Claimed by Honor (Bestian Creek Pack Book 1) Read online

  “Why? What is going on?” He hated the fear on her face. “Why is Derek going to be here, I don’t want to see him right now. I hurt him, Honor. I don’t even know him, but my heart knows I hurt him.” She started sobbing uncontrollably. His tiny, soft hearted human. Fix her. You did this. Fix it. His animal was tearing him up inside.

  He hopped out of the truck and ran to her side, throwing her door open and reached for her. He tried to settle her by wrapping his arms tight around her and holding her to his chest. He could do this. She had woken him up and given him hope of the future instead of more of his ordinary daily life. “I know, Anna. I know. I don’t like that you care for him, but I know. You have a good, soft heart.” He stroked her hair and pressed his lips to her hair. “We have to go inside now. They’re waiting on us.”

  She nodded her head and Bounty pulled in beside them. They were ready for this. They could handle anything together. His animal already knew it.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Anna walked in with Honor. Side by side, where she belonged. Like she’d been there forever. The room was filled with so many people, shifters, they wanted to be called shifters. They were all massive bodied men with huge tree trunk arms. The women coming in all different shapes and sizes. She didn’t feel self-conscious walking in, or she wouldn’t have if all eyes hadn’t just come upon her like she was a magnet, drawing their gaze to her. She was the outsider; Anna knew that and expected a little interest in who she was. Bounty followed in behind them, like a protective backbone to her ever-wobbling legs.

  “Breathe and calm yourself. They can smell fear. It will just make them more uneasy.” Honor whispered into her ear. “They aren’t angry at you and they will not hurt you. They are stressed about what is coming. We don’t like to bleed our own, but tradition demands it.”

  He didn’t hold her hand, or touch her in any way when they walked in. He couldn’t. He explained what was going on back at his home about not being able to touch her, feel her. He was under an obligation to his family and his people. A challenge wasn’t something they took lightly, and she knew this was going to end badly.

  She scanned the room, finally able to raise her gaze and meet a few eyes, but kept scanning. The room was large, and the walls looked like an old log cabin. There was a raised area near the front like a stage, where a long table sat and four older males sat behind it. The rest of the attendees stood around the room, waiting. She wanted to bolt now. To save Honor and Derek from this, but she couldn’t. Her legs betrayed her, and Anna knew all this was already set in stone and had to happen.

  An older woman walked up to them with a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Honor, my love.” She held her arms out and wrapped them tightly around him and he did the same. Their foreheads came together before she pulled away to look at her. “Hello, Sweetheart. I’m Honor’s mother, Harin. It is so nice to meet you.”

  Anna lifted her hand to shake it, but instead the woman held her tightly, just as she had Honor. Lingering her forehead to Anna’s. A warm calming came over her. It steadied her breathing and took all her worry with it. She removed herself, and Anna immediately missed the contact. As though she could sense it, Harin grabbed her hand into her own and pulled it up to her lips. She kissed Anna’s knuckles and looked into her eyes.

  “It will all be okay, Sweetheart. It will. We must keep our wits about us.” Another kiss and Harin left them there and headed to the stage.

  “That’s my father up there. He is second to the Alpha and head of security in town. His name is Rolland. He’s a good man. The man next to him is my Alpha, Dorian. Him, not so much. Then, there’s Vast, he’s a council member. The far left is Derek’s father, Jedidiah, and Silvia his mate behind him. The families of both challenging males must be present, but this time they all happen to be council members as well.” He shuffled them through the crowd while he told her everyone’s names, like she would ever remember all this.

  They walked up to the stage area where another table sat just below it. Two chairs sat at it right next to each other. “I have to sit there but you stand here by the wall. Bounty, protect her with your life. She is precious to me.”

  “I will.” Bounty promised and went on alert.

  Derek came walking in a few moments later. Anna’s heart hit the floor. He looked so different then he had before, his emotions shut down. She’d done that, and she hated herself. She met his emotionless gaze and had to look away, it hurt too much to watch him. She turned a fun-loving guy into this. Why did this have to go so shitty? This was bullshit, but there was nothing she could do to stop tradition.

