Riley forced her expression to remain neutral. The last thing Adrian needed right before his fight was to worry about media drama. "Everything's fine. Nothing I can't navigate." She held out the gear. "You should head to the locker room and change into these. I'll work through some more techniques with you when you get back."
Adrian accepted the shorts and mouthguard, his fingers brushing hers in a way that caused her pulse to skip. "You sure you're alright?"
"Positive. Go change before it's too late."
He studied her for another moment, clearly not buying her casual dismissal, but finally nodded and headed toward the men's locker room. Riley watched him go, admiring the confident set of his shoulders and the way other fighters automatically moved out of his path.
She was settling against the wall when a familiar voice cut through the ambient noise of the training area.
"Well, well. What's a champion like you doing in the men's warm-up area?"
Riley's spine stiffened as Darius Vonn materialized beside her, his presence immediately setting her teeth on edge. The man radiated predatory confidence, his green eyes fixed on her with a piercing intensity that made her skin itch.
"I'm helping out Adrian," she replied evenly, not bothering to look at him directly.
"Ah, I see." Darius's voice carried a mocking undertone that made Riley want to plant her fist in his smug face. "He does need all the help he can get if he wants to avoid humiliating himself out there. Makes sense he'd seek out the best female fighter in the nation."
The implication behind his words was clear—that Adrian was using her, that their connection was nothing more than a desperate grab for professional advantage. Riley's hands clenched into fists as she finally turned to face him.
"It's not like that."
"No?" Darius stepped closer, invading her personal space with deliberate intent.
Riley's blood ran cold. "I know you're a tiger shifter. And isn't it interesting how you'd choose to compete in the kickboxing world with that kind of advantage."
"There are more of us in this world than you think," Darius replied, his smile turning predatory. "Some of the females you've fought in the past were shifters."
The memory of her one professional loss hit her with unexpected force. The fighter who'd defeated her had been impossibly fast, impossibly strong, landing combinations that should have been beyond human capability. If that woman had been a shifter...
"That explains a lot," Riley muttered.
Darius moved even closer, close enough that she could smell his cologne and the underlying musk of barely controlled aggression. "You know, Riley, you're wasting your considerable talents on someone like Adrian. A man who needs a woman to train him for a simple human competition isn't much of an Alpha, is he?"
"Get away from my mate."
Adrian's voice cut through the air, and Riley spun to see him stalking across the training area toward them. He'd changed intothe fighting shorts, and the sight of him in full predatory mode made her mouth go dry despite everything.
Darius laughed, the sound rich with amusement. "How perfect. And I see you've already tried to mark her." His gaze dropped to Riley's hip, where the edge of the half-mate mark was visible above her low-rise leggings. "How convenient."
Adrian reached them in three quick strides, positioning himself between Riley and Darius with unmistakable possessiveness. "I said get away from her."
"I heard about yesterday's little decision," Darius continued, completely ignoring Adrian's warning. "Seems like you did this whole marking maneuver on purpose for political gain, didn't you? Smart move, really."
Ice formed in Riley's stomach as Darius's words sank in. She remembered that moment of passion in her office when Adrian had said the mate bond was singing and he could feel her pleasure, and how she'd wanted to feel that intensity too. What if he had been coercing her into wanting the mate bond in that moment? She remembered how she told him to mark her, but he stopped himself, but not before giving her the half-mark. What if this whole thing was some deliberate scheme? What if he'd marked her, even partially, to secure his position as Alpha?
The doubt crept in like poison, seeding itself in her mind despite her efforts to push it away.
Would Adrian have manipulated her like that?
"Riley—" Adrian started, but Darius was already walking away, his laughter echoing across the training area.
Riley stared after him, her mind reeling. Through their bond, she could feel Adrian's frustration and something that might have been guilt, which only made the doubts stronger.
"Adrian Kael, you're up!"
The assistant's voice cut through the tension, and Riley forced herself to focus on the immediate situation.
"Sorry," she said, handing Adrian his mouthguard. "I didn't get a chance to work through more techniques with you."
