“And I think he will,” Dustin replied, growing a little impatient. “We just want to make sure. Please go keep an eye on him? I can’t talk long. Bye.”
Katey was taken aback by the way he abruptly ended the call. She slid her phone back into her pocket and thought for a moment, debating whether or not she was going to do him the favor or not.
From the way he talked, he seemed concerned for Logan and that made the difference. If Dustin had little to no faith in him, then something really was wrong. Once again, her new loup-garou life cut into her formerly human social life. Was it always going to be this way?
Then again, this could be the perfect opportunity to intercede in the fight. If she could get there fast enough and see Logan before the match began, perhaps she could try and convince him one more time that she wanted him and only him.
She exhaled deeply and walked back into the living room.
The girls looked up to her dejected expression and stopped their pillow fight.
“What’s up?” Nikki asked.
Katey thought on her feet. “Logan’s dad isn’t able to go watch him fight to make sure he’ll be okay, so he wants me to go instead.”
“That’s not fair! We were just having fun!” Lily cried.
“Tell me about it,” Katey said with a roll of her eyes. “But I can’t exactly tell him no. I’ll try to come back after the fight. I can’t guarantee anything though.” Katey grabbed her bag from the floor and began walking toward the door.
“What about your pizza?” Beth called out as Katey turned the knob.
“I’ll pay you for it later or eat it when I get back. I’ll call and let you know.”
“All right,” Lily said with a sigh. “We’ll be here all night. Let us know how it goes!”
Katey looked over her shoulder, giving them a regretful smile. They all saluted a goodbye and good luck. The sun had already begun to set, painting the sky in deep shades of red and purple as Katey climbed into her jeep.
As Katey drove outside of town, she saw the renovated warehouse where the fight would take place. No signs were needed to tell her that the match was about to begin. Light beamed out from the few high windows on the front and Katey could hear the commotion inside as she pulled up in her jeep.
The field around the building was packed with cars and pickup trucks. Some people were still loitering around in the parking area while the real action was going on inside. Among them, were loups-garous, but she couldn’t pick out which ones exactly. All she knew was what her extrasensory perception told her. But, there were plenty more humans to make things interesting.
She didn’t know what to expect or how the fight would end. With the fight being so public, she hardly knew what the rules would be or if a fight to the death was normal. Her head swam with the possibilities.
Once inside the warehouse, she was bombarded with the stench of cigarette smoke, beer, urine, and sweat. Her hand reflexively shot up to her nose as she felt the need to puke, but held it in and blocked her senses out as much as possible.
The room was roaring with voices shouting over one another as everyone was making their bets on who would win. In the middle of the warehouse was a square stage that was raised up three feet with four poles on each corner that held up barriers of elastic ropes on every side. Katey assumed that was the ring that Logan and Erik would be fighting in.
She frantically began searching for someone that might know where the fighters prepared for the match, but everyone she asked hadn’t a clue and were less than helpful. If the odors in the room weren’t clogging her nostrils so effectively, Katey would have tried to sniff out Logan’s whereabouts.
Katey circled around the edges of the room, looking for a door or a hallway that might lead to a locker room where Logan would be getting ready with his rock music. She came to one area of the hall that was so crowded with people that she could hardly get through the mass of bodies. After some persuasive shoving, Katey came to a roped off pathway that led straight from a back hall to the ring in the middle of the room.
Katey peered down the corridor just as the lights flickered off and strobe lights danced along the walls and ceiling. The room erupted in shouts, screams, and jeering.
“Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to fight?” an announcer shouted over an intercom speaker high in the rafters above their heads. The room exploded with shouts and hollers, but all Katey could do was look down the dark hallway and try to find Logan or Erik with her ears covered to muffle the din that surrounded her.
“Then let’s get ready to rumble!” the announcer proclaimed.
The lights came back on, but they were tinted a devilish red. Katey felt her heart pounding as heavy metal music blared over the speakers.
Just as the song was about twenty seconds in, she saw a darkened figure come stalking down the hallway. As it came into focus, she recognized it as Logan. Katey leaned over as far as she could to get a better look or catch his eye. The pack bond between them surged to life as he drew closer and it was almost too much for her to contain.
He was wearing black baggy pants and a tight, black muscle shirt, but his feet were bare. His hair was wet and dripping all over his shoulders, gleaming in the harsh light. There was a menacing, bloodthirsty look in his eyes as he stormed down the path toward the ring.
Katey shouted his name, but that was no different than anyone else as he passed her by. Except they didn’t call him Logan, they were calling him Enigma. She continued to shout at the top of her lungs until the wolf inside of her burst through and she threw her head back and howled mournfully, as if calling for him in the only way that he would truly recognize.
It worked. As soon as Katey lowered her head, Logan froze in his tracks, turned around and was looking straight at her, with soft, gentle eyes that gave her hope.
