“You okay, baby?” I linked.
“M-me? Are you okay?”
I snarled at the crowd hanging on the ropes. Morpheus got back in the ring, punching me in the side. I reached around, grabbed him by his arm with my teeth, barely clamped down, and slung him around a bit.
“Fine, are you okay watching me spar?”
I dragged Morpheus around the ring. He was laughing, yelling as I pierced his skin.
Crazy fucker.
“As long as you don’t get hurt,” she replied.
Damn, she’s cute.
I threw Morpheus over the ring again. He landed in the crowd. They moved away to let him fall straight onto the floor. They all pointed and laughed at him, throwing their popcorn and peanuts on his unconscious body.
“Not possible, not with you as my prize.”
I could feel my mate’s blush from here, and the front door to the gym opened. The cool air washed over the heat of the room when Hawke, Grim, and several other mated brothers strode into the gym.
I stood on my hind legs, my arms up in the air as I roared. My voice echoed throughout the gym and around the ring, my eyes blazing in defiance. The crowd was alive with anticipation, their hands clapping along with my roar. They all seemed to come together as one, rising up with a loud cheer as the new opponents approached.
Hawke smiled and took off his vest. “It’s been a while. I might be rusty,” he said over the crowd.
The transformation was a sudden and violent flurry of motion. His bones crackled and contorted as he shifted into a sleek black wolf. His eyes blazed in the darkness, his fangs gleaming white as he snapped at the air before his teeth clamped down on the back of my neck.
I internally smirked and rolled to my back, squashing his chest. I heard the bones crack and a grunt fall from his maw. One wolf and one grizzly wouldn’t work, and he knew that very well.
I rolled off Hawke, and he crawled away from me, shaking his fur. He snapped his jaws at me, wagging his tail. Grim entered the ring and shifted faster than Hawke. Now two might take me down. Grim was a fucking savage.
I rose up on my two hind legs, the crowd going wild. I fell on both my front legs again, shaking the ring. The wolves lashed at my neck at the same time, but I swung my paw at Grim first.
I looked over at Grim, who had gone limp against the ropes. A sigh of relief escaped my throat as I noticed he was still alive. I turned my attention back to Hawke, whose eyes filled with desperation and dread as I turned and snapped my jaws and seized his head with my jaws.
Hawke was now defenseless against my teeth, his skull quivering beneath my jaws.
Gently, I squeezed his head with my teeth, letting him know he couldn’t escape. He whimpered the sign of submission, and I let him go, though I kept close watch on both him and Grim in case either decided to take a cheap shot.
I heard the crowd buzz with excitement as they realized that the match was about to come to an end. All eyes were fixed upon me as I looked at each opponent before snarling a warning not to come any closer or risk being attacked again.
I released Hawke, and he tucked his tail between his legs and jumped out of the ring.
Grim snarled, saliva dripping out of his maw when he rose from his corner of the ring. He looked damn rabid even though he wasn’t. It wasn’t a deterrent, not to me.
I was still fueled by everyone pissing me off this morning. They goaded me into fighting. I wasn’t doing this for money or pride; I was doing this to show my strength and let everyone know I’d kick their asses if they touched my female.
“Look how pretty Bear’s mate is!” someone shouted. “I think she might be turned on too!”
I paused, jerking my colossal head toward my mate. She was sitting between Anaki and Journey. Her eyes were wide watching me. She looked so damn small, staring up at me in the front row. Her legs were held tight together, squirming in the seat.
I took a deep breath and inhaled a mix of scents: the bitter smell of beer, the sharp aroma of alcohol, the sweet fragrance of food, but I hunted for one scent and one scent alone. The noise of the crowd faded away, and all I could focus on was her.
And there it was, her sweet honey smell of arousal.
Beneath the hoodie she wore, I could almost see her sweet nipples harden. I licked my lips, and lust clouded my mind.
She found my fighting, my strength, my stamina to fight these other animals arousing.
