I scream loud enough to be heard over the roaring crowd.
His fist lifts again, and stops mid-air.
His head snaps towards me, and those amber eyes land on mine, so dark that it makes something inside me tense.
It sends a shiver down my spine.
But I don’t feel even the slightest trace of fear.
And he almostkilledsomeone.
Right in front of me.
I should run.
Far, far away.
But I stay rooted to the spot, feeling a thousand different things while fear remains completely absent.
Which probably says something deeply concerning about me.
But deep down, I just know Hunter would never hurt me.
The rest of the world, though?
He’d rip it apart with his bare hands if he wanted to.
“Stop,” I say, my voice steadier than I actually feel. “You’re going to kill him.”
He just stares at me, his fist still frozen mid-air.
Then, slowly, I see his eyes starting to focus again. Like he has to force his way back into reality after disappearing somewhere else.
I watch the exact moment he properly registers me, the unconscious man beneath him, where he is.
For a second, he looks disoriented.
But then, without a word, he rises to his feet.
The referee and several others rush forward immediately and drag the unconscious fighter away while the crowd practically loses its mind, but Hunter doesn’t even look at them.
His eyes stay on me as he climbs down from the ring and walks straight towards me.
And with every step he takes, I feel like prey while he looks exactly like the hunter.
Fitting, really.
I instinctively take a step back, but it makes no difference.
He closes the distance within seconds.
His hands are still wrapped, the white material stained red now, and the second he reaches me, he lifts me clean off the ground.
My legs wrap around his waist on instinct while my hands grip his shoulders for balance.
He breathes hard, and I feel every rise and fall of his chest beneath mine.
For a moment, we just stare at each other.
