Page 9 of Bait Wolf
Every single one of those minutes seemed to drag on forever.
Finally, the crowd began to cheer, and music played. Lambert was emerging.
I was so eager, I felt like my skin was on too tight, like I was ready to burst free and tear through the aisles to that familiar cage—but only after I saw Asha. Once I’d seen her and that she was okay, then I would commit to this charade.
The door swung open again, and the club employee nodded for me to go.
I heard my music come on. The song was an old classic, a piano piece that rose in a crescendo as I walked through the hall and into the stadium. Because I was dramatic like that and this part, just like the fight itself, was about entertaining the crowd.
The lights were low, flashes of blue and pink neon as I walked into the open, and the whispered anticipation of the crowd erupted into a full-blown cheer. They were so loud that the sound reverberated through me, straight into my bones, filling me with an energy unlike anything else. The heady scent of so many wolves, so many mixed pheromones was dizzying. A delightful high when you were in the right mindset. Sometimes when I walked out into the crowd, between the aisles with the lights and cameras on me, I felt like I could do anything.
I shut my eyes, for a moment forgetting that this wasn’t going to be like my other fights.
This one would end my winning streak but hopefully not my career.
When I opened my eyes again, my gaze settled on the cage in front of me. The familiar fight ring was lined to the ceiling with metal mesh. In a fight once, my opponent had climbed halfway up it in his attempts to get away from me.
Silvain “the Savage”Lambert was already in his corner, standing behind the waiting gate, stretching from side to side, nervous energy buzzing through his body. He looked on edge, even from here. Didn’t he know that he was going to win? He must have. I’d bet that the bastard got a cut of the winnings.
I shut the thought down quickly. I was already angry enough. If I lost control now, there would be no way for me to throw the fight. I had to do this for Asha.
But as I reached the cage, fear struck me. I wasn’t getting in until I saw her.
I spun around, unsure who to reach out to, struck by a helplessness I hadn’t felt since childhood. But just as I turned my back to the ring, she was presented to me.
Out of nowhere, it seemed, two men parted, and Asha was there, between them. She was holding her lamb teddy and smiling up at me with her large, round eyes.
“Coal!” she squealed and leaped into my arms as I bent down, overcome by relief.
“Baby girl!”
My whole body was shaking as I held her and inhaled her sweet, innocent scent. All the tension inside me turned into mush as her small arms came around my neck, squeezing tightly.
“Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?”
She didn’t seem to catch my meaning.
“We went to the science museum, and I played with the giant bubbles!”
“All right, that’s enough. Let your daddy get to his fight and you can talk after.”
One of the men tugged her back and only the fact that there were thousands of people watching stopped me from snapping on the spot. Not to mention the fact that I wasneverviolent in front of Asha.
I stood up, looking down at the two men who had her, only now registering that they were Kai and Alek themselves. Of course. They wouldn’t want me to know who her handler was, would they? Just in case I retaliated.
Neither of them said anything, just nodded to me. I watched sharply as they retreated to their seats, keeping Asha between them.
It did mollify me the slightest bit that I could see them. Their seats were only a couple rows back. Even if Asha was frightened seeing this fight, especially seeing me lose, I would make it up to her somehow.
“Ready?” Everest asked, drawing my attention back to the matter at hand. I nodded and climbed into my corner as the announcer shouted my name.
“Coalthe RedwoodKent!”
The crowd was deafening, cheering for me, expecting another bulldozing win. I would put on a show. I had decided that yesterday, but when Lambert offered me something, a strong hit, a vicious bite, I would let the other wolf take me down. If I had to stare into little Asha’s eyes the whole while, I would, just to remind my wolf why I could not keep fighting.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, I faced forward, gaze fixed on my opponent through my gate. They were made of metal, one on each side, thick enough to hold us in until the fight started, but with large enough gaps that we could smell the omega when they were brought in.
I had always found this to be an unnecessary part of the tradition. Bringing out the omega to convince the alphas to fight—as though they needed a reason.
