“Chump,” Caleb said with a growl.
Joshua put a hand up to stop Abraham from attacking. “Stop. Not now. We have bigger issues.”
“I’m going to go sit with Meg.” Caleb huffed before he disappeared into the near pitch black crowd. They watched him go in silence.
“Now what?” Ezekiel questioned.
“We wait for Joe’s signal,” Joshua replied. “And we get our family out safe and alive.”
Each Hallow returned his attention to the cage in the center of the arena. Sarah was already squaring off with her opponent. Abraham glanced at the dim, seated figures around him. He thought his fight was hard. At least his was human. Sarah was facing a vampire. Despite Josiah’s warning to get her someone warm-blooded to square off against, Cort and Rock screwed them over. Like usual.
Fighting out of an arena of undead was going to be impossible.
Sarah lost ground quickly to the other fighter. Her punches should have knocked any normal chick out. This one kept coming. The bloodsucker got Sarah flat on the mat to attack when Abraham saw something land on the canvas. His oldest two brothers started shouting. Sarah twisted her body to flip her opponent onto her back. The referee stopped the match and instructed the vamp to put her mouth guard back in.
“Can’t sink your teeth in with all that rubber in the way,” Ezekiel muttered. Abraham chuckled.
Joshua stared at the cell in his hand. “Guys, now. Light them up.”
Abraham pointed his flashlight toward the cage. He flickered it on then off again. He repeated the action over and over. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see his brothers do the same. They were all to attempt to simulate the flash of a cell phone camera bulb. They were awkward about it but it looked real.
The quick bursts of UV light hit the vamp quick. She stumbled as she doubled over a bit. Sarah wasted no time to finish her off. The referee ended the match and sent Sarah to her corner.
“Come on, guys. Joe wants us to meet them outside.”
Abraham watched multiple heads pop up out of the crowd. They, too, staggered a bit as they searched in the dark around them. “Good idea.”
The three brothers hurried past the curtain and near sprinted down the corridor to the row of metal doors that led outside to the parking lot. They splintered off to their vehicles. Abraham climbed into his beat-up truck and locked the door after him.
He studied the arena, waiting for a sign of life. He couldn’t breathe. Maybe they left too soon. Maybe the others were trapped inside…
He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the rest of his family emerge from the building. At the same time his cell vibrated. He scooped it out of his pocket and read the brief text.
Go. Meet you at home.
He wasn’t going to argue. He tossed his phone onto the seat beside his bag. Then he fired on his truck and sped north up the highway out of Duluth.
Chapter Two
Morning took forever to arrive for Abraham. He rubbed his eyes and chugged down another energy drink as the first rays of sunshine pierced the night sky. He squinted to focus on the computer screen in front of him. The apps that the Hallow Brothers created and sold to the Japanese gaming company they worked with were humming along. They had been all night even when he rushed off to take a shower.
It was the worst night for him to be on the overnight shift. It wasn’t as if he could tell his brothers he had fought the night before. If Josiah knew he was the Luchador, he’d get his ass chewed off and he’d be locked in his cabin until he was old and gray. It was easier to force himself to stay awake.
Abraham sighed as he hit a few keys on the keyboard. He popped the top on another energy drink before he took a swig. Then he tugged on the waistband of his jeans. He had no idea what came over him, but all night a thick, painful erection pressed tight against the denim. All he wanted to do was fuck. The insatiable horniness helped keep him awake but it could stop anytime now.
He thought of the girls he normally hooked up with down at Littlefoot’s reservation. They were beautiful. He couldn’t deny it. But they weren’t the ones causing his current condition. Frankly, he didn’t know who was. What he did know was when he found whoever it was, he wasn’t letting them go for hours. Maybe even days.
“Those things are going to kill you, you know.”
Abraham nearly jumped out of his seat to find Joshua leaning against the doorframe leading into the office. “Why the fuck does everyone have to scare me like that?”
Joshua cocked a grin at him. “Shift’s over. Go get some sleep. Well, go make me some coffee and go get some sleep.”
