Page 145 of Not Your Ordinary Shifter

Screams filled the air, the crowd rising to its feet and bringing Debbie right along with it. She’d missed everything theannouncer was saying while she grappled with her worries. A bull shifter was leaping out of its chute, a cowboy on its back, snorting madly as it jumped up impossibly high and landed with such force, the cowboy actually bounced atop it.

Jerking and twisting in ways a regular bull couldn’t hope to duplicate, the bull threw the cowboy back and forth while he hung on grimly, one hand in the air for balance, the other gripping the rope tied around the bull’s chest. The cowboy’s face was a mask of concentration—so was the bull’s.

It was over in five seconds, and the cowboy went flying through the air to land in a pile of mud.

Half the audience groaned sympathetically, while the other half cheered. The biggest difference between a human and a shifter event was now on display. No clowns came running in, although a doctor did, but the defeated cowboy was already getting to his feet and brushing off his jeans with angry motions. The bull, rather than being herded out of the arena, was running around the inside of the fence in a victory lap.

See? Buck be fine.Her honey badger was nonchalant as it watched the parading bull.

True. At least with bull shifters, the biggest worry was about the fall—the cowboys didn’t have to worry about being trampled afterward. Well, assuming the bull in question wasn’t a sore loser.

Another cheer went up around the stadium as the bull shifter returned to human form to shake his opponent’s hand—naked, of course. He was built like the bull he was with rippling muscles under his tanned skin, a shaved head, and a swinging dick that matched his animal. Sara and Cara cheered particularly loudly.

Chapter

Five

THOR

With every ride that finished, Thor’s insides wound tighter and tighter. He cheered and groaned along with everyone as he watched the rider and bulls. Mostly, he cheered for the riders, although there were a few bull shifters he was friends with he chose to cheer for instead of their opponents.

Kade’s ride went off without a hitch, giving him a good score after he stayed on for the full eight seconds. The bull shifter he’d gone up against sulked a little but shook Kade’s hand with good grace. He was young; he’d have plenty of time to learn. Ajax managed to stay on for eight seconds as well, barely.

Now, it was Jack’s turn. The youngest of the four of them, he was naturally a good rider but tended to be a bit of a slacker when it came to actually training. So far, he’d been pretty lucky, but Thor had a feeling, today was the day his ego was going to take a bruising.

Unlike Thor, Jack didn’t seem to get the concept of bragging for the audience while staying humble inside. He believed hisown hype, whereas Thor was very aware Maddox might win their matchup, which was why he’d phrased his bet with Debbie so carefully.

“Watch out for the twist and kick,” Thor advised as Jack shook out his shoulders. “Clark is fast, and he’s very good at knocking his riders off balance, so he can throw them with that move. You’ll feel the need to lean against him when he twists, but youhaveto go with his movement, or he’ll be able to buck you off.”

The younger buck rolled his eyes, and Thor had to bite his tongue. His stag snorted, metaphorically pawing at the ground, taking it as a challenge.

Upstart. Teach him respect!

Out of the corner of his eye, Thor saw Kade watching in amusement. They’d both competed against Clark before. It was the most recent time Thor had almost been thrown because of Clarke’s proficiency with that move.

He’s about to learn his lesson the hard way,Thor sent the thought to his buck in a soothing tone. If Jack didn’t, Thor would likely have to let his buck teach Jack a lesson about respect sooner rather than later. The young idiot was getting way too big for his britches, as Thor’s grandma would say. She’d said the same thing about Thor more than once.

“I’ve got this,” Jack said, just barely managing to sound respectful. “Worry about your own ride, Alpha.”

Jack had never been thrown in his career so far, which left him with a very high score average at the moment.His was the last ride before Thor and Maddox faced off. Jack swaggered off to the chute, and Kade and Ajax came up beside Thor to watch.

“Five bucks he stays on,” Ajax said.

Kade snorted. “I’ll take that bet. Easiest money I’ll make.”

They shook hands on it before leaning on the fence with Thor. He didn’t bet—he never did when it was someone fromhis herd—but privately, he agreed with Kade. While Jack had a lot of natural ability, it had led to laziness in training and overconfidence. The combination was going to be his downfall eventually, and Thor was pretty sure it was today unless there was something going on with Clark he didn’t know about.

The buzzer sounded, and Clark barreled forward, Jack clinging to his back with a big grin on his face.

Four seconds later, the grin was gone as Jack flew through the air, victim to the exact twist and kick Thor had warned him about. He’d leanedagainst the twist instinctively and to his credit, had realized it and tried to change course, but it was already too late.

“Damn,” Ajax sighed, pulling a bill from his pants and slapping it into Kade’s waiting hand. “I thought for sure he’d have that one.”

“That’s because you haven’t competed against Clark directly before,” Kade said with a chuckle, sliding his new money into his pocket. He turned his attention back to Thor, slapping him on the shoulder while Clark did his victory lap, and Jack got to his feet, red-faced and dusting himself off while staring at the ground in frustrated shame. “Go on, Alpha. We’ll make sure the hothead doesn’t do anything rash.”

Thor didn’t have far to go, but he needed the minute or two to clear his head while Clark celebrated before shaking hands with Jack.

Honey badger,his stag said almost dreamily, and Thor shook his head. Yeah, he couldn’t go into this ride thinking about Debbie. His eyes scanned the crowd right before he walked up to the chute, and as if his thoughts had conjured her, his gaze went straight to her as if by magic.

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