Healed: True Mates Book 3 (Wolf Shifter) (A Craggstone Paranormal Romance) by Olivia Arran

you to—”
    “Oh, that’s exactly what we were hoping for, Kate.” Why we had allowed her to accidentally keep her cell phone and make the call. We had been counting on it.
    I had been observing the periphery, alert for any intruders, and when a branch snapped over to the far left, I tensed, ready. “He’s here, Amanda,” I growled, taking a step forward.
    “Good. I thought he’d never get here! Come out, Gary, where we can see you. Glad you got the invitation to our little party,” Amanda called out to the forest, her pose one of relaxed nonchalance. But I could see the thread of tension that hummed through her, could feel it through the bond.
    “You started the party without me!” a deep voice called from the edge of the clearing, then a tall, muscular man strolled out of the trees, his hands tucked into his jean pockets, his face twisted in an approximation of a grin. “Aw, shucks. Now, that’s not playing fair, blondie.”
    Fuck. He was a big guy. I took another step forward, watching him over Amanda’s head. If he made a move—
    “Call off your guard dog, blondie. This is between you and me.” The man I guessed was Gary stretched his arms above his head, swinging them around in a parody of warm up.
    Amanda turned to keep him in sight as he paced the perimeter of the circle. “Now that we have you here—”
    “I call challenge! There. That should make things simple for you. We fight, you lose, and I take over as Alpha of the Smithrock Pack. Something that should have happened anyway. Then I’ll be going to hunt down my chosen mate, Lisa—the little wildcat ran out on me! But don’t worry, sweetheart, I’ll have room for you. Plenty of room.” He leered at Amanda, rubbing his groin in a pathetic attempt of intimidation.
    “You don’t have the right to call challenge!” My words carried across the clearing, and I watched as everyone’s heads swiveled from Gary, to me, then back again. But nobody spoke, their continued silence conveying their fear of the man parading in front of me.
    “Says who? You? ” Gary sneered.
    “You’re wanted by the Colstone Pack—”
    “They’ll get theirs, don’t you worry about that. I owe that Alpha a beating he won’t forget.”
    I took a step toward him, Amanda’s hand against my chest the only thing stopping me from ripping his head from his shoulders. “You’ll have to go through me first…” I growled, tensing, ready to spring forward.
    “Oh, I intend on it.” Gary postured, his large frame bulking as he flexed his muscles. “But first, the lady needs to strip. We have a challenge to deal with, then she can tend to me after…with her tongue.” He laughed, as though what he had said was hilarious.
    “Don’t, Tarq,” Amanda murmured. “It’s what he wants—you mad enough to give him an advantage.”
    “You can’t seriously be thinking about accepting his challenge?” I grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her around so Gary couldn’t see her. But I kept a close eye on him over her shoulder. The slightest twitch in the wrong direction and he would be praying to the Mother wishing he’d been a good little wolf.
    “He challenged me. If I want to keep the pack, win their respect, I have to.” She shrugged, full of false bravado, but inside I knew she was scared.
    “He’s a lot bigger than you, babe—”
    “And I’m an Alpha.”
    “He seems to think he is, too. We don’t know how strong he is, not for sure.”
    Amanda huffed, a frustrated sound. “What would you have me do? I can’t back down, not to him. I won’t hand him Smithrock!”
    It was the opening I had been waiting for. What I had been planning for. “Let me fight him, as your Beta, on your behalf.”
    “Tarq—”
    “Wait! Hear me out. We were saying we weren’t sure if my powers had increased or not, or whether it was the Alpha-Beta bond giving me an advantage. Well, it doesn’t matter either way. I can take him, I’m strong enough. I know it.”
    “Getting