ACE’S POV
GAVIN
That piece of shit!
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Tomorrow night was the fight. I had left Charlotte with the promise that I would see her again in three days. She had asked if something was going on, and I lied, telling her I had some serious pack business to handle. There was no way I was telling her that my cousin had challenged me to a fight.
I was at the training ground, sparring with one of my strongest warriors and a good friend, Seth. Sweat covered my body as we circled each other, both of us breathing hard. He rushed at me again, and I blocked his hit, twisting his arm and driving my elbow hard into his side. The impact was sudden. Seth let out a sharp breath and dropped to his knees, clutching his abdomen.
That was when Roman walked in. He was dressed like he was ready to jump into the ring, his sleeves rolled up, but he had his tablet in his hand. His face was too serious.
“Alpha,” he called.
I stepped back from Seth and wiped the sweat off my face, my chest rising as I caught my breath. I walked toward Roman, already knowing whatever he was about to say wasn’t good.
“Gavin sent a message,” he said. “He’s demanding that you don’t use your Alpha powers during the fight. Nothing that gives you an advantage. He wants the fight to be based on physical strength alone.”
He paused. “According to him, your Alpha abilities give you an edge he doesn’t have.”
“What does that even mean?” I hissed. Gavin was always looking for a reason to get under my skin. If not for the elders pushing so hard, I wouldn’t even be involved in his mess. Now he was turning it into his advantage.
“He says the fight has to be man to man. Wolf to wolf. No special abilities.” He flipped through his tablet. “And that’s where my concern is.” He looked up at me. “You’re the strongest and most powerful Alpha I’ve ever known, someone I’ve been privileged to work with. But Gavin?” He exhaled. “Fighting is his life. That’s all he does. His records over the last thirteen years show he’s never lost a single battle.”
He turned the tablet toward me. A video played. There were too many people, bodies pressed together, all struggling to get close to someone in the middle. I couldn’t see any face clearly, but I could feel the violence through the screen.
“This is the most recent video of Gavin, made a few weeks ago,” he said. “He fought an entire pack army in Canada, and he defeated every single one of them. They attacked him first, without any provocation, and he made sure none of them would be able to use their limbs again after that.” He took a sharp breath, his voice dropping lower. “And he did all of it without using his wolf abilities. No shifting. This video went viral among packs across the world. It’s the same video our elders saw before they came to their conclusion, that Gavin is the better match.”
He lifted his eyes to me. “And now, because you’re not yet mated to your Luna, they believe you’ve grown weak. They believe Gavin will win this fight.”
9:00 Wed, Feb 11
Chapter 54
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“That’s impressive, I must say.” I slowly turned my gaze to Roman and Seth, who had joined the conversation without a word. “So,” I raised a brow, “you believe he’s going to beat me?”
Seth shook his head immediately. “No, I don’t believe that, Ace. You’re strong even without your abilities.” He hesitated. “But the truth is, we don’t know the first thing about Gavin. Other than the fact that he’s your brother, he’s been almost nonexistent in the pack since he was young. He disappeared, trained alone, and lived in the shadows.”
“It goes both ways, doesn’t it?” He knows nothing about me either.”
Roman exhaled and nodded once. “He also said he doesn’t want the fight to be held in the Brownleague pack anymore. He wants it at Black Hollow,”
Black Hollow. The land everyone avoided, that place was a dead zone.
It had been abandoned for over a hundred years, ever since the Ashfall Massacre. An entire pack had been wiped out there in one night, men, women, wolves, all of them slaughtered so brutally that the earth itself was said to have turned dark. The elders sealed the land after that. No pack claimed it. No wolf was allowed to live there. They said the ground rejected loyalty, rejected bonds, rejected mercy.
For decades, Black Hollow had only been used for one thing, blood. Illegal fights and Alpha duels. Challenges that were meant to end in death or surrender.
“If he wants the fight at Black Hollow…” Seth said slowly, his voice became tight, “that means it’s not only our pack that’ll be present.”
