by Dannika Dark
“I want to speak to Delgado,” I demanded. “Tell him Naya James is asking to see him. Tell him—”
“You can tell him yourself,” the man ahead of me said.
Bright lights pierced my eyes when we moved into another room. Wet curls of hair stuck to my face, and I fought against my screaming retinas so I could get a look at my surroundings. The room itself was dark except for the bright light straight ahead.
Terror swept over me when soft applause filled the silence of the room. Through my lashes, I saw a raised platform, similar to a boxing ring. Except it was a cage with shiny, narrow bars all around and across the top. Seeing that incited a visceral reaction in me, and I arched my back as far as I could and bit the guard’s bristly jaw.
He shouted in pain, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. When his grip loosened, I spun around and punched him in the jaw. He tried to grab my chain, but I ducked and gave him an uppercut right in the groin. He fell to the ground like a bag of concrete, but my victory was short-lived when the chain yanked me onto my back.
Another soft applause erupted from all around, like the sound of gentle waves lapping against a shore. It sent chills up my spine, and that’s when I began to pull the world into focus. All around in the dark perimeter of the room were chairs filled with spectators. Men in suits. Men with cigars and glasses of whiskey or cognac. Some looked on with interest while others were making notes in little books.
The chain pulled and the guard led me up a small set of steps to an open door where he pushed me inside and slammed it. Before I could turn around, he pulled the slack on the chain until my back was against the bars.
Oh sweet Mary, no.
Wheeler stood on the opposite side of the cage with his right arm pulled through the bars—a chain shackled to his wrist. They had stripped him out of his shirt and shoes, but he didn’t look hurt. I only saw his profile, but I didn’t like his despondent demeanor, and his eyes were sullen and downcast.
My heart raced at a wicked beat, and I searched the room for a face. All I saw was darkness and faint silhouettes—ghostly images of men hiding in the shadows and watching with anticipation. Bright lights illuminated the cage, making it seem as if the rest of the world didn’t exist.
Footsteps approached from my left. While I didn’t recognize the man, I immediately knew who it was when he began speaking, his tone friendly but controlled.
“Gentlemen, I have a treat for you this evening. Please use the devices you’ve been provided to place your bets. In the left-hand corner, we have a legend among legends. He’s been out of the circuit for almost two decades and is a returning champion. Strong. Powerful. Deadly. This Shifter is a wolf, but not just any wolf. He’s undefeated against any animal—including panthers. He’s fought them in both animal and human form. Those of you who aren’t familiar with his face will certainly recognize the name Striker.”
The crowd murmured and Delgado let them settle down before continuing.
“In our right-hand corner is something we don’t have the privilege of seeing very often in this day and age. Here we have a woman with fight, as most of you just saw,” he said with a chuckle. “Stripper by night, and she shares her body with a black panther. Jaguar, to be specific. I’ve personally seen her animal and it… is… exquisite. At least two hundred pounds of solid muscle.”
Colored lights blinked in the darkness, presumably from whatever devices Delgado had given them to place their bets with.
“As a reminder of the rules, you may change your bet at any time until the chains are released. Once that happens, your devices will be disabled and there’s no going back. Take a moment to consider your wager, and remember the minimum bet requirement. If you can’t meet that minimum, then I’ll ask you to leave the room. The price for watching without betting is two thousand. And as a generous offer, should the panther be the victor of this match, I will hold an auction. One lucky bidder will have time alone with our lovely lady in private quarters for the entirety of the evening. This is going to be a spectacular show, gentlemen. Place your bets.”
My eyes widened as I looked at Wheeler. I wanted to speak, but the cold shackle around my neck was biting into my skin and making me dizzy.
“Ease up on that,” Delgado said in a tight voice.
The chain loosened and blood returned to my head.
Delgado approached the cage from behind me and I looked to the left. He smelled like cigarettes.
“My apologies for the unnecessary force on your restraints. Wouldn’t want you going in at a disadvantage,” he said. “Sorry we haven’t formally met, but these things happen for a reason. I’m a strong believer in fate. Are you?”
