Chapter 551 Everybody Out!

“Good,” Price praised his mate for her determination. “There are no rules to this fight, you can use any old trick you want against her. End result, we win the right to stay here, and put the Alpha and his people to shame while we’re at it.”

Price was well aware that if he had chosen to fight Sebastian directly, he would have had little chance of winning. The man possessed true Supreme Alpha strength, and Price could tell that Sebastian had been seconds away from issuing exactly that challenge himself.

That was precisely why Price had taken the easier route instead, targeting the weaker opponent by pitting his own wife against theirs. He had framed the challenge so that if the little she-wolf refused to fight, she would be branded a coward in front of her own people, backing Silver into a corner they couldn’t easily escape.

And Price had gotten them exactly where he wanted them. His wife wasn’t just any ordinary she-wolf, which was precisely why he’d married her in the first place. She was a true hybrid, born to a lycan father and a werewolf mother, and her strength far surpassed even his own. She was so powerful that Price had sent her to fight on his behalf more than once, even while pregnant, and each time, she had returned victorious.

“Do you want me to kill her?” Elizabeth asked her mate, aggressively ripping into another piece of chicken, and Price laughed.

“No rules, honeycomb. You can, if she doesn’t forfeit or back down first. All I actually want is a piece of this fancy pack for myself. Hurry up and eat, the sun’s going down, and the arena’s already opening up.”

He patted her hair affectionately, and she bared her teeth at him in irritated warning, since she hated being touched while eating, and Price only laughed in amusement, pulling his hand back as he wandered over to the glass wall to look out over the pack soon to be his.

Looking out over the territory he was already certain would belong to him, he felt almost giddy, already mentally picking out which building he’d claim as his own personal quarters, fully convinced, in his own mind, that they’d already won, for that little bitch could never stand up to his wife.

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(Music Recommendation: Fear Not by Efisio Cross.)

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In the building where Viola was surrounded by family and friends helping her get ready, she turned and found her husband still watching her with the dark scowl he’d worn ever since she accepted the challenge. His expression alone told her just how displeased he was with her, even without him saying a word.

The sight made her so anxious that she bit the inside of her cheek before guiltily looking away from his face, knowing he was upset that she’d come outside when he’d specifically told her to stay indoors.

But why should she have to hide inside while everyone else had been outside where all the chaos was happening?

No matter how she looked at it, she belonged out there, not hiding away from the situation. She had never been the kind of person who could comfortably stand by and let others face a problem, and she certainly wasn’t about to start acting like a coward now.

She had her reasons for refusing to hide, even if she understood why Sebastian was upset with her. She just needed to make him understand her point of view, too, and why hiding away wasn’t the right thing to do.

She knew that after losing his sister, Sebastian’s protective instincts had grown even stronger, making him all the more determined to keep her away from danger. But he needed to understand that she wasn’t weak, that she could protect herself and stand her ground when necessary. The responsibility of protecting the pack wasn’t his burden alone to carry.

“I could fight in your place, Vee. You don’t have to do this yourself,” Laila offered as she helped Viola tie her hair back, carefully brushing the melted snow from its strands.

Privately, however, Laila was practically itching for a good fight herself. Her mind had been a whirlwind of thoughts since morning after she left the Doctor, and she would have gladly taken on Elizabeth, a woman known throughout the werewolf world as Elizabeth the Barbarian.

“That wouldn’t count, Laila. If we want them gone, I have to be the one to do it myself. Besides, plenty of other Lunas have found themselves in situations like this before, it shouldn’t be anything new, and I have my wolf now, on top of it.” She reminded them, her eyes drifting to her husband, who, at her words, stepped forward and flicked her forehead, making her wince and rub the spot while glaring at him.

“What was that for?” She pursed her lips.

“Everybody out!” Sebastian barked, sending the whole room scattering, and within moments the couple stood alone.

“You’re being naive if you can’t see what that bastard is really planning. This is a no-rules fight, and it isn’t limited to fighting in wolf form. It’s a shifting fight, which means both forms will have to participate. That’s exactly why Darkbur trains its people to fight in both forms. It’s their style of fighting, and their people look like they live in a gym. When was the last time you went out to train your human form, honey?” Sebastian asked, his tone nowhere near soft.

Had she simply stayed inside like he’d asked, he would have challenged Price himself and ended this already, but instead his wife had put herself forward and complicated everything.

As much as he trusted she wasn’t weak, she was in a fragile condition right now, and he would have far preferred her resting in bed over fighting at all.

Viola flushed at his words, dropping her gaze to her feet, fingers curling tightly at her sides. “I see you don’t have faith in me either. I didn’t want you starting a war, especially with Silver still in mourning. War costs people, I know. I know I haven’t trained properly since the competition last year, but you didn’t have to throw that in my face like that.” She said, her voice carrying a hurt so plain that Sebastian felt an immediate, sharp prick of guilt in his chest for having wounded her, even unintentionally, with his words.

Sebastian’s anger dissolved instantly, flying right out of him, and he reached for her, pulling her into his arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it the way it came out. I just hated that you took on that challenge, and—”

“Do you believe in me, Seb?” She asked calmly, pulling back from his embrace to look up at his torn expression as he dragged a hand through his hair.