Neil
Frozeninplace,Isimply stare at the alpha—myalpha, apparently. He holds my gaze, something like hope flickering behind his eyes—there and gone again just as quickly—as the initial stage of the fated mate bond clicks into place and realigns everything I thought I knew.
The world around me fades away until all that’s left is the driving need to go to him, to be at his side, to—
“Neil!” Raquel’s voice breaks me out of the weird trance-like state locking me in place, and I jolt. Her fingers dig into my upper arm as she steps up next to me. “What the hell are you doing?”
I cough and rub my knuckles against my sternum, using the slight pain to distract myself from that instinctual pull toward thealpha. As much as crossing the ring and curling up with him would appease my wolf and my screaming instincts, now is definitely not the time.
And, as it stands, I don’t know if it everwillbe the time. Chances are, neither one of us will leave this ring alive, and I don’t see a happy ending for us. Not now. Not like this.
Isn’t this just my luck?
My life so far hasn’t exactly been spectacular, but I never thought fate could be so cruel as to lead me to my fated mate just in time for both of us to die.
Raquel gently shakes my arm, her voice softer. “Neil? What’s going on? You’re scaring me.”
“Do any of those fanfics you read talk about fated mates?” I ask, giving her a wan smile.
“Um, yeah?” She swivels her head, glancing from the alpha to me and back again. “Are you saying…?”
“Yup,” I say, letting out a wry chuckle as her eyes meet mine. “It turns out the poor beast getting his ass kicked over there is my fated mate.”
Her breath hitches. “But… does that mean if he dies, you do too?”
“No,” I say. “It doesn’t work like that. At least not when the bond hasn’t been completed.”
And, given the current situation, this alpha and I will never have that chance to do that.
A sudden grief overwhelms me and my wolf whines, mourning the loss of something I’ll never have, a kind of peace and happiness I’ll never know. For all that finding my fated mate was the last thing I ever expected to happen—much less under these circumstances—losing that potential future feels like having my heart ripped out.
The speaker system crackles to life again. “Sorry, folks. It seems our champion isn’t having a good day, but Alpha Doyle’s thought up a way to make things a little more interesting for you all.”
Of course he has.
“In case your hearing isn’t as good as the mics in the ring, we’ve had an interesting new development,” says Doyle’s voice over the speaker, the words sending a shiver of apprehension down my spine. “In a completely unexpected turn of events, it seems our champion has found his fated mate in the cowardly beta who hasn’t yet seen fit to join in on the fight.”
Horror washes over me, my entire body going cold. I didn’t consider the idea that anyone outside the ring might hear me, and now Doyle has even more ammunition against both me and the alpha. There aren’t many ways this situation can get worse, but I’m sure Doyle will manage.
Around half the crowd goes silent—likely the shifters who have a better idea of what’s going on—and the other half breaks out into confused whispers.
“For our guests who may not understand the implications of that, let’s just say it’s going to be in the mongrel’s best interests to actuallyput up a fight.” The last few words are laced with a poorly hidden rage. “To that end, I’m going to add a special twist in honor of the happy couple.” He chuckles, the sound more malicious than amused. “The fighter who kills the human will be granted one request, be it money, power, or simply to spare the life of his fated mate.”
Well, that’s certainly creative. And a little ingenious. The new rule paints a target on Raquel and forces me to fight, possibly against my own fated mate, if I want to protect her.
“Shit,” mutters Raquel.
“My thoughts exactly.” I swallow. “No more standing back and waiting to see how things play out. It’s time to go on the offensive.”
I strip off my suit jacket and toss it to the ground, but before I can get my shirt off, all hell breaks loose. As if a switch has flipped, the previously placid alpha charges the larger gray wolf and smashes him into the wall. The impact is accompanied by a painful-sounding crack and the beta yelps, collapsing to the ground and panting heavily—injuredbut alive.
The second beta isn’t so lucky.
The alpha slams into the smaller wolf, knocking him to the ground, then pounces and wraps his jaws around the beta’s unprotected neck. Without pause, the alpha shakes his head, ripping into the beta’s throat. The brown wolf gurgles and blood arcs into the air, spraying across the concrete and splattering on the wall of the ring. The alpha pauses there for a beat, sides heaving, gore dripping from his teeth and his snout covered with blood, then he slowly turns his head to stare at me.
A chill runs down my spine.
The alpha’s eyes are blank and empty, the earlier sadness gone, along with, it seems, any personality at all. He may have come across as a little feral before, but now I’m seeing what that word truly means. And it’s more than a little terrifying.
