Ben could almost accept that. Except it was a very similar situation. And the bad guys didn’t seem to be so different.
Chris caught his gaze. “It’s going to be okay. Now eat. Then we’ll go to bed.”
***
When they got to the park the next night, everyone was there. Everyone. Not just Roanoke pack, but also Stonewall pack, and all of the rogue wolves Chris had kicked out. Plus Bruno, of course. Keith and Brett still looked the worse for wear, which made Chris feel marginally better. If they had healed faster than he had, that would have just sucked.
Bruno stood with his shirt off, hands on his hips. Quite the posturer. Chris wanted to pound him for everything he was putting his mates and pack through.
Sophia had given him a shot just a few minutes earlier. Already he felt better than he had in days. A little mellow, maybe, but like she’d said the night before, less anxiety, less pain. He’d rather be more alert, but he couldn’t have everything.
Alex had also applied the same flesh-colored bandages as last fight, so in the dark when he disrobed it would look like he had no injuries at all.
Across the grassy area where they’d fight, Bruno stalked back and forth, displaying his muscles.
Chris peeled off his shirt and tossed it on the ground. Bruno wanted to show off? Chris could show off. Bruno had big muscles, and was unfortunately uninjured. But his muscles weren’t as big as Chris’.
Chris took a step or two forward, just enough to catch Bruno’s eyes. Then he slowly turned his back. Hopefully Bruno was getting an eyeful not just of Chris’ strength but also the illusion of the lack of damage to his back.
His mates stood before him. He met each of their eyes. Alex looked confident. Ben still looked a little scared, but only in his eyes. Other than that, he held strong.
Chris stepped up to them and gave each of them a kiss. Then he turned and walked out onto the field of battle. “Ready?”
Chapter 19
Bruno stepped forward as well. “Of course.”
“Then we change.” Chris dropped his pants. He’d gone commando, because really—why bother with underwear when you were planning to strip? Ben walked to his side and picked up the pants while Chris began his change.
Brett did the same for Bruno, both Brett and Ben standing over their leaders to protect them while they were vulnerable. Once both of them had become wolves, their seconds would leave and the fight would begin.
The change went slower than usual for Chris. Slower, and more painful. He was vaguely aware of Ben surreptitiously picking up the bandages as they fell off him during the change. And by the time he finished, Bruno sat waiting.
Bruno was a big wolf, just as he was a big man. His fur was gray, darker on the back. Fairly unremarkable. But when he stood, he was slightly taller than Chris.
Just what Chris needed.
The two wolves paced each other, moving in a circle. Bruno kept his head down, growling, while Chris chose to look more confident and less vicious by not yet taking an aggressive stance. Time enough for that later.
Bruno darted toward him, snapping his jaws at Chris. A quick step backward kept Chris out of range. Bruno made another feint, much the same, though this time his teeth snapped shut only an inch from Chris’ nose. On the third pass, Bruno leapt toward Chris.
Chris sidestepped at the last second. Bruno couldn’t change direction in the air, and landed on his feet so hard he dropped nearly to his stomach. Taking the opportunity, Chris jumped onto Bruno’s back and clamped his teeth on his upper back. He’d been going for Bruno’s neck but Bruno moved in time to protect it.
Digging his teeth as deep as they’d go, Chris tugged and twisted his mouth, trying to do maximum damage. He couldn’t believe he’d done so well so early in the fight.
Bruno used Chris’ move from the last fight, rolling his body and dislodging Chris from his back. Chris let go and moved out of range. Blood rolled down the sides of Bruno’s haunches, matting his fur.
Even injured, Chris had gotten first blood. Could it really be this easy? Was it possible Bruno was all posturing and that Chris could actually win?
Circling Chris, Bruno growled. His head lowered then he raced toward Chris, leaving him no choice but to rear up and kick at Bruno. One of Bruno’s paws caught Chris in the face, his claws opening up a wide gash along Chris’ muzzle.
