Jennifer Ashley - Hard Mated

Gavan looked him over, inhaled in that Shifter way of testing scent, and his eyes went Shifter. “You have the mate bond.”

“Damn straight I do. I want you away from her. Now.”

“Spike,” Myka panted, “he’s got Jordan and your grandma.”

Spike’s gaze went hard to Gavan, sweat and blood trickling down his face. “You touched my cub?”

“He’s perfectly safe. You win these fights, he goes home to his daddy.”

“Screw your fights. You touched my cub. You’re dead.”

Gavan raised his hands in a gesture of conciliation. “If I don’t make it back tonight, my men have their orders. You play nice, and everything will be all right.”

Spike couldn’t hear him. The world was filmed with red, his hated enemy standing in front of him, within gutting reach. The scent of Myka, like cool, fresh rain in the middle of a fetid swamp, was the only thing that kept him from giving in to the feral rage and killing Gavan on the spot.

“You don’t trust me,” Gavan said. “So I don’t trust you.”

“You’re an idiot.” Spike heard the words come out of his mouth, but no awareness of saying them. “You touched my cub. No Shifter will trust you now.”

“Not true. You help me like you promised, and I’ll be the one making the rules. Your cub will grow up in a more powerful position than you ever did. The son of my enforcer will get all kinds of benefits, and he’ll inherit your title.”

Gavan was so full of shit Spike was surprised he didn’t explode. But one thing was certain—Gavan had Jordan. Gavan was smart enough to hide him well, to use him as a hostage for Spike’s obedience.

And if Spike obeyed now, Gavan would do it again. And again, and again.

He saw Myka edging away, her hand on her cell phone. Gavan saw her too and towed her back. “Doesn’t matter if you start a major hunt for the kid. I wasn’t stupid enough to take him to my house. All you have to do is cooperate, Spike. Don’t sacrifice your son for your pride.”

Spike looked at Myka. She was furious, scared for Jordan, and worried for Spike.

And in the middle of Spike’s terror and rage, the mate bond. Gavan had sensed it, and Spike felt it filling every space in his heart, every corner of his body. The bond stretched like a tether between himself and Myka, making them one—the only clear point in the fog of his anger.

He held on to that clarity and turned back to Gavan. “I’ll do your damn fights,” he said. “You give me back my son.”

“That’s the deal.”

Gavan lied. He had to know that as soon as Jordan was safely home, Spike would be after Gavan. He’d never be safe. Gavan would have to hold on to Jordan until he broke Spike’s will, or Spike died.

And maybe that had been Gavan’s plan all along. To pit Spike against tougher and tougher opponents, to fight him until he was spent. The ultimate rule of the fight club was no fighting to the death, but accidents happened.

What better way to eliminate Spike than to have him go down doing the thing he was famous for doing?

Spike was a threat. He’d proved with his rage against Liam this morning—the story was probably all over South Texas by now—that Spike wasn’t blindly obedient to any leader. If he didn’t agree to work for Gavan undeniably, then Spike had to go down.

Myka met Spike’s gaze with a worried one of her own. She must know that thoughts were whirling in Spike’s head, plans on plans. He tried to send through their bond to be ready when he needed her, but the mate bond wasn’t the same thing as telepathy. Spike just had to hope she’d understand.

“Next fight,” Spike said, turning away.

He had one advantage. Gavan still thought Spike was stupid. In the end, that would be Gavan’s biggest mistake.

Spike fought and won two more bouts quickly. Those would keep Gavan appeased, make him think Spike was doing what he wanted. Spike also knew that Gavan had lined up easy fights at first. Didn’t want to tire his champion too quickly.

The first real bout came when Spike stepped into the ring, tossing his towel back to Ellison, and found himself facing Dylan Morrissey.

The crowd quieted. Dylan and Spike had never fought each other before. Though Dylan had stepped down from being Shiftertown leader, he was still one of the most powerful Shifters around, and everyone knew it. Spike was the best fighter in South Texas, and everyone knew that too.

How Gavan had swung getting Dylan into the ring against him, Spike didn’t know. But if Dylan went down under Spike, that would send a signal to Shiftertown that the Morrisseys could lose strength.

Out of the corner of his eye, Spike saw Connor Morrissey approach Myka. Gavan shot Connor a suspicious look then moved his focus back to the ring. Connor was a cub still, with no official place in the hierarchy as yet, which meant, in most people’s opinions, he was no threat.

The crowd of Shifters and humans swarmed the ring, this the only bout going on right now. A fight between Spike and Dylan would be too intense to miss.

A wall of Shifter bodies enclosed the ring, and through that wall, Spike saw Connor tug Myka out of the way.

“Fight!” one of the refs called, then he and the other refs backed away in a hurry.

Spike slowly circled Dylan. In spite of being one of the oldest males around, Dylan was in fantastic shape, his body honed and tight. Being one of the oldest males meant he was also one of the strongest—weak males didn’t make it to the beginning of their third century.

Spike tried to dredge up his anger at Liam for spying on Myka, for not trusting him. That anger would put his heart in the fight against Liam’s father. But nothing overcame Spike’s gnawing, crazed worry for Jordan. He needed to finish this and find his son.

Dylan attacked, still in human form. The two male bodies met with a beat of flesh to flesh, Dylan’s hands digging into Spike’s shoulders at the same time Spike dug into Dylan’s.

The Shifters erupted into a roar of approval. The bets would be coming thick and fast, equally on Spike as on Dylan.

Dylan jerked Spike close, a weak move, but it put Dylan’s lips next to Spike’s ear. “Play it out,” Dylan said.

The man backed off before Spike could respond, but he understood. Something was happening outside the ring, and Spike and Dylan needed to distract Gavan long enough for whatever it was to happen.

A spark jumped on Dylan’s Collar. Only one. An answering bite dug into Spike’s neck from his own Collar, and the prick of pain woke up the beast.

Spike launched himself at Dylan, shifting to his half-Shifter state on the way. Dylan’s body elongated until he was half lion, half man, with a roar to go with it.

Bodies met again, teeth and claws digging, Dylan’s incredible strength pressing Spike across the ring. Spike’s Collar arced, electricity snapping into him, as he fought to remain inside the cinder blocks.

Dylan was holding back a little, Spike could tell, even through all the roaring and growling. Even with that, the animal inside Spike suddenly knew: I can best him.

He let out a long, warning snarl, and the jaguar took over.

“What the hell are you doing?” Myka asked in a half-panted whisper as Connor ran with her into the darkness. “If Gavan realizes I’ve gone, he’ll call Nate and tell him to hurt Jordan.”

Connor kept a hard grip on Myka’s hand and pulled her to a small white pickup that waited in the deepest shadows. “Sean’s in there, slap up against Gavan, and he’ll break Gavan’s wrist if he makes a move. Glory’s in there too. She might eat him.” Connor grinned, opened the passenger door of the pickup, checked out that it was safe inside, and then half shoved Myka onto the seat.