  No one asked what she wanted. The answer was Honor, but she also wanted a friendship with Derek. He looked like the kind of guy you’d want to bring home to meet the parents, or the kid you grew up to next door and never had a romantic thought about. But he was good, and she killed that good in him in a moment when she had said what her heart wanted on the ride home.

  The four men talked for only a short time. Making sure everyone understood what was going on. No one talked to her though. No one. Honor and Derek were asked when and where they wanted their challenge. They both said here and now, so in just a moment she knew her heart was going to witness pure anguish and heartache.

  She looked around the room trying to gauge reactions but there were none. Everyone was cold. Looking towards Honor and Derek wasn’t an option either. A pair of paramedics walked in and that made her heart pound against her sternum. She knew why they were here and that made her sick. Her knees gave out and she slid down the wall behind her. The paramedics stood next to the door they had just come in with their hand clasped together behind their backs, faces emotionless. They were both tall, muscular under their navy-blue uniforms. Was everyone here in incredible shape? Must be the shifter genes, that was her only guess.

  Everyone in the room moved closer to the walls, giving room to Honor and Derek, as they stood face to face in the center of the room and both their fathers stood between them. They were both shirtless and bare knuckled. Dorian stood in front of the table on the edge of the stage. “As we all know a Challenge is Mortem.” His voice boomed in the large quiet room.

  Anna stood quickly and grabbed Bounty’s shoulder. “What? Why would they do that?”

  “Do what? What is Mortem?” Bounty was zero help. He wasn’t from here she knew that. Zero help at all.

  “It means death. They’re in a fight to the death? I can’t do this. They can’t do this. Not for me.” She started hyperventilating as panic set in and her lungs refused to draw in air.

  She couldn’t handle this. They were equally matched and the outcome of this would hurt so many people in this room. Women started wailing, their mothers, she could see them across the room. Harin was holding onto Silvia, who was also crying and shaking. They held onto each other for strength and support. Derek’s mother was beautiful, Derek took after her. Her dark hair and blue eyes, and her kind face. She and Harin looked as though they were friends, like there was more between them than this situation they shared. The need to pass out felt stronger now. At least then she wouldn’t have to watch two men beat the other to death.

  “No!” She managed to scream at the top of her lungs. “You can’t do this, not for me. Not for anyone!” She pointed to the crying women on the other side of the room. “Look at your mothers. You are breaking their hearts! You are breaking mine!” The last part came out a whisper, but she knew the room heard her, by the looks of astonishment of their faces.

  “They must.” Dorian spoke from his place above the rest of the crowd. “The Challenge has been initiated and both men have agreed. Begin.”

  There was no other warning. Honor began with a thrust to Derek’s ribs from the left and his right fist hit him immediately in the jaw. But Derek was hardly phased. He came right at Honor with his own pounding fists. Loud thuds and cracking bones filled the room. They never locked up; both got their hits in painfully hard. Fists up, jabbing at each other, hard kicks to the body and face. Blood was everywhere, but they stayed up. There were no rounds, just a continual horror of blood and broken bones. The paramedics circled the open area, watching and waiting. No one was yelling for their man, no one was betting. Just watching. All their eyes were watching the two men kill each other for her.

  Honor spun and landed his shin against Derek’s throat. He finally went down, but the loud crack that echoed in the room wasn’t Derek’s skull, it was Honors leg. It was bent to the side and he roared in pain, he couldn’t put weight on it. One paramedic squat down on the side of the battleground, zeroing in on Honor’s leg. No emotion on his face, just calculating how and what he would need to repair if he lived. The other was closer to the pair and waited with another calm expression.

  Derek landed on the ground, unconscious. Honor stood there on one leg and his head down in exhaustion. He struggled to Derek there on the ground and stood over him as he began to come around. Honor bent down and said something close to his ear and looked down at Derek, faces close and blood dripping from so many places it was hard to tell whose was whose. Was he apologizing for having to take his life? She couldn’t hear.

  “What is he saying?” She asked Bounty, knowing he could hear them.

  “Honor’s asking Derek to yield.” He closed his eyes and lowered his head.

