Page 82 of Shaken Knot Stirred

“What a dick,” the alpha said.

“Yeah, Beg Knightbridge is a prince,” I mumbled.

“Fuck me. Knightbridge?” The alpha said, turning to watch Beg make his way across the room. “The Beg Knightbridge?” He flashed his eyes back at me, concern and white fear flashing through his aura. Even random alphas knew Beg’s reputation and that he shouldn’t be trusted around omegas.

“You, uh, want company or something?” He asked.

A smile spread across my lips. This guy was a lover, not a fighter. He had tortured artist written all over his aura. He couldn’t protect me if he wanted to. I’d have to do it myself.

“Sweetness,” I said, leaning across the bar and pinching his cheek, “I want you to go get your girl. You came here to get into some trouble. I don’t want that for you.”

“A shot for the road, then?” His half smile was devastating. I tipped more of that marshmallow vodka into a cup for him, straight up. He downed it and left a crumpled twenty on the bar.

I tucked it in my boot and I bent to pick up the cup Beg threw down. Rinsing it out, I washed my hands before shoving it deep down into the trash bin.

Chapter 46

Lana

I braced my backagainst the partition separating the VIP section from general seating. Even with my fingers in my ears, the dog barks from the crowd stabbed daggers into my head. It had started when JP hit the floor. They carried him past me on a stretcher. His limp hand, all taped up like he was cosplaying as a boxer, hung off the edge. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping Beg wouldn’t call me up to announce the next fight.

“Woof. That was rather anticlimactic.” Beg strutted around the ring. “Hopefully, they won’t have to wire his jaw shut and he’ll be back to his little podcast real soon.”

The crowd roared.

Nico was in the ring with Beg, as he had been for all the theatrics in between fights. He looked bored, but I knew he was drowning. Whatever Beg had done to Moxie was burning him up inside.

The ring was octagonal. Beg had wanted it to be round, but that had cost too much. He’d rather spend the money to mic the ring. He wanted hands-free, high-quality sound to stream the fights. There were three square platforms hanging off of it where fighters could do their dumb shadow-boxing, chest-thumping prep work. I knew the fights were important and kept more violent things from happening, but that understanding didn’t stop me from being sick to my stomach.

I let my eyes roam over the crowd. Every kind of person was represented. Alphas spoiling for a fight. Betas looking for a walk on the wild side. The rich and famous. Even that porn star, Locke Knottinghem, was here, snatching $100 bills out of people’s hands as he won bet after bet.

There were quite a few women, too. I assumed mostly betas, maybe a few alphas. I doubted there were many omegas. The packs sat together and were easy to pick out. There was just something about their energy that screamed “togetherness.”

I looked back up at the ring where my pack was. I wondered if everyone knew we hated each other. Packs weren’t always a fated mate situation. But they at least liked each other. I sniffed my wrist. I had been slathering on an old perfume that had peachy notes to it. I didn’t even smell half as good as she did.

My heart stopped as I glimpsed platinum hair on the far side of the warehouse. I squinted. At this distance, I couldn’t be sure it was her, and I hoped it wasn’t. Platinum and pastels were on trend right now, so it could be anyone. That flash of white disappeared into the crowd.

The next fighter and his buddies were loading into the box to get ready. The alpha was already off the rails. His pack was doing a terrible job of keeping him calm.

“Boyd, behave. Be a good little alpha and I’ll put you in the ring with a girl as a treat.” Roars of laughter met Beg’s words.

Dorian stepped into the ring. Beg made a cut motion for the sound guy to shut off his mic as they put their heads together. Nico had his arms crossed, leaning on the fencing. Beg picked his head up and searched the crowd. When he found me, he snapped his fingers for me. When I moved, Nico did, too.

Ethan was standing at the top of the small flight of stairs in just a white tank top, not our uniform black sweatshirts. He held the gate open with a foot. Another one of the security guys in a black hoodie held a hand out for me to help me up the stairs. The rickety construction was hard to navigate in heels. He squeezed my fingers as he let go. I turned back to thank him. Star’s pretty face was mostly lost in the shadow of the hood. Startled, I stumbled into the edge of the fencing. My dress got caught on a zip tie that was holding two pieces of metal together. Star was next to me in a second, unhooking the pocket of my dress that had gotten caught.

Beg snapped his fingers for me again. Nico met my eyes, his face creased with worry. I shook my head slightly and wished for the very first time that I could control the pack bonds enough to communicate with my pack. Well, at least one member of my pack.

“Owen dropped out of the fight. We need something else,” Dorian broke the bad news to Beg.

I jumped when the alpha in the box behind me growled and punched the pipe holding up the fencing. It rattled the whole structure. His buddies looked nervous as they clamped a short length of chain around his wrist. I swallowed. Beg had done thislast year, too. He tethered the two rutting alphas together, just to see what happened. The audience loved it.

Beg wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and licked his lips like he was thirsty.

“Is Nolan still out of the loop on this?” Beg asked.

Nico crossed his arms and shrugged.

“You lose all your fucking brain cells rutting that sweet little omega last night?”

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