Gage’s inner wolf couldn’t wait to be unleashed. Wolves, especially Alphas, took challenges of character very seriously.

And Malachite had thrown down an iron gauntlet.

Gage gripped Danica’s hand as they rounded the corner of the last hedgerow before the courtyard.

The courtyard, much like the rest of the garden, was immaculately kept. Polished stone tiles arranged in a spiral shone under the wrought iron lampposts. It would have been romantic, had it not been filled to the brim with bloodthirsty werewolves.

Malachite stood at the opposite side of the circular courtyard, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants. Even his feet were bare.

His long hair hung freely about his massive chest. He was even more muscular than Gage remembered, looking like a striking mixture between a rock star and a pro wrestler.

Malachite’s dark eyes lifted, and he flashed Gage a wicked smile. “I thought you had tucked tail and run, little pup.”

“And miss another chance to kick your ass? I don’t think so.”

Malachite’s smile hitched. “Careful, boy. It would be humiliating for you to boast so and then lose in front of all these royal werewolves.”

“Who said anything about losing?”

Alara cleared her throat and stepped forward. She still wore her classy black evening gown. Most of the gathered werewolves still wore their ballroom attire, too. Gage heard muffled voices and could hear the scrape of money as it was exchanged.

They were placing bets on this fight. Not that it surprised him.

Anything to make an extra buck… or an extra hundred….

“This will not be a fight to the death,” Alara declared. The steel in her voice said it was a nonnegotiable matter. Some of the werewolves growled in disgruntlement, including some of the women, but Alara went on.

“You must stay within the circle or you will be disqualified. The first wolf to knock out his opponent wins.”

She gestured to each of them. “Gentlemen, if you would please.”

Gage’s heart sped up, not from fear but from adrenaline. He was, surprisingly, looking forward to this. He had been ever since he first saw his tormentor in the hallway and all those repressed feelings of anger broke past the box he kept them locked in and surged forward.

He wanted to shed Malachite’s blood. The bastard deserved it after all he had put Gage and the rest of the Moonstruck Pack through.

Danica squeezed his hand and kissed him on the lips. “Kick his ass.”

Gage grinned. “Planning on it.”

Danica didn’t beg him not to fight. Instead, she regally clasped her hands in front of her and stepped back so she was just outside the circle.

Gage couldn’t be more proud of his mate, his queen.

She truly had changed a lot in only a short span of time. The unsure girl was gone, replaced by a woman with a backbone of iron.

Her strength fueled his resolve to win this for her.

He met Malachite in the middle of the courtyard.

Malachite cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck. “Ready for an ass-kicking?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing.”

“It does not matter if you fight in your human or wolf forms,” Alara said. She took a deep breath. “On three. One… two…”

Gage’s heart beat so fiercely he could feel it in his ears.

Don’t. Lose.

“Three!”

Nik yanked her back as the two men burst out of their skins in a split second and changed into werewolves. Snarls and growls erupted as they lunged at each other.

Once the fight began, all Gage could focus on was the enormous black wolf in front of him. He gave himself over to the majestic white werewolf he shared a soul with, giving in to its strength and its brutality.

He tasted the hot tang of blood along his tongue as his teeth sank into Malachite’s flesh. Pain shot along his shoulder as the black wolf’s jaws found purchase. It hurt like hell, but it did not disable him.

As they clawed and snapped at one another, spinning and rolling about the courtyard, all Gage could see was red. All sound leveled out into a drone that buzzed so loudly in his ears, he couldn’t even hear his own heart beating anymore.

He could only see one face in his mind the entire time.

Danica.

Thinking of her gave him renewed strength.

He had no idea how long they fought. He could tell when Malachite started to tire, and that’s when he made his move. Malachite leapt at him, but he wasn’t fast enough. Gage leapt out of the way and wrapped his jaws around Malachite’s throat. If he could squeeze long enough and cut out Malachite’s air supply, he could knock him out without killing him.

Malachite struggled, but barely. He knew as well as Gage did that with the way he held him, he could just as easily tear out his own throat on Gage’s fangs.

There wasn’t anything he could do. As Danica would have said, he was SOL.

Gotcha.

There was a weird shimmer of green light, and the fur began to melt away from the black wolf’s flesh as it shrank and reformed into a man.

Malachite, completely naked, groaned and clutched at his head. His skin shimmered with thousands of green tendrils that crawled over him like worms.

Gage immediately let go. What the hell is this? It looks like… Green Magic.

Malachite continued to writhe on the stones, groaning while he clutched at his head.

“Look!” someone cried out. “Gage’s paws!”

Gage looked down. His paws were shrouded in the same glowing green tendrils that slithered over Malachite.

His eyes widened. Freaked out, he immediately shifted back into a man and stared at his hands. The green glow slowly began to fade. He blinked. What the—?