If I had eaten anything, it would have already been all over the floor.
“Please don’t do this,” I pleaded. “Let him go.”
“Him?” he asked with surprise. “Not you?”
“Release him. I’ll do what you want. His pack will come after you and cause more trouble; I have no one to claim me.”
“Sorry, Miss James. As curious as your request is, that’s not good business.” He leaned in so his voice wouldn’t carry. “Whatever feelings you might have for that man, I’d reconsider in your last moments. He’s a ruthless killer; I’ve seen it myself. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do to survive, and if you trust him, you’re a bigger fool than I took you for. So do me a favor and put on a good show.”
When he stepped away, I tugged at my chain. I got four steps into the cell before they yanked me back.
That’s when Wheeler swung his eyes up to mine. Those pale brown beauties glowed like embers from a fire, and I didn’t recognize the man standing before me.
Slowly the colored lights in the darkness became less frequent until they stopped altogether. The air chilled my arms, which were still damp from when they had thrown the water on me. I wiped my wet hair away from my face and tried to make eye contact with Wheeler. Could I trust him not to kill me?
“Gentlemen, we are releasing the chains.”
When Delgado nodded, my shackle clicked and fell away. I stumbled forward just as Wheeler’s right arm swung to his side without the chain attached. He stood catatonic, his heavy-lidded eyes transfixed on my legs.
The longer he stared, the more tempted I became to look down. I didn’t see anything outside of the mosquito bites, so I reached down and scratched one. Someone in the crowd chuckled.
Now what? No bell sounded. No announcement to begin. Just the sound of ice clinking in glasses, orange glows in the darkness whenever someone pulled smoke from their cigarette, and the sensation of my heart climbing out of my throat.
Wheeler walked along the perimeter of the cage. The fingers on his right hand touched the bars, tapping against each one as he approached me. When he inched near, he gripped the bars on either side of my head and leaned in so close that no one could hear anything but us.
“Shift.”
“No,” I whispered back, still trembling.
“Shift or else they’ll make us both shift.”
“My panther will kill you.”
His mouth grazed my ear. “That’s the point.”
My heart leapt to my throat. “I’m not going to do it. You shift.”
His face appeared in front of mine, hard as a stone. Shadows carved along his cheekbones, and I saw years of torment flickering in the depths of his eyes.
“My wolf will lunge at your throat before you can scream.”
“I can’t, Wheeler. I’m scared.”
“Do you trust me?” He brushed my cheek with the back of his knuckles in a predatory manner. “Trust me, Naya.”
Had he said that to all his previous victims? Wheeler’s eyes were devoid of fear, and his voice never wavered.
“Strobe lights are scheduled to begin in two minutes if the fight is prolonged,” Delgado announced.
A nervous flutter tickled my belly.
I cupped Wheeler’s face and whispered against his cheek, “I trust you.”
> Every muscle flexed as my skin erupted, contorted, and I transformed into a black panther. I heard light gasps from the crowd as she circled the cage. She opened her mouth, smelling the spike in their adrenaline. Confused by her surroundings, she growled and paced anxiously. I waited apprehensively for Wheeler to make a move. I wondered how he’d killed panthers with his bare hands. He must have put them in a viselike grip, or maybe gouged their eyes out before gnashing at their throats with his teeth.
Wheeler knelt down in front of my panther and gripped both sides of her face. She trusted him—she lapped his chin with her rough tongue.
Wheeler suddenly raised his hand and slapped her in the face. He did it again, and then punched her in the mouth before sitting back with his arms spread wide and his eyes looking upward, accepting his fate.
Nooo! I mentally screamed.
She growled ferociously, and before I lost consciousness, I forced myself to shift, falling over him. “No, no. Don’t you dare do this to me!”
The murmurs in the crowd became loud and argumentative.
“Goddammit, Naya! Shift back!”
