Phaeron lifted his head to the door, his lips curled in a smile. “Perfect,” he purred. “The cavalry has arrived. This should be fun.”

He spun about and made his way back up the dais to his throne. He was waiting there when Mihai, Pyt, and their warriors broke through the doors.

“Now,” Phaeron ordered calmly.

Aaron stepped forward and put his knife to Sean’s throat.

Mihai paused, putting his hands out to stop the rest of the invaders, too. “You’re outnumbered,” Mihai said mildly, his voice carrying across the room. “Surrender now, and no one gets hurt.”

“I challenge you to single combat,” Aaron countered. “Fight me, and no one but one of us gets hurt.”

“This will be really fun,” Phaeron hissed from his dais, too gleeful.

Sean watched as Mihai considered the offer. “Don’t do it,” he called out, his words ending on a gurgle as Aaron’s knife dug a little deeper, drawing a tiny drop of blood from Sean’s throat.

But he knew Mihai would. It was the best way to minimize bloodshed, and it would keep everyone’s wolves safe.

All except Sean’s wolf.

“I can’t say no,” Mihai whispered. “Not if there’s the barest chance it can save you.”

Aaron snickered, and passed Sean off to an alpha warlock that gave him the creeps. Lukas. The man had been hiding in the shadows this entire time, sometimes cowering with Phaeron, sometimes looking at Sean with too much interest.

Not that it mattered now. Sean watched in silent agony as Mihai and Aaron squared off in the center of the room, Aaron towering over Mihai.

And that was before he shifted into a huge wolf, his chest the size of a barrel. Sean covered his mouth in shock at the beast that stepped out from Aaron’s place.

He was enormous. And Mihai looked so small, because he hadn’t shifted yet.

Sean could see how Mihai's sister Nathalie had been defeated by the bigger wolf. Mihai had an air of innocence about him, but Aaron had an air of danger. Where Mihai exuded quiet confidence, Aaron seeped arrogance that could be mistaken for confidence.

But Mihai needed arrogance to survive this fight. Because Aaron looked ready to tear him apart.

***

“WE'LL FINISH THIS, once and for all, you worthless piece of shit,” Mihai snarled at the imposing beta before him.

Mihai knew that none of them had heard the sound coming out of Aaron before. It was the closest thing to hysterical laughter that he had ever heard from a wolf.

It wasn't a nice sound.

And the beta wolf broadcast his thoughts to the entire pack and beyond, to everyone in the room, wolf and human alike—an ability even few alphas had.

Fine then, if you have a death wish, Aaron said. Shouldn't be surprising, given how pathetic you are.

Mihai tensed up, ready to leap at the slightest movement from Aaron.

“Mihai,” Sean started, panic in his voice.

“I love you, Sean,” Mihai told him. “I fell in love with you the moment we met.”

Sean seemed shocked at that.

And then Mihai shifted into his wolf form, flowing into it easily.

Aaron growled and circled him. Mihai stood his ground, tensing up his muscles, waiting for it. Aaron was the bigger and stronger animal, but it meant that he would also be slower than Mihai. This time, Mihai would use that against his opponent.

Mihai had more to lose.

Aaron chose that moment to attack.

Mihai caught the bigger wolf in his run, pushing him up with both of his front paws to expose the large gray wolf's tender belly. Aaron snarled, but when Mihai's teeth connected with soft tissue, he yelped loudly. He rammed his head into Mihai's, momentarily knocking them both senseless.

They broke their fighter’s embrace, Mihai nursing an instant headache while Aaron was wincing with every step. Except he was faking most of it.

Aaron launched at the smaller wolf again, biting the fur at the scruff of his neck. Mihai growled and fell to the floor in a roll in an attempt to knock his former beta off. They rolled around the floor for a few minutes, both trading hits and bites.

And just when it seemed like Mihai was going to lose, he managed to grab Aaron by the throat and throttled him with a loud growl.

You worthless runt, Aaron told him.

Aaron faked as if he were going to try to throw him over his head. Mihai steeled himself against it, but that put his face at an awkward angle and with one paw, Aaron scratched his right eye.

Mihai reeled from the shock and the pain and slackened his grip.

Aaron then rammed the back of his head into Mihai's face and threw the other younger wolf off of him.

Mihai landed in a heap, stars dashing across his vision. Don't lose consciousness, he told himself. Don't pass out. He couldn't see out of his eye, but he could feel that he was bleeding all around it. It hurt too much for him assess if his actual eyeball was in pieces. He drew a shaky breath into lungs that were screaming for air.

Sean screamed his name.

Painfully, he got to his feet and looked around the throne room. There were howls of disapproval from both sides.

Aaron and Sean were gone.