Page 99 of Bad Demon

What the fuck was that?

It was muted and distant, but it was definitely down here.

Yes, I was afraid, but I knew whatever that was, Relic was a part of it, and suddenly, getting to him overrode everything else I was feeling. I headed down another one of the caverns toward the sounds. I turned time and again, following the roars and growls and cheers, going deeper into the underground maze of caves.

The sounds grew louder. I was almost there.

I rounded a bend and turned into a wide opening that led directly into a huge cavern, big enough for the entire pack with room to spare.

Through the crowd, I could see the edges of a pit dug into the ground. It looked to be several yards across, and the walls were blackened and charred. The hounds surrounded it. Some were yelling instructions, some howling. Others stood with their shirts off, their bodies battered but quickly healing. Brick was across from me; the young hound was busted up pretty bad, and he was nodding while Dirk talked to him. I searched the room full of males for Relic, but I couldn’t see him—

A vicious snarl came from the pit.

Goose bumps lifted across my skin and raised the hair on the back of my neck. Without thought, I shoved through the crowd, rushing forward, and sucked in a breath.

Relic was down there. He and Rome were trading blows. Both showing no signs of stopping.

I stepped closer, about to call his name, but a hand landed on my shoulder, stopping me. I spun around. Warrick shook his head as he gently but persistently steered me back from the edge and behind the crowd.

“You need to stop this,” I said to the alpha when he was looking down at me.

His expression was unreadable. “Relic needs this, Fern.”

Anger sliced through me. “To be beaten bloody?”

“Yes,” he said, shocking the hell out of me. “We fight for many reasons, but mostly, it’s because, at our hearts, we are animals. That’s what a hound does when he feels threatened or afraid or cornered—he attacks. He burns off all the adrenaline pulsing through his veins, blinding him, making it impossible to see the way forward. We fight to see the truth.”

I blinked up at him, my stomach knotting. “Why would Relic feel that way?”

War studied me. “Right now, Relic’s feeling a lot of things he’s never felt before, and after six hundred years of fuck all, it’s a lot for him to process.” A small smile curled his lips. “You gotta know, Fern, he’s in there right now because of you.”

“Me?” My heart somehow raced faster, and the nerves grew more intense. “I’m nothing … to anyone.”

His chin jerked up, a look of surprise on his face. Then he barked an order for the hounds in front of us to move before directing me back to the edge of the pit. Relic and Roman were still trading blow after blow, so hard that the smack of fists against flesh echoed through the room. Relic looked, gods, feral. Fury burned in his now-red eyes, but not at Rome. No, his anger was focused inward. This was all about releasing whatever it was he was feeling.

“Take a good look at him, Fern,” War rumbled.

I took him in—inked skin slick with blood and sweat, face contorted with rage, those glowing red eyes. His hair was tied back, his square jaw hard, his teeth clenched, canines elongated. He was breathtaking. The most beautiful being I’d ever laid eyes on. My gaze dipped to that perfect mouth again, then down to his throat, veins bulging—I froze, locking onto something on the side of his neck, something new. A new tattoo. Bold, swirly lettering scrawled low on the side of his throat.

Four letters.

Fern.

Sweet Lucifer, my name was inked into his skin—right over the spot where I’d first fed from him.

“I know you’ve been let down a lot in your life, Fern. I know you’ve been made to feel unwanted, but you definitely mean something to him,” War growled low beside me.

Relic’s gaze sliced to me, his red eyes finding me and locking on. That moment’s distraction earned him a fist to the face. Relic staggered back, straightened, and shook it off. Then, he walked right past Roman to the edge of the pit and launched himself out.

I couldn’t fucking breathe.

Relic advanced on me, and his brothers parted, giving me room as I backed up—not because I was afraid of him, no, because I was afraid that this wasn’t real, that it was all a dream and I’d wake up.

This is no dream.

Trembling, I tried to gather my control as he stalked me.

Jagger jumped in the pit with Brick behind Relic, and the hounds turned away, ignoring us, choosing to watch the fight rather than whatever was about to happen between Relic and me.

---