Chapter 46 My Choice
LISA'S POV
My world narrowed to this single moment. Viktor's claws pressed against Ryan's throat and blood already dripped from where the sharp points broke skin. Ryan's eyes met mine with a mixture of love that made my chest feel like it was being crushed. Every instinct I possessed screamed at me to save him, to surrender myself if it meant keeping my mate alive.
But I knew this was Viktor's trap and the knowledge was eating me up. If I surrendered, the pack lost its Alpha, and Ryan died anyway once Viktor had what he wanted. Viktor had no honor, no intention of keeping his word. He would kill Ryan in front of me just to break me completely before dragging me away to whatever fate he had planned.
Ryan must have seen the calculation in my eyes, the terrible math I was doing as I weighed options that all ended in tragedy. Because he spoke through our mate bond for the first time in weeks. The connection opened suddenly and his voice filled my mind with clarity that stole my breath and made tears burn behind my eyes.
"Do not do it," Ryan said, his mental voice steady despite the physical pain he was enduring. "Do not sacrifice yourself for me, Lisa. I am not worth it. I have never been worth it. The pack needs you alive and leading them. Let me die knowing I finally chose right, finally protected you the way I should have from the very beginning."
The words cracked something inside me but they also crystallized my thinking with sharp focus. I was not choosing between Ryan and the pack. I refused to accept those as my only options. There was a third choice, one that no one expected because it was reckless, dangerous and possibly suicidal.
But it was mine to make.
"You want me, Viktor?" I called out, my voice carrying across the battlefield with Alpha authority that silenced the fighting around us. "Then face me yourself. Alpha to Alpha, one one-on-one combat. You win and I go with you willingly without resistance. I win and you and your forces leave Moonstone territory permanently and never return."
My challenge terms hung in the air heavy with implications. I saw a surprise flicker across Viktor's scarred face. He had expected me to surrender or to refuse and watch Ryan die slowly. He had not expected me to offer direct confrontation on terms that gave him everything he wanted if he won.
Viktor was intrigued and I could see the interest in his eyes as he considered my proposal. He was calculating his chances, weighing the certainty of killing Ryan against the appeal of defeating me in combat that would break my spirit before he took me. After a long moment that felt like eternity, he released Ryan with a contemptuous shove that sent my mate collapsing to the ground clutching his bleeding throat.
"You barely survived a challenge from Sophia," Viktor said, his tone mocking and amused. "And she is nowhere near my level of skill or experience. You think you can beat me in a fair fight, little silver wolf?"
"Only one way to find out," I responded, letting my silver wolf rise to the surface. Power thrummed through my veins and my eyes began to glow with the distinctive silver that marked my rare bloodline.
The pack formed a circle around us with both Moonstone members and Viktor's rogues creating space for the combat. This was beyond official challenge under the pack law. This was about survival, about protecting everyone I loved from a threat that would not stop until one of us was dead or defeated.
Viktor shifted first and his massive brown wolf was easily three times my size. He was older, more experienced, and built like warrior who had survived decades of brutal battles. His wolf form rippled with muscle and his hide was scarred from countless fights won through superior strength and vicious tactics.
But I had learned something crucial from fighting Sophia just days ago. Size was not everything in combat. I learned that strategy, speed, and willingness to take calculated risks could overcome just power if it was applied correctly with intelligence.
I shifted into my silver wolf form, I was smaller than Viktor but faster and more agile with limbs built for speed rather than just force. When Viktor attacked with confidence born from obvious physical advantage, I was already moving.
I dodged his first lunge at me, using my smaller size to slip under his attack and rake claws along his exposed flank as I passed. Blood welled from the wounds and Viktor snarled with rage, spinning faster than a wolf his size should have been capable of moving.
The fight became so brutal that Viktor's strength was devastating when he hit me. His blows were powerful enough to break my bones and tear my flesh. But I was faster than him, predicting his moves by carefully observing him and staying just out of reach of his most dangerous strikes.
I tried to land him hits where I could, I targeted his vulnerable areas like joints and soft tissue. It was exhaustive, I had to be so good with my timing.
The pack watched in silence, barely breathing as their Alpha fought for all their lives. I felt their supportive eyes fixed on my every movement. Ryan's presence burned brightest through the mate bond, his fear and pride mixing together to the point it almost overwhelmed my focus.
The fight was getting better than I expected and hope began building in my chest. My speed and agility were making up for Viktor's strength advantage and I had managed to inflict serious damage while avoiding his blows. Viktor was bleeding from multiple wounds and his movements were slowing as blood loss took its toll.
I saw victory becoming possible instead of just a desperate hope. If I could maintain this pace, if I could continue avoiding his attacks while landing my own strikes, I might actually win this impossible fight and save my pack from destruction.
Then Viktor did something that should not have been possible. He spoke in wolf form, his words clear and perfectly understandable. It was a dark ability I had never encountered, something that violated the natural laws governing shifter forms and the separation between human speech and wolf communication.
"Your mother begged for her life just like you are about to," Viktor said, his wolf voice carrying across the circle with cruel clarity. The words hit me like a physical blow and I froze mid-attack, shock overwhelming my combat instincts completely. My mother had died when I was a child and the pack had always said it was an illness.
"Want to know what her last words were before I killed her?"