CHAPTER TWENTY
Simon watched the scenario with equal parts fascination and horror—like a train that was coming full-force, beautiful but with a deadly speed, and you knew you couldn’t stop it no matter how you tried. This was certainly not something he’d expected when he woke up today, much less when they were just minutes away from leaving.
Dylan and Isabella were standing in front of Isaac. It was a sight that would have merited no second glance, if not for something different this time.
They were standing with their hands held.
Simon spared a glance at Robin, who looked just as horrified as him. She glanced at Isaac, then at the new couple, then back at Simon. Her hand shot out and clutched at his elbow.
“Maybe we should make a run for it before Hart kills us, too,” she muttered sorrowfully.
Simon shook his head. “Dylan will handle this.”
Whatever this was.
His sensitive ears picked up the words Dylan said in a low tone to Isaac, while his eyes watched Isaac for any change in reaction at all. It was obvious he’d already seen the hand holding and was displeased, even when their hands broke apart in the middle of Dylan’s speech. The speech itself held Simon’s attention, his eyes widening as he took in the words of his clan leader—or rather, the leader of the whole shifter community in general.
Holy shit.
“Oh, boy,” Robin said out loud, then clamped her mouth shut as she realized she’d spoken it out. So the witch was using her magic to listen, too. Simon tugged her in warning, and she flicked his arm in return.
Isaac’s face was a master of neutrality now, the displeased look gone. When Dylan finally finished, Isabella spoke out too, and told her brother that she was going with Dylan but would return to check up on the children they weren’t going to take with them.
And that was the exact moment Isaac’s face transformed.
“Battle to death,” Isaac growled, teeth growing and claws sharpening. “Now.”
Holy shit.
Simon was already there jogging forward, joining the group even when he wasn’t part of the conversation. He heard hissing behind him, then Robin calling out his name, but he ignored her. A few seconds later, he heard her cursing under her breath and following him. He kept ignoring her.
He had a leader to defend.
*****
Isabella turned as Simon was suddenly there, standing beside Dylan and looking like he was ready to defend and conquer. Robin stood beside him, her expression more reluctant than determined, but her hand sparking with her magic.
Oh, no. No kids. Isabella’s eyebrows rose at their stance that indicated they would be loyal to their leader until the very end—then she stepped forward, too, essentially blocking any attack Isaac would do.
Isaac snarled.
Isabella rolled her eyes, not necessarily scared of him. This was how her older brother dealt with his temper—by snarling it out and showing he was Alpha, as he was doing so now.
“Isabella…”
“I’m old enough to make this decision,” she told him firmly.
“And I think I’m old enough to defend myself,” Dylan said, bemused.
Isabella shot him a look, then turned back to her brother and placed a palm on his chest. “Isaac, I don’t want a battle. He didn’t betray anyone.”
“He betrayed my trust,” Isaac shot back.
“You still have my full support in all your endeavors,” Dylan promised, his tone now full of that brightness that he used to charm whoever he talked to. This time, Isabella glared at him. His dratted charm wasn’t helping at the moment. “I will not break your trust until you deem yourself untrustworthy.”
A muscle in Isaac’s jaw ticked. Isabella growled.
“Dylan…”
“Battle. Now,” Isaac repeated.
This was a mess. Her eyes met Robin’s, who had snuck forward too in little steps and was looking at her pointedly. Her hands were now full of sparks, and Isabella watched as she slowly let them flow to the floor, where they slithered and formed words.
Battle. Trust me.
Her eyes widened. They were gone when she blinked, and when she looked back up, she saw that the others were too busy staring each other off to notice it. So Isabella took the risk.
“Fine. Battle it is,” she announced.
Needless to say, it was enough to break them from their stare-off.
“The winner gets to do their wishes. And if no one wins, then my wishes are done.”
Isaac’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t protest. She glanced at Dylan, who was now nodding his head gravely.
“Let’s do it.”
*****
Robin was brilliant, and Isabella repeated her praise as they watched the ongoing battle happening in the clearing, with no crowd but her and the two teenagers. The witch had done a spell that prevented them from delivering the killing blow—and in doing so, had effectively altered the dynamics of the fight as the two men battled each other in human form and knocked each other out—over and over for hours on end until Simon complained that he was hungry and went off to get some food.
Two hours later—and ten hours of nonstop fighting—they both finally fell to the ground, with multiple injuries on their bodies and a look of weariness on their faces. Munching on a chip, Isabella strode towards them as casually as she could, where she looked down at Isaac with a sweet smile.
“Isaac, I told you already a hundred times before. I’m adult enough to make my own decisions and I’m making this one now. Understand?”
Isaac slumped and nodded, still catching his breath.
She then turned to Dylan. “Still want to be my mate?”
Dylan grinned—a full-blown one that showed off his teeth, made his eyes twinkle and made her heart skip a beat. “Absolutely.”
“You’d better treat her right, Masters,” Isaac warned.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Dylan repeated.
Isabella grinned.
All was right in the world. For now.
THE END