“Why the fuck do I have to make you coffee?”
“You can sit here while I do it.”
Abraham shot a side glance at the screen. He loved designing the game apps they marketed. But standing guard so they kept functional to the world? He’d rather watch paint dry. It was that boring.
He rose from the chair and kicked it back out of the way. “Cream and sugar?”
“Cream. I’m trying to cut out the excess sugar.”
“Good luck with that around here. With Momma’s and the girls’ constant baking binges all that’s around here is sugar.” Abraham passed by Joshua as they each rounded the desk to switch places. He sauntered to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. He dug out the bag from the cupboard and filled the carafe with water. Once it was percolating, he checked his cell for messages. He hoped his win the night before might convince Harry to give him a chance at the championship. The fan base wanted it. They screamed it at every show.
Nope, nothing. The background photo on his phone of a light gray wolf pup was all that greeted him. He sighed as he stuffed the cell into his back pocket.
The coffee pot huffed out a small cloud of steam to announce it was finished brewing. Abraham opened the cabinet door beside it and rummaged through the ceramic mugs until he found the one he wanted near the back. He grinned at the image of a rooster giving the middle finger. The words “good morning, now fuck off” were embossed around it. It conveyed how he felt about being Joshua’s maid at the moment. He poured the coffee in and added a splash of half and half. He held tight to it as he carefully wound his way back to the office.
Joshua took it from his hands and sipped it. “Hmm. Good. You’ll make a great…”
“Shut the fuck up,” Abraham interjected. “I don’t need the condescending ‘you’ll make a great wife’ crap. Frankly, I’m tired of taking everyone’s bullshit.”
Joshua stared at him. “I was trying to say that you’ll make a great husband whenever you grow up, you little shit. Some girl will be lucky to have you. I see Mike and Joe and Sam taking care of their mates. Even Cay does, and he’s an asshole. And here you are, making a cup of coffee for me without protest. Well, until now. Hell, I don’t even know how to run the thing.”
“Say what? You said you’d do it if I didn’t.”
Joshua shrugged. “It was a bluff. So go get some sleep. You’re grouchy as fuck.”
Abraham felt his cheeks burn a little. “Yeah, guess I am. Sorry I flew off the handle.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Joshua took another sip of the caramel colored brew. “You’re forgiven.”
Abraham gave his older brother a quick wave goodbye and slipped out of the office and out the door of the family building. The sunrise painted the sky in brilliant oranges, blues, and pinks. He needed to go to bed.
He sighed. No, he needed to get away for a while and clear his head. He shifted his jeans again. And he needed to release some of this tension before he exploded.
He jogged across the camp to his cabin and took the steps two at a time. His feet thudded on the wood planks harder than he liked. The only ones up so far that Abraham could tell were him, Joshua, and Roscoe, Momma Hallow’s feather-bare rooster. It didn’t seem as if the old bird had woken anyone up yet.
He stood silent on the top step and waited. The only one he could have disturbed would be Ezekiel. But if Zeke woke up, it’d be a millio
n questions, and Abraham would never escape.
All he got was an earth-shaking snore. Abraham chuckled. Was Ezekiel sure he was a werewolf? He sure as hell could be a bear shifter with the way he sounded if those things even existed. The Hallows did. It was certainly possible.
He hurried into his cabin to pick up the keys to his dirt bike and raced to it before he woke anyone up. All he could hear was insects and birds as he pushed it down the lane through the forest out of the camp. He walked a good mile before he hopped on and fired it up.
Abraham blinked his dry eyes again and again as he fought to keep focus on the rut-filled road. He ducked a low-hanging branch that almost slapped him in the face. He dropped his foot onto the ground to whip the turn onto the forked lane that led deeper into the woods, kicking up mud and other brush in the process.
This drive through the forest without sleep for hours was one of the stupidest things he had ever done. But he needed to get away. There was just one place he wanted to be.
