Eve felt rage building in her chest...not at the insult, which was expected, but at what Katerina was doing to her pack. To her people. Using her power like a weapon against males who had done nothing except respond to the ward alarm.
She stepped forward, moving past Damian’s instinctive protective gesture, and faced Katerina across the ward boundary.
"Lady Katerina," Eve said, her voice cold and precise. "You’re projecting sexual energy onto pack territory in a way that’s affecting pack mbers without their consent. I’m asking you politely to regulate your power output while you’re here."
Katerina’s expression shifted to sothing between amusent and contempt. "Asking politely. How sweet." She leaned forward slightly, and another wave of energy crashed outward, stronger than before. Behind Eve, she heard several males groan. "Here’s the thing, little heir. I don’t regulate my power for anyone. If your wolves can’t handle being near a real alpha, that’s their weakness. Not my problem."
"It becos your problem when you’re deliberately affecting pack mbers on pack territory," Eve said, her voice taking on an edge. "This isn’t a demonstration of strength. It’s disrespect."
"Is it?" Katerina’s eyes glittered with challenge. "Or is it simply reality? The reality that most of your precious pack males are weak enough to be overwheld by basic combat energy. The reality that you surround yourself with protectors because you yourself are not strong enough to stand alone."
She gestured at the brothers, at Raphael. "Werewolf mates and a fugitive uncle. That’s your power base. That’s what you’re bringing to the Court when you claim to be worthy of the throne." Her smile turned cruel. "Pathetic."
Eve felt the bond pulse with her mates’ fury....all three of them seconds from attacking regardless of diplomatic consequences. She pushed calm toward them through the connection, holding them back through sheer force of will.
"You want to make you regulate your power," Eve said quietly.
"I’d like to see you try," Katerina said. "Though I suspect we both know how that would end. You’d be crushed. Broken. Demonstrated to be exactly as weak as I believe you to be."
"Or," Eve said, her voice hardening, "I could prove that I’m stronger than you expect. That I can hold my own against a five-hundred-year-old warrior who thinks age equals superiority."
Katerina’s expression shifted....interest sparking beneath the contempt. "Are you challenging , little heir?"
"I’m accepting the challenge you’ve been issuing since you arrived," Eve corrected. "You want a combat trial. You want to determine if I’m worthy to command Military faction warriors. Fine. Let’s do it. But...." She stepped closer to the ward line. "....I have conditions."
"Conditions," Katerina repeated, sounding amused.
"The trial happens on neutral ground," Eve said. "Not here, not on Military faction territory. Sowhere that gives neither of us ho advantage."
"Acceptable," Katerina said imdiately.
"The trial is non-lethal," Eve continued. "First blood, submission, or unconsciousness determines victory. Not death."
"Boring, but acceptable," Katerina agreed. "I’m not here to murder you. Just to break you enough that you understand your limitations."
"And if I win," Eve said, holding Katerina’s gaze, "you regulate your power output for the remainder of your ti in this region. You stop using your energy as a weapon against people who haven’t consented to be affected by it."
Katerina was quiet for a mont, considering. Then she laughed....a genuine sound of delight and anticipation.
"Oh, I like you," she said. "You’ve got spine, at least. More than most heirs I’ve assessed." She stepped right up to the ward boundary, close enough that only the magical barrier separated them. "Fine. Your conditions are accepted. Non-lethal combat, neutral ground, and if you sohow manage to win....which you won’t....I’ll control my energy like a civilized Court lady."
Her smile turned sharp. "But when I win....and I will win....you acknowledge publicly that you’re not ready for the throne. That you need more ti, more training, more growth before you can legitimately claim to lead the Court."
Eve felt the weight of that condition. Public acknowledgnt of unworthiness would undermine everything she’d built. Would give ammunition to every faction that wanted to dismiss her as too young, too inexperienced, too weak.
But refusing the trial entirely would be even worse.
"Agreed," Eve said.
"Excellent." Katerina’s energy pulled back suddenly....not disappearing entirely, but reducing to manageable levels. Around the periter, pack mbers visibly relaxed, so of them gasping like they’d been holding their breath.
"Three days," Katerina said. "That gives you ti to prepare, to train, to say goodbye to your mates before I break several of your bones." She looked at Raphael. "Lord Raphael. You’ll arrange the neutral ground and notify all relevant parties? This should be witnessed. Properly witnessed."
"I’ll arrange it," Raphael confird, his voice tight with controlled anger.
"Good." Katerina’s gaze swept over the assembled pack one final ti, lingering on the males with an expression that was pure predatory appraisal. "Three days, little heir. Use them well."
She turned and walked away from the ward boundary with unhurried confidence, her entourage....four massive warriors who had been standing silently behind her....falling into formation around her.
The mont Katerina was out of sight, the periter exploded into noise.
Pack mbers talking over each other, processing what had just happened, the males who’d been affected looking embarrassed and angry in equal asure. The females who’d watched their mates struggle against Katerina’s power were furious, so of them demanding to know why the Alphas had allowed it to continue.
"Enough," Damian’s voice cut through the chaos with alpha authority that made everyone fall silent. "Everyone who’s not on security detail....dismissed. Return to your duties. We’ll address what just happened in tonight’s pack eting."
The crowd began to disperse, though slowly, people clearly reluctant to leave without answers.
Eve stood frozen at the ward boundary, the reality of what she’d just agreed to sinking in.
Three days.
Three days to prepare for combat against a five-hundred-year-old warrior who had been fighting since before Eve’s grandparents were born.
"Eve," Damian said, his hand on her shoulder. "Inside. Now."
They reconvened in the war room....Eve, the brothers, Raphael, and Marcus Senior, who’d been present for Katerina’s arrival and deserved to be part of the debrief.
For a long mont, no one spoke.
Then Damon exploded. "What the absolute fuck was that? She used her power like a weapon against our pack mbers! Half the males out there were barely functional!"
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