I wrapped my arm around her too, snuggling her between us. I could get used to this Pack thing.
“Don’t worry, Little E. I promise that I will dive into the fray and spank both their asses with my fiery hand of fury before shit goes too far. Let them get all their dick waving out of their system. Though, having seen ya’ boy naked, I feel like it would be less wavey and more helicopter style, you know? You get it, girl.”
She gaped at me, forgetting her nerves for a moment. “I… What? When did you see Bohdie naked?” She gave me the stink eye, and I had a feeling this little wolfie might have sharp teeth. I leaned in close to her ear.
“The other night after you snuck out of his house, Mouse and I were sneaking in, and let’s just say, Mouse wanted to have a little chat with him while he was in the shower. She threatened to cut off his dick.” I sighed and stood tall, looking over at Mouse as her eyes danced around the fight, watching her brother as he dodged a punch and landed one on Bohdie’s abs. “It was hot as fuck. I think I love her.”
Enit choked out a laugh, and then went pale. “Oh shit. She knows?”
I grinned, tugging her tighter against my side. “It’s safe to assume that everyone knows that the big, and girl I mean big”—I let out an appreciative whistle—“Alpha has the hots for you. I’m thinking your other littermate might know that he’s defiling his baby sister too, judging by the uppercut that's coming in five… four… three… two…”
Christopher slammed his fist into Bohdie’s chin, laying the lion out. But despite the force of that hit, he didn’t stay down long. He was up, blood dripping from his chin as he climbed to his feet. He wavered a little, but he bared his bloodstained teeth.
“She’s worth it, fucker.” With that, he charged Christopher, and they went to the ground again. They rolled around, each getting in close range hits, Christopher getting a solid elbow in the nose with enough force that Carmen winced and Enit whimpered. I bundled her closer to my chest, tucking her tight into me.
“Don’t look. They’ll call it soon. Then you can kick both their asses. I’ll hold them for you if you want.” Carmen looked over at me holding her sister, and smiled. Yep. Definitely loved her. Not an ounce of jealousy in her expression.
As I predicted, they were too evenly matched, and Micah dived into the ring to call it.
“Enough,” he shouted, though they both saw too much red to hear him. He reached down, grabbed the golden hair on the back of Bohdie’s head, and yanked him off. Stepping between the two fighters, he eyeballed them both. “I said enough. Fight is done. Fists won’t work, so I suggest you try words.” He muttered something beneath his breath, and Bohdie stumbled bleeding and dazed toward us, as did Christopher. I felt Bobby tense up behind me, and they were way too close before I realized they were both storming towards me.
Oh yeah. I guess I was kind of hugging Christopher’s precious Omega sister, and the big lion Alpha’s girlfriend.
“Better let you go, Little E. Though I’m happy to set both sets of their balls on fire, if you want?”
She hiccuped a laugh and then turned toward the two huge Alphas striding toward us. She held her ground, and when Christopher made it to us first, the trembling girl from the beginning of the fight was gone.
“Enit, let’s—”
Smack! Enit whipped out a hand and bitch-slapped her brother into next week. The red handprint on his cheek was so perfect, I could probably see her fingerprints if I looked hard enough.
“How fucking dare you, Christopher? How. Dare. You.”
I let out a low whistle. Oh shit.
Bohdie looked smug, until she whirled on him. “Baby…” he cajoled, and she slapped him too.
“I am not a bone to be fought over. Get the hell over yourselves.”
She whirled, her white hair swinging out behind her, and strode into the darkness. I looked at Carmen, and Bobby. Someone should go with her.
But it was Sammie’s sister, Cara, who went after her. She didn’t say anything, but if looks could flay, they’d both be broken and bleeding on the ground right now. Carmen, my beautiful Mouse, looked like she’d happily beat them both. My money was on my girl. She mightn’t be Alpha, but she was a 100% badass bitch.
“Fix it,” she growled, and I didn’t know which one she was talking to, or if she meant them both.
Then she grabbed my hand and dragged me into the ring. I looked over my shoulder at them both. “Good fight, assholes,” I grinned, and Christopher gave me the finger. Bohdie went to lunge for me, but both Sammie and Bobby were there holding him back.