The pain came a few seconds later, fire burning across his face. His eyes watered. It hurt, but he had to ignore it. To win, he’d endure much more. Chris gritted his teeth and continued to kick at Bruno until both wolves fell apart. Their chests heaved almost in time.
Clearly, it wasn’t going to be that easy to win.
Chris lowered his front half, preparing to jump, but Bruno ran. Not away, just to the side, out of range, then around Chris so that Chris had to turn to keep from being flanked. In mid-turn, Bruno attacked, managing to get his teeth into Chris’ back in the exact spot Brett had shredded.
Agony shot through Chris and he stumbled under the weight of the other wolf then pushed himself up again. The painkillers weren’t working as well as he’d hoped.
***
Ben tried very hard to keep his face impassive as Bruno attacked Chris’ back. The urge to change and jump into the fight nearly overwhelmed him. The fear, the desire to protect his mate warred with duty. He had to let the fight go on. He had to let Chris win or lose on his own merit. He had to watch while looking strong, rather than howling out his agony.
Alex held his hand so tightly her nails dug into his skin. He was probably doing the same to her.
In the middle of the circle, Chris managed to shake Bruno off his back. Both of them had blood clotting in their fur. But only Chris looked tired. Just around the eyes, not anything most people would notice, but Ben saw it. Tired was not good.
The two wolves circled each other. Bruno bunched himself up to jump, then stood again and circled some more. Was he looking for a weak spot? Or biding his time to catch a little rest?
Chris lunged toward Bruno. The two wolves reared up on their hind legs, grappling and snapping at each other. Claws and teeth ripped tears in their shoulders and faces.
Suddenly, Chris twisted, heaving Bruno and dropping him to the ground, then falling on top of him. Chris got his teeth into Bruno’s shoulder. By the time Bruno threw him off, Chris had torn away a chunk of flesh. He spit it out onto the grass.
Bruno stood, favoring his leg, and limped away a few feet. His lip curled as he growled, but the growl was not as loud or as threatening as before. Just as Ben began to hope Bruno might be flagging, the big wolf turned and charged at Chris.
Chris attempted to sidestep, but Bruno compensated. The wolves wrapped around each other, twisting to find a good place to bite. Bruno kicked Chris’ bag leg, which went out from under him. Then Bruno again dug his teeth into Chris’ bleeding back.
Chris howled, a strangled cry that ended in a whimper.
Ben’s legs buckled. He locked his knees so he wouldn’t fall. His head felt light, that high ache that came from a prolonged flood of adrenaline. He felt a slight crack when his nails broke through Alex’s hand.
The two wolves were still for long minutes, Bruno digging his teeth into Chris while Chris lay on his stomach breathing heavily. He didn’t even try to fight back.
He couldn’t lose. Chris couldn’t lose. Ben wouldn’t make it if he died.
Alex’s breathing sounded ragged, her mouth open.
Ben struggled to hold himself together. Chris was going to lose. All they could hope for was that Bruno wouldn’t kill him. But that was in Bruno’s discretion.
Chris burst off the ground, throwing Bruno off in one swift move. The other wolf stumbled back. Chris pounced on him, kicked him in the jaw.
Bruno struggled. He kicked his hind legs against Chris’ body.
Chris pinned him and clamped his teeth around Bruno’s throat.
Alex let go of Ben’s hand and slipped her arm through his, gripping his forearm. “He can
do it.”
Maybe he could do this.
Bruno struggled, almost throwing Chris off. Chris bit down harder, digging in. Bruno wouldn’t give. He pushed off his feet, trying Chris’ move, and nearly unseated Chris.
This time, Chris bit down hard and twisted. The snap of Bruno’s neck sounded loud in the quiet.
Chris released the limp body and stepped back, still watching as though expecting Bruno to stand and continue the fight. After a couple of minutes, Chris sat down on his haunches. His tongue lolled out of his mouth.
He’d won. Chris had really won.
A murmur of excited voices rippled across the crowd then erupted into cheers.
