First blood and hockey practice

RAVEN

The bullet exploded from Theo's gun even as he lay crumpled against the boards. Not unconscious—playing dead.

It caught Marcus in the chest, and this time, the Alpha didn't dodge.

He stumbled back, blood blooming across his shirt, and the arena erupted into chaos again.

"Move!" Theo was on his feet impossibly fast, tackling Sarah before she could stab me. They went down in a tangle of limbs and silver blade.

I grabbed Dominic, trying to drag him away from the spreading pool of blood beneath us. Silver poisoning turned his veins black, crawling up his neck toward his heart.

"Leave me." His voice was barely a rasp. "Get out."

"Not happening." I looked around desperately. Jax was fighting the three wolves who'd held him, using moves that were definitely not legal in any combat sport. The hockey players who were on our side fought like they'd practiced this exact scenario and maybe they had.

"Raven, behind you!"

I turned just as one of Marcus's wolves lunged. I didn't think, just reacted, throwing my hands up defensively.

Claws erupted from my fingertips.

Not just claws. My entire hands shifted, bones cracking, reshaping, fur rippling across skin. I slashed without meaning to, and the wolf yelped, stumbling back with four deep gouges across his face.

I stared at my transformed hands, at the proof of what I was becoming.

"That's it!" Marcus was on his feet again despite the bullet hole in his chest, healing with terrifying speed. "Let her out, Raven! Show me what you really are!"

"Boss, we need to extract!" One of his wolves skated past—actually skated, fighting on blades like this was some twisted hockey game. "The Iron Howlers are breaching the perimeter!"

As if summoned, the arena's main doors exploded inward. More motorcycles, more leather, and at the front—

Mom.

She rode behind a massive wolf I didn't recognize, and when she saw me on the ice with my transformed hands and Dominic bleeding out, something in her face shattered.

"Get away from my daughter!" She was off the bike before it stopped, running across the ice in heels that should have made it impossible.

"Diana." Marcus's smile was all teeth. "So glad you could join us. I was just about to bind your daughter to me for eternity. Want to watch?"

"Over my dead body." Mom reached me, positioning herself between Marcus and me like her human body could actually stop him.

"That can be arranged." Marcus gestured, and two of his wolves grabbed Mom, yanking her away.

"No!" I lunged, but more hands grabbed me, Sarah, her grip iron-strong.

"Shh." My aunt's breath was hot against my ear. "Fighting just makes it hurt worse. Trust me, I learned that the hard way."

"Let her go!" Theo crashed into Sarah, and suddenly I was free.

I scrambled toward Dominic. The silver poisoning had reached his jaw, black veins spider-webbing across his face. His eyes were closed.

"No no no." I pressed my hands—still clawed, still transformed, against his chest. "Don't you dare die. Do you hear me !"

His eyes fluttered open, wolf-gold and unfocused. "Raven... run..."

"I'm not leaving you!" Tears blurred my vision. "I can't lose you. The mate bond....we haven't even....you can't just...."

"Touching." Marcus crouched beside us, and before I could react, he grabbed my transformed hand. "But unnecessary. Dominic isn't dying. Silver hurts like hell, but he's too old, too strong to die from one wound." His grip tightened on my clawed fingers. "However, this gives me the perfect opportunity."

He yanked a silver chain from his pocket, thin, delicate, etched with symbols I didn't recognize. Before I could pull away, he wrapped it around my wrist and Dominic's, binding us together.

The metal seared my skin, and Dominic's eyes flew open with a roar of pain.

"What did you do?" I tried to pull free, but the chain wouldn't budge.

"Old pack magic. A binding ritual." Marcus stood, looking pleased with himself. "In twenty-four hours, when the blood moon rises, that chain will force the mate bond to completion. Normally, both parties have to consent. But this?" He gestured to our bound wrists. "This bypasses consent entirely."

"You can't....that's not—"

"Actually, it's completely legal under ancient pack law. Which I'm invoking as acting Alpha Supreme." His smile widened at my confusion. "Oh, didn't anyone tell you? Your father left a will. Named me regent until his heir came of age. And since you haven't had your first shift yet, you're not technically of age."

"Bullshit." Jax appeared, bleeding from a dozen wounds but alive. "That law was abolished in 1952."

"And reinstated by the Council last month. They were very accommodating once I showed them the security footage of the Iron Howlers' illegal activities." Marcus looked at Dominic. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out about your underground fights? The gambling? The money laundering?"

Dominic tried to speak, but only blood came out.

"So here's how this plays out." Marcus addressed everyone in the arena, wolves from both packs, the hockey players, the Iron Howlers who'd breached the perimeter. "In twenty-four hours, Raven shifts for the first time under the blood moon. The binding chain forces her mate bond with Dominic to complete. But—" he held up a finger, "if Dominic is dead when the moon rises, the bond breaks and Raven is free to choose a new mate. Namely, me."

Ice flooded my veins. "You're going to kill him."

"I'm going to give him a chance to fight for his mate. As is tradition." Marcus gestured to the ice around us, the hockey rink that suddenly felt like a gladiator arena. "Tomorrow night, this rink. Dominic Steele versus Marcus Chen. Trial by combat. Winner gets the girl. Loser dies."

"He'll be half-dead from silver poisoning!" Mom screamed. "That's not a fair fight!"

"Life isn't fair, Diana. You of all people should know that." Marcus moved toward the exit, his wolves falling into formation behind him. "Twenty-four hours. Be here at moonrise or I claim Raven by forfeit."

"Wait!" Theo struggled to his feet, supported by his teammates. "You can't just—"

"I'm acting Alpha Supreme. I can do whatever I want." Marcus paused at the door. "Oh, and Theo? Your little rebellion tonight? I'm willing to overlook it. Join me tomorrow, help me win, and I'll let you live. Refuse, and you die with the Iron Howlers."

He left, taking Sarah and most of his wolves with him. The arena fell silent except for groans of the wounded and the drip of blood on ice.

I looked down at my wrist, at the silver chain connecting me to Dominic. His breathing was shallow, labored. The silver wound in his shoulder still bled.

"We need to get him to the compound." Jax tried to lift Dominic, but the older Alpha was dead weight. "Help me!"

The Iron Howlers moved forward, and together we got Dominic onto a bike. I climbed on behind him, my chained wrist awkward, forced to wrap both my arms and his around the driver just to keep him upright.

As we rode through empty streets toward the compound, Dominic's blood soaking through my clothes, I felt my partially-shifted hands slowly return to normal.

The arena disappeared behind us, but I could still smell it, blood and ice and silver.

Tomorrow night, I'd be back there.

Tomorrow night, someone I cared about would die.

And there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop it.

"Hold on," I whispered against Dominic's back, feeling his heartbeat—too weak. "Just hold on. Please."

We pulled through the compound gates as the first light of dawn broke over the mountains.

Twenty-four hours until the blood moon.

Twenty-four hours until everything changed.

Mom met us at the entrance, her face streaked with tears. "Get him inside. I know someone who can help with silver poisoning."

"Who?" Jax demanded.

"Someone I should have called eighteen years ago." She pulled out her phone with shaking hands. "Someone who knew Raven's father better than anyone."

She dialed, and I heard the phone ring once before a gravelly male voice answered.

"Diana. It's been a long time."

"Marek," Mom said. "I need your help. It's about Raven. And it's time you told her the truth about what she really is."