The Alpha's Choice (42 page)

She pressed a kiss to the young man's
forehead and whispered, "Hang on, River. Help is here. Hang
on."

Kat nodded to Dakota, he was in charge, and
winked her reassurance to Ranger and Meadow now reduced to
whimpering in the corner. She then walked calmly past Stephanie's
gun and out into the night.

Chapter 41

The yard, a large roughly circular patch of
hard dirt surrounded by various pieces of rusted equipment, was
filled with wolvers, both man and beast. Kat's eyes sought Charles
and found him in the open center of a ring of spectators as if this
was a sporting event.

The cleared patch of earth was filled with
wolvers and the animosity between the members of the pack and the
rogues was clearly evident. Snarls, snapping jaws and shouted oaths
abounded. Ryker and Alex wove their way through the throng to
settle and sometimes threaten the members of their pack when their
goading grew out of hand.

"Katarina," Charles called to her with a
question in is voice.

"I'm fine." Kat wasn't sure if that was true
or not, but she had to believe that River's wounding was not
intentional and from the looks of things, Charles had more
desperate worries.

"But your boy's not. River's dying in there."
Stephanie stuck the barrel of the gun into Kat's neck. "Ryker,
she'll be dead before I hit the ground."

Ryker who'd been wending his way across the
yard toward them, now moved away, far enough to be perceived as no
threat.

"She's not lying, Alpha," Rawley called from
the door. "Cubs are okay, but River's bad."

"I challenge for the Pack," a voice
boomed.

Stephanie sighed and muttered, "I swear it's
like living with the Beverly Hillbillies." Louder, she called to
the man a few feet away, "Call him off, Leon. Don't waste a man.
Let the Alpha attend to his boy. Please," she added belatedly and
then she smiled and winked as if sharing a secret. "You won't be
sorry."

Icy fingers crawled up Kat's spine at the
shrewd look that passed over his face while he assessed Stephanie's
request. "Withdraw, Bear. Let the man through."

"Thank you," Kat whispered, all too aware
there was an ulterior motive behind Stephanie's request that had
nothing to do with saving River.

When Bear withdrew, Kat understood what was
going on. Stephanie had known Charles for a long time. She knew
what kind of man he was and the choices he would make. This was
part of the plan Jo had spoken of before; use up the Alpha's magic,
wear him out with challenges and let the final victory go to the
chosen replacement.

Beating River had been part of the woman's
plan as had Kat's death. Shooting the boy hadn't been intentional
but it was a practical replacement for Leon's refusal to kill the
Mate. Hadn't Stephanie all but said that Leon as Alpha wasn't part
of her plan?

"No," Stephanie laughed unkindly, "Thank you
or thank River for giving me just what I wanted without sacrificing
another pawn." The gun pressed more firmly into the soft flesh of
Kat's neck.

Charles walked past the few wolvers who
weren't his own. He glanced at Kat, no more than that. Just a
glance and yet she could feel his confidence and hear him in her
head telling her it would be all right.

"I know it will," she sent out to him and
felt the link between them close behind her words.

She felt his power, though, as it rolled out
from the bunker's door and the light that followed sent a ripple of
comment through Leon's wolvers.

"What the fuck is that?"

"He's a healer, stupid."

"Ain't no such thing."

"Must have a lot of the mojo."

There were murmurs among the Wolf's Head,
too.

"He should have left it 'till after the
fight."

"The challenge should have come first."

"He knows how much magic he loses every time
he heals. He won't have enough left." This last was said by Tanner
whose own life was owed to Charles' magic.

Kat wanted to scream, "He's your Alpha! Have
faith!" but their words were said and there was no calling them
back.

Long minutes passed and the light never
wavered. River's wounds must have been severe. Wonder grew into
impatience as the crowd became restless. Finally the light faded
and the power receded. Charles emerged. His shoulders were slumped
and he stumbled as he walked through the surrounding wolvers to the
center of the makeshift ring.

Ryker shook his head as if their cause was
lost.

"Damn, that healing shit has taken a lot out
of him," he said to no one in particular and his words hurt her
more than the others. From Ryker she'd expected loyalty.