“Not if it means this. You can’t choose me over you!”
He softly touched my hair with his hands. “Who else can I choose? There is only you and me, and I will always choose you.”
“Turn on the strobe!” someone shouted. “I paid good money for a fight.”
“Listen to me, Naya. There’s no way out of this. I’m going to make this easy for both of us.”
Hot tears streamed down my face. “Don’t you dare give up on me,” I said angrily.
He laughed. “You want me to fight you? Only my wolf will do it, because I’ll never lay a goddamn hand on you.”
“You have a family. You can’t do this to them.”
“Are you saying my life is worth more than yours?” He shook his head. “Are we really fighting over who lives and who dies? Naya, let me do this. It’ll be the only noble thing I’ve ever done in my worthless life.”
“Bullshit,” I spat. “You and I both know that’s a lie.”
“We don’t have time to argue. Shift before it’s too late!”
The lights flickered. I slammed my eyes shut and bent forward with my hands covering my face. My hair created a dark veil, and I heard the crackling of the strobe like snaps of electricity. When it ceased, I slowly raised my head and peered through my hair.
In front of me stood a brown wolf—just like Ben’s. His eyes flashed briefly toward the bars around us, and then he pulled in a scent. That’s when his lips peeled back, revealing his sharp canines. I sat back on my legs and readied myself for him to lunge at my throat.
I was ready to die for Wheeler, and I didn’t feel any fear. The wolf took a step forward, his brow angled in an angry slash as if he had a frown. His eyes were wide and full of fight. I’d never seen anything more terrible and beautiful all at once.
Slobber dripped off one of his fangs, and a low growl rose in his chest until it cut off with a ferocious snarl. Wheeler lunged.
“I trust you.”
Chapter 23
Wheeler’s massive wolf knocked me onto my back. We were both willing to die for each other, and that’s when I knew he loved me back. Maybe I’d never be the woman who found out that kind of devotion by way of candy, roses, or a candlelight dinner, but having a man willing to die for me was the most resounding declaration of love imaginable.
Terrible snarls and growls erupted from Wheeler’s wolf as he hovered over me, shaking me by the neck.
But his teeth hadn’t punctured my skin. Somehow, Wheeler was still in control. I lay beneath him in disbelief that a wolf could be this tactical. I gripped the sides of his fur, buried beneath the weight of him. My hair tangled everywhere—in my face, around my neck, and even in his mouth.
Shouts erupted from the crowd—no—cheering. They would never believe this without seeing blood. All those manicures had finally paid off. I reached up with my sharp nails and dug hard into the flesh of my neck until it drew blood.
Now the wolf had blood in his mouth. I didn’t know how this would end, and I honestly didn’t care. I just wanted it to be over one way or the other. The wolf thrashed, his teeth touching my neck painfully, but not puncturing the skin. Then he lifted his neck and I saw blood around his jowls—my blood.
More cheers.
“It’s over, boys,” someone shouted. “I would have never expected that.”
“Over in less than five minutes. I get the bonus!” someone else said with a laugh.
They were not only betting on winners, but how long the fight lasted.
I gasped when the wolf lunged again, this time at the back of my neck. I turned facedown and my hair smothered my view. After a few efforts to grab at him, I quit moving.
What was the plan? Oh God, I had no earthly idea what to do next! Did Wheeler have a plan?
Movement sounded from all around us and trickled away as the crowd left the room. Then I heard Wheeler.
“You bastards!” he shouted.
“You’re the bastard,” the guard with the British accent said. “You’re the one who killed her. Don’t blame us because you have a dead woman at your feet. Were you like this in all your fights? The most savage warrior, my arse. Nothing but a crybaby.”
“She was innocent.”
The cage door unlocked and another voice sounded. A familiar one I couldn’t place. “Stand back so we can collect the body. You’ll be rewarded with an exquisite meal tonight. The boss gives the winner a choice between steak and lobster, so think it over.”
