The one name on everyone’s lips. The most criticized, feared, and beloved werewolf in the entire wereball league.
I became painfully aware of the situation, and a silly, pitiful whimper slipped out of my lips.
His gaze swung then, right back to my eyes, so piercing it punched the breath out of my lungs.
His ramrod-straight posture and the steady, rapid way he drummed his fingers on his thigh gave away the fact that he expected me to say something.That thing.
Mates. We’re mates!
That was what I should have said.
Silver eyes clouded with disappointment when my lips remained shut.
To my defense, I was still in shock!
And he still hadn’t uttered a single word. He simply scowled with a clenched jaw, resentment curling around the edges of something much softer.
Then the cavalry arrived.
Lachlan’s pals flanked him, as if they’d smelled conflict and been drawn to it like hounds to wounded game. Hulks from Dark Diamond backed up my mate.
Arms crossed, his gaze bounced between me and my twin, and his eyes narrowed further, as if he were plotting something. Because that was what he did. The Terminator always plotted.
Before I could yell, “Mate!”and prevent everything, snarls and hisses flew from both sides.
Insults came next.
“Look at the were-scum.”
“More like were-larvae.”
“Remember when I kicked that soft ass of yours so hard, I gave you a second asshole?”
“I broke your nose so bad, your mom still files missing person reports.”
“I’ll bury your face in the turf till grass grows out your ears!”
“You limp-dicked fucker, come say that to my fangs!”
A crowd gathered. Everyone knew they couldn’t fight—that was only during the match, in the arena—but verbal conflict was just as entertaining.
Until one of them shouted random words at me.
I was shocked. But not because of the words.
They slipped over me, forgotten. The guy didn’t know anything about me, probably not even my name, and I knew he was lost in the heat of the moment.
My mate had other ideas.
His head snapped to the right and his canines lengthened before he emitted an incredibly malicious growl that ripped through the crowd, silencing the whole place.
A heartbeat later, he was in front of the pack member, a hand curling around his neck as he lifted the huge guy off the floor. With a single, powerful move, he punched him square in the face and knocked him out.
A dangerous amount of energy radiated from his shaking body.
My head was spinning, and I started feeling drowsy. The Dark Diamond members paled, and even my pack members startled at the inexplicable act. No one had given any weight to that insult aimed at me. Not even my brother, who had one arm around my waist.
My mate spun on his heels, his elbow pulled back. My blood ran hot as he flung forward an enormous fist withDOOMtattooed on the back of his fingers.
