Archer turned and glanced at Seb, who was still standing but now had his arms by his side, eyebrows raised and a shocked look in his eye as he stared at Zane. The sound of the official blowing the horn to signal the start of the fight distracted Archer from his thoughts. Archer could feel his lion urging him to bleed this man, to kill him.
Archer wasn’t thinking anymore, the cloud of red rage blinded him as he lunged at Zane, the unexpected movement sent the man flying backwards as he landed with a thud against the canvas, Archer’s hands around his throat, pinning him to the floor.
The sound of laughter pulled Archer’s mind from the red haze of anger that surrounded it. Archer looked down at his opponent, vulnerable underneath him. He could feel the vibration of Zane’s laughter against his fingers that were wrapped firmly around his throat. “You think you can run, lion?” Zane rasped out through his crushed windpipe.
Archer responded only by squeezing Zane’s neck even tighter. If Zane worked with the people that kidnapped him, then they would know he was back at the fight club and wouldn’t be far away. He suddenly felt like an idiot for thinking they would just let them escape and wouldn’t pursue them. He had expected threatening to tell the world about their torture lab would have been enough to prevent them from chasing him and the others, but maybe that was presumptuous. The others Archer thought. He was suddenly met with the urge to protect Seb and Jen…and Lara. He couldn’t let them be taken away again.
A burst of pain shot through Archer’s ribs and interrupted his thoughts, Zane’s face was bright red as he struggled for air between Archer’s hands, but he wasn’t giving up. Zane was thrusting both fists into each side of Archer’s rib’s now, he could feel them cracking under the strength of Zane’s punches. In Archer’s rage induced lunge for Zane’s throat, he had failed to think about protecting his sides and now he was paying for it. Archer clenched his teeth together against the searing pain, it hurt to breathe now but if he let go of Zane’s throat, he could lose his chance to kill him once and for all.
“Archer! Archer!” He heard his name through the cheering crowd, he knew it was Seb’s thanks to his shifter hearing and he turned his head quickly to see Seb standing, waving his arms around frantically to get his attention before pointing off in the distance. He was trying to tell him something but between the cheering of the crowd, the pounding pain of his ribs, his shortness of breath and his attempt to keep Zane restrained underneath him, he couldn’t understand what Seb was trying to say.
Archer squinted his eyes and tried to follow the direction of Seb’s pointed finger, but he couldn’t see anything besides the faces of drunken onlookers, yelling for blood. He grunted in pain as Zane continued to pummel his ribs and his whole body was beginning to ache severely. Archer loosened his grip around Zane’s throat unintentionally, it gave Zane the freedom he needed to thrust his fist directly into Archer’s stomach, sending him back, winded. Adrenalin was running through Archer’s body now, his lion was on his hind legs in his mind, roaring a battle cry. Archer was losing control of his animal and if he wasn’t careful, he was going to release his lion in front of all these people. The contestants were strictly only shifters but most of the audience were human and had no idea shifters even existed. Zane remained on the floor, trying to allow oxygen back to his brain as Archer watched him intently, he could feel the lion inside about to break out any minute in an attempt to end this man and remove the threat of danger from his people, his crew. His crew? The lion inside of him was trying to tear through his skin to get to the man in front of him. Archer’s sight became hazy and he could feel the lion inside coming closer and closer to the surface. His body started to tremble with the impending transformation, he could feel the tremor of adrenalin pumping through his body as he was seconds away from shifting -
The sound of the official’s whistle shocked Archer out of his blood lust, and out of the shift. He shook his head and focused on trying to contain his lion, pushing him to the back inside his mind. That was too close. “That’s enough, Archer. You’ve won” Bruce, the official that Archer had come to know during his time with the club, walked towards him and leaned in to whisper “You can thank me later for cutting the fight short. Now calm the fuck down before you turn into a beast out here in front of all these humans.”
Archer looked around at the crowd, most of the people were booing now. They hadn’t got what they wanted, what they came here for – blood. No one was unconscious on the ground or bleeding out, and the audience weren’t happy about it. Archer was glad Bruce called it and stopped him from shifting, not only would Archer be a danger to everyone around, but the shifter world would be exposed once and for all considering the number of humans in here.
Bruce announced Archer as the winner, but he wasn’t listening to the victory spiel. He was watching Zane exit out his side of the ring and take one last glance at Archer before walking towards the back exit. Archer left the ring and started walking down the aisle towards the locker room when Seb ran up beside him, Jen following behind. “Dude! What was that back there? You looked like you were about to go psycho-lion on his ass!” Archer didn’t respond, but that didn’t stop Seb from continuing “So, did you see her?”
“See who?” he absentmindedly asked.
“Lara, man. Lara. She’s here” Seb replied.
Chapter 31
“What do you mean she’s here?” Archer asked Seb as they walked to the locker room, Jen followed them but stayed outside in the lobby.
“I mean I saw her man, she was standing in the aisle, watching you for a while. That was why I was trying to get your attention, but you were too busy...” Seb gestured a chocking motion with both hands “then she turned around and walked back inside the club”
“Where did she go??” He asked urgently but Seb just shrugged.
