder’s abdomen. The direction the muscles shifted would tell Grant which way he meant to move.

  Grant saw the lateral shift then swept in and caught Kryder’s left wrist pushing his arm up. The man was strong and began to force Grant’s hand back.

  There had never been a question in Grant’s mind that Kryder outmatched him muscle for muscle. He felt it now, the sheer brawn in the man’s arm.

  “You thought you’d take me,” Kryder whispered close to Grant’s ear. “You don’t stand a fucking chance. I know you saw the blade, so guess where it’s going?”

  Grant strove with all his might to put return pressure on Kryder’s arm. All he felt was a cement-wall of power pushing against his hand. From the corner of his eye, he saw the sharp blade and felt Kryder switch trajectory. He was aiming for his neck.

  But Grant hadn’t battled for years or drilled or trained without knowing a couple of tricks. Levitating away from Kryder, he fell backward onto the sand. With his momentum having disrupted the alph
a, he kept going until he’d rolled Kryder backward as well.

  He felt a sharp pain on his arm as he flew up and away from Kryder.

  He turned in time to find the alpha on his tail, a malevolent gleam in his eye. Grant rolled, stretched out parallel and caught Kryder sideways across his abdomen.

  He heard Kryder grunt then curse.

  Grant rolled into a ball then flew toward the ceiling. This was the first time he realized the pack wolves were now cheering and shouting his name, only they’d added ‘Alpha’.

  “Alpha Grant!”

  Their support sent a bolt of adrenaline straight through him. When he reached the ceiling, he bent his knees and used the wood beams for support. He pushed off and dove headlong straight at Kryder.

  The alpha aimed straight for him again, a grimace tightening his lips.

  Grant responded with a shout as he flew like a bullet toward the man. Kryder held the blade in front of him, but at the last second, Grant flipped to the left, caught his other arm and with a flying twist and dislocated the alpha’s shoulder.

  Kryder went down screaming. He landed face down in the sand.

  Grant summoned the team by saying aloud, “Bring it.” He further sent a telepathic message to the group. Bring in the net. Do it now. Tell me when he’s secure.

  A moment later, Ryan’s voice pierced his mind. We’ve got him.

  The net couldn’t be seen, or the wolves holding it down, but Kryder remained visible.

  Grant slowly descended. He watched Kryder try to get up. “What the hell is this?”

  The wolves in the gallery went wild. Yips and howls sounded up to the rafters and back down.

  “Had the wind knocked out of you, is that it?” Grant asked. He gestured with his arm to encompass the pack wolves. “And it looks like your enthrallment spell has fallen apart. By the way, how’s that shoulder?”

  Grant knew he had Kryder. The thing he’d been trying to do for six long years was here at last.

  “You have me pinned with some kind of net.” The sand kept his voice from reaching very far. “That’s illegal.”

  Grant landed beside Kryder and pressed a foot on his neck. Very quietly, he said, “So is using a blade in a dominance fight. Now let me explain how this is going to go. You’re going to break the bond with the pack. If you do, I’ll let you live. If not, I will shatter your neck with my foot and damn the consequences. Do you understand me, Kryder? Your reign is over.”

  “Fuck you.”

  Grant turned toward the gallery. The sound of the Meldorin wolves shouting cheers for his victory was the sweetest noise he’d ever heard. He called out, “Kryder will break the bond now. Is that what you want as the wolves of the Meldorin pack?”

  The wolves shouted, even screamed their cries of blessing. Howls erupted with more shouting. ‘Alpha Grant’ filled the arena over and over.

  After several minutes, Grant patted the air and the wolves’ cries and howls lessened little by little.

  When they were quiet once more, he repeated, “Kryder will break the bond and he’ll do it now.”

  A hush fell over the arena.

  Grant heard the thud of his heart pounding in his ears. He recalled every beating he’d taken, at least two of which had put him at death’s door.

  Kryder struggled against the containment net, but the field held him immobile. How many times had Kryder used this net against his own people? How many betas had he killed in dominance matches? How many young female or male Meldorin wolves had he tortured and raped?

  Tonight, it ended for good.

  When Kryder made no move to break the bond, Grant spoke with Ryan. Move the net away from Kryder’s upper shoulders.

  It’s done. You can walk a path around the top of his head if you want. We pulled the net away from his dislocated shoulder as well. He won’t be able to move that side of his body.

  Grant walked slowly around the top of Kryder’s head. When he knew he was well away from the net, he positioned his foot once again on Kryder’s neck only this time so that he could feel several vertebrae.

  “Fuck you,” Kryder said again. By now, he had to be breathing sand.

  Grant had no problem at all putting more pressure on the delicate bones that connected the spine to the skull. For a difficult moment, all he wanted to do was finish the job he’d begun, to keep adding pressure until Kryder’s eyes bulged, his body flailed, and he screamed. He wanted to feel Kryder go slack because of a crushed spine and neck.

  He wanted Kryder dead.

