Chapter 54

What were those idiots doing?

This was supposed to be fun. I was supposed to sit back and watch all the packs make fools of themselves, performing the little games men seemed obsessed by. In my mind, I saw Fern and I sipping on a nice glass of wine and making jokes at the men's expense, but instead… I was sitting on the grass, leaning forward, following the movement of every pack as I saw bloody mayhem rage.

Wolf shifters leapt in the air, claws raking the space where another just was or other male's skin, and each spray of blood drew a shout from the crowd. I watched the games and the audience's reaction with concern. Why would males do such a thing? Why would they willingly go to war with others for the opportunity to spend time with a woman? At home, we were just told talk to him, dance with that ambassador, sit next to that lord. We had no choice in any of it, so I tried hard to understand what was happening.

"Your boys are putting up a good fight," someone said, turning our way.

I thought they meant Fern or some other female, but their eyes landed on me.

"I didn't think humans would stand a bloody chance, but they're holding their own," another said, shooting me a long look. "They're strong, smart, those boys of yours."

They were not mine. Fern seemed to sense my thoughts, stiffening beside me when a woman spoke to her.

"Looks like you'll be an auntie soon. That brother of yours will be mated and get some strong pups on his mate." Her eyes raked up and down my body. "She's a tiny one, but her hips look broad enough to bear a child without a problem."

"Surely I have a say in that process?" It was my mother, the queen's voice I heard right now, not my own. "Don't I have to accept the bond?"

"Yes, but fate—"

"Fate will not decide my future." I jerked myself to my feet. "Only I will."

I was just about to walk away from this madness, leave the competitors to it, when I heard a cry. Ragged, male, it drew my attention when all the others didn't. I froze where I was, trembling like a deer caught in the undergrowth as my eyes raked across the arena.

Roan fell to his knees, his eyes staring blindly, the whites now bright red. His hands jerked up to rub at them, but he stopped himself. The liniment… I felt a pang of guilt, remembering how my nanny's used to make my eyes water when she rubbed it on my chest. That burn, it must have multiplied a million times over in his eyes. My own watered in sympathy as the crowd jeered.

"Weak bloody human!" one shouted. "Get off the field!"

"Is he crying?" a man chortled. "Must've wet his britches, facing down a real pack."

Roan was annoying. Roan smirked and directed me to wash in a watering hole with little interest in my comfort. Roan let Arik lead our party closer and closer to the Kheanian capital where the king awaited me.

But he also smiled at me with all the brightness of the sun, and when the sunlight hit his hair, it turned as scarlet as autumn leaves. He'd thrown himself into the watering hole without thought, lopping off the catamount's head and afterwards he'd hugged me close until I stopped shivering.

"What the hell is going on?" Fern asked. "Did someone throw sand in the human's eyes?"

"Liniment…"

I turned to face her slowly, regret in my eyes. She took in my pained expression, her own quickly mirroring mine.

"Oh gods, no…" But anything we or anyone else might have to say was cut off as Marian rushed past, a leather satchel thumping on her hip. "Marian will help them," Fern assured me. "She has to."

"Of course." I forced myself to smile. "She'll know what to do."

But if I felt that with any kind of confidence, why did I watch her progress across the arena floor with such interest? Wolf shifters pulled away from the healer, not daring to even ruffle the dust around her as she strode towards Roan and then cradled his head in her hands as she inspected him.

Did she feel the strong planes of his face as she did? Did she note the full curve of his mouth, seeing it was now thinned down to a hard line? I wasn't sure, but I watched her apply some kind of eye drops to the man as Wren quizzed him.

"The elder will ask if they want to pull out," Fern explained with an apologetic smile. "They don't have to go through this…"

But they did, for my sake, that went unspoken, and what had started as a malicious prank became something far worse. I wanted them to hurt with every breath in my body, and yet when I was faced with an actual example of that, my resolve faltered. I didn't want the big idiot's eyes to burn in their very sockets. The universe seemed to sense that shift towards altruism, allowing me to see Roan's rapid recovery, only for Silas to become its next target.

He was there on the outskirts, a tiny figure amongst all this mayhem.

"What the hell is Silas doing?" I whispered.

"What, Roan?" Fern followed my gaze. "Oh gods, no. You bloody idiot. A pack's strength comes from sticking together, not wandering off to… What the hell is Silas doing?"

