The two Illinois wolves didn’t waste any time, going straight for Gunnar’s bad side, although they did eye his diamond coated claws warily. The woman only managed one swipe of her claws before Ashley jumped onto her back, did a cool spinning thing with her legs wrapped around the woman’s neck, and the next thing I knew the poor wolf was sailing across the ring.

But Ashley was running in an instant, chasing down the airborne wolf with inhuman speed. Ashley caught up to her right before the wolf was about to land again, and hammer-fisted the back of her neck so hard that the wolf yelped – once at the blow, and a second time as her face slammed into the mud. Dazed, the wolf tried scrambling to her feet, but Ashley kicked her elbow so hard it hyperextended with a loud pop that almost seemed to echo in the valley.

The wolf howled in agony, clutching her broken arm as she writhed through the mud. Zeus whirled at the sound, his instincts urging him to help his fallen packmate. Or avenge her.

Ashley had been waiting for that look, and with his full attention on her, she blew him a slow, mocking kiss. Then she reached down, grabbed her opponent by the neck fur, and proceeded to drag the wolf through the mud towards the center of the ring.

Zeus didn’t notice Gunnar was now standing directly behind him until it was too late. Gunnar grabbed both of the wolf’s ears and swiftly ripped them off. Zeus roared, jumping away. Gunnar flung the ears into a puddle as if they were trash.

“Sweet Jesu—” Roland abruptly cut off when Callie blindly elbowed him in the ribs. He blushed, but didn’t actually draw his eyes away. “This is unbelievable…” he amended.

I nodded distantly. This wasn’t a fight, this was retribution. For ruining their wedding day.

Carl and Talon acted like a couple of kids with their first video game, bobbing and weaving as they watched the fight, breathing heavily as if trying to mimic the moves in the ring.

Paradise and Lost now sat beside Roland and Callie, watching the fight as if taking notes. Whether as ideas on how to counter Gunnar’s strengths, or to learn new moves for when they got back home to Kansas City, I wasn’t sure. They were pretty new at the werewolf thing, but they had spent a few months training with the Shepherds in the Vatican, and then a few more months training with Roland. Callie had told me they were scrappers in every sense of the word, but formidable. Cunning and quick to learn from their mistakes.

Ashley had her opponent on her back and was slapping her in the muzzle repeatedly. The woman found a sudden boost of strength and kicked up with her feet, tossing Ashley into the air.

Zeus snarled, his ears bloody holes, and slashed out with his claws. Gunnar didn’t lean back far enough, and one of the claws raked his face, but his stone eyepatch took much of the hit. Gunnar didn’t acknowledge the pain, but instead grabbed the offending arm and sliced it clean off at the shoulder. Zeus threw back his head and howled in agony, blood fountaining from the wound as he clutched the other paw over it to staunch the bleeding. He thudded to his knees, whimpering as the flesh tried to regrow – the werewolf gene actually doing more harm than good in this scenario, because if that wound closed, I wasn’t sure if it was possible to reattach the arm. Then again, it seemed the only place Zeus would be visiting today was a morgue.

“Ashley! Need a hand?” Gunnar called out, circling Zeus thoughtfully.

“If you have one to spare,” she growled, climbing back to her feet to glare at her opponent.

Zeus’ arm thumped into a puddle, right beside Ashley. Her opponent went entirely still, and then slowly turned to look at Zeus, who had now fallen onto his face in a puddle of bloody mud.

So, she didn’t see Ashley scoop up the arm and stab her through the kidneys, but her head did drop down to see her Alpha’s claws suddenly poking out of her stomach. Ashley slashed her throat, panting as she let the woman fall.

“You never should have let him come to my wedding.”

Then she stomped over to Zeus, glaring down at him, nothing rational about her movement. Zeus struggled to rise with his one remaining arm. Gunnar let out a rough bark at Ashley. She halted instinctively and took three hurried steps back, ducking her head low, but still panting from the adrenaline. Gunnar had claimed the kill for his own, and Ashley obeyed.

Gunnar squatted down beside Zeus. “Answer me truly…” he said in a very soft voice, but the silence of the crowd let it carry to all of us. Zeus bobbed his head woozily. “Did you challenge me because you really thought you were a better alpha, or were you just looking for a fight?”

Zeus’ head began to loll and Gunnar gripped his snout, lifting it to look into the man’s eyes.

He died of blood loss without giving Gunnar an answer.

Gunnar finally turned away and saw his wife. His lips curled and his ears tucked back at the wounds raking her chest – but his lone eye shone with pride. Both at the outcome of her fight and her ability to do so injured. He placed an arm around her shoulders and turned to face Zeus’ pack.

He cleared his throat. “You are free to go back home. I have no interest in Illinois. But mark my words… If you come back to St. Louis with this type of shit again, you better fucking bring an army. Because once we’re through with you, we will come to Illinois. To burn your homes to the ground. Then we’ll come back home to celebrate.” He let that sink in for a few seconds. “We don’t play games here. None of the petty dominance shit. We don’t do pissing contests. It’s really very simple. I – just – run – this – city. Period. You want to see what a real pack is like, then you need to talk to them,” he said, pointing. Two men I hadn’t met before stepped up obediently. The two couldn’t have looked more different. One was a tall black guy with a flat-top and bushy beard, and the other a scrawny looking white guy with unruly brown hair. “I can’t promise any openings,” Gunnar continued, “but I understand that many of you might just be here out of obedience to Zeus Fletcher. Your choice.”

The wolves shared looks back and forth, but no one spoke.

Gunnar slowly lifted his arms, and his wolves began howling in a low rumble. As Gunnar’s arms stretched higher, so did the pitch and volume, until Gunnar held his hands over his head, staring down the pack with his one icy eye. The howling made the very air vibrate.

“This is my family, and I take care of my family. You have one week to decide.”

And he left the ring with Ashley, walking straight for me.

Alucard was shaking his head. “I’m glad we don’t have to deal with this kind of shit.”

Roland was staring off at nothing, but the comment jolted him from his thoughts. Vampires had to deal with all sorts of cloak and dagger shit. I’d rather have an open, honest fight any day, and it looked like Roland leaned more towards my way of thinking.

Gunnar and Ashley had been… merciless. I couldn’t blame them, not after Zeus tarnished their wedding day. Watching them approach, I noticed their wounds had already begun to stitch closed. They were still open and raw, but not as horrifying to look at as they had been. The four lines across his face from Zeus’ parting shot didn’t look too serious, and probably wouldn’t even leave a scar, but I winced inwardly seeing them up close.

Gunnar halted before me, still in wolf form. The two wolves he had pointed out at the end of his speech trotted over with robes and bottles of water. Very thick, expensive robes. Gunnar and Ashley shifted back to human form, accepted the robes and drinks with murmured thanks, and then sat down, motioning for the two to join them.

I jerked my chin at the other pack, who were now huddled together in a tight mass. “Shouldn’t you make sure they leave town before you head out for your honeymoon?”

Gunnar shook his head, smiling faintly. “Firstly, nothing will hold me back from my honeymoon.” Ashley purred her approval in an entirely inhuman sound. “Secondly, the duel is over. Zeus challenged me on my turf. I won. They have the choice to flee back home and establish a new Alpha among themselves, or stay here and submit to my pack.”

“What about option three?” Paradise asked thoughtfully. Gunnar looked at her and she wilted slightly under his bloody stare. “Where… they wait for you to leave and then attack your pack?” she finished in a hesitant whisper.

Lost was leaning forward, eager to hear the answer.

“Well, that might throw a wrench in the honeymoon,” I said out loud.