Born By Moonlight by Krista Street

Chapter 8

~ WYATT ~

Every muscle in my body was coiled and ready to fight. Avery’s fearful scent permeated my senses. But there wasn’t a damned thing I could do to save her.

My wolf lunged against his restraints so violently that I knew my eyes were glowing, but I couldn’t stop it. I was as helpless to resist his rage as I was the pull of the moon.

Avery squared her shoulders, and I could tell she was trying valiantly to appear calm and composed, but the woman that had just stepped onto the mat was a full-blooded fairy.

Shit.

They’d saved the hardest opponent for last.

I gritted my teeth and balled my hands into fists. All I could do was watch.

The judges had probably thought that Avery would have passed tests one and two. They knew her magical ability was limited to a protective shield spell and a weak binding spell. And because she was an ambassador student, they would have picked opponents that she could have easily demonstrated her strengths on.

She should have been able to bind her first opponent—the female half-demon—then she could have run off the mat and won.

And with her second opponent—the sorcerer—her protective shield spell should have made her immune to his binding spell, allowing her a few precious seconds to race to victory.

And she had all of the training Major Armund had instilled into her. If it had come down to combat, she still could have held her own with a combination of spells, rolls, and maneuvers. I knew she could have. I’d seen her take on strong supernaturals in the last few weeks of her training. She’d beaten a few on occasion.

But surprisingly, that wasn’t how her tests had gone. She’d either frozen from nerves and never attempted to activate her spells, or . . .

My heart stuttered at what the other explanation could be, that her magic was gone—totally and completely gone—which meant the Safrinite comet had fully eaten away her power.

That terrifying realization meant there was only one reservoir left for the comet to destroy—her life.

My pulse quickened.

Avery and the fairy waited for the judge to call the beginning of the match. All eyes were locked on him, but his head was still dipped as he conferred with the other judges.

The need to leap onto the mat and protect Avery fired through me again. I pinned myself against the wall in a rigid line. It was only through years of training that I kept my emotions in check, but that didn’t stop the flare of my nostrils when the judge at last stood.

He raised his hand. “Begin.”

Avery jumped to the side, a look of determination on her face as she raced for the edge of the mat.

But the fairy was faster. The small woman cut Avery off with a blurred move, her movements swift and precise.

Avery shifted to the side, narrowly missing the small hand that reached for her throat. My mate dipped and swiped out a leg, catching the fairy unaware in a move that was admirable even for the most skilled SF member.

The fairy fell.

My heart burst with pride when Avery leaped over her, that grim edge to her jaw still there.

Tension filled the crowd, everyone leaning forward when Avery landed on the fairy’s other side. She bent her legs, ready to propel herself from the mat, when the fairy’s arm shot out and her fingers curled around Avery’s ankle.

Avery’s eyes popped, and a collective gasp from the onlookers filled the room.

But just when I thought my mate would go down, she twisted and rolled. My breath sucked in when a flash of pain crossed her features. She broke the fairy’s hold but at a price.

With a limping step, she threw herself toward the edge of the mat, to victory.

But the fairy jumped on her back after two steps.

Dammit!

The crowd howled at Avery’s third missed attempt, but it didn’t stop her grit and refusal to give up.

Avery fell and rolled again, except this time the move was calculated and precise. She took the fairy with her, the other supernatural’s eyes widening.

Major Armund nodded, but Avery’s move hadn’t stopped the fairy. She clung on, her arm moving up to lock around Avery’s throat in a chokehold.

I pushed away from the wall, my wolf urging me to leap over the crowd and intervene, but a hand on my arm stopped me.

“Don’t,” was all Reese said when I snarled in his direction. He kept his hand on me, urging me to stay put. “She may win this. Give her a chance.”

Seeing his calm face and resolved demeanor cut through my instincts. I took a deep breath and doused the blazing need to protect my mate.

Avery was now on her hands and knees. Her face had paled, her eyes rolling back in her head from her oxygen being cut off, but still she fought.

The only advantage she had now was the fairy’s small weight and stature. My mate wasn’t tall, but she had a few inches on the fairy.

With a grim set of her jaw, Avery pushed onto her haunches and wrapped her hands around the fairy’s arms. Launching from her crouched position, she jumped into the air but rolled at the last minute and fell backward.

The crowd gasped, and my jaw dropped when Avery landed flat on her back with the fairy beneath her.

A groan rose from the fairy, the maneuver obviously taking her by surprise. The fairy’s grip loosened, and Avery snaked the arm over her head and released the chokehold.

A grin spread across my face.

Three months ago, my mate wouldn’t have been able to pull that move off. She was neither strong enough nor confident enough to attempt anything like that, but today . . .

Today my mate was showing all of us how strong she’d become.

A swell of victory rose in Avery’s eyes as she scrambled to her feet. The fairy still lay in a daze on the mat.

Avery dashed across the ring, the edge of it only feet away.

The crowd stood on their toes, everyone trying to see over those in front of them to find out if my mate would make it.

Avery grinned and jumped off the mat, landing on the ground, victory in her grasp, when the fairy abruptly shot to her feet and blurred to the front of my mate.