Someone slammed into him, knocking him hard to the ground. The breastplate of a guard dug into Gage’s bare back, the rim of the armor grinding against his spine. He gritted his teeth as two more guards latched onto him and held him against the stone. Gage managed to turn his head to the side so he could speak. The motion of talking was still awkward due to the fact his chin was pressed against the ground. “What the hell is this?” Gage demanded.

“He’s a magic user!”

“Did you see his hands?”

“It was Green Magic! What if he’s one of them?”

Whispers swirled around him. His inner wolf sensed the fear and shock of the people around him.

Wait a minute… they thought he was a warlock?

“It’s not what you think!” he shouted. “I have no idea what happened!”

“Of course you don’t,” Norman crooned, stepping forward and smiling with artificial sympathy. “I’ve heard of warlocks not being able to control their powers in times of great duress. Then again, you could always be lying….”

Gage struggled as he fought to lunge at Norman. “You son of a bitch! You had something to do with this, didn’t you?”

Norman held up his hands. “I’m not the one with glowing fingers. And magic never lies.” He stood and turned to Alara, who had gone pale. She stared at Gage as if she didn’t know him.

Her father, who had tried to kill her, had been a Green Warlock. Of course she’d be freaked out.

Someone had planned on that and was trying to frame Gage. But who? And why?

He glared at Malachite. Medics knelt next to him, checking his vitals. He was sitting up now.

And smirking at Gage.

Gage growled. The desire to rip the other werewolf’s throat out shot to the front of his senses, nearly overriding his common sense.

“This man is obviously in possession of Green Magic,” Norman declared to Alara. “As he has been caught cheating, that should disqualify him from the challenge, and he should be withdrawn from consideration for High King! He should be thrown in the dungeon!”

Alara snapped to her senses and glared at Norman. “We don’t know what really happened.”

“So are you saying you’ll allow this potentially dangerous warlock to roam free about the palace? What if he is one of the members of the Order?”

“That’s not true!” Gage snarled.

“Gage, shut up!” Nik barked.

Gage pressed his lips together. He got it. Really, he did. Much like how human law worked, anything he said could be held against him. And Norman had a reputation for twisting one’s words around to his favor.

Alara’s mouth formed a thin line as she deliberated. “Very well. Guards,” she said weakly.

Gage wasn’t surprised by her ruling. After all, she had the safety of the people around her to consider. She had to keep her personal feelings out of it. As an Alpha, he understood all too well the sacrifices that had to be made in order to rule.

Alara’s eyes lifted to his, her expression heavy with guilt. Then her gaze hardened to cool steel as she addressed the guards. “If he’s harmed, it will be your lives.”

They exchanged a look and gulped. “Yes, ma’am,” they said at once, fisting their hands over their hearts and bowing to her.

She looked to Gage again, regret shimmering in her eyes.

He gave her a small smile, letting her know he didn’t blame her, and curtly nodded as the guards hauled him to his feet. They began leading him away when Danica shouted, “Get away from me!”

Gage’s head shot around so fast that a nerve in his neck pinched. He winced, straining to see what was happening behind him.

Malachite, his hips covered by a loosely bound towel, stood in front of Danica. She glared at him. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“I won you,” he said simply.

“So? What the hell do I care? You cheated somehow, and I’m going to prove it!”

“Lower your voice,” he said coldly, reaching for her. “You’re making a scene. It is most unbecoming of a lady.”

“How about this?” She raised her hand to slap him. Her reflexes were already much faster than they were before; she nearly had him when Malachite’s hand shot up, and he caught her by the wrist.

The second their flesh connected, a familiar blue light shone on the back of Danica’s hand.

Time stopped for Gage. It can’t be…. It’s impossible….

When the light dimmed, an indigo pattern of tangled Celtic knots lay on Danica’s flesh. She stared at it, trembling and shaking her head. “No,” she stammered. “This isn’t right. How is this possible?”

“I told you,” Malachite said, reaching up and taking a piece of her hair between his fingers. He ran his hand down her hair slowly, as if savoring the silky feel of it. “You were always meant to be mine.”

Gage stared numbly at his mate, his entire being reeling from the shock. He felt himself go cold.

There was some mistake. Danica was already marked by him. She was his mate. The tattoos weren’t there, but it didn’t mean anything.

Did it?

Sensing he was about to snap, the guards started hauling him forward at a much faster pace than before. Gage regained a sliver of his self-control. “Danica,” he rasped.

Her terrified eyes shot up and found his. “Gage!” she screamed. She rushed forward only to have Malachite snatch her up by the waist and hold her back. She reached for him. “GAGE!”

“Danica!” He struggled, straining to see the woman he so desperately loved but was afraid he had just lost forever.

The last thing he saw before he rounded the corner was an image he would never be able to get out of his head: The beautiful green eyes of his lost mate, staring at him as he was forced to abandon her to the clutches of a maniac.

And the triumph in Malachite’s stone-cold eyes as he mouthed, “I win.”