As the wolves began to move, the rogues who’d accompanied Bruno slipped off to their cars, running at full-tilt. Ben silently met Matt and Nick’s eyes and pointed at the rogues. As Matt and Nick set off in pursuit, Ben walked forward to where Chris labored to change back into a man.
***
Chris leaned heavily on Ben and Alex as they half-carried him to a nearby picnic bench. One good thing about fighting at the park instead of the farm was that he’d get to sit down while they patched him up. And right now, he really needed to sit down.
The drugs were wearing off, leaving him with an odd combination of fatigue and pain and the aftershocks of fear. Ben and Alex sat him on the bench, facing away from the table. He braced his hands on the edge of the seat to help him stay upright. His back was on fire again, so he definitely didn’t want to lean back.
“I’m going to go find Nick and Matt,” Ben said. With the set look on Ben’s face, Chris knew the three wolves would make sure the rogues were gone from Marysburg for good. Ben jogged away.
Sophia worked her way through the crowd to his side. She dropped her medical bag on the grass and knelt in front of him. “You really did a number on yourself this time.”
“A congratulations wouldn’t be out of line,” he said.
Her eyes flicked to his face then back to his wounds. “Congratulations. You need at least a week’s bed rest. And no more fighting for at least a month. You could do permanent damage to yourself if you keep this up.”
“If I’d lost, I think the damage would have been very permanent.”
She stopped moving for a second. “More than that, the whole pack would have suffered. Thank you.”
Alex ran her hand along the back of his head. “Yes, thank you.”
Contentment spread through him. Everything was okay again. Better than okay.
“You’re welcome.” Chris reached up to grab Alex’s hand. “Can you get my cell?”
“You’re going to call someone?” Alex said.
“My parents.”
Alex gazed at him then nodded. “Of course. I’ll be right back.”
It was time they knew about his mates. And he finally felt sure the trouble was over. It was safe to tell them.
Sophia finished taping a bandage onto his leg wound then moved to his back. She had him scoot to the side so she could work on him.
A few minutes later, Alex returned with his clothes and his cell, which had been in the car. She handed him the cell then set about folding the clothes.
“I’m just going to put those on again,” he said. “No need to fold them.”
“No need for them to get creases in the meantime,” Alex said. “Besides, I’ve got nothing better to do.”
To each their own. He could think of a hell of a lot of things better than folding laundry. Like, sitting on a bench doing nothing, for instance. He dialed his parents’ home phone.
“Hi, Chris,” his mom’s voice said.
“Hey, Mom.”
Before he could get another word out, she said, “We haven’t heard from you in a while. Everything okay? We were just talking about coming down this weekend to check on you.”
Typical. They could have checked on him by picking up the phone, but were considering driving several hours instead. “There’s been a lot going on, and I’ll explain it all to you later, but I wanted to give you some good news first.”
He could almost hear Mom holding her breath.
“I found my mates.”
She squealed. No other word for it. Chris pulled the phone away from his ear. No need to have blood coming out of there, too.
Sophia slid a needle into his back. From the nearly instant relief, it must have been a local anesthetic.
“Oh, I can’t wait to meet them!” A couple of male voices talked in the background, not quite loud enough to be understandable. Had to be his dads. “He found his mates!”
Pops came close enough to the phone so Chris could hear him. “When are we going to meet them?”
“I was thinking next weekend,” Chris said. No way would they wait that long, but he had to at least try.
“Nonsense. We can be there for breakfast,” Mom said.
Breakfast? “Like, tomorrow?” When he was still covered in bruises and bandages and hurting so bad he couldn’t move?
“Yes, tomorrow.”
“It’s late, Mom. Why don’t you come down on the weekend. It’s not that much longer to wait.”
She must have covered the phone, because he heard the three of them talking but couldn’t make out the words.
“Hi, son,” Dad said. “We’ll be there for breakfast. Shall we meet at that Weeping Widow restaurant?”
Chris’ eyes met Alex’s, which were a little wide. He shrugged at her, then wished he hadn’t when pain radiated up his back.
