Her dragon roared inside her head, but Honoria sent a quick warning to her beast to calm down before she replied in a deliberately wavering voice, "I can handle myself."
A cruel smirk curled the edges of Shane's mouth. The sight made her dragon want to cut off the male's cock, but thankfully her beast didn't try to wrestle control away from Honoria.
Shane stated, "Then let's see how far I can go without technically breaking any of the rules. It's about time you learned how females are too weak to lead, let alone be Protectors. There'll be none of that when I win this competition."
She swore she heard a growl behind her—although she didn't know if it was from Asher or Fraser—and decided to step forward, keeping Shane's focus on her for as long as possible. She still needed to find a way to let Asher know that Shane alone had come into the room. Only then could she make her dramatic move and have her partner help her.
For effect, she took a step back. "Where's your partner?"
"I don't need him to help me take you down, Wakeham. I'll do it myself. But before I do that, why don't you tell me where the Fraser bastard is? If you do, then I might go a little easier on you."
Wanting to prod him a little since Shane's temper always made him act more rash, she said, "Can't find him yourself, I see. That's not what I'd call leader material."
Narrowing his eyes, Shane moved closer. "Says the female who spent too many years with that pansy clan in America. Dragons are stronger without the humans. I'll make sure the other leaders know that, in the end."
Her beast roared again, but Honoria was quick to answer Shane. She needed him a bit more unstable. "Once their fake hostage reports your actions, they won't pick you. Just because you win this round doesn't mean you win the whole thing."
"You say that, but if I mention how one of the other pairs ended up killing that Scottish arsehole and I found him that way, then no one will be the wiser."
At the intense hatred in Shane's eyes, Honoria drew in a breath. The dragonman wasn't sane, nor should he have made it this far. Even if the other leaders were merely trying to push all the participants with more competition, surely they would've read the signs and put more precautions into place to prevent extremes, such as murder, from happening.
Her dragon spoke up. Take one more step back, and Asher will help. Let him know how far away Shane is, for reference.
"Five feet is close enough, Shane. Stay back."
"Shut it, bitch. Tell me where the Scottish bastard is. The longer you take in answering me, the more pain you're going to feel."
For a split second, an actual thread of fear wormed its way into her heart. However, she wasn't going to tackle Shane alone. She knew that together, she and Asher would win.
They had to.
So instead of answering Shane, Honoria took yet another step back, signaling it was time for her partner to act.
And then all hell broke loose.
~~~
Only because Asher trusted Honoria did he fight his instinct to help her. Of course, when Fraser had growled at something Shane said, it'd nearly put their whole plan into jeopardy.
However, Honoria must've heard the growl, too, and adjusted her tactic. Even facing a dragonman who could probably kill her, she'd focused on letting Asher know Shane was alone before proceeding to poke his temper.
Even though she wasn't a warrior by training, Honoria knew how to keep herself together when push came to shove.
She'd make a fucking amazing leader.
His beast spoke up. With us. Together, we work best.
However, at that moment, Honoria finally reached the point in the room which signaled it was time for Asher to stop waiting and pounce. She ducked down as he sprang forward, and he roared as he tackled Shane to the ground.
As they rolled, pushed, and shoved, he didn't spare a thought as to if the others were doing their parts. He had faith in Honoria.
As Shane clawed his face, the feeling of talon against skin banished thoughts of his plan and instead reminded him of another time and place. One where he'd been strapped to a chair as two dragomen took turns carving a K into his chest before sealing the wound with hot metal.
However, instead of making him lose himself in the memory, this time it fueled his strength. Skyhunter deserved better than that. Shane would probably follow in Marcus King's footsteps, and fuck if he'd ever let that happen.
Shane Farhall would never be leader as long as he lived.
Never.