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Over the past week, Holly had familiarized herself with Ice’s body and his many scars.
But she had never expected to see her boss in the nude, much less suspected that Arnold was even more heavily scarred than Ice. His powerfully muscled back, shoulders, and thighs bore dozens of pale lines and puckered round scars, some recent and still pink.
They stood facing each other.
Daniel called, “Shifters, on your marks!”
Each man walked backwards five steps.
“And… shift!”
“Oh, God, hurry!” Becca murmured, crushing Holly’s fingers in her grip.
Holly stood frozen, watching the gradual transformation from men to enormous Ice Age predators.
Arnold completed his shift first. A huge, scarred sabertooth cat with a black mane and a chestnut coat marked with dark stripes and rosettes rose shakily to its feet.
It crouched for a moment, shaking its head as if trying to dispel dizziness.
Frantic with worry, Holly glanced at Ice. He was in the final stage of his own shift, stretched out on the gravel, panting and writhing.
“Come on, Ice!” she pleaded.
Next to her, Becca was chanting, “Get up! Get up!”
Ice struggled to his feet and stood there, head down and swaying.
Arnold snarled, his oversized ivory fangs gleaming in the cold, brilliant sunlight, and leaped straight at his opponent.
Chapter Seventeen – Duel
Ice reacted with unexpected speed. He threw himself to one side, neatly dodging the other sabertooth’s strike.
Arnold’s golden eyes burned with rage above his deadly fangs. His enraged roar vibrated through Holly’s chest and bones as he skidded to a halt, kicking up a spray of gravel. He changed directions in the blink of an eye and leaped again.
This time, he landed nearly on top of Ice.
Twisting with lithe grace, Ice once again avoided contact. He rose on his hind legs and lashed out with his forepaws. Holly saw long, wickedly curved claws emerge just before he raked over Arnold’s back and down his side.
The next moments of the duel happened too quickly for Holly to track as the two big cats fought each other in close quarters. She saw only blurs of auburn and tawny gold as Arnold and Ice clashed in a series of rapid encounters. Growls and roars echoed over the snowy landscape.
They parted at last. Panting, they slowly circled each other, golden eyes assessing weaknesses. Long lines of dark red stains marred Ice’s tawny coat over his flanks. And Arnold was bleeding copiously from a deep bite wound on one shoulder where Ice’s saber canines had stabbed him, penetrating thick fur and muscle.
The two big cats continued circling each other for another few seconds, then Ice snarled and charged Arnold.
They met with an earth-shaking series of roars. Their thrashing bodies rolled over and over, leaving the gravel driveway and flattening the powdery snow that surrounded the ranch house.
Snarling and growling at deafening volume, they tumbled in a scything mass of gleaming fangs and claws toward the ring of spectators, forcing the onlookers to dodge hastily away.
Holly watched in horror as Arnold and Ice crashed into one of the thick wooden posts supporting the ranch house’s wraparound deck.
Both of the combatants collapsed, the wind clearly knocked out of them.
Ice recovered first. He scrambled to his feet, wheezing frantically for breath.
“Move! Move! Move!” Becca screamed as Arnold whipped around and closed in once more. “Oh God, Ice!”
Holly stood frozen in horror as Arnold raked at Ice with his hind paws, clearly trying to disembowel him. The deep puncture wound in his shoulder poured a steady stream of blood down his leg.
