Hard Mated

by Jennifer Ashley

  A good chunk of the Morrissey family was here tonight anyway. Sean had come with Ellison to watch, Connor tagging along with them. Dylan was a regular fighter, already gearing up for his first match in the far ring, and his mate Glory had come to watch him.

  Spike didn’t see Gavan yet, but there was no doubt he’d be there. He wasn’t one to put plans in motion from afar. He liked to sniff around, which meant he often got in his own way. So much the better.

  Myka was excited, all smiles, easily laughing. The Shifters would think she was keyed up and turned on to watch her mate-to-be fight, and didn’t Spike want that to be true? Myka ready to celebrate with him when he won, fuss over him if he lost? She’d put her arms around him and comfort him after a lost bout, telling him she’d like him even if he couldn’t lift a bear over his head and throw him across the ring.

  Spike had come to the fights every week up until now because nothing else had mattered to him. Now many other things mattered, and he saw that fighting was only something he’d been doing to fill the empty spaces in his life.

  Those spaces were no longer empty. He’d found Jordan, and now Myka. Myka liked Spike the man, not Spike the fighting cat. She liked Eron.

  After tonight, all would be settled. Time to start.

  *** *** ***

  Spike’s first opponent was a Lupine from San Antonio. He was big guy with shaggy black hair, but Myka saw in his eyes that he hadn’t expected to be pitted against Spike and didn’t think he’d win.

  Spike turned his back on the Lupine and stripped off at the side of the ring, dropping his clothes on a stool. He stood up, six-feet-six of glorious naked male, the dragon tatt embracing his back, its tail curving around his bare buttocks and left hip.

  He was a beautiful man. He curled one arm around Myka, drew her to him, and gave her an open-mouthed kiss. The Shifters nearby cheered.

  Myka touched Spike’s face, wanting to tell him to be careful, but that seemed a silly thing to say. This was a fight. “Get him,” she whispered instead.

  Spike flashed her a hot smile then stepped over the circle of cinder blocks, stretching his arms over his head then shaking them out.

  The refs stood between Spike and the Lupine until each nodded that he was ready. Then the refs backed away, one yelling, “Fight!”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The Lupine’s Collar started sparking right away. Spike’s emitted one lone spark, then died as he growled and ran at his opponent. The guy shifted into a giant wolf, meeting Spike with teeth and claws, and the fight was on.

  Dust flew, and fur. Spike morphed into the furious half beast, his skin changing to the pelt of a jaguar.

  Spike’s Collar started sparking in earnest. The wolf tried to back off, but Spike let out a wild snarl and went for him. The wolf’s eyes, white-gray now, filled with sudden rage, and he met Spike with a wild leap.

  Myka’s throat ached, and she realized she was shouting as hard as the Shifters around her. Ellison had taken off his hat, cupping it and his hand around his mouth to amplify his yells.

  The wolf tore into Spike’s shoulder, and blood rained down the Spike-beast’s fur. Spike only got angrier. He threw the wolf off him, watched the Lupine bounce on his butt and scramble to his feet, then Spike went after him.

  Myka’s cell phone buzzed against her leg. She was surprised she even got reception out here, but it kept on vibrating, pulling her attention from the fight.

  Spike lifted the Lupine in his half-beast arms and threw him to the ground. The Lupine landed on his back with a yelp, but rolled onto his feet yet again, coming up to face Spike.

  The phone vibrated insistently. Myka tugged it free to check the number. Sharon might need something, or Ella.

  The readout said Number unknown. Telemarketer? Wrong number? Campaign for the next election?

  But something inside Myka niggled at her, telling her the call was important. She backed away from the ring, pushing through shouting and screaming Shifters, sliding through the crowd toward the barn’s entrance. Once she was relatively free of the crush, she answered the phone, shouting, “Hang on. Let me get somewhere I can hear.”

  She walked out of the barn to the parking lot, the fight noise becoming a cushion of sound behind her. Not many Shifters lingered out here—a few groupies drank beer and speculating on the fights, sounds in the shadows telling Myka that some of the groupies were fulfilling their fondest wish.

  “Hello?” she called into the phone. “Who is this?”

  “Ronan.” His voice was so weak and ragged with pain that Myka came alert.