“Can you go look for her while I get dressed? I’ll finish up here and check the carpark. Meet you there?” He asked Seb, who nodded and promptly left the room. Adrenalin from the fight continued to pump through his body and even though his ribs still ached from Zane’s punches, he couldn’t hold back his smile at the thought of seeing Lara again.
He was still sweaty from the fight and concerned about what Zane was up to, but right now, he only had one thing on his mind, to find Lara. He moved to his locker and put on a shirt, his shoes and pocketed his wallet and keys. Closing his locker, he headed out the back door to the carpark. He began walking to his car when he noticed most of the other cars had already left the parking lot. It wasn’t unusual since his was the last fight of the night, but there was an unnerving quietness in the air. His inner lion was standing to attention now, nostrils flaring as Archer prepared to sense a threat, when he suddenly recognised a familiar scent…
“Archer?” Lara’s soft voice echoed from behind him, stopping him in his tracks.
Archer turned to see Lara smiling as she walked towards him. She looked like a picture of perfection, she wore tight black jeans with brown boots to her ankles and a white shirt that hugged her breasts, making him want to reach out and touch them. Archer shook his head slightly, he didn’t need any excuse to be thinking of Lara’s body right now. “Lara?”
Lara didn’t respond, instead, she launched into him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck before burying her face against his shoulder. Archer let out a sigh at how good it felt to have her back in his arms. He sunk into the hug, wrapping his arm around her waist while the other moved up to grip the back of her head, holding her tightly against him.
“God, I’ve missed you” Archer whispered against her forehead, he didn’t want to come on too strong and scare her away, but he couldn’t help the words that had escaped his mouth.
Lara hugged him tighter for a moment before pulling back “Archer, I... I came here tonight because I need to tell you something and I don’t think it can wait” Lara dropped her eyes from his gaze to her wringing hands. She was nervous.
“It’s okay” He reassured her as he pulled her in f
or one more hug, he didn’t want to stop touching her.
She took a step back and grasped both his hands in hers as she met his eyes once again. “I’ve made a huge mistake. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you Archer. I want to be in your life, and I want you to be in mine…” she took a deep breath “as mates.”
Archer’s eyes widened in surprise “But…but what about everything you said that night?” He didn’t want to bring it up, but he needed to be sure before he clung to the hope she was giving him.
“I was wrong. Wrong about everything. This bond that we share, it means something. I can feel it. It feels like we are meant to be together.” She was telling the truth. Archer could feel his heartrate quicken with the building anticipation.
“Are you sure? You need to be sure, Lara, because if you let me love you, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop.” Archer said. He didn’t want to scare her away but, well…he had nothing to lose now.
“I’m sure. More than sure. It feels like you’re my mate and I…I think I love you”. Lara dropped his hands and started fidgeting as she lowered her gaze to the floor.
Archer curled his fingers under her chin and lifted her head. Moving both hands to her cheeks, he cupped her face “I’ve dreamed of you saying those words. I would have waited forever just to hear you say them out loud. I love you, Lara” He wanted to kiss her. He needed to kiss her. He leaned in slowly, her lips only a short distance away, he watched as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back before opening her mouth slightly, ready to meet his lips.
-The sound of clapping interrupted the moment as Lara and Archer jumped apart and looked around.
Dr Seville appeared as he walked around the back of a silver car parked nearby, he moved towards them, still clapping and his lips curved up into a wicked smile. He was wearing an expensive looking grey suit and as he moved closer to them, Archer could see someone was behind him. It was Zane. The inhuman growl that left Archer’s lips shocked even himself, the beast inside of him was already riled up from the fight, it wouldn’t take much to shift and destroy the man in front of him.
“Now, Now Mr Benson, it’s best you keep your lion under control or Zane here will happily finish off what he started in there”. Dr Seville pushed his glasses up his nose before motioning for Zane to come forward, Zane was holding a gun that he lifted to Archer’s head as he stepped out from Dr Seville’s shadow. This time it wasn’t a tranquiliser gun that they were threatening him with, this was a handgun and no shifter could survive a shot to the head, point blank.
Zane kept the gun pointed at Archer’s temple as he motioned with his hand for Lara to get behind him, which she did before taking his hand and gripping it tightly. His lion’s rage was blurring his vision now, he wanted to be let out, but Archer knew he couldn’t make any sudden movements, let alone shift right now or Zane would pull the trigger.
“What a lovely display of affection you two just shared. Oh, and such a romantic admission of love, Miss Williams. So sweet. Truly.” Dr Seville said as he lifted his hand to his chest, mockingly. “But it’s such a nice surprise to have the two of you here. I was only planning to find Archer, but this is much better. It’s quite fitting actually, although not entirely unexpected since you two are fated mates and all.” The evil doctor was smiling wickedly, pacing in front of them now, as the cold metal of the gun remained pressed against Archer’s head.
