Grizzly Flying High (Air Bear Shifters 1) by Sloane Meyers

body had fractured his bones, but he ignored the sensation. He would heal quickly once this fight was over and he had a moment to rest. He couldn’t let temporary pain keep him from the victory that was so rightfully his. Every time Simon tried to wriggle free, Sawyer twisted his claw, sending a fresh wave of pain and panic across his opponent’s body. The crowd had been roaring nonstop now for what felt like an eternity, but Sawyer ignored the sound. The only sound that mattered to him right now was the sound of Chance’s voice as it slowly made its way toward the sixty second mark. The final ten seconds were the hardest. Simon, knowing that he was about to lose his challenge and face possible death at the hands of his alpha, panicked. He struggled against Sawyers grip, howling through the pain and trying to wriggle away from his alpha. But Sawyer held firm, and soon he heard the sound of one of the elder’s voices coming through Chance’s bullhorn.
    “This challenge is completed. We declare Sawyer the winner, and, as such, he shall retain his title as alpha to the Frost Peak Grizzlies.”
    The crowd roared, suddenly one hundred percent of them cheering for Sawyer. As Sawyer stepped back and slowly let Simon sit up, one of the shifters who was still in human form yelled out, “Kill him!”
    Rushes of power and energy filled the air as bear after bear turned back to human form. They began a deafening chant of “Kill him! Kill him!”
    Simon, too weak and stunned to shift back to human form, lay on the ground with a terrified look on his face. The arrogance of a few minutes before had completely disappeared, leaving in its place the vulnerable look of a bear who knew he was on death row.
    Sawyer looked up at Chance, and then over at Anderson. His closest friends were quiet among the screaming crowd, waiting serenely for Sawyer to make his decision. Sawyer let out a roar, and shifted back into human form. He stood over Simon’s slumped bear form, and then held his hands up in a signal for the crowd to quiet down. As soon as a silence settled over them, Sawyer spoke.
    “I don’t believe in killing my own clan members, especially once they have been so clearly defeated,” Sawyer said, staring daggers at Simon. “But I don’t ever want to see your face again. You are banished. If you ever show your face in Frost Peak again, consider yourself a dead man.”
    The crowd went wild again, screaming and yelling for Sawyer to kill Simon, who was now pulling himself up slowly and walking away from the town center as quickly as his weak legs would allow. Sawyer sighed in frustration as he looked around at his cheering clan. He was happy that everyone seemed to be back on his side, but irritated by how quickly they had swung back and forth between supporting him and supporting Simon. He had just raised his hands for quiet again, planning to make a speech about the importance of loyalty to your alpha, when he saw her.
    Standing in the shadows several hundred feet away, Amanda was crouching against the wall of one of the buildings on the outskirts of the town center. Her eyes were wide, and, even from this distance, Sawyer could see the fear and disbelief in them. He wasn’t sure how much of that spectacle she had seen, but even a minute of a bear fight was too much for a human to see without needing some explanation.
    “Amanda?” Sawyer said, his voice barely more than a whisper. But even though she couldn’t hear him, she realized that he had seen her, and she took off running. Sawyer’s heart tightened in his chest, and his bear roared to be let out again. Any thoughts of making a speech to his clan right now went out the window. All Sawyer could think about was that he couldn’t let the most beautiful woman in the world get away from him again. Especially not when she had just been exposed to his shifter side without warning.
    “Amanda, wait!” Sawyer yelled out. But she had already disappeared into the row of cabins