Wheeler’s hand pressed against my back and all the rough edges in his voice smoothed out. “You wouldn’t be laughing so hard if she were alive… in panther form.”
The last thing I remembered after my shift was Manny, the stagehand from Club Sin. The bastard! He’d worked for Delgado this whole time and had been spying on us at the club. It was his eyes I saw behind the mask when a stranger walked onstage during my dance and made me shift, and he must have been the one who had attacked me outside my apartment. Those eyes I’d never forget.
By a simple twist of fate, I was the last thing Manny saw.
“And boom goes the dynamite,” I heard Wheeler say.
***
Wheeler slanted his eyes at the guard, who was holding a black baton. They wouldn’t expect an attack after a match because the fighters were tired and wanted a reward instead of punishment.
Naya had impressed him with not only her cunning actions, but also the fact that despite what he’d told her about his past, she trusted him. Wheeler had thought for sure his wolf would kill her on sight once he shifted uncontrollably, but his wolf tapped into his own emotions about Naya. A Shifter’s animal was usually respectful of close bonds, but even so, she was a panther, for Christ’s sake! He should have attacked. Wheeler’s wolf was calculating and methodical—almost to the point where some had once compared his mind to that of a human.
When he’d lunged at Naya, Wheeler had tried to shift before it was too late, but his wolf refused to give up control of his body. Wheeler had felt his canines latch around her tender throat—her pulse beating furiously against the soft flesh. Yet he’d seen something in her eyes that stilled him.
Trust. Not acquiescence like he’d seen in the eyes of so many he’d killed, but absolute trust that she would somehow survive this. His wolf had put on a ruse so the spectators would think the match was over.
Usually when both fighters were in animal form only one survived, but a match officially ended when one fell unconscious. Wheeler’s wolf had thrashed until Naya quit fighting.
In a span of three hours—from the time Naya was placed in her cell until the moment she’d shifted in the cage—everything he’d known about trust had changed. Wheeler feared trust, because it had always led to grave consequences. Naya had tangled herself around his heart and made him feel like a free man—able to talk about the demons that haunted him without fearing judgment. She shared his cyn
ical view on love, and he felt an undeniable chemistry with her. Until the moment he saw the guards carrying her in front of his cell, he hadn’t known how deep his devotion ran and how ruthlessly he was willing to fight for her.
When Naya had searched his eyes after he shifted, it was with absolute faith that he’d do the right thing. Christ, it made him want to fight for her even harder. This wasn’t infatuation, curiosity, or even about his past. He loved that woman with every breath in him.
Wheeler loved the smoky look in her eyes when she’d flirt, the tender way she spoke of her family, and the fire that burned on her tongue when anyone threatened her friends. He loved her imperfections—not that she had any on that voluptuous body of hers, but the ones inside her head and heart. The hidden insecurities, her temper, and even the way she loved that damn cat. Wheeler hated cats, and somehow that made this whole situation even more insane.
Of all people, he fell in love with a fucking cat.
As the guard approached Naya to drag her lifeless body from the cage, Wheeler waited to see if she had understood his suggestion for her to shift and attack.
Fucking hell, she was a sight to behold. Her panther sprang at the guard and crushed his throat within her powerful jaws. Wheeler ran after the second man and a fight ensued outside the cage. They threw chairs, punches, and Wheeler found a discarded cigar and burned the guard’s face before taking him out.
Naya’s panther leapt through the open door, her body moving like black silk. He’d never beheld a panther so agile and muscular. She approached him and rubbed against his side.
Wheeler patted her shoulder. “You ready to take care of business?”
Delgado’s voice sounded from the hall beyond the open door. “Dammit, Manny. I told you to bring them back to the…”
Wheeler smiled with all teeth when Delgado appeared in the doorway. “Nice little party you put together,” he said condescendingly as he stroked his beard. “You know what I love about men like you? How smart you think you are, but how dumb you really are. Did you think a man who escaped all those years ago wouldn’t know how to do it again? I know all the flaws and weaknesses of men like you.”