She whizzed past Avery so suddenly that my mate didn’t know she was there. Avery was still sprinting the remaining distance to the six feet off the mat when the fairy punched out and landed a firm blow to the center of Avery’s chest. The pummel of fist on flesh made a sickening sound.

Avery went down, the blow knocking her off her feet and back onto the mat. For a moment, she lay there paralyzed—from shock or the wind being knocked out of her, I didn’t know.

The crowd eased forward more, silently cheering her on.

But the fairy pounced.

She landed on Avery in another blurred move, straddling her before descending upon her like a locust. The fairy’s small hands encircled Avery’s throat, just as Avery blinked and awareness filtered through her expression.

No. I groaned in agony. The fairy effectively held Avery down by the neck. And we all knew what that meant.

With one twist from her deceptively small hands—hands that in reality could crush steel—Avery’s neck would snap.

She’d lost.

Avery had lost.

A collective sigh of defeat ran through the crowd.

My mate closed her eyes, soft puffs of breath making her chest rise and fall. Her mouth twisted into a grimace. Three tests. Three fails.

The fairy rolled off my mate and offered Avery her hand. Avery opened her eyes and looked at it, not moving. The fairy shook it, her expression filled with sympathy.

My mate finally reached up and took the offered help.

The small fairy easily pulled Avery to her feet. She gave my mate a formal bow before departing from the mat.

But Avery just stood there.

Shock seemed to paralyze her as grief etched into her expression, a sorrowful frown turning her lips down.

My heart shattered. I was already heading toward her, pushing through the crowd, but Major Armund beat me to it.

She stepped forward and took Avery’s hand, then whispered a few soft words to her before putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. Drawing her close, Avery’s trainer led her from the ring.

In all the time I’d known Dee, I’d never seen her act gently. The woman was as tough as nails and as sharp as a razor, but she consoled my mate as if she were a fellow squad member.

“Dammit,” Reese whispered. He pushed away from the wall and shook his head. “If only she’d had her spells. She could have passed this so easily.” He shook his head again, disappointment written all over his face.

A defeated energy ran through the air. The judge at the end stood, the one who signaled the beginning of each test. “We’ll break for lunch. The final tests will resume this afternoon at two. Scores for this morning will be posted by then.”

Everyone shuffled their feet, the energy soon shifting as those who knew they had passed their final tests received further congratulations and pats on the backs from their squad mates.

My attention drifted to my other new recruits—Charlotte, Eliza, Chris, Zaden, Bo, and Nick. I knew all of them had passed. Every single one of them.

All except Avery.

There was no way the judges would rule in her favor. If she’d won one of the three tests, they would. She was an ambassador recruit after all. But to have lost all three? No way.

I headed in the direction Avery and Dee had gone, but the crowd swelled, pushing in front of me. Commanders and their recruits still lingered, while those who were being tested this afternoon were practicing various maneuvers and spells on the open mats, not bothering to break for lunch.

Over the tops of their heads, I scanned the huge room. Avery stood near the exit door, still talking to Dee. She said something to her trainer, shook her hand, then walked away.

I growled in irritation as Avery grew farther from me. It didn’t help that there were too many voices to hear what she’d said to Major Armund.

I shouldered my way through Squad Eight. They were welcoming their newest recruit, a young Asian woman.

My tablet buzzed.

I considered ignoring it, but then it beeped in quick succession, indicating a high-priority message had just come through.

Damn it all to hell.

I whipped the device out, and with each sentence I read, my heart thundered harder.

Your expedited request was granted to the Bulgarian libraries. That half-demon you helped three years ago in Malaysia pulled a few strings. Prepare to leave this afternoon. I’ll message you again when I have more info.

The breath shuddered out of me as fierce hope bloomed in my chest. Thank the Gods. Finally, a piece of good news.

I was about to pursue my mate again, when a hand tapped my shoulder.

“Major Jamison, you’re back, sir!” Chris stepped around in front of me, his grin as wide as the Pacific.

I stopped, but my attention drifted over his shoulder. Avery was gone. She’d left the room, and I had no idea where she’d went.

“Did you see my test?” Chris asked eagerly, but his smile faltered, and I realized I was scowling. “Sir?” he finished feebly.

Guilt bit me. Hard. I’d essentially abandoned my new recruits. I’d left them in their final week of training, the most pivotal time for questions or last-minute drills in areas where they were weakest, yet . . .

I would do it all over again. I would do anything that was needed to find help for Avery.

I smoothed my expression. “I did see it, and you did well.”

His chest puffed up.

“Hi, Major Jamison!” Bo said, appearing at Chris’s side.

Charlotte and Eliza were just behind them, but like me, they kept darting glances to where Avery had gone, their expressions grim.

Nick and Zaden joined the group and, like Chris, wanted to know if I’d seen their tests. I was about to respond, when Charlotte said, “Does anyone know where Avery went?”

The guys frowned and murmured, “No,” but it didn’t stop their sudden chatter and questions about how my assignment had been.

With a resigned sigh, I knew that going after my mate now wasn’t the professional choice of action. My new recruits—six supernaturals who had worked their asses off over the last three months all wanted my time and attention.

Once again, duty called.

Ignoring their questions about my assignment, I forced a smile and began congratulating each and every one of them on their hard work, but once I finished the traditional gestures, only the wrath of the Gods could stop me from pursuing my mate.