Chapter 26

Lindsey

Kyle met me and Walker in a small shed-like building that was connected to the arena. When he left this room, Walker would go with him and be taken to the observation platform while I would wait here until the Challenge was called to start and then enter directly into the arena.

"I don"t know anything at all about your opponent except that she"s being sponsored by NOLA."

"It"s fine. I don"t even need to know who she is."

There were very few people I cared about there. I had no siblings, so that wasn"t a concern, and the few cousins I did have had always been assholes to me anyway. Short of my own mother being tossed into the ring with me, I really didn"t care.

"Okay then. Any questions or last-minute will and testament sort of things you need from me then?"

I bit my lip and nodded. "Yes. There is."

Walker watched me in confusion.

"I need a promise that no matter what happens today, that my children will be looked after, cared for, and raised in this Pack."

I dropped to my knees and bared my neck to Kyle.

"Please accept my allegiance which will then be passed on to Maya and Dante."

"Are you doing this just for them? Because I already consider them Pack through Walker, so there is no need to worry about that," Kyle asked.

I looked up at him, but there were tears in my eyes now. The kids would be okay. Walker was strong, he"d survive, and I trusted that he would protect them as his own.

"This isn"t just for them. I"ve found a home here in San Marco—a family, friends, people I genuinely care about. I"ve spent most of my life all alone unable to trust another being. Coming here has shown me that there"s a hell of lot more to life when it"s with the right people."

I reached up and took Walker"s hand.

"So this isn"t just for them, but for me. And it"s not a last testimony sort of thing because I have no intentions of dying today or tomorrow, or for a very long time. But this Challenge has forced me to really look at my life and consider what I want for my future, and I"m ready to make this my first step in that direction."

"I don"t think I"ve ever heard it put quite so eloquently before. Thank you. And you can get up now. I fully support and accept your decision. Welcome to Westin Pack, Lindsey."

Walker helped me up as I hugged Kyle and then found myself ripped from him to swing through the air in the arms of my mate.

"I had no idea she was planning on doing this. With everything going on we hadn"t even discussed it."

"What"s done is done, but for my own peace of mind, I assume you have no regrets for her decision?"

"Not a one."

He kissed me right there in front of our Alpha.

"I"m going to give you two a few minutes, but don"t be long. They should be starting soon."

Kyle stepped from the room while we continued to kiss.

We didn"t talk about the future, or what may or may not happen. We didn't dwell on our circumstances at all. We just held on to one another and lived in that moment, the moment before everything changed.

*****

I told myself none of the details mattered to me.

I forbid myself from looking up to the platform above, where Walker sat as a prize ready to be claimed by the victor.

I promised myself that I had made all the necessary arrangements and could go into this fight with a clear conscience.

And I had lied to myself on all three counts.

*****

I stood there alone behind the closed door and waited for it to open. When it did, I walked out to the designated circle closest to my side of the arena.

Across from me was a tall woman. She was strong based on the sculpted muscles lining her body. But she showed little to no emotion.

A part of me thought that was smart of her, that I shouldn"t care what happened here, but I did. And the details did matter to me. Like I knew my new Pack Mother was alive and well, hidden away in Collier Pack under the pretense of an already scheduled visit with Kyle"s sister Lily, who happened to be the Collier Pack Mother.

And I knew now that my friend Mirage was also a witch, as was her and Colin"s adopted daughter, Bella. There were a lot of witches here in San Marco, and our Alpha really did protect them. Right now, they were all in a large holding room in Westin Force Headquarters.

Walker and I were given the opportunity to send Maya and Dante away to Collier with Kelsey. They would have been safe there and neither of us doubted her ability to protect them should the need arise. And if we"d had any doubts in that, a full Westin Force team had been sent along as her personal security.

But we"d instead opted to entrust them in Mirage"s care. She was Delta, and I"d humbly begun to learn just how deep that connection ran. We both agreed there was no one else we"d want with them more during this time. I"d packed games and toys, blankets, and snacks. They were set for a fun day with Bella and Mirage.

And I did look up to that platform and even winked at my mate just to see him smile bright enough to see those dimples I loved so much.

But most of all, I wasn"t going to believe that my conscience was clear and that all of this was just somehow okay. Because it wasn"t. That was called humanity. I"d lost it once, and I wasn"t going to let that happen again. So while I was resolved in my fate to take my opponent's life, I knew it would weigh on me for the rest of my life.

A member of the Grand Council stood and called the fight to order. Just before the horn was blown, Anastasia walked in on the arm of her Collector.

I should have been focused on the fight, but instead, I stood and pointed to them.

Kyle pushed Walker back into his seat and then walked over to talk to two men standing near them. I hadn"t met them, but I suspected they were Kyle"s Betas: Cole Anderson and Patrick O"Connell. The two men left immediately and just as the fight began, I saw Patrick approach the Collector.

I couldn't watch to see what else happened. I"d have to hear about it later because the woman trying to take my mate from me had shifted already and was stalking towards me.

I gasped. I recognized that wolf and was momentarily stunned.

She looked like a wolf, but there was something far more deadly to her literally written in her DNA. Another Experiment.

My mind was whirling in confusion.

The last time I"d seen this wolf had been in the bayou. She"d ripped the throat out of seven Experiments before swimming to shore and disappearing forever. She had been an even deadlier beast than me.

Where had my former Alpha found her?

Why was she here?

She"d just stood there in her human form. We hadn"t talked or shook hands or anything before the fight began. Had she managed to find her humanity again too?