Kat tried to open her link to Charles to tell
him that she, at least, still believed, but the connection was
closed and she understood. He'd need all his magic for the fight to
come.

"Poor Charles looks exhausted. How tragic,"
Stephanie said, though she sounded gleeful and not like it was a
tragedy at all. "Save the boy and lose the pack. That's Charles'
leadership for you."

"He hasn't lost yet," Kat said through
gritted teeth.

"Aw, how sweet. Faithful to our Alpha to the
bitter end."

"Not your Alpha. Mine"

"I challenge for Alpha," Leon shouted to the
crowd and strode to the center of the circle.

"He'll be no one's Alpha when this is over,"
Stephanie said triumphantly "And it's all over but the final
blow."

Kat felt the woman's body tense with
anticipation and felt her own antipathy rise. She had never hated
anyone as much as she did this woman right at that moment in
time.

The two men squared off, facing each other
about twenty feet apart. They raised their arms and the whole yard
was filled with light as all men were sent over the moon to their
wolves. They snarled and snapped and Kat surveyed them all,
separating foe from friend, though friend was a term she was now
hesitant to use.

There couldn't be more than a dozen of the
rogues, but every one of them, no matter their size, looked like
they fought for a living and fought hard. If it came to a battle,
there would be bloodshed.

Charles and Leon raised their arms again and
in another burst of light their wolf forms appeared. Charles rose
on unsteady legs. His tail was up and curled over his back a sign
of his dominance but his head hung a little lower than normal, not
quite so proud.

His opponent stood tall, broader of chest and
heavier in body. He was massive compared to the sleekness of
Charles. Leon knew it too. He almost pranced as he walked.

The two wolvers snarled and shook their
heads, mouths open to display their teeth, one's white and sharp,
the other's yellowed and deadly. Warily they took each other's
measure, the golden and the brown. If the outcome was based on
beauty Charles' wolf would win hands down, but in this clash of
tooth and claw and strength, Leon looked the better formed.

They circled, snarled again and then with a
roar leapt at each other. The course of their surge took them
higher than a man's head and had they collided chest to chest as
the rogue wolf intended, sheer weight and size would have brought
Charles down.

But as their fur touched, Charles' body
turned, seemingly unable to keep up his momentum and make the
height of the great brown wolf. Seeking to right his ungainly fall
Charles scrambled with his legs and raked the larger wolf's
underbelly with the claws of his flailing hind legs. Somehow his
body completed its midair roll and Charles landed on his feet. His
legs collapsed like springs and he remained upright, though clearly
shaken.

Without Charles' body to absorb the impact
and slow him down, Leon sailed past his intended target and landed
heavily. He tumbled, righted himself, and skid to a stop. Blood
dripped from his underside.

Both sides roared their support, short howls
of approval and yips of canine applause, but Leon's angry snarl
soared out over the rest. He whirled to face Charles who stood
panting with his head hanging down. Leon gave him no time to recoup
his strength or power. He leapt, covering half the ground between
them, snarled triumphantly and charged across the remaining yards.
He meant to broadside Charles to drive him to the ground. Without
his feet beneath him, Charles would lose his maneuverability and
thus his ability to avoid Leon's razor sharp teeth.

The broadside only partially worked. Fangs
grazed Charles' back. He was hit, but once again shifted his
position and his hip took the blow rather than his more vulnerable
ribs. It spun him counter clockwise which brought his jaws in
direct contact with Leon's flank. In an immediate response, Charles
tore a chunk of flesh from the back of Leon's leg.

Leon howled, whirled back, his body twisting
into impossible angles and snapped at air. Charles was no longer
there.

He'd spun away and stood head down and
panting, awaiting Leon's next move. Kat began to suspect that all
was not what it seemed. She held her breath.

Twice more the two wolves clashed and each
time the brown wolf was out maneuvered and was left with another
bleeding laceration. Charles had not completely escaped the
punishing blows of the rogue and one hind leg was bleeding
badly.

