by Lea Jade
Wary and ever alert, Jake steps closer until he’s barely inches away. The soft rumble in my throat gives way to a whine. And unexpectedly, I do what I’ve wanted to do ever since I saw him; I bare my neck.
Behind his eyes, I see the walls come crashing down and something raw within them tears into my soul, stripping everything down, leaving nothing but a intense heat burning through me. He glances down where I’ve bared myself to him, and then he lowers his face to my neck, gently brushing his lips over where my pulse is pounding under my skin.
If he wanted to, he could rip the life out of me.
The thought excites my wolf and as he reaches up to take my chin in his hand, without thinking, I lift my face up to meet his. He leans in and my eyes flutter closed as my lips quiver and my heart skips several beats. This close, his wild scent consumes me. He smells delicious; like the forest before a thunderstorm, an uncontrollable fury waiting to be unleashed. The heat of his breath on me warms me down to my toes. I breathe him in.
Then.
Cold air rushes in.
I come to, just in time to see him pulling back, away from me.
He takes a few more steps back.
Where he touched my skin, heat lingers.
What in the fates?
“I’m sorry,” he says, “I don’t know…” He runs his hands through his hair and looks everywhere but at me. “I’ve no idea what just happened.”
“Your wolf…” I croak. “That’s what happened.” The heat he left on my skin is beginning to creep into my cheeks. What I did just now, letting his teeth graze my neck, was the wolf equivalent of bending over and begging to claimed.
Fuck. I’m so screwed.
“Maybe. I think…” He folds his arms and then unfolds them, finally he jams his hands into his shorts’ pockets like he doesn’t trust himself. “I think my wolf knows you from somewhere. You seem so…familiar. I don't know why. I just can't shake the feeling...”
Shit. Does he remember me? A part of me wants to come clean. Tell him about his old pack and his duty to my father, remind him of who he used to be. I’ve no idea why he doesn’t remember us, me, but I know enough to tell him everything.
What and blow your cover, Jess? What if he tells the twins?
Jake regards me silently, all mussed dark hair and piercing blue eyes, the same sculpted body of a Greek god as first day he showed up at my house. Only, he was younger then. He hasn’t changed much. I still feel I know him like I know the back of my hand.
But that was then, when I was just a teenager with a school-girl crush. Not now, years later. I must not forget who he works for and that he’s a killer.
I don’t know what happened to him to take away his memory, or maybe he just wanted to forget his past and he did. But as much as I want him, it’s best he doesn’t know who I am and why I’m here.
Not yet.
Dylan comes first.
“No, I’m… sorry,” I say, shaking my head, at once the truth and a lie. “You must have me confused for someone else.”
“Ah,” he says, seeming both disappointed and not wholly convinced. He bends down and picks up the bottles he dropped. “You’re right,” he says, turning them in his hands. “My mistake. Thank you for the drugs and the advice. I’ll try to take it easy for a few days. I appreciate your help.”
He turns from me, severing whatever had just formed between us, leaving me to wonder if I did the right thing. Probably not.
The wolf inside of me whines but I ignore her. Instead, I let out a heavy sigh and slump into my office chair. I’m just lying there with my head on the desk, pretending the world doesn’t exist, when the radio crackles to life with a message from the security team confirming their one last sweep of the venue before lockup. If that’s true, then everyone has left and I’m already late.
“Shit!” I say under my breath, and I rush to clean up the room. Five minutes later, lost in thought, I swap my white coat for a leather one and turn out the light. Usually, Eric drags me to the club for a drink after Jake’s fight, but tonight I have to sneak off before he comes looking. As much as I’d like another chance to talk to Jake, or well, let’s face it, I really wanted to kiss him…
Right now, I have a meeting I can’t miss, one that might help me once and for all to find my brother.
Chapter 3
Jake
The moment I leave, my wolf howls to go back to her. But I can’t get away from her fast enough. I end up getting a cold shower, and after I change into a black shirt and dark blue jeans.
