Chapter 31

The four brothers immediately stopped what they were doing and stood there. Eyes wide. Fanged mouths hanging slightly open. All the animosity and violence in them drained away and they looked back and forth between each other. Russel sluggishly made his way past them and came to stand, once again, in front of Lola. His body was in rough shape but already, she could see it healing. That made her feel better but at the same time, she still felt horrible that he had gone through so much just to protect her.

But then she would remember it was kind of his own fault and felt less guilty about the whole thing.

The four brothers started to change back to their human forms. She glanced at Russel and saw him changing too. A nasty cut to his cheek was closing itself up and an eyeball that had been slashed was reverting back to a normal, human eye instead of the grotesque, bloody ruin it had been just seconds ago. He was breathing heavily too but he didn’t move. One of his hands was clutched over his ribcage.

The brothers, although in much better shape, still showed some injuries. They weren’t as severe and were healing much quicker than Russel’s but Lola still felt a weird pride that he had got some hits in.

Roland glared at them and if looks could cause a person to burst into flames on the spot, Russel and Lola would have been nothing but cinders.

“What do you actually hope to gain by issuing the Challenge, Russel?” he said, his voice dripping with barely restrained fury. “You won’t win. We all know that. The best you’ve done is just stall your own demise.”

“Yeah, well it’s either that or let you fucks continue to rip us to shreds. If we’re going out, it’s not going to be by the hands of you assholes. I’d rather not give any of you the satisfaction.” He smirked at them.

Ray let out a roar and almost jumped at him but Rutger held him back, even having to put his brother into a pretty uncomfortable looking headlock to do it.

“You know you can’t touch him now,” Rutger growled. Then he looked up at Russel. “Even for you, Rus, this is completely insane. He’s just going to make your deaths a hundred times worse than anything we could have done to you.”

“Maybe,” Russel replied. “But at least this way, there’s a small chance of survival.”

“Small?” Reid barked out a nasty, unpleasant laugh. Then he shook his head as if he were absolving himself completely of the whole situation. “We all know the chances of you winning are so tiny, you might as well rip out your heart now and get it over with.”

He looked at Russel then and Lola thought his features softened a little. Just the most infinitesimal amount but still there. What was happening now? What did Russel just do, and why did his brothers act like he did something massively stupid and bordering on mental?

“Russel,” she asked, her voice coming out in a whisper. “What is happening right now?”

But he didn’t say anything. He kept his gaze focused on his brothers. It was evident now that they were not going to do anything to him or to her. The fight had stopped altogether. The brothers were all healed up and Russel, she saw, was almost completely back to normal now.

“Ray, go tell him a formal Blood Challenge has been issued,” Roland said.

“Why’s it gotta be me?” Ray asked. “I ain’t gonna be the one to tell him what Russel’s done here. He’s liable to rip my head off too just for bringing the news.”

“I don’t care,” Roland shot back, flinging out an arm and smashing a fist into the side of Ray’s head.

It was so quick that Lola didn’t even realize what was happening at first until she saw Ray tumble to the ground. He got back up quickly, his lips pulled up into a snarl and his eyes flashing with bright, amber color. Claws grew out of his fingers. He looked about to lunge at Roland but Rutger and Reid held him back, whispering urgently at him but Lola couldn’t hear their words. He struggled for a few minutes but then finally settled down and the two let go of him.

“This ain’t over, Ro. Watch yer back,” he snapped.

Then, without another word, he shifted into a full blown wolf about the size of a bear and ran off through the woods. Lola couldn’t help being amazed at the transformation but she quickly forced the emotion off her face. She didn’t want to give Russel’s brothers the impression that she was impressed by them in any way.

Once Ray was gone, the other three just…lounged. There was no other word for it. Roland found a thin birch tree, sat down with his back against it, and promptly started sleeping. Rutger just plopped right onto the ground and sat cross-legged, fiddling with the dirt and grass like a toddler. Reid found a good-sized boulder and sat on top of it.

“Why are they doing nothing now?” Lola asked, curious despite herself.

Russel looked much better now but his clothes were torn and shredded in several spots. Blood soaked a lot of areas on them too. Once he realized they weren’t going to be attacked again, he visibly seemed to relax. His eyes fluttered a little and Lola could tell he was exhausted. She was too, if she was being honest. Having her body filled with so much terror, fear, and adrenaline made her feel lethargic.

“Russel?” she asked, starting to get afraid now. Why wasn’t he saying anything?

He looked down at her, blinking slowly. The fatigue looked like it was taking its toll on him.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m…just…sorry.”

She didn’t say anything at first to his apology. It was so out of context, she wasn’t even sure what to do with it. What the hell did he have to be sorry about other than the lie? Was that what he meant?

“I don’t care about that anymore,” she said. “I don’t care that you lied. I don’t even care that your father sent you to kill me. It’s okay? I’m not mad anymore.”

She actually was still a bit pissed off about that but she let it go for the moment. He looked so sad, she couldn’t help but want to console him. Whatever he just did with his brothers, it was clear to her it wasn’t a good thing. It may have stopped them from killing the both of them but there was a catch to it. And she had no idea what that was. The biggest question she harbored now was why? Why did he refuse to tell her exactly what was going on?

“I’m glad for that at least,” he said, smiling down at her. “But while I am still sorry about that, I wasn’t referring to the lie.”

“Then what do you mean? Talk to me, Russel,” she demanded, starting to get angry all over again because he was leaving her in the dark.

“You need to shut your fucking mouth, human,” Rutger growled from his spot on the ground. He looked up at her. “It’s got nothing to do with you.”

“It’s wolf business. So keep yourself out of it,” Roland grumbled. He didn’t bother to open his eyes.

“It does concern her,” Russel snapped. He gently took Lola by the shoulders and walked her away from them to where they could speak in relative privacy. He took in a breath as if to steady himself. When he was ready, he spoke. “I issued what’s known as the Blood Challenge to my father. If he accepts, which he pretty much has to or he will end up looking weak, the two of us fight one on one until only one of us is left alive. If my father survives, he retains his rulership over the kingdom. If I kill him, the rulership of Oclan goes to me. It is the only way me or my brothers will ever get the throne.”

His storm-blue eyes bored into hers and she felt yet another wash of cold fear ripple through her but not for herself. For Russel.

“It’s also the only way to save your life now.”