“Lower in rank? Challenge?”

“As a human, you don’t have the same rank as your mate like you would if you were a werewolf. Essentially, you’re a guest in the Pack, not a member of it. At least not in the sense that Lex is a member.”

“Lovely. How equitable your society is. And this challenge is what? He wants to smack me around?”

Tracy paled. “No. Unless the challenger calls it off, a challenge is to the death.”

“Are you kidding me? This ass**le insults me, insults my brother and wants me to apologize or he’ll use his genetically superior strength and speed to kill me?” She turned and looked back at Carter, body still hemmed in by Lex. “Very brave of him. I can see why he’s so high up in the Pack.”

Nina moved closer to Megan.

“I’ll challenge him first. By challenging my mate, he’s disrespected me,” Lex called out.

“That’s not how it works and you know it,” Cade said. “You can challenge him…after.”

Cade turned to Nina. “Honey, I know this is hard but if you apologize it’ll all be over.” His voice was hard but she could see the pleading in his eyes.

“Not just an apology, Cade. I want her obeisance, too,” Carter called out.

“He wants you to apologize the way he did earlier,” Megan said quietly.

“This asshat wants me on my knees kissing his shoes when he called my brother trash?”

“Nina, please,” Lex begged, coming toward her. “Please, just apologize.”

Pain knifed through her. “You two asked me to come here. You people, you changed my brother without his permission and then you killed him! This piece of shit insults my dead brother and all humans and I’m the one who has to apologize? What the f**k is wrong with this picture?”

“You can’t win, damn it!” he hissed and grabbed her hands. “He is bigger and stronger and faster and he doesn’t care about you. You can’t beat him. Trust me to take care of this later but for now, please, apologize.”

“Fuck you, Lex Warden. Fuck you and your stupid rules and this messed up assbackwards society where I’m a second-class citizen. Do you think I wanted any of this? I just wanted my damned shop and a bit of peace and you werewolves have stolen everything from me.” She stepped back from him and looked at Cade and then the rest of the room. “I’d rather die than live without honor.”

No sooner had the words come out of her mouth than Carter was on her, knocking her to the ground.

Her head hit the hardwood floor and she knew she was in big trouble. Still, she wasn’t giving in without taking him down as far as she could. Carter was soft, she felt it in his hands and saw it in his walk.

His fist cocked and she rolled to the side and kicked back, hitting the back of his thigh, knocking him off and down.

“You bitch!” he screamed and his voice became a low growl.

“NO! You can’t! She’s not a wolf,” Lex yelled. Four men were holding him back so he couldn’t interfere with the fight—one of them was Cade.

Nina looked back toward Carter just in time for a sharp-clawed paw to strike her across her jaw, causing her to see stars. The metallic tang of blood exploded in her mouth and she spat it out, knowing from experience that if she swallowed it, she’d only get sick.

She got in a solid right hook and a heel to his balls and was able to stand. Blood dripped into her eye and she prayed she’d cut her head when she fell earlier. If he’d sliced her open with his nails, the chances of her getting the virus from him were higher.

Her ears rang from the next several strikes he made. Her left arm hung loosely at her side, broken. She could hear Lex screaming and howling. Others in the room were begging Carter to stop.

Carter punched her again until she finally went down. Just as quickly, he was on her and she felt his teeth pierce her neck. The shock of it gave her enough adrenaline to poke him hard in the eyes with her fingers and he backed off.

She broke free and he reached out and struck her and she flew back into Megan, who looked into her face, the helplessness and sorrow there was evident. Something caught Nina’s eye as she fell to her knees.

Without thinking, Nina reached out and grabbed Megan’s sidearm in her right hand and turned. With her good eye she sighted down her arm and pointed at Carter’s head. The room got eerily silent for a moment.

“Shoot him!” Lex screamed, breaking the quiet. Choruses of “shoot him” broke out from the entire room.

“Should I shoot you, Carter? Maybe you should apologize to me. But I’ll settle for you calling this f**ked-up charade off. Now that I’m a wolf like you, I have status.”

“Not yet, you don’t,” the half-wolf Carter growled out and lunged at her. Nina squeezed the trigger over and over until the chamber was empty and Carter was a heap on the floor.

“Who’s sorry now?” she whispered and collapsed as chaos filled the room. The last thing she saw was Lex’s anguished face as he picked her up.

Chapter Six

Nina’s eyes fluttered open. It was her bedroom, only different. The room was alive with detail. So much that she felt a bit overwhelmed with it all. Her heart pounded as she raised her head to look around.

“Nina! Oh thank god. You’re awake.”

She looked up into Lex’s concerned face. “What the…? What happened?”

He put a covered cup with a straw in Nina’s hands. “Here, drink this. I’m going to run into the hall and call the doctor. I’ll be right back.” Before she could question him again he dashed out.