Page 73 of The Finder

Emma had a brief second where she considered walking out the door and never coming back, but she squared her shoulders and began walking towards the fight ring Liam had pointed out. Madison walked next to her. Emma thought she was maybe talking, but she couldn’t hear anything over the crowd. Emma could feel the electricity in the air and the hundreds of eyes trained on her. She did her best to not think about it. She kept her eyes trained on the ring and didn’t look in the direction where Liam and Garrett stood.

Emma stopped just outside the ring and took off her sweatshirt and gave it to Madison.

Kyle came and stood next to them. “You got this, Emma,” he said sincerely. Emma could have hugged him in that moment. That was the boost of confidence she needed. She turned to look at him. He must have seen the doubt in her eyes. He put his hands on her shoulders. “Emma, you’ve taken me down several times; and it wasn’t because I was going easy on you. You’re tough. You’re a good fighter. You can do this. Go show everybody what you’re made of.”

Madison put her hand on Emma’s back. “Listen, you can do this. I’ve fought her many times before. She’s tough. She’s strong and built like an ox. Don't let her punches land on you, and whatever you do, don’t end up on the floor. That’s where her game is. If you end up down on the floor, you’re done. You won’t win against her brute strength. But for all her power, she’s slow. You can tire her out. Be light on your feet. Make every hit count. Dance around her; make her work for it. She’s used to just using her strength. Tire her out; then when she slows down, take her down.” Emma nodded, listening to everything she was saying.

“You gotta go,” Kyle yelled above the noise. Emma nodded and slipped into the ring. She looked down at Kyle and Madison one last time. They both nodded in affirmation at her. Emma looked at the wolf across from her and studied her for a brief moment while she stretched and warmed up. She heard Liam yelling into the mic one more time; then she heard the sound of the air horn, signifying the start of the fight.

Everything stilled around Emma as she tuned the world out. Trish might have been standing across from her, but Emma saw only saw Alec and his friends and all the people who never thought she was good enough. She saw the laughing faces of Barbie and her black-haired friend. Whether or not anything came from her and Garrett, she realized she had to do this for herself. She was no longer that scared little girl always trying to just survive. She had learned to survive and to fight back, and now it was time to prove it.

Tish came at her with a hard right, and Emma almost didn’t get out of the way in time. That hit snapped Emma back into real-time. Emma got her head back in the fight. She circled around Trish for a moment or two, getting a feel for how she moved. Then she decided to go for it, like Madison said. It was time to use her stamina to tire her out. She went on the aggressive, landing a few hits. That made Trish angry, and she came at Emma like an angry bull. Emma was ready for her. She deflected each of her hits, dancing out of her way. This only made Trish angrier. Emma continued to dance around her, getting in a good hit here or there, but also taking a few hits. Those hits were hard, and Emma knew she couldn’t afford any more of those or she wouldn’t be able to keep going. Shifters were so much stronger and faster. Emma needed to speed up her plan to get Trish down.

She went on the offensive again, not really landing too many blows, but at least making Trish have to work at deflecting. In learning to fight against the wolves, Emma had learned that the only way to win was to look for that one chance in a fight when her opponent was not fully recovered or weak, and then pounce. You had to know what to look for and when to go for it. Emma had trained herself to find it in every fight, because she could never win on skill, strength, or speed. The wolves would always trump her in all of those. She finally saw her moment and went for it. With several punches and a sweeping kick timed just right, Emma got Trish flat on her back and successfully pinned a moment later. She held on for dear life, knowing she just had to make it a few more seconds. The air horn blew. That was it.

Emma released her hold and rolled off of Trish, putting a hand down to help her up. Trish stood up and grinned at her. “Nice work.” They shook hands, and Emma walked to the other side of the ring and climbed out of the circle. Madison grabbed and squeezed her tight, and so did Kyle.

“I knew you could do it,” Madison said. Emma grinned. She felt pretty good at the moment. She wanted to look over and see if Garrett was watching, but she didn’t.

“I’m next for my fight. I’ll catch up to you soon,” Kyle said to Madison. After a quick kiss, he was gone.

Madison handed Emma her sweatshirt. “Let’s go watch Kyle and get you something to eat before your next fight.” Emma followed Madison through the throngs of people. Madison picked up an energy bar and a Gatorade for Emma, which Emma worked on while she watched Kyle fight. He did a great job and won his round quickly, much to the delight of his screaming wife. After a few more rounds, it was Emma’s turn to fight again.

