Free Savage Magic by Judy Teel Page A

gut-wrenching insecurity weren't that far back in my past. I didn't have the heart to send him away.
    Deg stood on the far side of the ring, outside the border of stones. A few of the younger Weres had collected around him and from the laughing and gesturing it sounded like they were having a pretty good time anticipating my imminent humiliation.  
    Despite my previous tough words, if I was going to maintain my appearance of being human, I'd have to lose. That meant relying on defense moves and luck with a large dose of endurance until I had a chance to manipulate my defeat without appearing too weak. Now that I understood more about Cooper's place in the Clan, I couldn't risk diminishing his position. Weres could tolerate a lot of blundering from a human in their midst, but weakness was something that only inspired contempt in them. As my bonded mate, he would bear the brunt of that too. And since I wanted to be a part of his world, I couldn't let that happen.  
    And we were still bonded, I told myself firmly. We had to be.
    "Not much of an audience," I commented to Noah as we came to a stop outside the other side of the ring.
    "We don't crowd around to watch our chickens get slaughtered before dinner, either," he muttered, frowning in Deg's direction. "You're only chance to survive this is to trip over the rocks on your way in and fake an injury. Deg's hotheaded, but he won't fight a hurt opponent."
    "Nope. Not gonna happen." I backed up a few steps to do some warm up lunges.  
    "I can still negotiate an apology," he said, watching me as I changed to stretching my waist from side-to-side. "You'll have to grovel some, but he's probably realized that he's embarrassing himself by fighting you, so I think he'd let you off."  
    "I have something important to discuss with Miller. Let's get this over with." I rolled my wrists a few times and then pulled Wolf's Blood out of the sheath in my boot. I tossed it from hand to hand to get a better feel for the weapon and got the extra bonus of stirring up a huddled discussion on the other side of the ring. I smiled and stepped over the stones.
    The compound went silent as if holding its breath.
    I glanced around, feeling more eyes on me than the ones Deg's cronies accounted for. I pictured one of the old Western movies I used to watch when I was little with the townspeople peeking through curtains and out of doorways as the sheriff and the gunslinger faced down each other in the street.  
    Yup. Nothing like a good bloodletting to brighten up the day.

    *   *   *

    Panic crawled up Cooper's back like a dozen scorpions. "We'll find a cure."
    "It's moving too fast for that," his brother said. "We're not even sure how it's passed. Only that whoever's closest to the victim when they die has the greatest chance of infection."
    "Knox has it," Cooper said. "But Travis' mate was next to him when he died."
    Ryker's shoulders bowed a little as if the impossible weight he already carried had somehow doubled. "I only know that it's steadily wiping us out. Blood Clan has half the numbers they did three weeks ago. In another week Bone Clan will be the same. At least Virginia hasn't been touched yet, so Sun Clan and Moon are safe for now."
    Cooper's fears deepened. "And Maya?"
    "No one who isn't old enough to shift has been affected," Ryker said, a whisper of relief in his voice. "And only two adolescents have come down with it."
    A bitter anger gripped Cooper as he thought about his baby niece growing up without her parents. "We have a high-level practitioner with us. He could help Dr. Barrett—"
    "I won't leave my daughter and whatever's left of our people without protection. You wouldn't either." Ryker gripped the carved armrests of the chair that had been a wedding present to their parents 122 years ago. Sweat beaded his forehead. "Do you accept your position as Aesei Siian ?"
    Addison... How could he face what was ahead without her?  
    Cooper fought down another wave of dizziness. But how