Usually, I don’t bother with the shirt, but the feeling of clothes on my skin, minus the blood, brings out my human side and I feel less like an animal as I pace towards the twins’ office.
What the fuck was that?
Had I stayed, I would have ravaged her. My wolf wanted to take her by the neck and sink his teeth so deep into her that he’d never have been able to let her go. Hell, I didn’t want to let her go. Not after she floored me with that reaction. Baring herself to me like that…
Fates, she drives me crazy.
“Jake, there you are. Incredible performance tonight as usual. Next time though, do me a favor and kill him. You know what happens when you don’t finish the fight properly,” Eric says, looking up from his lounge seat as I walk into his open office. The younger twin has a bad habit of posturing but interestingly, I’ve found over the years, Eric is more bark and bite.
His twin brother, Xavier, the real demon in the room, is opposite him on a matching seat, drinking bourbon and counting the Pit’s takings for the night. I’ve no idea why the two blond-haired, grey-eyed siblings like to do the counting themselves after every match, but they do it without fail.
Eric sees my shirt and raises a brow but says nothing. I guess it is strange to see me wearing one.
“What’s the damage?” I ask, ignoring the question in his steel-grey eyes, taking my usual spot against the wall by the door. It’s where I can lean back, see the whole room and exit quickly if I need to. The brothers may be my benefactors, but I don’t trust the pair of them not to screw me over one day. In fact, I’m just waiting for the day when I stop being of use to them. It’s long overdue.
Xavier looks up from counting, eyes a darker shade of grey than his brother’s. “Two hundred large, or thereabouts. I’m just recounting it. Your share is on Eric’s desk.”
My eyes glance to a small pile of notes neatly stacked on the dark wood of Eric’s ornate writing desk. I know it’s mine because it's the only pile on Eric’s desk amidst the clutter.
“So that’s thirty off my debt?” I ask, doing the math in my head.
“Twenty-five. We deducted living expenses for the week.” Eric chips in.
It’s the same every month; five grand a week for a paltry room above the Pit and a meal every night at the club. There’s no way that’s what it costs. That said, I don’t care about the money. I figured long ago that it doesn’t matter how much I win; I’ll never pay off this debt. Never in a million years. And apparently, it costs a lot to run this business, so the share I get is equal to their profits.
Bullshit.
Eric stands up and goes to the bar, grabbing a bottle of some kind of expensive whisky. “Oh, help yourself to a drink while you’re here. We’re not going to the club yet. Jessie has ditched us males for a date so we’re waiting for some other talent to arrive.”
“Oh?” I say, for want of anything better to say. My wolf is all of a sudden wide awake and the feeling of being cheated makes my blood boil.
Jess has a fucking date? Since when?
“Actually, I have a question.” Two sets of steel-grey eyes settle on me. “Where do they go after the fight?” I ask, wanting to change the subject. I’m also feeling a little reckless. It must be the adrenaline from the fight… And the offer from Jess. Why the fates did I run off like that? She probably thinks I’m dickless or something.
Eric frowns. “Who? Jess?”
“No, the challenger?” I growl.
“If they survive, where do they go?” After Jess asked me, I’ve been racking my brains trying to remember who comes to take them away. At the end if every fight I leave the ring straight after. Most of those who challenge me and fail look dead, but I know they’re not. I try my hardest not to kill, even if my wolf wants to.
“That’s an odd question, Jake. Why do you want to know?” Xavier drawls in that languid way of his.
Fuck. It is an odd question. Xav is staring at me waiting for an answer, counting his cash without looking down. Why does Jess want to know this? Why am I even asking around for her? Because… I'll do anything for her if it makes her happy.
My wolf doesn't disagree, if she wants to know then we will find out. It’s as simple as that.
Once, I might have been eager to vocalize any dissatisfaction to the two brothers despite them owning me. It’s to them I've been unlucky enough to accrue this massive debt from another life, one I’m still essentially paying off, although I have absolutely no memory of incurring it whatsoever. But since Jess appeared on the scene, I’ve stopped pushing my luck. She’s the reason I have to be over cautious.
