My smirk falls when Torrez morphs into his massive gray wolf. He apparently doesn’t find my dick joke as funny as I did because he growls at me and then charges.
“Vinna!”
My head snaps in the direction of Ryker’s voice. What the fuck is he doing here? The weight of a truck slams into me and teeth sink into my shoulder. I call on my runes for power, and I start punching the wolf in the face. His weight forces me to my back. When my spine touches the packed dirt of the arena, Torrez releases my shoulder and goes for my neck.
Fangs flash towards my face. I grip the snarling jaws and fight to keep them from closing around my head and neck. Saliva drips down on me, and claw-covered paws dig into my torso. I push Torrez’s wolf jaws apart, calling on every ounce of power and strength my runes can give me.
The bottom of his mouth snaps and a ripping and cracking sound fills my ears. Torrez yelps in pain and scrambles away from me. The bottom of his muzzle hangs loose and canine cries leak out of his open maw. Torrez lays on his side panting, and the wolf blinks out leaving a man in its wake.
The ref rushes to him, and I slowly get up, wincing as the movement tugs at my wounds. I’m bleeding steadily from the bite wound on my shoulder and the gouges on my side. I’m covered in varying depths of oozing scratches, and my fingers are torn up and bloody from my efforts to keep fangs out of my face.
I’m sore and gloriously drained. Man, that was a good fucking fight. The ref calls to men standing just outside of the arena. They jog to him and help Torrez stand up. They sling his arms around their necks, and half carry him toward the exit.
The ref approaches me. “Torrez is too injured to continue. You’ve won.”
I give him a nod and watch as Torrez is assisted out of the arena. “Is he going to be ok?”
“His jaw is severely broken. It will heal, painfully, but he’ll be fine in a couple of weeks. Would you like me to call a healer for you?”
I look out into the mumbling crowd and find Ryker. I’m not at all shocked to see Knox, Bastien, Valen, and Sabin standing at his side.Fucking magical LoJack.
“No, thanks for the offer. I’ll be fine.”
The ref looks at me quizzically for a minute, before giving me an accepting nod and walking off in the direction that they took Torrez. I walk over to my shredded shirt and snatch it up off the ground. I scan the crowd one last time until I find lumberjack and Liev. I take in their shocked faces and give them a wink.
Five furious faces take me in as I casually make my way to the guys.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Bastien scolds me.
“What does it look like I’m doing here.”
“It looks like you’re being torn to shreds.” Sabin snaps.
“Hop down from your high horse Sabin. It’s fucking up your view because that’s what winning looks like.”
I gesture over my shoulder to the blood-spattered ring. Knox snorts out a laugh, but he coughs it out when four pairs of angry eyes turn on him.
“Don’t encourage her Knox,” Valen chastises.
“Why not? She’s right, she won, and I think it’s hilarious when she calls Sabin out on his shit.”
I smile at him, and he winks at me. Knox is so gung-ho for battle and glory, and I seriously love it. Nothing seems to phase him at all. He should be crowned the king of rolling with the punches.
“Did Lachlan tell you guys where to find me?” I ask, curious as to why Lachlan sent them instead of one of the paladin to collect me.
“No, I doubt he even knows you’re gone,” Bastien tells me.
“Well, what the hell are you doing here then? You guys come to fights, and you’ve never told me about it?”
“No, we tracked my car here.”
I stare at Ryker confused.
“You stole my car. I went to leave tonight, and it was missing. When we pulled up here, it was obvious who had taken it and what you were up to. How’d you even find this place?”
“Fate,” I say with a smile.
Knox snorts again, and Bastien starts to chuckle with him. Valen rubs a hand over his face in exasperation. Something about this situation suddenly seems funny to me, and I start to snicker. I suspect I’m a little slap-happy from the adrenaline rush I’m currently coming down from.
