by Ally Parker
Fear thick enough to flatten a person rolled off the tiny woman in sheets. Kali darted a quick glance toward the she-wolf. She was small but would definitely fall into the textbook pretty category. Her auburn hair, curled at the tips, was shiny and hung around the curves of her body, her skin was smooth, and she had big blue eyes that screamed innocence. There was no mistake that men would find her attractive.
Another sob broke free even though you could hear the female tried to hold it back. “If it’s money you need, I can pay you. A lot. Please, just let me go.”
“Not another fucking word. Dumb, stupid bitch.” He shook his head. “I’ve told you talking is forbidden.”
Kali frowned, wondering why the woman would risk the wrath of the guard. Then it hit her. The subtle scent of heat. Pity deep enough to lose yourself in consumed her. No female would want to go into heat in a place like this. Her body would crave to be filled to the point of physical pain. In the end, she’d be begging her winner to take her. It wouldn’t matter if she didn’t welcome the affection or not. Mating heat sent females into a frenzy.
The guard stomped forward, his hand shooting out and wrapping around the female’s neck. His nostrils flared, and by the way his eyes hooded, the male caught the scent too. He lifted her off the ground, leaving her feet to dangle. The chain tugged Kali forward because the slack in the restraint wasn’t long enough. The woman’s hands shot up and held onto the guard’s hand.
“Fuck!”
From where she stood, she could see the guard’s leather pants cradling his erection. At this point she didn’t know if the guard wanted to mount her or kill the poor she-wolf. Kali’s muscles tensed, and everything in her wanted to attack. Her wolf was a far cry from submissive, but over the years she’d learned quick and fast to control the animal or pay the price. Maybe it was Ryker’s influence, but she wanted to protect the female beside her.
Steeling herself for the worst, she raised her chin and licked her lips. “What would the boss say if you damaged the goods before the prize could be claimed?”
The guard shot her a scathing look; his lips peeled back and exposed sharp and not remotely human teeth. This male was close to the edge, close to rogue. His nostrils flared, and saliva ran over his bottom lip and trailed down his chin. Another guard with hair nearly as long as the petite female ate up the distance from the other side of the line.
“Damn it, Cyrus. Get control. Let the female go and walk it off.”
When Cyrus didn’t move, the other guard shot his hand up, breaking the vise-like grip on the she-wolf. “I said. Walk. It. Off.”
The female fell to her knees and sucked in a lungful of air, rubbing her neck. Cyrus snarled and craned his neck from side to side. He took a step toward the guard and froze. Sucking in a breath, he shook his head, swiveled on his heel and bee-lined to the door that headed back to the chaining room.
Gaze swaying between Kali and the female on the floor, he said, “Behave. Or you’ll be downgraded for the furry trial winners and trust me, that’s no place a female wants to be.”
This whole place wasn’t a place a female wanted to be. If the guard said that, she better not make a move out of line.
From below a horn sounded, and the cheers escalated to deafening levels.
“Welcome one and all to the one hundred and fiftieth Mating Games. Tonight’s event has been brought forward in celebration of my son joining the fray…”
A voice she was sure would haunt every female’s dreams boomed through the speaker. Josef.
A sob so deep you could feel the woman’s heart break snapped free. Other women shushed her from farther down the line. The chains clanked as the woman stood on shaky legs and cradled her face, trying to smother the sound. The longhaired guard looked toward them. Kali bit her lip and reached out, snatching the female’s hand.
“My name’s Kali. What’s yours?” she whispered.
The female sniffed and sucked in a shuddering breath. “Elizabella.”
Kali squeezed her hand. It wasn’t much comfort, but it was all she had to offer. Some kind of sign to show she wasn’t alone. Because Kali knew all too well what that felt like, and as she had found out, knowing you weren’t alone could be the game changer, be all the difference you needed to dig deep and hang in there.
“First up we have Daniel Edwards, a fresh new recruit.”
A red-headed male jogged out into the arena barefoot and dressed in a black robe with the hood pooled between his shoulder blades.