The twins have already figured out my weakness for her. Eric even has the balls to invite her out to our celebration nights at the club after each match, to flirt with her endlessly right in my face. Disregarding the fact that she’s not officially mine, he enjoys teasing my wolf and getting me riled up and restless, rubbing my face in something I can never have.
Because in their eyes, she belongs to them.
Eric is also giving me a curious look now, as though he genuinely can’t imagine why I need this piece of information.
“I’m wondering if they’d want a rematch,” I lie. It’s a terrible lie. When have I ever thought that?
Eric chuckles and leans back casually against the bar, his whisky glass in hand.
“Why the fuck would you? You’ve already defeated them. Where’s the glory in slaughtering a pig a second time?”
I sigh and say the words I've never thought to say. “To finish it, maybe?”
Xavier looks at me like I’ve grown a second head. “How about this, you just finish it the first time then we won’t have to have these pointless talks about rematches?”
Shit. He didn't buy it. Why would he? I've never asked for a rematch. May as well crash and burn.
“But they’re well enough to have a rematch? If I want one?”
“If it made sense commercially, then yes… we could ferret out one of the Pit’s rejects for you to destroy again. But it doesn't make sense, and why the hell you’d want to devalue your reputation by doing so, I’ve no fucking idea.” Xavier snarls at me and for a brief second, I see his dragon as his eyes snap red.
He’s right. I've proven myself unbeatable for an extended run up until now. It’s the only reason the punters keep coming back, to finally see me fall. Something that only has to happen once. The ultimate draw is if both fighters are unbeaten, and that can't happen if we bring back the dead.
That said, I'm not the only regular fighter they have. There are some working other circuits and other nights. It's not pick of the draw who becomes a challenger and who stays a regular. It’s how the fights stay fixed.
“So, if a rematch is out, how do they pay off their debt? I'm still not any closer to paying mine and I win every time, so I can't see you sending them home once they fail to deliver the goods. How do they repay you if they can’t work for you?”
“Who says they can’t work?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“There are other ways to earn for us, Jake. The Pit is just one part of the machine. We have to feed the rest of it to make it work.”
This is new. My mind is reeling. “So, I could work for you in other ways too?”
Eric sighs and nods. “Of course, debts don’t pay themselves, but trust me when I say you wouldn’t like those other ways. Fighting is what you do best. Although, I do hear you’re having trouble with your healing? If that’s the case, I would enjoy the spotlight while it lasts.”
“My healing is fine.” Another lie.
“That’s great. In fact, that’s perfect as we have proposition for you,” he continues. “How would you like to pay off your debt to us in full?”
“What? How?” Of all the things Eric was going to say, this wasn’t on my mental list.
I stare skeptically at the two of them, waiting for the hook. Xavier remains his usual silent, stoic self while Eric carries on, grinning from ear to ear.
“A ten-million-dollar match,” he says, waving his hands through the air in front of him. “You, The Raging Wolf, versus the two of us, the architects of the Black Dragon Fight Club!”
I feel my jaw hanging slack as I continue to stare at Eric, certain he must be fucking joking. It’s only when I glance at Xavier, his face as serious as ever, do I realize the proposal, insane as it is, is genuine.
“Me? Fight the two of you? At the same damn time? Why don't you just hand me a length of rope now so I can kill myself without the humiliation of a fates-damned arena watching me...”
“You misunderstand,” says Xav, shaking his head. “What we are proposing is an offer that few fighters ever receive. We're offering you a way out.”
“Wait, I’m confused,” I say, trying to wrap my head around this. “How is this a way out for me, other than a way out of life itself? You’re proposing I fight both of you, not one but two.”
“It wouldn’t be a battle to the death,” says Xavier. “Our interest is purely in the spectacle of such a fight. The bets, the profits that such a battle would generate. A ten-million-dollar match, as my brother so eloquently puts it.”
