“Why is that?”
“Because I will defeat you. I will enjoy it. And I will crush your pride, which has already taken a beating this morning.”
His smirk widened. “Take your best shot, little Seer.” He took on a fighting stance, his eyes twinkling with excitement.
Fighting to keep his prowling wolf from surfacing, Derren went to stand by Shaya, asking, “You’re not going to stop this?”
She looked as anxious as him. “If I interfere, it would be the same as saying I don’t trust her to protect herself. Things are tough enough for her here as it is. She’d be respected more for rising to the challenge and losing than she would be for backing down.”
He knew Shaya was right, knew that any interference would only serve to undermine Ally and piss her off. Even his wolf understood that, though he was too angry to settle down.
Derren watched as Ally kicked off her shoes and stood still, alert, her eyes glued to Jesse. Then the enforcer moved, his fist flying toward Ally’s jaw as he went for a knockout punch. The move was fast and hard . . . but Ally sidestepped him, twisted her upper body, and stabbed her claws into his side. There were no fancy, practiced moves with Ally. Every punch was dirty and pitiless, and Derren saw Cain’s influence in each one. She didn’t claw at Jesse as he aimed blow after blow at her; she used her claws like they were knives—slicing, stabbing, and carving without mercy.
A bleeding Jesse repeatedly came at her with uppercuts and impressive kicks, but she evaded most of them . . . letting Jesse tire himself out, become weaker with lethargy and blood loss.
Derren was impressed. His wolf? Not so much. The animal was livid with Jesse, which worsened when the male delivered a hard kick to her ribs. It was—
“Holy Mother of all that’s blue, how the fuck did she do that?” exclaimed Bracken.
Derren had no idea, but she’d just done it again. He wouldn’t have thought it was possible if he hadn’t seen it for himself. In the matter of a single second, Ally had shifted into her wolf form, bit deep into Jesse’s shoulder, and then shifted back into her human form just as quickly. It had happened so damn fast that it hadn’t affected her clothing other than to slightly tear her T-shirt and shorts.
In between stabbing and striking Jesse, she repeatedly switched forms for just a fleeting moment, enabling her to use her wolf’s strength, speed, and fangs. It was so shocking and distracting that it caused Jesse to make mistakes. That, together with her brutal hits and sharp reflexes, was enough to earn her dominance within the fight.
It was only a matter of time before Jesse was pinned to the ground by a white wolf, jaws clamped around his shoulder. A second later, it was Ally leaning over Jesse. “You should have listened to me,” she told him as she rose to her feet.
Jesse seemed to be in too much shock to feel a dent in his already wounded pride. “How can you do that?”
“Cain said he taught you combat,” said Derren as everyone gathered closer to her, “but he can’t switch from form to form like that.” It should not be possible. Her animal shouldn’t have been prepared to pull back repeatedly from a battle like that. The wolf should have fought Ally for supremacy, wanting to deal with the challenge and danger herself. Instead, she’d worked so in sync with Ally that she shifted forms like water.
“It works because my wolf and I are completely at peace,” explained Ally. “We trust one another. We’re a team.”
“And your wolf respects that, and she feels respected enough to pull back when you want her to because she knows you won’t cut her out of a fight,” deduced Zander, to which Ally nodded.
Eli puffed out a long breath, looking impressed. “Nick’s in tune with his wolf, but not to that extent.”
“I didn’t think it was possible.” Shaya smiled at Ally. “Roni would have loved to watch that.”
Hearing Jesse wince slightly, Ally felt bad. “I’ll heal you.”
He shook his head. “No, I deserved that. I was arrogant, and I taunted you. But thanks for the offer. You fought well.” The other enforcers nodded in agreement.
As their respect slid over her skin like lotion, she smiled inwardly. “If you change your mind, Jesse, I’ll be at my lodge.” She turned to face Shaya . . . only to find her way obstructed by a powerful, solid, and way-too-alluring body.
Noticing the blood in her hair, Derren said, “You must have a bad cut on your head. Let me see.”
She stepped back. “It’s fine.”
“Let me see,” Derren insisted without raising his voice. “I need to check the injury. I won’t touch your skin.” No matter how badly he wanted to know how it would feel under his hands.