“Versus undefeated six-times-in-a-row champion Jack Rodgers.”
The crowd bellowed as another black-hooded male jogged out into the dirt. Kali wanted to shake her head, but she was sure that would have been forbidden too. Everything seemed to be forbidden. She supposed that made manhandling a lot easier if your prisoner’s were compliant robots. Josef sounded proud, the rumble in his voice even said he would be enjoying the fight.
“And tonight they are fighting to win… the joy-inspiring Jenna.”
Blinding light swung across the stage and pinpointed a tall woman with an athletic physique. From where Kali stood, the white light shone so bright she couldn’t see any details except that the female had lighter-colored hair. The guard shoved her from behind, and Jenna staggered forward, catching herself with the caged wire.
“Remember, we fight not because we want to, but because it’s our duty to our kind, to our species, and to ourselves. We fight for freedom. We fight to live. And most importantly, we fight for hope. Each union may bring forth a potential savior for one of our males. Let the games begin.”
Another horn sounded, and Kali leaned forward to get a better view. Tearing off their robes, both men shifted to wolves. There wasn’t any toying around, no circling each other gauging their opponent. One minute they had been human, the next they met midair, clashing teeth.
The red wolf snapped hard and latched onto the black wolf. The black wolf rolled and pulled free, growling, and launched forward, meeting the red wolf on hind legs. They both grappled for dominance. Blood saturated the air and fed the crowd if the yells and cheers were anything to go by. Growls rolled around the amphitheater followed by snaps and snarls. With a quick chomp from the black-furred wolf, the red wolf yelped, his right leg lame from the attack.
Not that the red wolf seemed concerned. He shot forward and sunk his teeth into the black wolf’s shoulder. Even from the stage’s height, Kali could hear the tear of flesh. The black wolf yelped and rolled, twisting on the blood-sodden ground and bounding back up. Just like that, the tides had changed. The red wolf was caught up under the black wolf.
Any second now they’d blow the horn and declare Jack Rodgers’s seventh win. But as the time clicked on that didn’t look like it was happening. The red wolf thrashed again. Big mistake. It left his throat exposed, and the black wolf didn’t pass the opportunity. The crunch of Daniel’s throat was a sound Kali wouldn’t forget anytime soon.
Looked like Jack was still the undefeated champion, she thought darkly.
The guard stepped forward and unlocked Jenna from the line, and another guard led her toward the door on the other side of the stage.
“Only the strong prevail. Let’s pray your mating will bless us all. Next, our contenders will be fighting for kiss-you-so-good Kali. Many sought to break in this beauty, but alas, there can only be two challengers.”
She sucked in a breath and froze. Looking down the line she hoped she shared the name with another female. Yet that bright, white light zeroed in on her, and a guard shoved her from behind, breaking her hold with Elizabella and pushing her front and center.
Heart drilling in her chest, her mind fogged wondering how she was going to get out of this. Her brain struggled to think, and with a sinking realization she knew the answer—there would be no getting out of this. By the time the next shifter died, she would be someone’s prize.
15
Every male had his breaking point, and this was his. A deep part of Ryker was sorry for failin
g the females he’d set out to save. He now knew his quest to seek justice was just as dead as he was. His beast wanted out, and this time there would be no leashing him, no control to reign in his monster. The human part of him couldn’t even summon the will to try. Kali was his, only his, and he was hers.
She was no one’s prize.
He looked up past the glaring lights to where Kali’s fingers curled around the cage’s wire. He craned his neck and yawned his mouth open wide, trying to hide his shift for as long as he could. The element of surprise was about the only thing he had going. Logic told him to hold on, but there was no logic within instinct. Only a drive to protect what was his.
“It’s with great pleasure we welcome to the ring Jefferson Reynolds”
Jefferson. Why does that name sound familiar? He couldn’t think right. All brain cells were hovering over the fact he had to save Kali. He had to get her out of there before something happened that would destroy them both.
A tall, well-built male with scruffy black hair swaggered out to the fighting ring as if he’d already won the fight. He looked up to the stage where Kali was pressed against the cage and blew her a kiss. “I’ll be seeing you soon, Firefly.”
