And then Ashlynn Kal—who I hadn’t even noticed tonight—seizes my forearm and uses her whole weight to drag me across the floor, out of the way.

Gael somehow manages to shift. His wolf is big, but he’s nowhere near Draken’s weight class. Gael is so out-matched, he might as well be another species. A cat fighting a lion. Blood spurts, fur flies. Screams and howls fill the lodge.

“He’s gonna kill him,” Ashlynn pants.

We’re huddled behind an overturned table, stuck between a wall and the fight. Packmates in human form have clustered along the far wall. The lieutenants have all shifted. They’re circling, darting forward, trying to distract Draken’s...