“Exactly my point,” Roman said. “Three other packs will be there.” His jaw clenched. “One of them is our deadliest enemy, the Legion pack.”
“You know very well that their Alpha wouldn’t see you and walk away,” Roman continued. “Alpha Draven Kael doesn’t hesitate. He wouldn’t even wait for the fight with Gavin before attacking you.”
Seth cursed under his breath. “News has it,” Roman added quietly, “that Draven made a pact with Gavin a year ago.”
“We should expect anything,” Roman said, worry clear in his eyes. “We don’t know what Gavin has up his sleeves. And Black Hollow… that place doesn’t follow rules.”
I stayed silent.
That no man’s land, why in the bloody hell would Gavin choose that place of all places? Of all the grounds, of all the locations he could pick, he chose a place known for death.
It was the middle of the night. I was about to take a shower and get some sleep when my phone buzzed. A message from Gavin. He told me to come outside. It was the same place he fought me a little over six years ago, the night he realized I had put Charlotte in the cage.
I sighed and ignored him, tossing my phone aside. About thirty minutes later, another message came in. I grabbed my jacket and went there anyway.
“It took you an hour before you decided to see me,” he said sarcastically when he saw me. He was alone in the quiet bush, his hands shoved into his pockets.
9:00 Wed, Feb 11
Chapter 54
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“That’s because you’re unimportant,” I said flatly. He was my brother, yes, but these days, I honestly didn’t know who I was looking at anymore.
“Ouch.” He placed a hand against his chest, faking pain. “You wound me.”
“Why did you call me out here?” I asked sharply. “I was about to sleep when you texted.”
“You have no idea what you’re walking into tomorrow and you want to sleep?” His eyes lost that annoying playful look and turned serious. “You think because you’re the Alpha of Alphas, with a reputation that supersedes you, you’ll win easily,” he said, crossing his arms. “I already sent a message to your beta.”
“If you already talked to my beta, why did you call me out here…?”
“Because I wanted to see my little brother’s face again,” he cut in with a smirk. “One last time.”
“I’m not your brother,” I said coldly. “We’re cousins, and right now, I wish we weren’t.”
He scoffed. “Yeah, you made that very clear six years ago. I only tried to reason with you, told you not to hurt your mate, and suddenly I became your enemy. Funny how years later, I was right.”
I snapped my head toward him. “What are you talking about?” What does he mean he was right? Does he know about my curse or Charlotte?
“You’ll find out tomorrow,” he replied in an overly gentle voice.
I woke up late and tired from the night before. I went into the bathroom to take a shower, but my eyes caught my reflection in the mirror. My marks had faded even more. I could barely see them now. The round moon mark on my neck stood out instead, clearer than before, though not as bright as it used to be. Some people thought it was a tattoo, but then they got confused when it changed color, red, then black, sometimes even yellow.
I went to my office and felt a lot of eyes on me. No one dared to say a word loud enough for me to hear. The wolves who knew about the fight were tense. Most of the elders were on my side, but I could still see fear in their eyes. A few had asked quietly what would happen if I lost to Gavin. Would I give up my Alpha seat?
For some reason, that thought never stayed in my head. Giving up my seat was never an option. I had no intention of losing. I had never lost to anyone before, and there was still a lot about me they didn’t know. My father didn’t look worried at all. He knew me well enough not to be.
By evening, everyone drove to Black Hollow. It was a three–hour drive, rough and slow because of the thick woods. When we finally arrived, it was already dark. The arena inside Black Hollow was filled to the brim with people, shouting and cheering at the top of their lungs. It had been years since a fight had taken place there.
It wasn’t until about an hour later that I understood what Roman meant when he said Gavin has games up sleeve. I had expected a lot, but not this. Not in a million years.
his
Sly bastard.
9:01 Wed, Feb 11
Chapter 55
Chapter 55
CHARLOTTE’S POV
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