I would floor him in an instant, but let him have his illusion of Alpha superiority.
I was going to fight with my girl, and we’d make some bodies hit the floor.
37
Carmen
Micah looked at me and Flint with narrowed eyes. “No.”
I huffed. “Come on, Micah. We’ll play nice. I’ll even go easy on them, I promise? Hell, they can add like, another two, if it would make them feel better?”
“Yeah, sure. Make them feel better. You aren’t fooling me, Carmen Baxter. I am not letting semi-professionals fight on school grounds. Layla would kick my ass.”
Layla, his mate, was the sweetest person on earth, and probably the only person that could corral two Lycanthropes until they were as docile as corgis. “Naw, you think I’m semi-professional? Stahp.”
Micah gave me a bland look.
“I swear. They called me a whore, Micah. A whore, because I had the audacity to love a man who hadn’t had any love in his whole life.”
Flint squeezed my hand. “It’s all good, baby. Their opinions don’t matter.”
The sigh that Micah elicited was resigned, and I had to school my features. We had him. He hated misogyny, especially because his kind were polyamorous. “Fine. You stop at first blood. If you go too far, I won’t just intervene, I’ll straight up expel you. Are we clear?”
I grinned, saluting him jauntily. I turned before he could change his mind. “I challenge Derek, Rex, Justin and Lance.”
Someone scoffed. “Four of us? You’re out of your mind, trashcan puppy.” All four of them stepped in the ring, and while their eyes dismissed me, they caught on Flint like he might be the bigger challenger. That just pissed me off.
Flint pulled on his gloves and headgear, looking kind of disgruntled as he secured the strap under his chin. “Who wears this shit?” he grumbled. I just laughed at him, pulling on my own gear and letting him strap my gloves around my wrists. “How about I take the big guy, because I’d really like to pound his face, and you take the other three.”
I frowned at him, tightening his own gloves. “We are out here so you can work out some frustration.”
Leaning forward, he kissed me again. “Sugar Plum, watching you pound the fuck out of bullies is theraputic as hell. Though not going to lie, still holding out for the orgy.”
I laughed and turned toward Micah, who was giving us a stern look which basically said, “Don’t fuck up.”
Micah stepped out of the ring and I let my body relax into the right stance. “Fight.”
They all sprang toward Flint as one, obviously not having discussed tactics beforehand. Guess they thought they were just going to to overwhelm us with their numbers and sheer stupidity.
Flint waited til the first guy got inside his reach and then laid a punishing blow to his solar plexus.
First blood meant avoiding the face. Always pay attention to the fine print. Annoyed by these misogynistic assholes, I swung a low kick to Justin’s knee, not enough to pop it, but enough to send him plummeting to the earth like the boulder he was.
That made Rex spin on his heel, watching us both. Rex was always the slightly smarter one. He roared and ran at me. I did say only slightly smarter.
I shifted my weight easily, moving out of the way at the last second, then spinning to kick him in the ass.
There was something about good old-fashioned brawling that made me happy. I cast a
quick look at Flint, but he seemed almost bored as he easily dodged all of Derek’s punches because the guy broadcasted his moves like he was fucking HBO.
The fourth amigo was attempting to creep around behind Flint, and I let him, just to make shit a bit more interesting for Flint.
I landed on top of Rex and laid my fist into his jaw a couple of times. “Now who likes being on their back, big boy?” I growled. “Or maybe you love taking it like a bitch?”
He roared again and by sheer luck, tangled his feet in mine as he bucked, sending me flying off but still all caught up, landing on my back. He was over me in a second, and I got a solid blow to the face for my cockiness. Guess we were playing serious now. So be it.
I reached around and gave him some punishing blows to his kidneys that probably meant he’d be pissing blood for a couple of days, then I headbutted him.
Look, my dad once told me that no one wins in a headbutt, but sometimes it was necessary.
Unfortunately, I broke Rex’s nose, and blood began to pour onto my face.
Ew.
“Enough,” Micah boomed, and Rex’s face went bright red.
