LILY
The fight was over, but my hands wouldn't stop shaking.
I pressed closer to Ace's chest, feeling his heartbeat strong and steady beneath my palms. He was alive. Wounded, bleeding, but alive. That was all that mattered.
"You did it," I whispered against his skin. "You did it."
"Did you doubt me?"
"Never." At first I'd doubted everything – his strength, the ring's power, whether we'd both make it out alive. But he didn't need to know that.
His arms tightened around me, and I felt some tension leave his body. The crowd dispersed slowly, and pack leaders nodded their acknowledgment as they passed. No one would question his authority again.
He'd proven himself in the most brutal way possible.
"Where's the woman?" I asked, suddenly remembering James's companions.
Ace's head turned,
