Konrad pressed his forehead against mine as the last of the ecstasy gripped him. Our bodies were pressed tight, leaning against the tiles in the shower. I still had one hand on the shower head pipe, but the other was around Konrad's neck.

He sighed heavily, finally opening his eyes. Konrad looked tired, and I was now worried that this was a mistake.

"I have never met a woman that could literally suck the life out of me like you do."

"That is not a good thing. You need to rest."

"Then you need to let me go."

It wasn't something that I could easily control. This part of our bodies and our lives was completely controlled by our alter egos, and it was clear that my wolf wanted to have lots of lovely little cubs running around her paws.

Konrad got a weird look on his face and then groaned.

"Finally. You're a hard taskmaster, Megan. Must be that Nolan blood."

Easing my legs down, I winced.

"And you're still sticky. Oh well, I guess I'd better clean you, seeing as I spilled the drink all over you."

Taking the shower gel, Konrad took great pleasure in lathering the soap and then cleaning my chest. When he thought that I was clean, the water was adjusted to flow over me. Taking a step back, Konrad grinned.

"It's a view worth fighting for."

"Literally."

I lifted from the tiles and turned off the water. Konrad shifted behind me, smoothing his hands over my hips.

"It's going to be okay."

I faced Konrad, wondering how he could be so optimistic when he had no idea how well Colin could fight.

"You need to trust me."

I moved, and it was like he knew what I was going to do. Konrad pinned me to the tiles. His hand gripped my jaw, stopping me from marking him.

"No, Megan."

His hand smoothed down my neck, gliding over my sternum.

"Are you going to behave yourself?"

"I'm just trying to help. This is my fault. If I'd stayed with the pack, then Colin wouldn't have picked me to drug."

"You're right. He wouldn't have picked you. He would have picked someone else instead, and that woman might not have been so lucky. I told you that I would do it for anyone that was in the same situation but that doesn't mean that I would have caught it. I heard Colin because I stayed at the bar to watch you."

Returning his hand to my jaw, Konrad tilted my chin to make me look at him.

"Please, don't mark me."

"Why are you being so stubborn?"

"Because this is a show of power. Colin might not be an Alpha, but I am. You heard him in the lobby. He knows about us, the war, and probably a whole lot more. Someone has fed him a lot of information. It's guaranteed that he would know that I've only been an Alpha for just over a year. Every little piece is another thing against me and I have to be careful with the steps that I take. If I yield or if I take the easy path out of it like letting you mark me, I will be seen as weak. Once that happens, I can guarantee that by Monday morning, my land will be swarming with Blood Moon wolves. I will be dead, along with most of the males in my pack. Do you know what would happen to you if I lost?"

I dreaded the thought.

"Colin would be the winner, which means that he would have the mating rights to you. He will make a deal with his Alpha to ensure complete success as they use the combined packs of the Blood Moon and Black Ridge to march into West River and take you down. You would become his subservient mate, and there would not be a choice. Your males would be dead and everything that you fought against with me would become your new reality. Now, am I being stubborn or am I being smart?"

"I hate you," I whispered, wrapping my arms around his neck.

Konrad smiled.

"Sure you do, liar."

After drying off, Konrad dressed and left me to get ready. He had to change into better clothes, claiming that he didn't want his nice dress shirt getting all sweaty and maybe ripped.

When I was dressed, I looked in the mirror. The red was bright and shocking. I'd dried my hair, styling it so that it was semi-respectable. Grabbing my bag and the door card, I made my way to the communal lounge.

In my absence, a lot had changed. The Black Ridge pack had left the party, and my pack was waiting. They too were dressed for the event, looking something like a corporate war.

"I take it that he didn't let you mark him?"

"He's a stubborn jackass."

"But you reek of him."

"Yeah."

Alec smiled, shaking his head.

"He has a valid point, though."

We walked to the door that was now open. The wind was blowing a frosty gale into the warm room. As much as I wanted to support Konrad, I really wanted to return to my room. The blissful thoughts of snuggling under the linen swamped my mind. It was not enough to warm me against the icy wind, unfortunately.

"And that is?"

"That it would be seen as weak if he backed out of it or allowed me to mark him."

"That's true."

"Then we'd all be open to attack."

"Also correct."

Carefully I walked down the steps, hoping not to slip on the ice. It was not a good idea to wear pumps in this weather, but the path was covered, so it seemed like it wasn't so bad.

"They really need to rethink this setup," I muttered.

We made a hasty path to the hotel door. When the warmth hit me, I groaned with a huge smile on my face.

"That's so good."

"Yep," Joey said, glancing at his watch. "We've got a few minutes. Let's get a drink and find some seats."

"I don't want it to look like we're celebrating or partying, Jojo."

"Well, we might be celebrating."

He saw my frown and sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Fine. No booze."

We walked to the rear of the hotel, where the auditorium was located. In ordinary times, it was used for events like a concert. In times of idiocy, it was used to fight for the barbaric right to chase another wolf.

If I had the ability to change something like ritual fights, I would, but it was something that was so ingrained into us that it would never stop.