Filed to story: The Rise Of The Lycan Queen
This time, I was at the mercy of his touch.
Unlike last time when Ella and I had to push our way to the front, the crowd parted for Mason.
“Hey, man.” A guy held up a wad full of one hundred-dollar bills. “I’m staking my retirement money on you. Make me proud.”
Mason nodded at him and kept moving.
It wasn’t long before we were in the front where the fighting ring was. “Break a leg.” I turned to smile at him.
“Nope, you’re going over there with me.” He pointed to the corner of the ring where Alec had been sitting the other night.
“But there is only one chair.” The last thing I wanted was to kick his friend out of his seat.
“I’ll take care of it.” He took my hand in his and tugged me over to the corner.
“Hey, man.” Alec appeared from the back room and punched Mason in the shoulder. “Are you ready?”
“Yup.” Mason strolled into the back room and came out with two additional chairs. “Where’s Ella?”
“Oh, she’s in the bathroom.” He nodded to the door against the far wall.
“The rest of them?” Mason set the other chairs on the ground next to his side of the ring.
“They’re over there doing some betting.” Alec’s eyes landed on me. “And if they were going to say something to your parents, they would’ve by now.”
“Yeah, but that still makes me nervous.” Mason looped his finger through one of my belt loops and tugged me toward him.
The door to the women’s bathroom opened, and Ella came marching out. “You guys are so freaking cute.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. All I knew was if I didn’t get out of here soon, my will to stay away would dissolve, and my defenses would be nonexistent. It already hurt to think about it. Maybe I could sneak out when he got distracted with the fight. I could either run home or call one of my guardians to pick me up.
“She sits in between you two.” Mason pointed his thumb at Alec and pinky at Ella. “Make sure she doesn’t try to sneak out.”
“You think I’d do that?” He had me pegged and ruined my plan with little effort.
“Hell, yeah you would.” He grabbed a bag off the ground and turned toward the men’s bathroom on the other end of the wall. “I’ll be back. If you run off, I know where you live.” He winked at me. “I’m going to change real fast.”
As he strolled away, I rubbed my eyes and took a steadying breath. Tonight was a whirlwind, and I needed to get my head on straight. I struggled to do that around him.
“If you’re worried about me being upset, don’t be.” Ella quietly clapped her hands. “I never thought he’d settle down, but this is amazing.”
“Settling down.” That confirmed that he told her about our bond. “We’ve agreed to take it slow.”
She raised a hand. “I have a good feeling about this.” She sat on her seat and patted the chair next to her. “Come on and sit down. Shit’s about to get real.”
I turned around and saw the announcer, or whoever it was, head in our direction. He appeared to be in his twenties and had his long chestnut hair in a man bun. He was also stout, and he wore a tight black shirt and jeans, which accentuated his muscles. “Where the fuck is Mason?”
“He’ll be out here in a second.” Alec lifted both hands up. “He had to go change.”
“He better get his ass out here. It’s time.” The guy nodded his head at whomever Mason’s contender was.
The guy he was fighting was tall and slender, but there was something cruel in his dark eyes. He didn’t smell like a shifter but didn’t have a human scent either. What the hell was he?
“It’s about time that your ass gets here.” The man-bun guy growled as his eyes locked on someone behind me.
“Don’t get your panties in a wad, Matt.” Mason’s deep chuckle did tingly things to my insides. “I’m here.”
When I turned around, my eyes couldn’t get enough of him.
Mason was shirtless once again with his wolf tattoo on display. My eyes traveled down his body to his six-pack, and before my gaze could get lower, Ella snorted.
“You’re totally eye-fucking him.”
“What?” That hussy just called me out in front of everyone. “No.”
“Don’t lie.” She shook her head with a huge-ass grin on her face. “I mean it’s one thing that I’m happy you guys are doing whatever you are, but don’t eye-fuck him in front of me.”
“Hey.” Mason glared at his sister. “She can do anything she wants to me. We don’t need to have your permission.”
They both were goading me. However, his opponent was staring at me and making me feel a hell of a lot more uncomfortable. “You better get serious.” I didn’t want Mason to lose after what I learned about his mother.
“You think I might lose?” Mason glanced over to the guy and back at me. “How ’bout this. If I win, I get a kiss goodnight?”
“A kiss? That’s what you want?” Those were damn high stakes considering what was going on between us.
“Yes, one hundred percent.” He held out his hand to me.
“And if you lose?”
“That’s up to you.” He stepped in front of me, his eyes holding mine. “What do you want?”
“A night out with Ella.” He had control issues when it came to his sister, and now I realized why she acted so smothered. “With you not suddenly appearing or driving us crazy.”
“Hell, yeah.” Ella pumped her fist in the air. “For the first time, I’m not sure whether I want you to win or not.”
“It’s time.” Matt held the microphone up to his mouth and grinned. “So who’s ready for some fighting?”
At that moment, I realized how screwed I was. There was no way I was going to be able to stay away from him or Ella, which meant some hard decisions were going to have to be made.
As Matt entered the ring, the crowd went wild.
My ears rang with their shouts and catcalls.
“We’ve got Mason fighting against Kurt.”
Both men circled the outside of the ring with their hands in the air.
Ella and I had gotten here later the other day, so I hadn’t been able to witness this first-hand.