“Tonight, Jefferson will be going tooth and claw against Sabas Reeves.”
Another male jogged into the field, bouncing with every step as if he’d been a boxer in a previous life. But Ryker didn’t pay him too much attention. Jefferson. Firefly. His body stilled. That was the fucker who had stolen Kali’s life. He was here, right now, fighting to win his mate. The drone of the crowd dimmed, and all he could hear was the seesawing of his own ragged breath.
Ryker stood and walked forward.
“Hey!”
Someone yelled. He thought it could have been Brennon, though it could have been anyone.
“Hey, get back here. You aren’t allowed past the barrier.”
Arm braced on the fence, Ryker catapulted over the steel beam and jogged down the few stairs toward the ground level of the stadium. He didn’t waste time. He stalked right up to Sabas, wrapped his fingers around the male’s trachea until they touched and then he yanked, pulling the airway from the male’s body. Blood sprayed in an arc against his arm and gushed out in rivulets. His wolf howled in victory.
The male fell to his knees and collapsed to the dirt.
One down, one to go.
Jefferson spun to face him. Guess killing his competitor was one way to gain the asshole’s attention.
“What the fuck? There are rules. If you want to fight you gotta pay the price. Now look what you’ve gone and done,” Jefferson sneered, staring straight into his eyes, unblinking.
A challenge.
Good. He wanted this to last.
Guards trailed down the stairways, working their way through the crowds. Distantly, he could hear his father ordering them to halt. But he couldn’t worry about that now. He had a job to do. Destroy Jefferson. The male would never hurt his mate again.
Ryker ripped his shirt in two and yanked the frayed material off. “Kali. Is. Mine,” he snarled. “My mate. Not yours.”
He sucked in breath after breath, trying to reduce the anger to a simmer. The effort was futile. His muscles felt tight, fuller even. Bones cracked, and he bit back the shift. Just a second more.
“Ryker, don’t!” Kali yelled. He heard the fear in her voice. A note he never wanted to hear again.
Jefferson laughed. “Yours?” He took a step forward, unclamping his robe and letting it pool at his feet. “You hold claim on her?”
A single jerk of his head. Fur skated across his skin, his claws still out from killing Sabas and his words no longer sounded human. “I do.”
“Well get the fuck in line. After tonight, Kali will be mine.”
With those words, his thought process stopped working and there was nothing left but the monster he housed. Bones snapped and reshaped, and his muscles stretched. Pain seared through his body, sizzling every fiber into his wolf. He landed in the dirt with a plume of smoke curling around his legs.
Jefferson wasn’t as quick and that was a good thing. His beast wasn’t as fierce as him, wasn’t as savage as him, wasn’t as hungry as him. A second later Jefferson complete the change. Ryker launched through the air and sunk his teeth into his shoulder and shook the shit out of it. He hoped to rip it clean off, but he’d settle for any damage.
Blood, thick and sweet, coated his tongue, and his beast basked, knowing he had drawn first blood.
Maim.
Kill.
Jefferson whimpered, the sound morphing into a growl. The bastard rolled, their bodies tangled, and dirt filled the air like a screen, hindering his vision. Ryker’s body slammed into the boundary wall of the field, over and over. Jarring pain shot over his shoulders. He clamped his teeth down harder and shook his head. His paws slipped in the soft dirt just as Jefferson slammed him a final time. His hold slipped. Jefferson pulled free and moved back with a limp.
Injured. Weak. Prey.
The impairment didn’t hold Jefferson back. They met half-way on hind legs, their teeth clashed. Falling to the dirt, he snarled, coated in a mixture of blood, teeth, and claws. Jefferson’s talons raked down his front leg, opening his flesh in an easy swipe. Ryker growled, his blood filling the air.
Ryker let the fire of his wound fuel the rage burning in the pit of his stomach. He bared his teeth, ears flat, and dug his claws into the dirt. Gaining traction, he leaped through the air. Kali screamed. Automatically, his wolf followed her call, attention snapping toward his mat. Hand deep in Kali’s hair, he ripped her from the cage fence and dragged her deeper into the shadows.