This time she faced a girl who was much more evenly matched with Emma in size at least. Madison said she was just learning to fight in the ring. It was a quick victory for Emma. Her next two fights went fairly easy, which was good so she could conserve energy. Because the fights were single-round elimination, the rounds were ticking along quickly.

Her fifth fight of the night put her in a ring with a male wolf. Emma was glad she had spent time training with Kyle. This guy was good, but he wasn’t as good as Kyle. It took longer, but Emma finally managed to take him down. Her next round was her last. She gave it everything she had, but her opponent was just too big, too fast, and too strong. They went for a while, but eventually he pinned her. At least he was gracious about it. He was respectful to her and helped her up the second the air horn blew.

Emma moved to where Madison and Kyle were waiting for her. Madison crushed her in a hug. “I’m so proud of you. You did amazing tonight!”

Kyle nodded. “Good job, Emma.”

Madison linked her arm through Emma’s, her signature move. “Let’s get you some fuel,” she said. “We’ll be back to cheer for you for your next fight,” she told Kyle. He grinned and waved them off.

Emma and Madison sat and watched Kyle’s next three fights. Emma was pretty sure now after watching him fight that he had been holding back with her, letting her take him down the few times she did. He was a really good fighter. She absently wondered how he would stand up against Liam, Max, or even Garrett. She had been secretly hoping to watch Max and Liam fight tonight, but they hadn’t entered. She knew Garrett had been fighting all night. She'd heard his name mentioned constantly in different matches. So far, she had avoided watching him, until now.

Chapter 41

Emma couldn’t look away from the fight in front of her. Garrett was in the ring with a shifter Emma recognized as one of the enforcers, but she didn’t know his name. Garrett was incredible to watch. She was pretty sure that he was letting the fight go on. He probably could have ended it within the first thirty seconds if he wanted to. He was so fast and so powerful. He finished the fight, and the crowd erupted.

Emma was feeling better now after eating. The energy in the room was contagious. She was enjoying being a part of this. The last fight of the night was finally upon them, and this crowd was ready for it. Many of the enforcers had settled in around Madison and Emma, ready to watch the last fight. Kyle was facing off with Garrett. The enforcers were busy hollering and cheering for Kyle. Liam announced the fight and the crowd went wild. Garrett walked over and stood next to Liam. Emma watched Kyle, expecting him to walk over to the ring. He made his way over to where Madison and Emma were sitting. Madison stood and gave him a kiss. The enforcers whistled and hollered. Kyle pulled back and grinned. Then he turned to Emma and knelt in front of her.

“Emma,” Kyle shouted to be heard over the noise. “It’s tradition to give someone else a chance to fight the alpha if we’ve already done it, and somebody else deserves a chance. Do you want my spot?” he asked, looking up at her.

Emma stared at him, completely shocked.

Madison turned to Emma. “What are you going to do?”

Emma couldn’t help herself; she glanced towards Garrett. His eyes weren’t on hers. They were focused on the woman standing in front of him. When he smiled, fury erupted inside of Emma. She stood to her feet. Without looking at Kyle, she said loudly, “I’ll do it.” She looked down at Madison. “Coming?”

“Of course!” Madison shouted at her.

They stood up and made their way down to the floor. Kyle jogged over to Liam. Emma didn’t look his way. She didn’t want to see Liam’s expression. Suddenly, Liam’s voice flooded the gym. “Well, well, well,” he said into the mic. “We have a last-minute change. We’re going to have a stand-in for tonight’s fight against the alpha. Kyle is giving up his spot; the one and only Emma, mate to the alpha, will be taking his place.” The crowd erupted.

Emma didn’t look towards Liam, and she certainly didn’t look towards Garrett. She was stretching, getting ready when Barbie stopped in front of her. She gave Emma a withering look. “Looks like you’re even stupider than you look,” she said in Emma’s ear. “Don’t worry; I’ll take care of him when you’re unconscious for the rest of the night.” She sauntered away, and Emma stared after her, furious.

“Emma!” she heard Garrett’s angry voice from behind her. She didn’t want to turn around, but she made herself. She turned to face him. She was shocked at the anger blazing in his eyes, but it didn't matter. She had some of her own blazing inside of her. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked, seething.

Emma shrugged, feigning indifference. “Kyle offered me his spot.”

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