I gave him a pouty face. “Aw, I’m sorry, Rexie. Maybe next time?”
He just growled, his fist pulled back until another gripped it. Micah was there, his face so fucking cold it sent shivers down my spine.
“I said enough. Get the fuck out of the ring before I break your arm for being a coward.” Rex looked like he wanted to spit in my face, but his buddies were there, dragging him away. Well, they all limped away. Flint was above me in moments, his smile so wide I thought it would crack his face.
“Wasn’t that fun?” he crowed, and I grinned back, wincing a bit as some of Rex’s blood ran into my eyes. I lifted my shirt, wiping my face and then climbed to my feet.
I shook my head. “Definitely fun.”
Micah walked away mumbling about goddamn kids, then called for the next contender. I walked straight into Bobby’s arms, even though I wanted to climb into Sammie’s too. But we were keeping our relationship a little on the down-low. The schoolboard knew, because they weren’t idiots, but we were trying to keep it from the general school grapevine. Still, I snuck him a secret smile, and the heat in his eyes made my skin burn with need.
Bobby kissed me softly. “Are we done here?”
I nodded, and we all walked back toward the dorms. Except, when I looked toward the woods on the other side of the fence, I swear I could almost feel Monster’s eyes on me. I smiled brightly, lifting my hand in a wave, although it could totally be my imagination. Still, a small part of me hoped he saw me fight, that my mate was proud of me.
I opened my gifts, which were exactly what I wanted, as always. A set of throwing knives from X, a yearly Netflix subscription from Judge, a jumbo box of condoms from Tex because he’d accidentally mated my mom as a teenager so you know, no one knew better than him that ‘accidents’ happen. Awkward as fuck. I got a cute pair of Converse from Nico, a new phone from Brody, a Swiss Army knife from Walker, cute as fuck ripped jeans from Mom, and a newspaper article that described an unexplained massacre in a Calgary warehouse from Lucius. Apparently, it had been the local meeting place for the black market, including the sale of supes.
It wasn’t Rook, but it was close.
I grinned at the craziest of my parents. “Thanks. It’s what I’ve always wanted.”
He snorted from where he stood behind Mom, inhaling her scent. “I know.”
It was weird to have this anniversary in the middle of the year, just a day that celebrated us as a family, but I’d missed them so much since I’d been boarding at Eden, and I soaked in the warmth.
Well, Enit was still not talking to Christopher, even though he got her another cute crystal figurine for her collection. She was softening though; it wasn’t in her nature to stay mad. The parentals were looking at us strangely, at the obvious frozen tundra between Christopher and Enit, and Nico narrowed his eyes.
“What’s going on with you two?” Neither of them answered, but there was no way they were going to let this drop. Not on Family Day.
I leaned over to Enit. “You totally owe me,” I muttered, and then I stood.
“Guys, I need to tell you something.”
Walker groaned, rubbing his hand down his face. “She’s pregnant already. We’re failures at parenting.”
Judge elbowed him in the ribs. “Let her talk.”
I gave them both a narrow-eyed look. “No, I’m not pregnant. Jesus, give me some credit. No, apparently, I have two fated mates, and the other one is a Wendigo.”
The silence in the room was… intense. “I think I would have preferred her to be pregnant,” Brody muttered, and Tex whacked him in the head. “Watch it, Pup,” he growled, but there was no heat in it.
Tex ignored him. “Someone is going to have to explain this to me. What’s the big problem with her mate being a Wendigo? Having multiple mates isn’t a problem. I mean, look at Raine?”
Everyone was silent again, and it was Brody that answered him. “Wendigo were once shifters, who invited evil spirits into their bodies. They are insatiable beasts that feast on the flesh of humans. They are insane, bad luck, and generally considered evil.”
There was silence again. “So, basically Lucius?” X said, and Brody groaned.
“No! Well, yes, kind of, but with like big ass antlers and a need to eat hearts.”
Lucius grunted. “I like hearts.”
Brody looked like he wanted to thump Lucius, but it was Walker who held my gaze. “Are you sure?”
I nodded, because I was sure he was my fated mate. “I mean, it's new, but the yearning is there.”