No!
Trajectory changed, Ryker landed with a thud and rolled quickly, bounding back up in an instant. No! Fuck No! He took off toward the far side of the stadium, hell bent on getting to Kali. This was his fault, damn it. He’d blown their cover, and now Kali would pay the price.
Teeth stabbed into the scruff of his neck and bit down hard, yanking him to the dirt. He landed on his back, Jefferson towering over him. Sharp teeth pierced his flesh, pain shooting up his neck. Iron coated the air. His. The crowd chanted, “Kill him, kill him.”
Kali screamed.
His heart clenched, knowing he had failed the sole person that mattered most to him.
“No! Let me go.”
She twisted in the cutthroat grip of Ryker’s father. Fire lanced across her scalp. The tips of Josef’s claws scraped against her skin. Damn it, he was going to rip her whole head off if he didn’t let up soon.
“Ryker? Your mate?” He spat the words like they tasted foul in his mouth. “Need to see his demise, do you?”
Josef’s fingers tightened in her hair, and her neck craned back at an unnatural angle to stop something from breaking. He dragged her forward and shoved her to the cage’s edge, slamming her face against the wire. “Look your fill, female. It’ll be the last time you do.”
Not if he won. Then again, she could see the lineup of guards hovering at the sideline. He might be strong enough to beat Jefferson, but one wolf against all those guards? She swallowed hard. Then again because it felt like her throat had closed up. Her stomach churned. “Ryker.”
Their chance at happiness was over before they even got a chance. In the short time they’d been together he’d shown her kindness, been her protector, given her somewhere to belong, and now it was all going to be ripped away. Her wolf growled. We fight because he is ours.
Looking down through the halo of blood Ryker and Jefferson rolled in, the dirt created a misty shield. Jefferson’s black wolf was a blunt distinction from Ryker’s lighter gray wolf. While the fog of dirt hovered in the air, she could still make out Jefferson looming over Ryker; she could still hear the snapping of teeth, yelps of pain, and the death rattle growls.
Her fingers curled around the woven mesh, claws already out, scraping on the metal. Her jaw elongated, her right shoulder rolled in, snapping at the joint to allow her wolf to take shape.
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“I don’t think so. You’re coming with me.”
She growled and whirled toward Josef. No one was getting in between her and Ryker. He’d given her so much, and she’d be damned if he’d die on the dirt floor protecting her. Her wolf filled her insides, spreading over every human molecule.
Pain stabbed into her back and spread like ripples of water. Her muscles stiffened, her shift stopped in its tracks, and her legs collapsed from underneath her.
“There, that’s better. It’s forbidden for females to shift.”
She sucked in her breath, her lungs filled, and it didn’t feel like enough. Jesus. What was that? Dragging her gaze to Josef, he turned his back on her to face the other women in the line, their heads bowed. In his hands swung idly a cattle prod. One hell of a juiced-up cattle prod for it to have that impact on her.
He swept his arm back to her. “Despite what you all believe, I don’t enjoy being a hard task master, so let this be a lesson to you all.”
How thoughtful of him. Shame it was a lie. Enough pleasure coated the air, she could taste it. Josef jerked his head, and rough hands jerked her up by her armpits. Her legs felt like jelly, and she struggled to stand steady.
A large snarl had the echoes of the crowd’s cheers snagging her attention. She glanced over her shoulder, but she’d been dragged too far away from the edge of the cage. A yelp cut off, and her breath stilled. She ground her bare feet into the wood. “Ryker.”
Tears blurred her vision. The rumble of the pack reverberated through the floor, and she felt it wrap around her heart and squeeze it like a vise. Had that been him? “No!”
She had to know. It couldn’t have been Ryker. Everything about him was strength from his dominance, to his ripped muscles, to his unweaving sense for justice. More importantly for his ability to forgive and accept someone like her. Because he could have easily mated her, forced her compliance, and it would have been the easier thing to do. But he hadn’t.
