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“Big brother? Wait, you are Glen’s brother then?” I had suspected, with the blond hair and blue eyes.
“Yeah,” he said. “And Margarette is my mom. You’ll meet her after your fight, and she’s already asked me to tell you she’s got your back. Don’t worry about the politics. Beat the crap out of this douche, and then you’re coming home with us.”
Right. Trevor. I had to beat him first. I peeked around. Why hadn’t he come over to give me a hard time?
Then I realized a few of the other fighters had made that impossible. They were walling him off from my side of the corral. He glared at me through their wide shoulders, his hair glinting with some sort of greasy hair product, it looked like. Or maybe just grease. He kept calling out angry threats, but I just stretched to limber up, trying to ignore him.
Trying to ignore Joaquin’s gaze, which felt like an icy hand stroking me, was much harder. I shivered, but I wasn’t sure if it was from anticipation of the fight... or other things. I would have sworn I felt him tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear. How is he doing that?
“Cut it out,” I muttered without turning my head. He must have heard, since the feeling stopped.
I sort of missed it. Stupid Flor, I chided myself. Stay away from the smoking hot males until you get out of this mess.
Wait, I meant I’d stay away from the males forever. I wasn’t planning to mate with any of them. I was going to get out and find my own way in a new pack.
“Florida…” The oily voice that haunted my nightmares intruded on my thoughts. I met Trevor’s eyes across the ring. He had on a pair of shorts, a fake smile, and nothing else. “It’s time to pay the price. I’m gonna tear you up in there. But I’ll leave enough to fuck later.”
Then he grunted, like one of the other shifters had punched him.
I ignored them all. The truth was, I was terrified. I’d watched Trevor train from a distance, and seen him in action more than once. He was brutal, efficient, and fast—a worthy heir to his dad’s seat as Head Enforcer.
And he fought dirty.
I gritted my teeth. I’d have to find a way to fight dirtier.
The announcer’s voice called out for Trevor Blackside, then for Will L. Rains. I followed him, ignoring the murmurs of encouragement from the shifters around me, ignoring everything except the beat of my heart.
After a few breaths, I slipped into my focused state. Del had made me concentrate and meditate for years. He would pepper me with small missiles—pebbles, sticks, even a few spoons in the kitchen—and browbeat me if I reacted in any way. Once he’d hit me with a stick in my eye.
I closed my eyes, allowing myself the snippet of a memory from when I was twelve.
My right eye watered and stung as I backed away from Del, who was half-laughing at me. “Do I have your attention now, Flor?” He lifted his chin toward the fence, where a split second before, I would have sworn I saw Luke Callaway staring through the wire, watching me fight.
Well, more like watching me sit still and try to dodge the shit my mentor was throwing at me. Luke wasn’t there now, though, and Del was in a mood.
I held a hand to my eye, letting go of my own temper. “What the hell, Del? This is stupid. You aren’t teaching me to fight. You’re teaching me to what, take a beating? I know how to do that—I get beat on almost every day. I need to learn to kick and punch, not to sit still and ignore their shit!”
He gave me the look I despised most, one dripping with disappointment. “Girl, I’m telling you now. Your whole life is gonna be a fight, but most times, you won’t be allowed to use your fists or your feet to engage the enemy. If you can find this place, this stillness so that you can think, and learn, and win against your opponent mentally? Dodge the blow before it lands, find the perfect moment to duck so they fall on their own ass instead of handing you yours? You’ll be unbeatable, in the fighting ring or out. I promise I’m not wasting your time.”
“But when will I learn to fight?”
“You are learning to fight.” He shook his head at me. “You just can’t see it yet.” When I slumped down, he walked over and ruffled my messy hair. “This is the gift I would have given my own children if the moon had seen fit to give me a mate. This is my legacy, the only way to win every battle you’ll fight. I can make you unbeatable, Flor. Just focus.”
The announcer’s voice brought me back to the present. I tucked the memory deep inside and let everything else go as I stepped into the ring.
21
Losing the Fight
FLOR
Quickly, I scanned the fighting ring. There were no weapons to be found there, not yet. No divots on the surface of the packed ground to trip an unbalanced foot, nothing but emptiness.
And when I looked up, the laser focus of hundreds of shifters was on me.
Shitshitshit.
I dropped my eyes back to the tamped-down earth, ignoring the Alpha on his spray-painted throne, although I could feel his heavy gaze on me. Not just his gaze—his power, hammering into me with physical force. It had been a long time since I felt his Alpha mojo aimed solely at me. I’d almost forgotten how it sapped my strength.