The wounded Leon was limping now, but his
anger fueled his strength and he charged again. There was a surge
of power in the air that raised the hair on the back of Kat's neck.
Charles head snapped up, his green eyes glowed in the reflection of
the surrounding lights and his body seemed to expand.

He leapt to meet Leon's charge and the fight
was on. The two joined with a clash of tooth and claw. They tumbled
together, a twining of gold and brown. They rolled, snarling and
snapping, across the open area scattering the wolves who formed the
ring around them. Blood joined the swirl of gold and brown,
spattering across the dirt along with the saliva of never closing
jaws.

The two broke apart, came together and broke
apart again. Both wolver's muzzles were smeared with blood. They
circled, but now it was Leon whose step faltered. His breathing was
labored. One eye was filled with blood.

Kat held her breath and forced herself to
watch. She was the Mate and owed it to her Alpha. She wanted to
look away, to refuse to witness the slaughter that was about to
occur. She no longer feared for Charles' survival only the scars
this might leave on his soul. He was the Alpha, but not a killer
and she knew in her heart he would avoid this if he could and his
next few moments proved it.

Leon lunged one last time. Charles dove
beneath the brown body and rose with a powerful thrust that sent
his opponent sailing behind him to land on his back. With lightning
speed, Charles turned and pinned the massive wolf's neck to the
ground in a lethal hold.

The surrounding wolves hushed as they waited
for the jaws to close over the bloodied throat and end the
challenge, but the jaws didn't close. His point of victory made,
Charles pulled his head back and stared at the brown wolf. Leon
turned his head to the side with a submissive whine, admitting his
defeat.

"Coward," Stephanie whispered behind her and
Kat knew the comment was for Charles and not for the defeated
wolf.

Charles turned and walked away. It was Kat's
scream and the roar of the surrounding wolves that made him turn as
Leon rolled to his feet and sprang for Charles' back sinking his
fangs into the golden ruff that surrounded Charles' neck.

This time there was no mercy. Charles leapt
with wolf on his back, twisted in midair and landed on his back
with Leon crushed beneath him. Jarred free of the larger wolf's
grasp he plunged his muzzle into Leon's throat. His jaws clamped
shut. The rogue wolf thrashed once and lay still.

The yard erupted as, having no regard for
Pack Law, Leon's wolvers attacked. Kat saw Ryker charge at the
giant called Bear. Hyatt and Rawley leapt from the porch in tandem
and cornered a wolf that was trying to slink of into the woods. For
a few minutes pandemonium reigned. The rogues were fierce, but
outnumbered and the battle was short lived though as Kat had
predicted, bloody. Her heart swelled with pride for her Wolf's Head
Pack.

The battle however, wasn't over. There was
one more wolver to be dealt with.

Charles ignored the chaos around him and
stalked toward Stephanie who had not released her hold on his
Mate.

"Challenge him, Alex! Challenge him now!" she
screamed at the grey wolf watching from a few feet away. "You
should be the Alpha. You want it! You know you do! Fight for it!
Challenge him!"

Alex lowered his head, flattened his ears and
tensed the muscles of his impressive wolf's body. He snarled,
showing a row of razor sharp teeth, not at Charles but at Stephanie
and braced his body to attack.

Stephanie's game was over.

Charles flashed to human and Kat cried out at
the wounds that were revealed by his human flesh. A deep gash ran
across his abdomen and blood ran down over his shoulder from the
wound in his neck. His jeans were torn at the thigh and a dark
stain spread over the denim.

Stephanie released her arm from Kat's throat
and Kat thinking the drama was finally over, took a step
forward.

"Oh Charles," she breathed and felt
Stephanie's arm rise beside her.

Charles shouted and raised his hand.

Kat grabbed for the gun now pointed at
Charles.

Light flashed as Alex leapt, knocking Kat
away as he bore down on Stephanie, now transformed to her wolf. Her
gun lay useless at Kat's feet.

The sleek black she-wolf screamed and
scrambled from beneath Alex's gray one and tore off for the trees.
With a nod from Charles, the gray took off after her.

Charles wavered. His knee buckled as he took
another step toward Kat, but she was there to catch him and he
righted himself and looked around at his pack.