  “You all right? What happened?”

  “Nate happened. Has Jordan and Ella.”

  “What?” Myka shrieked into the phone. “What do you mean, has them?”

  “What the hell do you think I mean? Tell Spike.”

  “How did he get them away from you? You’re a gigantic bear, for crap’s sake.”

  “He shot me.” Even with the pain, Ronan’s voice took a tone of irony. “You don’t have to be a better fighter than a Kodiak bear if you have a gun.”

  “Shit. Are you all right? Did you call nine-one-one?”

  “I’ll be fine.” His voice faded. “Tell Spike.”

  The phone went dead. Myka stared at it, then she swung around, ready to sprint back into the barn. She had to stop the fight.

  She ran right into the tall form of a Shifter. The man was as big as Spike and as lithe, his hair sand-colored, his eyes cold and winter gray. “I see you got my message.”

  Gavan. Had to be.

  Myka went at him, fists balled. “You shithead! What did you do with Jordan? If you hurt him, I’ll have every cop in the state after you.”

  “He’s not hurt. He’s insurance that Spike does what I want tonight. I don’t trust him not to try to screw me over. That’s Spike’s plan, isn’t it?”

  Close, but Myka wasn’t about to tell him that. Spike wanted to win and lose bouts tonight to put Gavan’s place in the hierarchy in jeopardy, to force Gavan to have to fight for his dominance, not just count on Spike and manipulation to keep him there. Fergus had relied on manipulation too much, Spike had said, and ultimately, he’d had weakened himself. When Fergus at last had to fight in truth, he’d lost. Permanently. Spike wanted Gavan to learn the same lesson.

  Gavan’s eyes narrowed, understanding Myka’s silence. He grabbed her by the shoulder.

  She started screaming and punching at him. The groupies looked over, but they must have thought she was a groupie too, playing with her Shifter. They watched with mild interest and made no move to help her.

  “Shut up,” Gavan said. “I’m not doing anything to you. We’ll go back inside and watch the fights.”

  He kept his hand around her arm, his grip light, but Myka knew he could close on her with brute strength whenever he wanted.

  She went with him back inside the barn, the sharp pricks of bonfires and bright lanterns hurting her eyes.

  Spike’s fight was just finishing, Spike backing off and changing to human while the Lupine Shifter limped from the ring, helped by his friends. The crowd roared for Spike.

  Spike snatched a towel from Ellison, wiping his face. He turned around and saw Myka with Gavan.

  He stilled for one second, then he threw his towel to Ellison and came on. “Get the fuck away from her.”

  Gavan looked him over, inhaled in that Shifter way of testing scent, and his eyes went Shifter. “You have the mate bond.”

  “Damn straight I do. I want you away from her. Now.”

  “Spike,” Myka panted, “he’s got Jordan and your grandma.”

  Spike’s gaze went hard to Gavan, sweat and blood trickling down his face. “You touched my cub?”

  “He’s perfectly safe. You win these fights, he goes home to his daddy.”

  “Screw your fights. You touched my cub. You’re dead.”

  Gavan raised his hands in a gesture of conciliation. “If I don’t make it back tonight, my men have their orders. You pl
ay nice, and everything will be all right.”

  Spike couldn’t hear him. The world was filmed with red, his hated enemy standing in front of him, within gutting reach. The scent of Myka, like cool, fresh rain in the middle of a fetid swamp, was the only thing that kept him from giving in to the feral rage and killing Gavan on the spot.

  “You don’t trust me,” Gavan said. “So I don’t trust you.”

  “You’re an idiot.” Spike heard the words come out of his mouth, but no awareness of saying them. “You touched my cub. No Shifter will trust you now.”

  “Not true. You help me like you promised, and I’ll be the one making the rules. Your cub will grow up in a more powerful position than you ever did. The son of my enforcer will get all kinds of benefits, and he’ll inherit your title.”

  Gavan was so full of shit Spike was surprised he didn’t explode. But one thing was certain—Gavan had Jordan. Gavan was smart enough to hide him well, to use him as a hostage for Spike’s obedience.

  And if Spike obeyed now, Gavan would do it again. And again, and again.

