"I saw the footage, Nash. I know who she was to you. So does your lion, even though you're struggling to forget."
"She was just another one of them," Nash bursts out. "Another female meant for me to breed. We had one night."
"One night is enough," I say softly. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a familiar face. Layne. She's pressed up against the bars, mouthing my name. Nash is dangerous, unstable. A bomb about to blow. But I'm so close.
I take a deep breath, and light the fuse. "You didn't just breed her, Nash. You marked her."
~.~
Layne
"NO!" The cry rings around the Pit, a howl of anguish that silences the crowd.
A lion bursts from Nash's skin and slams into Sam. The place erupts.
"I don't believe it. He won," Parker breathes.
"On a technicality, sure, but a win is a win," Declan shakes his head.
"What?" I push up to tiptoes.
"He got Nash to shift," Laurie murmurs.
"Oh my God," I cry. The lion crouches, his claws impaled in Sam's chest. "I grab Parker's arm. "Help him!"
Declan and Parker are already moving, scrambling for the cage with me on their heels.
"We gotta get Nash off him," I scream.
"Feck!" Declan curses. "If the claws are in his heart, he can't regenerate."
We enter the cage, and Parker and Declan slow at the scene-the huge lion turns his head and snarls at us. My legs turn to jelly.
"Nash, let him go," Parker calls, but neither he or Declan get any closer.
Sam gasps, blood gurgling out.
"Get off," I shriek, rushing at the beast. "Get off him."
The giant head turns to me, crazy golden eyes skewering me where I stand.
"You can't kill him." I tug at my shirt showing the red wound, already half healed and scabbed. "He marked me, see? He's my mate. My mate."
For a horrible second I wait for the lion to open his lethal jaw and devour me. Instead, the great head twitches. The eyes dull to a normal light. The lion retreats, leaving Sam convulsing on the floor. A bright red stream spurts from his chest. I throw myself to my knees, pressing my hands to his chest to stop the flow.
"Oh please, Oh please."
"Use this." Laurie kneels beside me, offering his own shirt. The tall man is thin, too thin for a shifter, his body showing scars. In a flash I memorize his chest in exact detail. The world is slowing, the crowd outside the cage fading away. Nothing matters but the man dying under my hands.
"You can't die," I tell Sam. It's just like my mom. I watched her go. I couldn't save her.
"Layne." Someone is calling my name.
"Layne," Parker repeats, crouching next to me. "The wounds can close." Parker says. "He's a wolf. He should be able to heal."
"If he dies, I'll never forgive you," I snap at the grey haired shifter.
"If he dies, we won't forgive ourselves." Declan kneels on the other side of Sam, helping staunch the wounds.
Sam shudders under my hands, coughing up blood.
"That's it, wolfie, let it out," Declan and Laurie help support Sam.
"Don't move him-" I start, but Parker holds me back.
"No, it's okay. The claws are out, the healing's begun."
Sam sags, the color coming back into his face. His body's covered in blood.
"Gave us a scare, wolf boy," Declan says. "Nash tried to shish-kebab ya."
Sam smiles weakly. "I've had worse."
I don't know whether to laugh, burst into tears, or punch them all.
"What happened?" Sam rasps.
"You won. You got Nash to shift. And then you almost died," Laurie explains. "Nash wouldn't let you go. Layne got him off you."
"Never seen anything like it. She faced the King of the Beasts," Declan says.
"You... let her?" Sam struggles to draw breath.
I tear free of Parker and press my fingers to Sam's bloodied lips to silence him. "They couldn't stop me."
"Ladies and gentleman," Parker announces. "I give you the winner of this fight-Sam Smith!"
The crowd erupts in a mix of cheers and boos.
"You guys better get him out of here," Parker says. "Lotta people lost bets when Sam won over Nash."
Laurie and Declan exchange glances.
"We better go too," the Irishman says.
"Careful," I murmur, as Declan and Laurie lift Sam in their arms. Already Sam looks better, which is good.
Because when I get him alone, I'm going to kill him.
~.~
Sam
PARKER HUSTLES us out of the cage, calling for the sexy leopard skin girls to come and dance. Laurie, Declan, and Layne press around me, pushing through the crowd. There are snarling, hostile faces everywhere I look.
"Run," Declan advises, and we jog the rest of the way to the back door-the one the fighters use. Four big bouncers close behind us, stopping the mob from attacking us.
"This way," Parker leads us back to a locker room. He opens one locker and pulls out a med kit, tossing it on the bench. "Lay him out, bandage him up."
"I'm fine, I'm fine." I bat at Laurie's hands.
Layne pushes Laurie aside and gets in my face. "You are not fine," she grinds out. "You nearly died."
"I'm healing," I tell her softly, but she ignores me, snapping on gloves and grabbing a hot pink colored bandage.
"I'll get you some meat," Parker disappears.
Declan and Laurie stand back as Layne starts to work.
"I've never had a doctor fetish before," Declan starts.
"You better not be getting one now," I growl, and flinch as Layne tugs the bandage around me with a sharp movement. It's going to take a lot of flowers and chocolate to earn her forgiveness. Still, I can't help the giddy pleasure of having a mate who cares.
"Give us a moment, guys," Layne orders, and they amble off in the direction Parker took.
Layne leans over me, her cheeks flushed. I watch her breasts shift under her thin shirt. As if they know I'm looking, her nipples pop up, visible under the bra and t-shirt. Adrenaline is pumping through me, and I know it's gotta affect her.