Darius stood with fluid grace, stepping closer than necessary in a clear test of boundaries. Too close. Adrian's tiger bristled instantly, demanding he respond to the territorial challenge, but Adrian forced himself to remain perfectly still.
Control was power. Always.
"You've been too cautious lately," Darius said, his green eyes sharp with calculation. "Too measured. The pride needs strength right now, not hesitation." His gaze sharpened like a blade finding its target. "It needs a leader willing to take decisive action."
Adrian said nothing, refusing to take the bait. He didn't owe Darius explanations or justifications.
Darius's smirk widened with the satisfaction of a predator who'd found his prey's weak spot. "Which brings me to an interesting opportunity." He paused for dramatic effect. "There'sa kickboxing competition coming up," Darius continued smoothly, his voice carrying just loud enough for the watching pride members to hear every word. "Open entry. Professional level."
Adrian frowned, sensing the trap but unable to see its exact shape. "And?"
"And if you're not as weak as people are starting to whisper..." Darius let the words hang in the air like a loaded weapon, "maybe you should enter."
Murmurs rippled through the younger pride members watching from nearby equipment. Adrian felt the room shift, felt their curiosity transform into something sharper and more dangerous. Doubt. The kind that could fracture a pride from within if left unchecked.
This was ridiculous. He didn't need to prove his strength through some human fighting competition. His leadership spoke for itself through months of successful negotiations, strategic victories, and the respect of most pride members.
But he could feel the watching eyes in the room, could sense the way Darius's challenge was landing with surgical precision. Everything started closing in around him all at once. The whispers that had been growing louder each day Adrian delayed claiming his mate. Questions about his decisiveness. His strength. His ability to lead when it mattered.
Before his rational mind could fully process the implications, the words left his mouth with deadly finality. "Fine. I'll enter."
Darius's eyebrows lifted in genuine surprise, as if he hadn't expected Adrian to actually accept the challenge.
A slow, predatory smile spread across Darius's face like sunrise over a battlefield. "Well then. We'll see how that works out for you."
Adrian left the gym with anger simmering beneath his skin, each stride carrying the weight of his spectacular miscalculation.The walk back to the estate felt endless, his tiger pacing restlessly as the full magnitude of what he'd just committed to crashed over him in waves.
A kickboxing competition. Against humans.
The rational part of his mind—the part that had built an empire through calculated risks and strategic thinking—screamed that he'd just made the stupidest decision of his life. His shifter strength would be an advantage, yes, but professional kickboxers trained for years to perfect techniques he'd never needed to master.
When he finally reached the estate thirty minutes later, Mark looked up from the leather chair near the window, his expression shifting from casual interest to alarm as he took in Adrian's rigid posture.
"So?" Mark asked carefully.
Adrian exhaled heavily, the sound carrying defeat and frustration in equal measure. "I might have agreed to enter a kickboxing competition."
Mark stared at him for a long moment, his green eyes widening with disbelief. Then he slowly shook his head, a rueful laugh escaping his lips. "I told you not to do anything stupid today." His voice held the exasperated affection of a brother who'd watched his sibling walk straight into disaster. "You really just made your life harder, didn't you."
Adrian dropped into the chair behind his desk with more force than necessary. "Yes. Yes, I did."
The pressures in his life felt like they were crushing him in that moment. He needed to lead the pride decisively, show them he wasn't weak or paralyzed by indecision. Stop Darius from fracturing their unity with whispered doubts and calculated challenges. And somehow—impossibly—convince Riley to give him another chance after the way he'd destroyed everything between them.
His gaze drifted toward the windows overlooking the estate grounds. Because if he had any hope of surviving that kickboxing competition without humiliating himself and proving Darius right about his weakness... he might need Riley's professional help. She was a national kickboxing champion, after all. Her expertise could mean the difference between victory and devastating defeat.
And after the way he'd left her four nights ago—alone and confused and hurt outside her apartment building—convincing her to train him might be the hardest fight of all.
SEVEN
RILEY
The heavy bag absorbed each strike with a dull thud that echoed through the empty gym, the sound mixing with Riley's ragged breathing and the soft hum of fluorescent lights overhead. Night had settled thick against the windows, transforming the glass into dark mirrors that reflected her solitary figure moving with lethal precision across the training mats.
This hour belonged to her alone. No students to encourage, no equipment to fix, no bills to worry about—just the pure, honest conversation between fist and leather that had anchored her since childhood. The time when she could strip away everything else and remember who she was beneath the mounting pressure.
But tonight, like every night for the past four torturous days, peace eluded her.
Riley threw a devastating right cross followed by a sharp left hook, her muscles coiling and releasing with practiced efficiency. Sweat beaded along her hairline, dampening the loose strands that had escaped her messy bun, but the familiar rhythm that usually cleared her mind felt fractured.
