Page 33 of Wolf's Gambit

With a cry, I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed him tight. “It serves you right, you get Cass,” I told him as I cried into his fur. “She’s ten times worse than me. She’ll make you miserable and probably ridiculously happy.”

The wolf huffed, and I grinned despite my tears.

Rubbing my hands over my face, I scrubbed away the wetness from my cheeks. “Don’t let them treat you like shit,” I warned him. “And I guess, um…” I swallowed hard. “I love you.” I was going to start bawling like a baby. I needed to shift.

Closing my eyes, I let her come forward. As my body shifted and my paws sank into the soft earth, I looked through her eyes at the wolf that was my brother. His cold nose grazed my ear in affection, and with a whimper, my wolf turned away from him and ran.

The grass tickled as we ran. The sky seemed brighter. The birdsong lighter.

We ran faster. The open beckoned us. We could smell deer to the west of us.

We would hunt.

A whisper of a presence caressed our mind.

Moonstar.

The forlorn howl behind us didn’t stop us. How could we stop now? The horizon was calling.

Unbroken.

Undisturbed.

Uncontrolled.

Free.

CHAPTER 9

Kezia

Four Months Later

The smell was worse than normal. The place looked like a dump, but really, the smell was the problem. My nose was too sensitive, and the aroma of my surroundings was making my eyes water. Standing in the corner of the large barn with sawdust covering the floor, I looked around at a large steel frame with wood-slatted and cracked and broken walls.

Wind and watertight, this place was not. Looking up at a high skylight in the corrugated metal roof covering, I saw the sliver of the moon shining down on me.

Are you watching me, Luna? Are you frowning at me like Kris used to tell me you were?

The dull ache in my abdomen at the thought of my brother pulled my attention away from my musings to the heavenly goddess. It had been four long months, but I was surviving. I had a place to lay my head at night and a job, but most of all, I had my freedom.

I’d gone through a huge change, and while I may not have achieved happiness yet, I was managing. Plus, I was human. I’d come out of my shift. The temptation to stay wolf had been there, but I’d turned on my own.

Kris was right not to doubt me. Knowing my brother had risked a lot on my ability to shift gave me a sense of calm, and I’d proven him right.

The ringing of the bell signaled the end of the match. I rose on tiptoes to see who had won. The victor surprised some of the standing crowd, but it was not a surprise to me. The skinny man won the fight and celebrated while the heavyset opponent lay unconscious. It had nothing to do with their weight. But when you were as bulky as the loser of the match was, what he had in muscle and bulk, the opponent had in speed and agility.

“You’re next.”

Turning, I looked at the man beside me. Vance owned the warehouse and most of the guys in it. He’d slicked his dark hair back with too much gel or grease—I couldn’t tell without looking too closely. With blue eyes, a scruffy jaw, and a wide smile, he’d surely be considered handsome to some females.

But I’d seen the hardness he didn’t mask. The indifference with which he watched the fights and his complete lack of empathy when opponents were carried out of the ring told me he had little humanity left in him.

“What’s it tonight?” I asked him casually. “Rounds or knockout?” I could feel his assessing gaze on the side of my face, but I refused to look at him.

“You took a few hits earlier this week,” he drawled.

“It’s a fighting ring.” Bouncing on my toes, I was eager to start. “If I don’t get hit, my opponents are not doing their best.”

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