“I bet she ends the fight in her skin either way. I’d even bet money on it. She’ll fight you skin to skin if she’s given the option to choose.” Jack’s matter-of-fact tone piqued my interest. I stared at her from across the yard, trying to figure out what she was hiding. There was no way she could beat my wolf in her skin. Was he insane? Had he never seen wolves fight before?
“Any time now,” she sassed at me while tapping the imaginary watch on her wrist. “I have a couple jobs to do. I can’t wait all day for you to make up your mind.” Fucking brat.
This was stupid. Why did I feel like I was going to lose? I was always confident when it came to fighting. I’d never been taken down by a she-wolf in practice, and I wasn’t about to let it happen in a real fight. But I had also never fought the Supreme Alpha’s daughter either. This is a hard fight to walk away from. Damn it. I sighed and ran my hand over the back of my neck, thinking about my options.
“I’ll take that bet,” Novak perked up more at the prospect. “I bet she starts the fight as a wolf and finishes as a woman. You won’t catch me challenging her. I know when there’s a bigger predator around.” He coughed, trying to cover up the laughter in his voice. It didn’t work, so he just gave me a jovial smile and slapped a hundred dollar bill on the table. Jack matched him.
Grim was looking worried. For me? For her? Or for the betting? Probably for me. Did I mention this was stupid? I may be an alpha by nature, but it wasn’t my smartest move to show even the slightest signs of a challenge to her. I should’ve known better the moment I’d found out who she was.
“So what’ll it be, mutt?” she taunted me. The dig was just what I needed to accept, and damn if she didn’t know it. She really is a brat.
“Alright, she-wolf. What form are we fighting in?” I’d leave that up to her.
“Whatever you want.” She snapped her fingers and was back in those amazing booty shorts she was wearing when we walked up the path to the back patio. Damn it. Why was she so distracting?
“You won’t get mad when I win, right?” I questioned myself as much as her. Would I be mad if she won? I wanted to think about that, but mostly I stared at her for longer than necessary. I didn’t think about strategy at all. I thought about throwing her over my shoulder and trotting off into the trees surrounding her house. Finding a nice wide trunk to fuck her against until she was so hoarse from screaming she couldn’t talk back. Fuck me. It would be difficult to fight her with my dick hard. Head in the game, Briggs. Head in the game.
“My dad may have trained you, but my wolf is one of a kind,” she jeered at me and shrugged a bare shoulder. I bit my cheek so hard I tasted blood. My wolf wanted to bite her, mark her as his own. His feelings of lust were fueling my own. What should I do? Stop thinking about sex for starters, you fucking horndog.
“Both,” I drawled confidently. “We’ll fight as both.” I grabbed the back of my t-shirt and jerked it over my head in one smooth motion. I unbuttoned my jeans but left them hanging on my hips. I kept an extra pair in everyone’s vehicles, just in case. So when I shredded these, it wouldn’t be a big deal.
“Okay,” she conceded. “Whatever you want.”
Wait, what? Why did she agree to that?
Fuck.
Shit.
That was when I knew I’d clearly fucked up. Stand tall and take your beating, Briggs. There was a first time for everything.
In a split second flash of bright light, she shifted and stood across the yard as a wolf. She was the same height as my wolf but thinner, all lean muscle to my bulk. It was the difference between an MMA fighter and a bodybuilder. It was also crystal clear that I was going to lose before we even began. A smart wolf would have submitted before they got injured. I wasn’t a smart wolf, though. I was stubborn. She gave me the wolf equivalent of a grin. She charged me with a speed I had never seen any wolf move in before. Her attack gave me no more time to look her over.
I rushed forward to meet her and shifted mid-jump. We both lunged for the other and slammed together in the air. The momentum pushed us back, allowing me distance once again. She snarled at me, and I returned the favor with a low, warning growl. We were all teeth, claws, and tangled limbs on display for the watching audience seated safely on the patio.
Her shiny silver-blue coat reflected the sunlight. I took a second to notice that her fur was the same color as her hair. She almost looked like a powdery-blue wolf. Her body was hard and her muscles are long, lean, and coiled for her next attack. She was ready to pounce on me, but she played cat and mouse as she circled my bulky body. I’d never been a mouse in this game before. I had to twist to keep her in my line of vision. I did not want her at my back.
Jack was right. Her wolf was beautiful, terrifying, and deadly. She stalked me gracefully on her paws as she continued to move counterclockwise. It was a sight I wanted to memorize, but she didn’t give me another second. She dove for me. I barely missed her as I adjusted to my left, out of her circle. Her claws tore up the grass when she came to a stop where I was just standing. She glared down at the grass with her large, cold eyes and huffed her distaste. She didn’t like messing up her yard. That was kind of adorable. I didn’t wait for her undivided attention, though. I took the distraction as a chance to attack.
I charged full speed at her and she looked at me keenly but didn't move. I opened my jaws to grab her by the throat, but when I snapped them shut, there was nothing but air.
She was gone.
No. Not gone.
She wrapped her very naked human body around my fucking neck like she was some sort of sloth along for a ride. I couldn’t see her, but I felt her slight weight. I noticed as each of her fingers slid into my fur. Then, she grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and slammed me to the ground harder than any male alpha ever had. I wiggled, trying to dislodge her grip and get out from under her, but her strength was… insurmountable. I couldn’t believe this. She was what? Maybe 130 pounds. She held me down in wolf form like I was a rag doll.
She snatched me by my scruff again, gaining my full attention. Jerking my head over, she exposed my throat. I kicked with all my strength, feeling my claws dig into her flesh. I could smell the blood. I knew she was injured, and it was all my doing. Trying to make her move away seemed to fuel her rage more than the blood did, though.
I felt her jaw open up and clamp around my neck, the slightest pressure of her very human teeth set with her wolf’s canines. She pulled up and looked into my right eye. “Submit,” she demanded, but I wouldn’t. Not yet. I wiggled again to get free. She loosened her hold on me and let me up. I did not like that.
I snarled as I shifted back to my skin. She launched at me the moment I got my human legs underneath me. I was on my back in the grass, and I had no idea how it happened so fast. I was standing one second and then flat on my back the next. I never felt her impact, but I felt the slam knock the breath right from my lungs. She landed on my chest, straddling me, with her left hand wound tightly in my hair. She jerked my head to the left, leaving the full length of my throat exposed a second time. “Submit,” she demanded impatiently. I still wasn’t ready to admit defeat.
I flipped us over, throwing her back onto the unforgiving ground. My thighs caged her arms in and my dick rested wholly against her perky tits. I wanted to enjoy the view, but when I glanced down at her, she was wearing a smug grin. I had a brief moment to furrow my brows and wonder what she was thinking before she slung her legs up. Her heel hit me in the throat while she used her legs to slam me backwards. All the air whooshed from my lungs painfully fast. She followed me to the ground and sunk her teeth into the left side of my throat, piercing the vulnerable flesh.