He breathed a sigh of relief when the cool blue lake came into view. The waves shimmered like diamonds under the early summer sun. In the distance between the trees, he could see the North Cabin. He dropped the throttle on his bike. It lurched forward as it picked up speed. It seemed as anxious to get there as he was.
He didn’t plan on going inside right away. More than likely the place was trashed. His brothers and their mates had a bad habit of leaving it that way during the week of the full moon. Half eaten food littered the kitchen countertops. And the dining room table. And the floor. And the bed. And the shit he found in the bedroom.
Abraham cringed. His brothers were freaks. There was no other explanation. He’d hold off on that disaster for a while. A nap outside in the fresh Minnesota air sounded better anyway.
He shut off his bike and hopped off. Once he had the kickstand secure in the dirt, he near sprinted to the shaded area just north of the cabin. A large, flat boulder had sat there embedded in the ground since he could remember. At this time of day it would be cool. Perfect for a nap. That was after he dealt with the problem in his pants.
Abraham didn’t even get to the top of the rock before he unzipped his fly. He leaned against it and spit into his hand a couple of times. He slipped his hand into his briefs. The slightest touch nearly set him off. He hadn’t been this fucking horny in his entire life and it was getting worse by the second.
He wrapped his long fingers around his cock and stroked quickly. He groaned as his head fell back. A knot twisted in his groin. He felt his balls clench.
His butt vibrated, knocking him off tempo. He cursed and started pumping again. The tension built higher. He whimpered as he grew closer to the edge.
Again his ass vibrated. He growled as he groped his back pocket until he found his cell.
“What?” he shouted into it.
“Where the holy fuck are you, Abe?” Josiah answered nearly as loud.
The sound of his oldest brother’s voice typically turned Abraham as soft as a feather. He was stunned. It barely affected him. He was still as hard as the boulder he was propped against. He bit back the moan in his throat. “Out.”
“Get your ass home. You can’t go galavanting around the countryside. You’re going to get killed.”
“Galavanting?”
“Abraham Tiberius Hallow, I’m not in the mood for your mouth.”
“Wow. My full name twice in one day. That has to be a record.”
“Would you…”
“Joe, I haven’t slept in over twenty-four hours. I’m safe. No one will find me. I’ve got to go.” Abraham ended the call and shut his phone off with his free hand. He caressed his erection and slid his hand up and down it. A drip of precum dribbled down his little finger.
His gaze drifted across the lake as stars formed in his eyes. It fell out of focus as he felt his nerves ignite. A burst of color confused him. He strained to see where it came from.
A woman stood on the bank next to the lake, her long hair flowing past her shoulders in hues of lavender, turquoise, and pink. And that was all that was on her. She was bare ass naked. And her perfect curves and full breasts stoked the fire raging through Abraham.
No one knew where the North Cabin was. It was sanctuary for the Hallow couples trying to mate and start their families. Instead of chasing her off, Abraham stared at her. He imagined her in his bed, on top of him, him buried deep inside her from behind, her ass soft and tight against his groin.
His release was instant. He roared as he came. He couldn’t breathe. His head swam. He nearly blacked out. He’d never orgasmed so hard in his life, either by himself or with a woman.
And there had been quite a few solo missions.
He wiped his hand off on his jeans as he shook himself back to his senses. He had gotten so hot and bothered he imagined a beauty next to the lake. He made himself a mirage to jack off to. How sex starved was he?
He opened his eyes and growled. It wasn’t a mirage. The girl was still there in her glorious nakedness. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on. His cock stiffened again in response.
And her gaze was locked on him. She must have heard him howl as he released because she sure looked spooked. It didn’t stop her from trailing her fingertips over her flesh. Her eyes were popped open wide in supposed fear, but she bit her lip and pinched the pink nub of her breast.
It took a couple of attempts for Abraham to find his voice to shout to her. “Hey.”
She backpedaled toward the lake and turned. She dove in and disappeared under the water. Abraham did his best to run after her. When he reached the edge of the bank, he searched the murky depths. There was no sign of life but a tiny toad that hopped along the moss.
