Page 37 of Wolf's Gambit

Standing over him, I heard the silence of the barn. Looking up, I watched Vance roll into the ring. Getting to his feet gracefully, he watched me warily as he approached. He was lean but not scrawny. I knew the man had muscle under his denim shirt, but I’d never seen him fight.

Licking my lips, I waited, unsure if I was ready for a fresh fight.

“Winner, Zia!” Vance shouted loudly and grinned. I didn’t miss the kick to Bullet as he stepped over him.

The crowd was cheering when Vance leaned into me. “You look like shit…get to the back. Let me get ice on that.”

“No more fights tonight?” I asked, knowing it was still early.

“No, you crazy girl. You won. Your money’s in the back. Walk out while you still can.” Vance looked me over one more time. “If you won’t wait until I’m back there, I’m telling you now. You don’t come back here for a week.” When I went to protest, he stepped closer. “A week. I mean it, Zia. You’re no good to my bets if you come back weak. Heal first.”

“Fine.” I wouldn’t hurt tomorrow because as soon as I was in my apartment tonight, I would fully shift, and my wolf would heal me, but he didn’t need to know that. “A week?” I scrubbed the blood from my eye again, and then wiped it from my nose with the back of my hand, grimacing at the mess and wiping it on my jeans.

“Girl, I see you anywhere near here, I’ll fucking shoot you. Understand?”

That made me snort a laugh. “Fine.” Pushing my hair off my face, I looked down at Bullet. “He pulled my hair.”

“And you punched him in the balls,” Vance gave me a disapproving look. “That’s just plain nasty.”

“I’m not sorry.”

“Get your money and go. Make sure one of my guys sees you to your car.”

Rolling my eyes, I looked at Vance. “You’re freaking me out with this nice shit. Stop it. Your balls are safe.”

Grabbing my boots, I rolled out of the ring. I accepted the slaps on the back and well dones as I headed to the back of the barn. One of Vance’s guys led me inside Vance’s office and wordlessly handed me a brown bag of money.

“Thanks.” Stretching out my arms, I winced. “This is going to hurt tomorrow,” I said lightly.

He said nothing but waited for me to put on my jacket. When he went to escort me out, I waved my hand.

“No need, friend.” I pointed to a car at the very back of the open area the barn used as a parking lot. “My friend’s waiting.” With a pat on his shoulder, I hurried away before he could look too closely and see that the car I’d pointed at was empty.

When I got there, I looked over my shoulder and saw the barn entrance vacant. With a sigh, I slipped off the track road and into the trees. Clutching my bag of money, I knew I would have to move towns soon. I winced in pain as my knee protested at the walk.

Looking up through the tree cover, I looked for the moon. I liked it here. Maybe I just needed to find a new fighting circle and leave Vance’s fights alone. Tonight, he was different. Nice. I didn’t go to earn money so he could be nice. Or friendly. I shivered. I definitely didn’t need his friendship or anything else he was offering.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I groaned as my ribs protested. Under the cover of night, letting my wolf come forward, I felt the magic slowly start to heal me as I walked back into town, my wolf sight navigating the darkness.

CHAPTER 10

Kezia

I worked in a bar at the edge of town.

With lots of cheap makeup on, I passed for twenty-one. Just. I had no ID for myself—pack life didn’t need it. But thankfully, the owner didn’t look too closely at the picture of the driver’s license I stole three towns back.

He also kept me in the kitchen. I washed dishes, kept my head down, and never drew attention to myself. I was pretty sure some of my coworkers knew I fought at Vance’s barn, and for that, they stayed away from me.

However, it meant I had to learn to get creative with makeup. I created bruises on my face that looked realistic but also like I had tried to cover them up. I was pretty sure I was fooling the people who only looked once, but the ones who may stand too close would see the lie I was trying to sell.

As a stranger to this town with an unknown past, I kept the curious busybodies averted with my naturally unfriendly personality. Kris would wince if he heard the way I spoke to some of them.

My already healthy use of curse words in the pack had become my defense mechanism against probing questions. I’d even learned new swear words. My brother would blush if he heard me these days.

Rinsing greasy plates before I scrubbed them properly, I wondered if Cass had come into her heat yet and if my brother now had his mate. How would the pack feel that the rogue beta was mated to the pack leader’s daughter?

They would probably be happy. They reluctantly accepted Kris in our pack, more so when he became the packs security leader. It had been me they were wary of. I’m sure fighting for money in dirty barns with ruthless, desperate humans wouldn’t surprise any of them.

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