The silence was drawn out again, and this time it was Mom who spoke. “What do you need? Do you need us to help you break the bond?” A cold sweat broke out over my skin at the thought of Monster being gone forever. He might be a new development, but he was slowly working his way beneath my skin.
I shook my head. “I don’t really need anything except, maybe he could stay here, in Dark River? Just for a while until we figure everything out.”
Brody hopped up, pacing around the room. Surprisingly, it was Judge that came to Monster’s defense.
“We know better than anyone that just because this guy is a Wendigo, doesn’t mean shit. Superstitious rumors are no reflection on who he really is. We’re going to have to meet him.”
Ugh. I was worried it would come to this. I ran my hand down my face, but I nodded. I didn’t think they’d let him live here sight unseen. “The apartment over the diner is still free. I can talk to Beatrice.”
My heart thumped in my chest like a staccato drum, and my eyes started to burn. “You guys are really the best, you know that right? I love you so much.” I looked at Brody, who was still pacing around. He’d have the most ingrained prejudice, I understood that. Superstitions were hard to shake. “I promise you, Dad, that he’s a good guy. I would slit his throat myself if I thought he was any danger to me or the Pack.”
Brody raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know if I find that statement reassuring or more concerning.”
“Makes me so fucking proud,” X crowed, moving toward the kitchen. “Now let’s have some damn cake. Nico made the one that when you stab it with a knife, its guts gush out and it's been a long time since I’ve made anyone but your mother gush.”
“X!” Mom screeched.
I gagged and Christopher swore, and honestly, we were going to need therapy. Nico just strolled over, shaking his head and taking the knife from X. “One, it’s a lava cake and two, now you don’t get to stab it because you’ve traumatised the children.”
An hour—and two slices of lava cake, that would never be the same—later, I climbed into the passenger seat of Christopher’s SUV.
Enit sat in the back, though she kept sneaking me looks and asking me questions about Monster. I answered what I could, made a note of what she wanted to know that I couldn't answer, and I ignored the fact that Christopher w
as pissed at me. Again.
“You can pull the stick out of your ass, Christopher. You’ve been busy.”
He slid his eyes towards me. “Maybe. Or maybe you’ve been cutting us out. You used to tell us everything, Mouse. Now you’re running around with a cannibal, and Enit is fucking that stupid lion Alpha on the down-low, and I feel like I’m losing my siblings.”
Gah. Guess we were doing this deep and meaningful thing in the car. “Christopher, I love your stubborn ass more than any person on this planet, except Enit. More than I love Bobby, and he’s my fated mate. But we aren’t kids anymore. We’re adults, and that means that we’re going to get our own mates, and our own lives, and we won’t be as close as we were when we were six. You have to give up a bit of control, brother, or you’re going to end up alone, with only Enit visiting you at Christmas because her heart is too big to leave you alone on the holidays even if she thinks you are a stubborn, pigheaded asshole.”
Christopher growled. “I’ve always been the one to protect you guys.”
I got it. I did. Christopher had clung to being our little Alpha, our protector, as a means of not dealing with the shit that happened when we were kids. “We can’t be your crutch forever. At some point you are going to have to take a chance that you might get hurt, maybe with a hot little brunette from a motorcyc—”
It happened so fast. Except for the car flipping in the air. That bit was painfully slow motion. I saw the tactical vehicle hit my door, felt the glass cut my skin as it smashed, heard Enit scream. We flipped end over end, my head hitting the dash and my vision going black.
I woke up, looking over at Christopher’s prone form, his body twisted wrong. “No, no, no. Christopher. Hey, Christopher. Come on, wake up.”
He moaned and I huffed a relieved breath. Where was Enit? I tried to twist, but my neck screamed at me. “Enit! Enit, answer me. Enit?”
My passenger door squeaked open, and a hand reached in, cutting my belt so I fell and landed on the roof of the car. That was the first moment I even realized we were upside down. The hand was back, grabbing me by my hair and dragging me out of the car. I screeched as he dragged me across the broken glass, embedding it in my skin. The hand let me go, but I couldn’t move my body.
Rebels and Runaways: Eden Academy Book One Page 24