He shook his head. The lack of sleep was fucking with his mind.
He shuffled back to the cabin as he rubbed his eyes. He took the steps of the porch two at a time and flung the door open. He was right. It looked as if a bomb had gone off inside. He didn’t care. He tossed the few remaining articles of clothing draped over the couch onto the floor and crawled onto it. His head didn’t hit the cushion before he was asleep.
»»•««
The veterans’ hall was packed to capacity. It stunk of beer and fresh-popped popcorn. Most of the spectators were sitting on the rickety ancient bleachers pushed up against the ashen-gray cement walls. At least a hundred of them stood around the ring in the center of the room bordered by the thick, black painted steel barricades that kept the professional wrestlers safe from their crazed fans.
Not that Kai could see anything. She had no idea that in human form she would barely come up to a mortal male’s chest. She used her diminutive height to throw an elbow or two as she pushed her way through the crowd.
She paused for a moment to summon her seer abilities to home in on the king’s scouts. Her gift brought her there yet she hadn’t seen one sign of Azul, Bligh, or Gannet. She let go a loud huff, even though no one could hear her over the ruckus.
As of late, her signals had gotten mixed. Her visions were skewed, which led her to offer bad advice to his Excellency. She had never done that to him, not since she’d wobbled across the throne room floor as a toddler. And accepting a mission outside the palace, much less the kingdom? It wasn’t her nature. But something directed her to beg for the assignment to find the three scouts in Duluth, Minnesota, and deliver new instructions to them. Something more mysterious led the king to give it to her. He never wanted her farther than arm’s length. And by the scowl on his chiseled regal face he’d certainly hadn’t been pleased as she’d swam away into the great depths of the ocean.
Yet, he never stopped her.
She was pulled from her thoughts by a hand clamped firmly on her ass. A man grinned down at her through his long greasy hair. What was it with human males and their lack of manners?
“Hey sweet thang, love your hair. Let me buy you a beer,” he said. Well, more like slurred to her.
Kai glared as she brushed her fingers throu
gh her colorful locks. He was the sixth or seventh person who commented on her multicolored hair. It annoyed her to no end. No one in the kingdom ever mentioned it. That might have been because she wasn’t the only one. “Thanks, but no. I’m not interested.”
She ducked under a burly guy’s arm before the drunk could advance on her. The scrawny man must have been persistent in his pursuit of her. She grinned as she heard the scuffle behind her seconds later. The drunk didn’t stand a chance against the big guy she took shelter behind.
She stopped as a voice echoed off the walls. She took the moment of calm in the crowd to search for the three scouts. It was near impossible to see anything but the announcer in the ring. Whatever was screwing with her vision must have led her there by mistake because there was no sign of Azul, Bligh, or Gannet. She shot a glance at the exit, but some greater power kept her rooted to the smooth cement floor.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer near shouted into his microphone. “You’ve been a great crowd tonight. Now for our main event, a fight for the number one contender spot, and a chance to face Brutus for his championship belt. First, we have Marky Shark.”
Kai watched as the curtain at the end of the auditorium was thrown open and a large muscular man strode out. His Lycra outfit was tight across his broad chest and thick thighs and was emblazoned with ridiculous cartoon sharks. She shook her head in disgust. She didn’t understand the fascination these humans had with this professional wrestling. It seemed like a circus to her.
“And his opponent, let’s give it up for the Luchador.”
Kai couldn’t catch her breath. Her body flamed hot and burned with a need she’d never experienced before. She couldn’t take her gaze off the man who emerged through the curtains. It was true, she couldn’t see a bit of skin, except for his hands. His entire head, body, arms, and legs were wrapped tight in gold Lycra painted with red and orange fire. Something drew her to him and she couldn’t figure out what.
The Luchador stopped his stride and turned toward her. His gaze locked on to hers for several moments. She whimpered as she imagined his touch on her flesh. She couldn’t see the guy. Why did she want him so much?
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