The black wolf took yet another step forward. His female released yet another chilling growl—warning number two. His inner wolf growled, backing her up, agitated at the sight of his female being provoked this way. And it was an attempt to provoke her. The black wolf hadn’t laid down a gauntlet, but she was testing the dark-gray female.

He stroked his female’s flank. “Roni, shift back.”

Instead, she delivered a warning growl as the black wolf stupidly advanced another step into the clearing—warning number three.

“Roni, come back to me.”

The black wolf took a threatening step forward, flattening her ears and snapping her teeth . . . and apparently the dark-gray female had had enough of this shit. She lunged.

The black wolf sprang from her position, and their bodies crashed hard. There was growling, snarling, yowling, and yelping as they each fought furiously to make the other submit, biting, clawing, body slamming, side swiping. The scent of blood and rage filled the air, further inciting the animals. It was vicious, it was brutal . . . and there wasn’t a damn thing Marcus could do about it.

He had no option but to stand there, hands balled into fists, and watch as his female was attacked. His protective instincts demanded that he intervene, but he knew that he couldn’t. Even his wolf, equally protective though he was, understood that there was no interfering in a situation like this—their female had been insulted, and she was justly responding to it.

As such, all Marcus could offer was his support. So he nodded in approval as the dark-gray female took a swipe at her opponent, brutally tearing a strip into her shoulder. In retaliation, the black wolf bit down hard on her ear. Marcus winced while his inner wolf growled in anger, nervously pacing. But then the dark-gray female slashed at her opponent’s muzzle, making her yelp and bound away as blood sprayed onto the ground. “That’s it. Good girl.”

Gazes locked, the two wolves began to circle each other, their upper lips peeled back as growls trickled from their throats. Powerful vibes clogged the air as each shifter made her level of dominance clear. It was perfectly obvious that the black wolf was outmatched in power, dominance, speed, and strength.

But the dumb bitch didn’t back down.

Instead, the black wolf snapped her teeth tauntingly. Growling, his female barreled into her hard enough to send her crashing into the ground and rolling onto her side. Smartly, although rather inconveniently, the black wolf righted herself fast. She then bounded at his female, and they again leaped at each other.

The two growled, clawed, and slashed at each other’s bodies as they each attempted to take the other down. Twice the black wolf managed to wrap her paws around his female’s neck in an effort to wrestle her to the ground, but twice she failed—the dark-gray wolf was simply too strong for her to dominate.

But the bitch still didn’t back down.

Even though she was beginning to tire—her sides were heaving, she was panting hard, and her knees kept buckling—the black wolf refused to submit.

Suddenly, Eli came rushing out of the trees and skidded to a halt. “Fuck!” As Derren and the enforcers came up behind him, they all cursed at the sight of the females battling.

Bracken shrugged. “It was only a matter of time. She’s been baiting Roni since she first got here.”

“Eliza!” shouted Jesse. “Eliza, stop!” The black wolf paid him no attention. “Eliza, stop before she kills you!”

“Not working,” Zander unnecessarily pointed out.

“I’ll have to shift,” said Derren. “I can pull rank, make them stop.”

“No need.” Marcus had quickly come to realize something—fierce though his female was fighting right now, she wasn’t using her full strength. “Roni, stop playing with her!”

“Playing with her?” echoed Jesse.

“He’s right.” Eli folded his arms. “She’s just teaching Eliza a lesson.”

“Roni, playtime’s over!” When she still didn’t stop, Marcus called out, “End it, or rip her throat out! One or the other!”

The dark-gray female rushed at her opponent, wrapped her forepaws around her challenger’s neck, and wrestled her to the ground. Straddling the black wolf, his female pinned her flat on her back by pressing her paws down onto her shoulders. At the same time, she clamped her jaws warningly around her throat. The black wolf froze, knowing it would take just one abrupt yank for the other female to rip her throat out.

“Submit, Eliza,” ordered Jesse. Instead, she growled.

The dark-gray wolf shook her by the throat—a demand for her submission, a warning of what would happen if she didn’t.

“For God’s sake, Eliza, submit!”

Seconds later, the black wolf went lax. The other female gave her throat one last warning shake before releasing her. With her eyes still fixed on her challenger, the dark-gray wolf slowly backed off.

It was as the black wolf dragged herself from the ground, chest heaving, that Nick appeared. “What happened?”

“The short version is that Eliza’s wolf stupidly tested Roni’s wolf,” replied Marcus. “As you can see, that didn’t work out so well for her.”

With a haughty sniff at the black wolf, the dark-gray wolf turned to leave.

“Roni, wait,” said Nick. Her head ever so slowly swiveled to face him, and human eyes drilled into Nick, glittering in anger. He raised his hands at her growl. “I get it. You’re still pissed.” The other males received the same growl, making them back away.

The female turned her head again, this time to find Marcus. Her eyes briefly flashed human, and he saw the invitation there. Kind of smug that she was allowing him close while snubbing the other males, he followed her as she walked through the woods, heading for her lodge.

Once inside, Marcus went in search of the bathroom and found it at the rear of the small building. Sadly, there was no chance they could both fit into that shower stall, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t help clean her off. As her scent swirled around him, he turned to find Roni back in her human form. She was covered in scratches, bruises, patches of dirt, and streaks of blood. A big clump of blood was in her hair beside her ear—it made him recall Eliza delivering a harsh bite to it. “Hey, gorgeous. How are you feeling?”

“Like shit.”

That was Roni—frank as they came. He turned on the shower and then helped her step inside the stall. She hissed through her teeth as the hot water rained over her wounds. His entire body hardened at the sight of hers, but his concern for her outweighed his desire to take her. Squirting some shampoo into his hand, he gently massaged it into her hair.