  He saw Myka edging away, her hand on her cell phone. Gavan saw her too and towed her back. “Doesn’t matter if you start a major hunt for the kid. I wasn’t stupid enough to take him to my house. All you have to do is cooperate, Spike. Don’t sacrifice your son for your pride.”

  Spike looked at Myka. She was furious, scared for Jordan, and worried for Spike.

  And in the middle of Spike’s terror and rage, the mate bond. Gavan had sensed it, and Spike felt it filling every space in his heart, every corner of his body. The bond stretched like a tether between himself and Myka, making them one—the only clear point in the fog of his anger.

  He held on to that clarity and turned back to Gavan. “I’ll do your damn fights,” he said. “You give me back my son.”

  “That’s the deal.”

  Gavan lied. He had to know that as soon as Jordan was safely home, Spike would be after Gavan. He’d never be safe. Gavan would have to hold on to Jordan until he broke Spike’s will, or Spike died.

  And maybe that had been Gavan’s plan all along. To pit Spike against tougher and tougher opponents, to fight him until he was spent. The ultimate rule of the fight club was no fighting to the death, but accidents happened.

  What better way to eliminate Spike than to have him go down doing the thing he was famous for doing?

  Spike was a threat. He’d proved with his rage against Liam this morning—the story was probably all over South Texas by now—that Spike wasn’t blindly obedient to any leader. If he didn’t agree to work for Gavan undeniably, then Spike had to go down.

  Myka met Spike’s gaze with a worried one of her own. She must know that thoughts were whirling in Spike’s head, plans on plans. He tried to send through their bond to be ready when he needed her, but the mate bond wasn’t the same thing as telepathy. Spike just had to hope she’d understand.

  “Next fight,” Spike said, turning away.

  He had one advantage. Gavan still thought Spike was stupid. In the end, that would be Gavan’s biggest mistake.

  *** *** ***

  Spike fought and won two more bouts quickly. Those would keep Gavan appeased, make him think Spike was doing what he wanted. Spike also knew that Gavan had lined up easy fights at first. Didn’t want to tire his champion too quickly.

  The first real bout came when Spike stepped into the ring, tossing his towel back to Ellison, and found himself facing Dylan Morrissey.

  The crowd quieted. Dylan and Spike had never fought each other before. Though Dylan had stepped down from being Shiftertown leader, he was still one of the most powerful Shifters around, and everyone knew it. Spike was the best fighter in South Texas, and everyone knew that too.

  How Gavan had swung getting Dylan into the ring against him, Spike didn’t know. But if Dylan went down under Spike, that would send a signal to Shiftertown that the Morrisseys could lose strength.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Spike saw Connor Morrissey approach Myka. Gavan shot Connor a suspicious look then moved his focus back to the ring. Connor was a cub still, with no official place in the hierarchy as yet, which meant, in most people’s opinions, he was no threat.

  The crowd of Shifters and humans swarmed the ring, this the only bout going on right now. A fight between Spike and Dylan would be too intense to miss.

  A wall of Shifter bodies enclosed the ring, and through that wall, Spike saw Connor tug Myka out of the way.

  “Fight!” one of the refs called, then he and the other refs backed away in a hurry.

  Spike slowly circled Dylan. In spite of being one of the oldest males around, Dylan was in fantastic shape, his body honed and tight. Being one of the oldest males meant he was also one of the strongest—weak males didn’t make it to the beginning of their third century.

  Spike tried to dredge up his anger at Liam for spying on Myka, for not trusting him. That anger would put his heart in the fight against Liam’s father. But nothing overcame Spike’s gnawing, crazed worry for Jordan. He needed to finish this and find his son.

  Dylan attacked, still in human form. The two male bodies met with a beat of flesh to flesh, Dylan’s hands digging into Spike’s shoulders at the same time Spike dug into Dylan’s.

  The Shifters erupted into a roar of approval. The bets would be coming thick and fast, equally on Spike as on Dylan.

  Dylan jerked Spike close, a weak move, but it put Dylan’s lips next to Spike’s ear. “Play it out,” Dylan said.

  The man backed off before Spike could respond, but he understood. Something was happening outside the ring, and Spike and Dylan needed to distract Gavan long enough for whatever it was to happen.