“What do you want?” Archer growled out through gritted teeth
“What do I want?” Dr Seville took a step closer to Archer before pinning him with his eyes “What do I want? I want you to give me those results you should have given me back in the lab. I want the recognition I should have had years ago. The recognition I deserve for all the experiments I have spent years performing on you useless monsters”. The doctor walked away for a few steps before stopping and facing Archer, the wicked smile still plastered to his face “in fact, both of you have given me something much greater than all that now. You’ve given me an opportunity to rise straight to the top”. He laughed, actually laughed, before continuing “Ironically, we are here because of what you want. Each other, that is.” He pointed between Archer and Lara “We realised you two were ‘fated mates’ as they say, the instant you met each other. It was obvious from the cameras inside your cells, the way you held each other’s hand through the bars, the way Lara begged to be moved into your cell when you were hurt,.…oh it was disgusting”. Dr Seville spat out the last word and looked at them with pure revulsion. “Of course, it was coincidental that you were mates at all, but I knew I could use this to my advantage. That’s why I came up with the idea to let you think you had escaped.” Dr Seville pushed his glasses up his nose as he smirked.
“What do you mean?” Lara’s soft voice came from behind Archer
“Oh, I’m so glad you asked Miss Williams” Dr Seville said as he clapped his hands together, excitedly
“Well, since it was obvious that you were bonding to each other, I wanted to observe your interaction further. That’s why I allowed Daphne to let you into his cell when you asked. Thank you for that by the way, it played into our little plan nicely. When I saw how much you cared for one another, it was only too easy to set up the biggest experiment of all and see how your little relationship flourished on the outside, in the real world. So, I created an opportunity for you to escape and you Mr Benson” Dr Seville pointed at Archer’s chest “Did exactly what I expected you’d do, you played the hero and led your little team of pathetic animals out to freedom. Oh, it’s like an action hero movie!” Dr Seville threw his hands up in the air enthusiastically before dropping his arms and looking directly at Lara.
“What I didn’t expect however, was for you, Miss Williams to kill our most loyal subject.”
Fuck. Archer swallowed hard. He never got a chance to explain about his father and there was no way to talk to Lara now. She was going to hear it all and in the worst way possible. Lara stayed silent but that didn’t stop Dr Seville from continuing as Archer imagined all the ways he could shut this man’s mouth up, permanently.
“Hmm” Dr Seville rubbed his chin “I wonder how your mate feels about you killing his father”
The silence was deafening. Lara immediately loosened her grip on his hand before releasing it. He couldn’t see her face, he couldn’t see her reaction, but he tried reaching out for her with his hand only to find himself clutching at thin air.
“Oh, don’t look so worried, Miss Williams. Mark Benson” – Lara gasped from behind Archer – “was a drunk, a broken man and a broken lion, when he came to us all those years ago, but I saved him. I fed the anger that raged inside of him and turned him into a powerful monster. Only, you killed him, Miss Williams and now there is a vacant spot for the resident beast.” Dr Seville turned and walked to the silver car he had just left. He opened the trunk and pulled out something black and shiny before slamming the trunk closed.
Lara’s whisper could be heard over Archer’s shoulder, it was too low for the doctor to hear but with his own shifter hearing, he couldn’t mistake it “M...Mark Benson was your father?” She said vacantly, almost like a statement, not a question.
Archer instinctively tried to turn to Lara, but Zane smacked him with the handle of the gun, hard against the side of his head. The sudden pain made him flinch and grab his temple where he’d been hit. He looked to Dr Seville who was now walking back to join them, carrying something by his side. Archer tried to reach for Lara with his hand again since he couldn’t turn to look at her, but just like before, he couldn’t reach her.
Dr Seville stood a few steps away, both hands behind his back as he spoke once more. “I would have hoped after two weeks you would have bonded a little more than you have, but considering the admission of love we just witnessed, I’d say you’re ready for the next stage of the experiment. Come Zane, before anyone sees us and starts asking questions.”
Dr Seville led the way towards the thick lining of trees off in the distance past t
he carpark, he kept a hold of whatever he had taken out of the trunk of his car in front of him, out of Archer’s sight. Zane thrust the barrel of the gun into Archer’s temple, pushing him forward “Move” he said, gruffly.
Archer finally had a chance to look behind him to Lara as Zane followed behind, the gun aimed between them. She had her head down, wringing her hands nervously. He hated himself for not telling her about his father sooner.
“Hey…hey Lara, you okay?” Archer whispered as he kept walking and tilted his head over his shoulder to Lara
“Mark Benson was your father” Lara whispered back absentmindedly, repeating her earlier sentence.
“Yes, but…but it’s not what you think” Archer began to explain but was interrupted by Zane’s deep voice as he yelled “No talking! Turn around and keep walking or I’ll shoot your legs, so you’ll have to crawl!”
Chapter 32
Lara felt numb and overwhelmed at the same time. She was feeling so many emotions right now that her brain couldn’t process them all at once.
She had trusted Archer, hell, she had even told him that she loved him but now she just felt like a fool. Why hadn’t he told her that the man she killed was his father? Why didn’t he tell her that he was the same man that caused her parents car accident? She had to admit, a part of her was glad the man responsible for her parent’s death was no longer walking this earth. She wasn’t a vengeful person, but her instinct told her that Mark Benson was not a good man. After all, this man had a gun aimed at his own son. It didn’t mean what she did was right though, she had still killed someone, and she would have to live with that for the rest of her life.
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