“That’s right. The aim is to have a packed house. The proceeds would be off the charts,” Eric adds from his position by the bar.
“Okay,” I say, still not convinced. This sounds like a death trap, a set-up even. There’s a reason for this game they’re playing, there always is. I’m just not sure what it is yet.
Eric leans forward, a smug smile breaking out across his lips. “If by some wild chance you manage to beat both of our asses in the ring, we’ll let you go. Release you from the rest of your debt to us. How about that.”
“I see,” I say, although I don't see. There’s no way I can beat them both and they know it. “And if I lose?”
“We go back to regular fight nights. But since you’re defending your title from the both of us, whatever we make on the night, you’ll get thirty percent of instead of the usual fifteen. If we do make upwards of ten-million-dollars, this will be more than enough to pay off the amount of debt you owe. So, you see, it's a win-win situation.”
It’s my turn to frown. “You’d let me carry on fighting, even though I’d no longer be unbeatable?”
“Why not, you'll still be the heavy-weight champion for one-on-one fights. No one can say you actually lost that title if you lose to both of us. This is a one-off, never to be repeated event.”
I feel the air leave my lungs. The prospect of having my debt forgiven or reduced is a lot to take in.
I’m still trying to comprehend all of this, when Eric pushes himself off the bar and makes his way to the lounge area. “Of course,” he adds as he takes a seat, “you could continue to fight for us even if your debt is repaid. Any earnings you secure in the ring after that will be yours alone, free to do with as you please.”
“I think… I need to consider what you’re asking me to do,” I say, eyeing the both of them.
I still don't know what’s in for them. Money seems the obvious choice, but the twins aren't exactly poor, if Eric’s garage full of super cars is anything to go by.
Xavier nods. “Of course, give us your answer whenever you’re ready. We’re not in any rush.”
Eric flashes a grin as two girls appear at the door. They smell like shifters, cats if I’m not mistaken, who eye me up as they enter.
“Looks like the party has arrived. Jake, are you joining us?”
I
shake my head. If Jess isn’t coming tonight, the last thing I want to do is go to the club and drink myself into oblivion.
Leaving the twins to their evening entertainment, I exit the warehouse by taking the stairs down that lead to the loading bay, instead of the old-style caged elevator. It takes longer but I've had enough of cages to last me a lifetime.
I step outside, grateful for how empty it feels. After having thousands of eyes on me, it's a relief to be alone.
My apartment, if you could call the tiny, two room studio I rent from the twins such, is actually located the tenth floor of the warehouse arena. But I’m not going home just yet, I need to take an extended walk in the city for a few hours, until sunrise hits. I can go for days without seeing natural light but it’s only when I start to feel trapped that I need to do this—get out and take a walk until dawn, think things through maybe. And after the night I’ve had, with my wolf pacing inside my head for the last hour howling at me to let him out, I need to be anywhere but here.
There’s an old shifter saying; if you can’t think, run!
I’ve no idea how I know that, but it’s true for me. Though since I can’t shift right now—doctor’s orders—I need to stretch my limbs another way.
I suck down a lungful of air, enjoying the freshness and the false freedom as I duck under the barrier marking the edge of the grounds. It’s tempting to leave and not come back, but where the hell would I go? I’d forever be looking over my damn shoulder. And this isn’t a terrible life, I get to do what I do best and I can’t say I don't enjoy the attention. But what the twins are asking now is insane. And while the wolf in me wants to accept the challenge, the human side of me won’t let up.
Sure. Go ahead, Jake. Sign your death warrant.
More thoughts like that bombard me as I stalk the streets. Mostly though, I think about Jess… The color of her eyes, alternating between a soft grey and severe blue, blazing into sapphire fire the moment she gave into her wolf. The sound of her breath catching as she allowed me to come close to her. The heat of her body against mine, tempting me to do more than just stand there.