  A spark jumped on Dylan’s Collar. Only one. An answering bite dug into Spike’s neck from his own Collar, and the prick of pain woke up the beast.

  Spike launched himself at Dylan, shifting to his half-Shifter state on the way. Dylan’s body elongated until he was half lion, half man, with a roar to go with it.

  Bodies met again, teeth and claws digging, Dylan’s incredible strength pressing Spike across the ring. Spike’s Collar arced, electricity snapping into him, as he fought to remain inside the cinder blocks.

  Dylan was holding back a little, Spike could tell, even through all the roaring and growling. Even with that, the animal inside Spike suddenly knew: I can best him.

  He let out a long, warning snarl, and the jaguar took over.

  *** *** ***

  “What the hell are you doing?” Myka asked in a half-panted whisper as Connor ran with her into the darkness. “If Gavan realizes I’ve gone, he’ll call Nate and tell him to hurt Jordan.”

  Connor kept a hard grip on Myka’s hand and pulled her to a small white pickup that waited in the deepest shadows. “Sean’s in there, slap up against Gavan, and he’ll break Gavan’s wrist if he makes a move. Glory’s in there too. She might eat him.” Connor grinned, opened the passenger door of the pickup, checked out that it was safe inside, and then half shoved Myka onto the seat.

  “If Sean’s on Gavan, isn’t it over?” Myka asked as Connor jumped into the driver’s side of the truck and cranked the ignition. “Tackle Gavan and make him tell you where he hid Jordan.”

  “Uncle Liam doesn’t want to do that until we know the cub and Spike’s grandmother are safe.” Connor put the truck in gear and eased it down the dirt road to the bottom of the hill. “Who knows what instructions Gavan gave Nate? Like if Gavan hasn’t checked in by a certain time, do something to Jordan. Or Ella. We can’t risk what Nate might do on his own either.” Connor growled as he swung the truck from dirt road to highway. “I’ve never trusted Nate. He once held me down so Fergus could beat on me. Nate was just enforcing Shifter law—I wouldn’t shut up when Fergus the great leader told me to—but I kind of hold a grudge.”

  “How are we going to know how to find Jordan?”

  “Uncle Liam is working on that,” Connor said. “Liam wants you to come with us, because Jordan likes you.
You can help keep him calm.”

  “Poor kid.” Myka hung on as Connor wove through traffic at high speed. “He lost his mom, just found his dad, and now he’s caught in all this.”

  “I know. That’s why we need you. To keep him calm so he doesn’t hurt himself.”

  Myka wasn’t as optimistic that she could, but at the same time, she was glad Connor had snagged her to go along. She wanted Jordan to be all right, and the heat of her fury made her want to back Nate and Gavan into a corner and tell him what she thought.

  Connor drove them to Shiftertown. Liam waited on the front porch of Spike’s house, with Ronan sitting on the porch swing, a bandage across his middle, his face pale in the darkness. His mate, Elizabeth, shared the swing with him, the worry and love on her face plain to see.

  “You okay?” Myka asked Ronan as she ran up to the porch.

  “I’ve had worse,” Ronan said. “Trust me.” He gave Elizabeth’s hand a pat. “Haven’t I, Lizzie-girl?”

  “Yeah, because you’re an idiot.” Elizabeth put her head on his shoulder, moonlight catching on the bright red streaks in her hair.

  “Why didn’t any of the neighbors stop Nate running off with them?” Myka demanded. She’d already learned that, in Shiftertown, everyone came outside the minute anything the least bit exciting went down.

  “On fight night?” Ronan asked. “Are you kidding? Especially when they got wind that Spike was going to take on Dylan? No one’s here.”

  Liam spoke up from the shadows. “Interesting that Gavan wants Spike to best my dad. I bet Spike can. He’s a hell of a fighter. A good way of raising Spike’s status in Shiftertown. Gavan is honing Spike to be his perfect weapon.”

  “Spike isn’t a weapon,” Myka snapped. “Or a tracker. He’s a person. A Shifter person. You know what I mean.”

  “Aye, lass, I do. And you both were right to kick my teeth in over it. I tend to forget that Spike is more than a thug who used to work for Fergus, my rival.” He stepped into the moonlight, his eyes glinting with Shifter anger. “Now let’s go get Jordan.”