But I knew.

Silas' eyes were just as sharp as his knives, and he moved quickly, dropping his body low to provide as small a target as possible.

But he still was one.

Thankfully the packs around him were preoccupied with finding their flags, not him, but it soon became clear that would not help Silas. He was searching for the same thing. His feet seemed to skim over the earth. It wasn't that he was faster than the wolf shifters, but that his focus was different. The man searched in an entirely unique way.

"Cunning bastard…" Fern's voice jerked my attention back to her.

"What?" My tone was too sharp, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. "What, Fern?"

"He's looking for the other flags."

"Why would he do that?"

This whole thing was confusing. Saffron and Hazel had explained the melee to me when I was handed a piece of fabric to rub over my body but watching it rather than hearing about it didn't help it make any more sense.

"They should find their own flag and then fight the others for dominance," she explained, her lips twitching, then her eyes widened. My focus was jerked back to the grounds. "Oh gods…"

"What?" I moved closer, following her line of sight and catching the moment when he dropped down and started to scoop dirt away, unearthing three flags. "Oh."

Were they buried like this for a reason? Because three packs were all stampeding towards Silas now, the scent in their noses. Other packs stepped in their way, posturing, and even scuffling a little, but once it was ascertained these approaching packs didn't have their flags, the obstacles moved on. But Silas…

"Get up," I hissed under my breath, but even that caught Fern's attention. "Get up, Silas."

But he was too busy checking if there were any other flags buried there. Apparently, the organisers of this event buried them together to force conflict, ensuring that they'd fight it out to take possession of what was theirs, though I was willing to bet they hadn't anticipated a single human going rogue to dig them all up himself.

And there was a reason why no one else would do this.

He was out there, with no weapons, no shifter strength to protect him. His back was unprotected, and he didn't even seem to notice the hulking shifters that were approaching. Some shook their heads, taking this strange form that was half man, half beast, which no doubt would have all the strength and cunning of both.

"Get up!"

I was irrationally furious he wasn't listening to me again, even though distance and a crowd full of screaming people made that impossible. That didn't stop me from scanning the arena, noting the closing gap between the three packs. My heart crept upwards with every second that passed, lodging firmly in my throat.

It should've stopped the shout that erupted out of me.

"Silas!"

It felt like my voice rang out across the entire arena, as if the whole world stood still to listen to my cry. But it didn't. The packs kept stampeding towards him, right as his head jerked up, his eyes meeting mine and for just a second there was no guile, no calculation in his gaze. It locked with mine, as a wild grin spread across his face.

Why did that feel like this was the first and last time I'd see it? Why did my heart ache at the thought of that? I couldn't spend the time investigating that because as a thin wail built in my chest, he dropped down and with a practised slide, jerked himself out of the path of the wolf shifters as they leapt towards him.

Only for all three packs to collide.

"Gods' balls!" Fern shouted.

I watched each wolf shifter land in a messy, snarling tangle, the roar from the crowd deafening. They were here for a show, and Silas had just given it to them. He didn't pause to soak in the moment, bolting for the periphery of the arena. Other shifters ignored him because he didn't have their flag, but so did his brothers in arms. Everyone was still clustered around Roan while he started to wave his arms around wildly. The shifters that had slammed into each other were snarling amongst themselves, some primitive instinct forcing them to attack each other.

Right up until the point they redirected their attention towards their true target.

"Move…" I growled, my hands going to fists. It felt like I was the one on the edge of the arena, standing there unprotected. Damn him for making me feel like this. Alone, vulnerable, and facing impending doom with my breath caught in my chest. I couldn't help but feel it as I stared at the arena.

Being beset on all sides by threats that were far stronger, far faster, far more dangerous than you would ever be. Knowing you had to do something and just as aware you were going to fail. And when you did, you'd be in a world of pain.

"Damn you, Silas…" I muttered, my throat struggling to get the words out. "Move. Get out of the bloody way." The crowd's cries sounded like the baying of a pack of hunting hounds. They scented blood and would not be denied. "Silas, you need to…"

I watched Arik and the rest of the pack finally turn around and see Silas standing all on his own.

"Move!"

I wasn't a passive spectator any more but a general off the field as she watched her troops fight, because as I gave the order, each one of them did exactly as I said.