  “What?”

  “Honor said he doesn’t want to kill him. But Derek said to end it.”

  She was in shock and disbelief over Derek’s answer. “Why won’t he yield?”

  “He said he is not fit to be alive. He was proven weak against Honor and deserves death.”

  Shaking and ragged she ran to them. Shocking gasps rang out, but she didn’t care. She had to stop them. Honor would be broken after this and Derek didn’t deserve deat
h. He was good.

  “Derek, stop! Don’t say anything else. You will live and survive this. There is no dishonor in what you have shown here. You are both strong dominant men. This is a shit show. And for what? Nothing!” She was angry now, not scared or terrified. She was seeing red.

  “For you.” Honor looked her in the eyes. “You are worth every drop of blood spilled here and every broken bone because the two of us decided it so. My sweet, soft Anna.” His left eye was swollen and bleeding, and he was favoring his right arm now. She hadn’t noticed that before. And his leg, oh god his leg. She couldn’t look at it.

  “Please, don’t. I’m not even worth a broken toe let alone the blood you have both spilled here.” Tears streamed down her face. She looked down at Derek. He looked just as bad. Bleeding from what looked like everywhere. His left shoulder was dislocated, and blood pooled in his mouth from cuts inside where his teeth slashed the sensitive skin. He choked on the blood before turning to the side to spit it out.

  “You are beautiful, Anna. You released me, and yours was the first face I saw with freedom. The first,” Derek trailed off.

  “The first what?” She begged him.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry for what?”

  “End it.” Derek closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he refused to look at her.

  “Honor you can’t. Don’t do this. His mother is right there. Your own mother is watching you.” Her words were broken but she managed to push them out. “I am right here. If you kill him, I will never forgive you.” He looked at her. The pain from her words stinging his heart.

  A booming voice sounded from the stage area. It was Dorian. “You cannot do this! This was Mortem, a death fight. There is no yielding. Honor you must kill him!”

  “I will not if he yields. This doesn’t have to end in tragedy, Dorian. Anna is right, a mother doesn’t need to lose her son, and a father an heir.” Honor sounded sincere as if he cared for Derek, and maybe he did once upon a time.

  “You both agreed to this, boy.” The insult hit Anna and it wasn’t even meant for her. She could only imagine how Honor took that. He turned his head toward Dorian, who was now charging their way, and Anna could see the churning in his eyes. The one that she’d only seen once when Honor shifted in the cage before they got out, the one that signaled his change was close.

  “Honor, keep it together.” She whispered low so only he and Derek could hear. “I may not fully understand the dynamic here, but that man is your Alpha and I can assume it isn’t a good idea to Challenge him here and now. Or ever.” His eyes were churning as the older man crept their way.

  “You would have me kill a good strong male when he has a chance of life?” Honor was questioning Dorian’s command.

  “End. Him.” Anna couldn’t look up as the Alpha came closer, something heavy over her shoulders pushed her down. But nothing was touching her. “End him!” The loud roar was followed by a terrifying snarl.

  She couldn’t look up, couldn’t move. Was this fear or something else she couldn’t pick up being human? Her eyes lifted then and gazed across the room. Everyone’s head was down, eyes on the ground. Everyone was submitting to their Alpha, except Rolland and Jedidiah. They stared right above her where Dorian stood towering above, pressing on her. Derek turned his head to spit the blood out again and winced.

  “No.” The refusal was clear, but it didn’t come from Honor, it came from his father. Rolland, side by side with Jedidiah, stood firm, defiant. Their eyes churning. “He will not. Our families have been allies for decades. Before you were even a spec in your father’s balls. This will not continue.” Growls came from around her. The fathers. Harin and Silvia moved gracefully behind their mates. All defying their Alpha.

  Honor’s face turned into a terrifying grin. “I don’t believe you have a say here. Alpha.” That last part sounded sarcastic. The pressure built and Honor threw himself over Anna to shield her body from something. But it never came.