  But as he added pressure, he felt the pack bond begin to dissolve. It felt like a water valve had been turned on within his chest. As the bond leaked out of him, his wolf-connection to Kryder began to diminish. On and on the sensation continued until all the water had poured out and the valve closed against Kryder permanently.

  So it would be with the entire pack.

  He removed his foot.

  Kryder lifted his head and took a deep struggling breath.

  Grant levitated until he faced the wolves of the Meldorin Pack. He shouted, “Are you free?” Tears burned his eyes.

  “Yes!” The word came back to him in a roar.

  A howling began, long and loud.

  Grant threw back his head and let his own howl join the sound of his brothers and sisters. He howled and howled. There was nothing to stop him because Kryder was pinned safely beneath the net.

  He heard Natalie’s wolf howl as well. He saw her iridescent colors flying in a circle around his feet.

  On and on the pack howled.

  He was sure the universe had stopped its motion, pausing to rejoice that a great evil had been undone.

  He howled until he was hoarse. The pack responded in kind, howling louder still.

  Kryder’s men started to breach the railing intent on taking Kryder out of the sandpit, but Grant called to several of the pack’s most powerful betas.

  Before Kryder’s men could get more than a few feet past the railing, they were being hauled back. Two and three men took each of Kryder’s soldiers and carried them swiftly out of the building.

  When the last was gone, the howling of the pack dissipated as well.

  The betas returned, and Grant instructed them to take Kryder out as well.

  To Ryan, he said, Keep Kryder in hand until the last moment, but don’t let our wolves get hurt by the net.

  Got it, but we never used the electricity. We just kept him pinned. I’m not too worried about Kryder causing trouble either. He’s pale and sweating from the pain. Good job, by the way.

  Right back atcha.

  ~ ~ ~

  Natalie had never experienced anything like this in her life, the howling, the severing of the bond which had been a tangible wind within the arena, or the euphoria that Kryder had finally been removed from the Meldorin Pack.

  Ryan used hand signals to the team to instruct them in their timing. But even she could see Kryder was incapacitated. She couldn’t imagine the pain he experienced while lying in the sand, face down, with a dislocated shoulder. She had a hard time caring for all the misery he’d caused his pack.

  Grant had been magnificent. He had a cut on his arm from Kryder’s use of an illegal weapon, but the wound was healing swiftly.

  She left the arena with Ryan and the team and ended the invisibility spell. She climbed to the gallery, but she didn’t stay with them. Instead, she moved to the far, left side. What needed to happen next had nothing to do with her and she wanted to be out of the way. This was Grant’s moment with the pack he’d devoted his life to since his arrival in Five Bridges, and especially since the death of his wife.

  Ryan and his wolves returned to the sandpit with a stretcher for Kryder. With little regard for his suffering, they picked him up and dumped him on the canvas. They then flew him out the way he’d come in but left his cape and headdress in the arena.

  When they returned, they remained in the gallery.

  Grant rose to center himself on the cement walkway inside the ra
iling. His gaze swept the Meldorin Pack back and forth. He appeared radiant, his eyes shining with victory and with love.

  She realized she valued his ability to truly love his pack and to put them consistently above his own well-being.

  “We’re free!” He shouted, grinning. “At long last!”

  The wolves howled once more. Her own wolf had remained with Grant and kept racing around him over and over. She felt her wolf’s joy and, in that way, could experience what the rest of the pack was feeling.

  Freedom was an extraordinary thing, a remarkable experience, a reason for so much joy. If she could have howled, she would have done so. As it was, her neck kept arching as though ready to throw her head back and let loose, which only made her smile.

  She would never be a true wolf, but she could value what had been accomplished here tonight.

  More was to come as Ryan came forward and gestured with outstretched hands for the wolves to dial it down. It took a moment and a lot of laughter, but eventually the crowd grew silent once more. A good majority of the wolves had tears streaming down their faces.

  Ryan drew close to Grant and spoke in a strong voice. “We have a new, undisputed pack leader and it’s time for the bonding to begin.”

  Yet another group-howl shook the rafters once more.

  When the howl diminished, Grant stepped forward, lifted his arms and spoke one simple word, “Come.”

  The wolves moved toward the railing and one by one he touched them, sometimes on top of the head, sometimes the shoulder and at times he simple shook hands, though a hug usually followed.

  Natalie could feel the bond flowing all through the gallery seats and what became a long line of wolves waiting to be greeted and welcomed. Grant’s focus was all for the pack just as it should be.

  Not surprising, Renee appeared next to Natalie and stood with her near the top row of seats. Her ghost’s voice entered Natalie’s mind as though each word was carried on a wind. He’s such a good man. From the time I first met him, I knew his character, I knew who he was. I knew I could always trust him to do what was right. Now here he is, at long last, alpha to our pack.

  Renee’s chest rose and fell as though she actually sighed. Her mist rippled with the movement. Perhaps a spirit could sigh. Certainly, the woman felt a degree of strong emotion as she watched her husband.