“We have some pack business we’ve got to take care of in the next few hours,” Chris said. “I know this’ll seem strange, but could you meet us at the bar? Mary’s Tavern? Or wait a couple of days…”
“We’ll meet you at Mary’s Tavern,” Pops said in the background.
Mom was still squealing excitedly when they hung up.
Alex had her hands on her hips. “We should really go back to the house where you can start to recuperate. Not go to the bar.”
A mischievous feeling grabbed him. “You’re right. Sophia can take me back to the house and you can go to the bar to wait for my parents. Ben’ll join you when he’s through kicking the rogues out of Marysburg.”
Her eyes grew wider. “You want me to meet them…alone?”
He did his best not to bust out laughing. “You did say I should go home to recuperate. And you were completely right.”
“Well.” She shifted from one foot to the other. “Don’t you want to oversee what’s going on tonight? It would be easier to do that from the bar.”
Sophia sat back on her haunches. “Don’t believe him for a second. He won’t go home tonight. He’ll want to be in the middle of everything. The hard part will be keeping him in the bar, because he’ll want to join the hunt.”
Alex’s eyes narrowed. “Is that right?”
He couldn’t stop himself from laughing. Until the pain reminded him why it wasn’t a good idea to move. “Yes, Sophia’s right. I was just teasing you.”
Alex shook her head at him. “I’m going to have to keep my eye on you.”
“That and every other body part,” he said.
She blushed. “Let me know when you’re almost done,” she said to Sophia. “I’ll go drive the car over here so he doesn’t have to walk far.”
“You can do that now,” Sophia said. “I just need to look at that gash on his cheek and then we’re through.”
Alex walked toward the parking lot. Matt, Nick and Ben showed up a few minutes later. “We’ve got everyone organized,” Nick said. “Groups are heading out now. By morning, we’ll make sure every last rogue is gone from Marysburg.”
Kicking loners out of town like this was extreme, but this situation called for extreme measures. And he knew if other pack Alphas heard about it, they’d agree that he’d made the right decision. Jake, too. Stonewall pack had joined with Roanoke to make sure every last one of these rogues was gone.
“I’m going to the bar to monitor things from there,” Chris said. “Check in r
egularly and let me know how it’s going. Particularly if you run into any snags.”
“Don’t worry.” Ben cracked his knuckles. “We can take care of any snags.”
Nick and Matt laughed.
“All right,” Chris said. “Happy hunting.”
While the other two headed off, Ben hung behind. “You were right, you know. Everything did turn out okay in the end.” He put out his hand as though he was going to touch Chris, then let it drop. “We aren’t my parents. I see that now.”
Chris grabbed his hand. “I’m glad.”
“I’m proud you’re my mate.”
Chapter 20
Warmth spread through Chris. “I’m proud you’re my mate, too.”
As Ben stepped away, Chris said, “Oh, by the way. My parents are coming to meet you two. They’ll be here for breakfast.”
Ben turned back. “Breakfast…tomorrow?”
“Yeah. I called them a few minutes ago and told them.”
“You weren’t kidding about them dropping everything when they heard.”
Chris chuckled.
“All right,” Ben said. “I’ll try to get back by breakfast. Where?”
“The bar.”
“Interesting spot to meet the in-laws.” Ben grinned. “I’ll be there.” He loped off to catch up with the other wolves.
Sophia applied the second and final wing bandage to Chris’ face just as Alex drove up in the car. She went very slowly but it still bumped its way across the uneven ground. He hoped he wouldn’t have to take it into the shop after all this.
Alex stopped by the picnic table and got out.
“Thank you, Sophia,” Chris said.
“No problem. You need help dressing?” she said.
“Alex will help me with that.”
“Of course.” Sophia packed up her bag.
Alex pulled a bag out of the trunk.
“What’s that?” Chris struggled to stand.
“Sit, sit.” Alex plunked the bag down on the seat next to him. “I brought some extra clothes. I thought these might be more comfortable after the fight.” She pulled a pair of sweat pants out of the bag, and then one of his very old, very soft t-shirts.
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