  Loud pops of breaking bones rang in her ears, right before the sounds of bodies crashing together. Growling and howling filled the lodge and she was happy Honor was over her. She could only assume that Rolland and Jedidiah attacked Dorian after his refusal to allow the yield. The fight only lasted a few moments before some pops and breaking bones rang out over the fight. “Yield!” A deep raspy voice called out. “Do you yield Dorian? Is your life worth saving?” There was a low growl, as quiet as a mouse. “Our, Alpha, yields.” There was no missing the condescending tone.

  Honor lifted off her and looked back down to Derek. “Save yourself. Everyone else is trying, but only you can save yourself. Do not make me a murderer.” Derek coughed under them, but there was something wrong. He couldn’t breathe.

  “Choose now. You need help. Derek! Yield!” He roared, but Derek couldn’t speak. “Hit my arm twice if you yield. Hurry!”

  Tap. Tap. A yield. Thank you. Anna felt her lungs let up and deep breath filled her lungs.

  Honor stood and yelled at the crouching, uniformed paramedic. “He yields! Dex, come now, he can’t breathe. I think I crushed his windpipe. He’s trying to heal but it isn’t working.” The tall blond haired man rushed over and pushed Anna away. The other paramedic, with dark hair cropped close to his head rushed to Honor. A smile on his face.

  “Hey, Dumbass. You sure did cause a hell of a scene.”

  “Shut up.” Honor smiled and joked with him. Anna followed the two as the paramedic propped Honor up over his shoulders to help him walk.

  “I’m going to take him out the back door. I’m Aquila by the way.” He held out his giant hand and wore a smile. Like nothing had just happened and everything was fine in the world. Asshole. Fire ran up beside them and put Honor’s other arm over his own shoulder. He had a fresh black eye that was swollen around his light blue iris.

  Anna was thoroughly confused. “Where the hell were you? And what happened to your eye?” She paused and looked around. “Where is Ember?”

  Fire looked at her with a huge smile on his dumb face. He looked back to Honor. “You were right about my momma, she kicked my ass.”

  Honor looked over at him with a big stupid smile and blood coated teeth. “Told you.”

  Fire nodded to the back exit. “I parked my truck out back so we can fix him up out there. Yeah, yeah, I know you told me. Didn’t think she would actually do it though, that woman is crazy. But she took Ember and pushed me out the door telling me to race here because your dumbass got himself Challenged before we even came back home. Damn man, can’t we get a damn vacation?”

  “I guess not.” Honor kept his stupid smile on his face, an obvious show to hide the pain he was in.

  “You got a kid now, Fire? When the hell did that happen?” Aquila looked so confused. “You’re my best friend, dude. I just saw you last week and you didn’t have one then.”

  “Fresh development. Turns out I performed well at Advanced Genetics.” Fire said, in a business-like voice, pushing invisible glasses up his nose.

  “Proud of you.” And Aquila gave him a one-handed finger gun.

  Men are stupid.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Fire set the tailgate of his truck down, and Honor slid up into the back. His left leg was tilted out just under the knee and already felt like it was trying to heal on its own. His face was still swollen but it was going down. The bleeding in his mouth may have stopped but he could still taste the blood that was clinging to his teeth.

  “I’ll be right back!” Fire clicked his teeth with a grin. “I’m gonna get you something for the pain,” he said and vanished through the back door of The Lodge.

  “We’re going to have to set it, my friend.” Aquila leaned on the tailgate with his beefy arms crossed over his chest, looking at Honor and then toward Bounty. “It can’t heal like that and you know it.”

  “Fuck!” Honor cursed. He didn’t know if he was mad about how the fight ended, or if he was thinking about how painful it was going to be to set his leg in place so it could heal properly. He put the palms of his hands on his eyes and laid there completely still, contemplating his next move. Anna was his and the beast inside him was settled. He would make all this up to her. “Anna, come here. Please.” She didn’t hesitate and was there in a flash, hopping in the back of the truck. He could touch her now, she was his. Mine. But, the fight in there was for her body, not her mind. She didn't know him, didn’t know how his kind chose their mates. But he had and so did his animal. He needed to win over her heart now. Wrapping his arm around her, she nuzzled in beside him and he kissed the top of her head. She would stay right there forever as far as he was concerned.