There were so many questions running through my mind as I watched her move and could see her mind calculating every option. And it suddenly dawned on me. This wasn"t going to be an easy kill. I was going to have to fight for mate, my family, my own happily ever after.

With a roar, I shifted on the spot, letting my clothes shred and flutter to the ground.

My beast towered over hers by a lot and I had the advantage of flight.

I tried to remember what I could about her, how she fought, and what her strengths and weaknesses were, but it had been so long ago, a few lifetimes ago from the feel of it.

When I pushed off to fly over her as she sped towards me, she moved at the last minute and leapt in the air clamping her large jaws down on my wing.

I howled in pain and dropped back to the ground, knocking her off hard into the side wall in the process.

She looked a little stunned but recovered quickly.

Her movements were all animal, like a feral wolf on steroids fighting for her life. Because that was what she was. There was no signs of humanity within her. No flash of recognition in her eyes. Nothing.

She lunged at me again, but this time I was ready. I charged toward her but at the last second grabbed her with my claws and threw her across the arena.

The crowd went wild.

I understood it had been a long time since Westin Pack had seen any challenges over mating. With the home court advantage, I was the one they were all cheering for. It made me proud.

Something in the stands caught my attention as I watched in horror as Anastasia lifted her hand and smirked down at me.

I dared a look around even knowing all our witches were safely hidden away.

Chaos broke out on the visitors" side. A tornado had people screaming and running for cover. One person kept blipping in and out, jumping all over the place uncontrollably. Plants were suddenly in bloom. Fire burst from someone"s mouth. It was hard not to freak out. Their screams filled my ears, and I couldn't help but wonder just how much worse it would have been if we hadn't protected our own shifters.

But the girl I was battling either knew it was coming or was too lost in her own beast to even notice. She didn"t react to any of it.

As she charged me, I easily jumped out of the way, causing her to stumble and face plant into the ground.

"No!" Anastasia cried.

She pointed her hand directly at me and knew she was sending the full brunt of her power right at me.

I felt nothing because I was no witch.

"This isn"t possible!" She yelled. "They don"t have a single witch in their Pack? It"s the largest Pack in the world!"

She was kicking and screaming as they dragged her away, but at the last minute she redirected a wayward ball of water and slammed it into her attackers, giving her just enough time to run away. Moments later, an eerie calm came over the stands as those present looked around in confusion.

"Lindsey, look out!" Walker screamed.

I"d completely forgotten I was in the middle of a fight.

Turning just in time to see her charging me at full speed, I moved and hoped she'd just run right by, but she altered her approach at the last second and sharp claws dug into my hindquarters. I tried to knock her off, but she was in too deep.

The pain sliced through me, and for a second, I considered turning myself over to the beast. But there were far too many innocent bystanders watching. I simply couldn"t do it. So I started to run around the perimeter of the structure. I ran faster and faster until everything around me was nothing more than a blur. Still, she hung on.

My wing was damaged and hurt like hell, but I lifted off and flew up in the air. My speed was too much and I couldn"t sustain airflow with only one wing.

We stalled for a good hundred yards above the venue. And then I went into a tailspin. The world surrounding me in a sickening blur. There was no way for me to tell if I was right side up or upside down.

The motion must have affected my stowaway too as she finally let go, making a hallowing scream of sorts as she plunged to the Earth. I heard the break of bones as she collided with the ground.

Bat hearing.

I didn"t need to see what was around me. I could hear it and fly blind.

Closing my eyes allowed me to make more sense of my surroundings. I listened and quickly righted myself.

The gasp of my audience told me I had been scary close to the ground as I stretched my wings and flew. I didn"t last long in the air, though, because the pain was overwhelming.

I opened my eyes once more and then carefully landed, stumbling a little as a sharp pain in my rear surged through me.

My challenger laid lifeless in the center of the arena.

I quickly shifted and rolled across the ground. When I stopped moving and stood, the crowd went wild, cheering for my victory.

Looking up to the platform, Walker was pale but smiling. Kyle held his hand high in victory, and the someone from the Grand Council stepped forward to declare my win. Only one of them looked upset by it—Roy Douglas. And in that moment, I knew he had been a part of this all along. Neutral my ass. He was working for my former Alpha and no one would ever convince me otherwise. I was going to have to keep tabs on our newest councilman until I figured out exactly what he was up to. But for now, all I wanted to do was claim my mate.

I shifted once more and flew up to the platform. There were a few screams of concern, but the second I landed, I was back in my skin and running into Walker"s arms.

He caught me easily and kissed every inch of my face, dirt and all. There were a few chuckles and cheers around us, but most averted their eyes from our public display of affection and the fact that I was entirely naked in front of everyone.

I didn"t care. Even though Walker briefly stopped to pull off his own shirt and covered me with it before kissing me once more.

"Is it over?" I asked Kyle.

"It"s over. And something tells me they"ll reconsider putting another shifter up against you after that."

I shook my head. "That was an Experiment. It"s a pity. I had so many things I wanted to ask her."

"You"re certain of this."

I nodded. "And we saw her in both her skin and fur, which means there could actually be more like me out there."

Kyle sat down hard as he considered my words.

"It"s a lot, I know, but that"s gonna have to wait for another day. With your permission, Alpha, I just want to go home."

Home.

That word had a whole new meaning to me now.

Westin Pack.

San Marco.

Delta team.

The house on the lake.

Dante.

Maya.

Mate, my beast added in my mind.

And Walker, I agreed, pulling him into my arms and kissing him once more.