Adrenaline careened through my veins, pumping burning hot blood through my body. I had no idea what I was walking into, but I was definitely ready for it. I wasnotin the mood to be fucked with today. I crept silently around the bar, having practiced walking on my tiptoes a lot. A lot of bear shifters had incredible hearing, and since I had no idea who or what I was about to face, I didn’t want to take any chances. I checked out as much of the bar as I could, trying to keep my ragged breaths to a minimum and my pounding heart as quiet as I possibly could. Once it seemed like there was no one in the room with me, I knew I needed to try to scare whoever it was away.
“I’m here,” I called out, thankfully without my voice shaking. “And I don’t need any drama tonight, so I suggest you show yourself before I lose my shit.”
Again, I got nothing. Coward. Whoever this was had me really pissed off. I almost didn’t know what to do with myself because I was so wound up.
My ears pricked up at another sound—scuffling, followed by a yelp. I followed the sound, baseball bat raised above my head, ready to protect myself at whatever cost. There, at the back entrance to the bar, I found a scruffy-looking man with his hands tied behind his back as he lay face down on the floor. What the hell was going on? How and why was this man already tied up in a heap at my feet? My job had seemingly been done for me.
On top of the scruffy man was another man. I looked up his thick, muscular, tattooed body, which had my mouth running dry, to his face, the most gorgeous face I’d ever had the privilege of seeing. Smooth dark skin that matched the color of his eyes. A strong jawline and a well-kept beard. A mouth that immediately made me think of kissing, and I wasn’t sure why. I definitely wasn’t the sort of woman who thought about kissing all the time. I was much too busy for that.
But this man wasn’t just handsome, there was something more to him. He was familiar. I’d seen his face on posters around the arena, so I knew he was one of the Pisces competitors, but it was more.
“Oh my God.” I clapped a hand over my mouth in shock. I knew him because I had a photograph of him at home. Him and Pi in their army cadet uniforms. I felt an intense pang in my heart. “Atlas, what are you doing here?”