Free Heart of a Rocky by Kelsey Jordan

Challenger?”
    Omar waved Ronan and Luke forward, and they came into view, guiding Derrick into the area which had been cleared of furniture. Derrick was bound with god cuffs—shackles made of Gardinian ore that, according to legend, not even the gods themselves could break should they be bound by them, because the cuffs had the ability to suppress their powers.
    “Reluctant?” Ulryk asked.
    “He tried to run this morning.”
    The withering look that Ulryk cast Derrick caused the male to visibly shrink behind Ronan’s broad shoulders. The Tepinok, second-in-command, of the Blue-Oconees shrugged Derrick out of his shadow and led him to stand in front of the God of Kings and Queens.
    “I should allow Tor Omar to have your leadership because you dishonor us all with your cowardice. You wear the helm of leadership, but embrace none of its attributes. Your father was wrong to bequeath you the throne, but that is in the past, and nothing can be done to mend his erroneous decision. I will not deny Tor Omar his rightful Challenge, as he has conducted himself with honor.
    “You have been allowed more courtesies than most would have in a takeover. You stand before me clean of body and recently fed. It appears he desires a fair fight. Unfortunately, ill-matched opponents lend themselves to lopsided fights.” Ulryk gestured towards the cuffs on Derrick, making them vanish before he turned to face Omar. “You may engage.”
    Both males immediately partially shifted into their Lycan form. Their nails grew to include the longer and sharper claws of their animal cousins and their canines elongated into lion fangs meant to tear into muscle and take flesh from their competitor.
    Derrick snarled at Omar, but instead of engaging her mate, he turned and growled, the power of his growl snaking around the room. Anise smothered a growl as the power hit her scoring over her like sandpaper, trying to compel her, as it was the rest of the Alesers of the US Pride, to bend to his will. The need to obey disappeared when Omar cut off Derrick’s relatively weak compulsion with a swift punch to his throat and another well-landed punch to his gut.
    Omar’s lips peeled back. “Coward.”
    “Usurper.”
    Instead of responding, Omar motioned to Ulryk as if to illustrate his god-approved right to take the throne. Derrick, sneered before he growled again.
    One of the weaker lions in the rear of the room shifted and tried to make his way to the front. Ulryk merely tapped his god blade against the floor, which resulted in the floor cracking from the shockwave of power that cracked to a stop at the feet of the compelled male. The male whimpered and collapsed to the ground, his body shaking before he shifted back into his human form.
    Anise almost laughed at the indignant rage on Derrick’s face when he glared at the god for his interference. Ulryk returned the glare, his displeasure evident in the way he gripped his sword. Anise was positive Derrick was tempting the god to forgo the challenge and end Derrick himself for trying to cheat.
    Apparently Derrick noticed it too, because he returned his focus to his ignored opponent who stood off to one side with his arms crossed.
    “Are you ready to fight?”
    Derrick roared, shifted completely into his Aleser form, and leapt at Omar. Anise flinched when Omar, still mostly human, backhanded Derrick into a wall. She glanced back at his Tukata who covered his laugh with a cough. She flashed him a smile because she’s wanted to laugh at the comical way Derrick slid down the wall.
    Omar ambled slowly to Derrick, his gait showing how little of a threat Derrick was to him. Rage flashed in Derrick’s eyes, his nostrils flared and he bared his fangs. In his arrogance, he roared, the power of it coiling around the room and forcing more than a handful of the pride to shift forms.
    The pride remained in their place in the audience, but Anise could see that some of the weaker ones were fighting to keep their place in