“Logan! Don’t do this, please? Please listen to me?” Katey yelled to him. He heard her, but halfway through her sentence, he turned and jumped into the ring.
Katey growled in anger and forced her way through the crowd once again to get closer to the stage’s edge, but there was a chest-high fence for a perimeter around the ring to keep the spectators from getting too close.
Again, she called out for Logan’s attention as he stretched and bounced on the balls of his feet. He had a concentrated look about him, as if getting his head into the fight already. It might have been futile to stop the fight at this point. There was too much time and money invested. Even if she could somehow convince him to call it off, they might have had a riot on their hands if all the betting spectators demanded to see the show they came for.
The heavy metal faded out and a rap song was played over the speakers. The lights flickered quickly on and off, giving out a very paranoid, frenzied sort of feeling.
Katey kept her eyes fixed on Logan, knowing fully well that Erik was about to come onto the stage, but she didn’t expect it so quickly. She blinked and Erik was up in the ring, standing in front of Logan, already in his battle position, ready to kill. He was wearing something that looked like jean shorts and he was bare-chested to show off his toned muscles.
The lights came back on and everyone shouted for their favorite fighter. Katey stood on her toes to get a better look. Logan and Erik glared each other down and stalked around the ring, circling each other like real wolves would in a fight in the wild. A century’s worth of brooding and festering anger surged between them and created a thickening cloud of loup-garou dominance that suffocated Katey even more than the cigarette smoke.
“The north side champion, The Enigma, versus the south side champion, The Killer. All bets are accepted at the bar,” the announcer said.
Then, a mesh cage was lowered onto the stage, trapping the fighters in the ring. Logan looked at the four walls that confined them and snarled.
He charged at Erik. “We didn’t agree to a cage match, Erik!” Logan shouted, fire burning in his eyes.
“Does this change anything?” Erik replied with an evil grin.
12
They growled and circled each other once again, ready to strike as their muscles tensed and bunched.
Shocking the crowd, Logan straightened from his hunched pose and realized that he needed to begin this fight in dignity. The cage was fully lowered now and Katey had to climb up a little onto the fence to see what was going on. Logan offered his fist out to Erik as a sign of friendly sportsmanship. Erik paused, and then took the invitation, but as soon as he bumped fists with Logan, Erik sent that same fist straight into his jaw. Katey gasped at the suddenness of the attack. She was sure that she heard the crack of bone on impact.
Logan was thrown backwards and seemed to be in real pain for a moment as Erik paced around him, waiting for The Enigma to get up. When he did, Erik sent a fist flying straight for Logan’s face again. Logan ducked just in time and hooked his arm around to put Erik into an arm lock with their backs against each other. Logan dropped to his knees to use that tension in an attempt to snap Erik’s neck.
But just as quickly as Logan had put him upside down, Erik slid out and pushed Logan to his feet to receive another hook punch that fell short on his chest instead of his face.
Katey winced as Logan cringed and held his chest.
Erik grabbed a fistful of Logan’s hair and threw him into one of the poles in the corners.
Logan caught himself before he had the chance to hit the turnbuckle, but Erik was running full speed in Logan’s direction. Logan turned around, lifted himself up with the help of the ropes and slammed his feet into Erik’s chest, causing Erik to double over. Logan took the opportunity, grabbed at Erik’s short hair and continually punched and kicked him in the gut until it looked like Erik was going to puke his own intestines.
After a short break from the attacks, Logan tossed Erik into the opposite ropes. But instead of falling down, Erik used the ropes to propel himself back toward Logan to plant his boot into Logan’s face. Katey squeaked in terror and waited for Logan’s counter attack, but she waited in vain.
Logan held his nose for a moment, wiping some blood onto the back of his arm and Erik began kicking Logan in the gut, just as Logan was doing to him a moment ago. Logan looked like he was having a harder time resisting the impulse to vomit.
Erik dragged Logan’s limp, sick body into one of the corners and laid him against the pole. But, as Erik was about to come up and kick Logan in the head again, Logan maneuvered to the side and Erik slammed his own body into the metal pole, probably cracking a couple of ribs in the process.
Logan quickly came back to the center of the ring and bounced around on his toes like an eager boxer. When it was taking too long for his opponent to recover, Logan charged at Erik and sent a flying roundhouse kick to Erik’ ear, disorienting him. Erik cried out in pain as Logan pummeled him with more kicks. Katey could have sworn she heard the further cracking and breaking of Erik’s ribcage. She cringed at every stomach-turning snap.
Suddenly, Erik grabbed Logan’s foot to try and stop the kicks. This didn’t keep Logan from spinning up and kicking Erik with the other foot square in the jaw, which sent The Killer flying into the ropes.
Logan landed with a loud thud onto the stage, but hopped right back up, ready for more. Katey could hear people around her start to rush to the bar to place more bets on Logan, predicting that he would certainly win. But, she knew that the fight was far from over.
Just as Erik was coming back from the ropes, he charged toward Logan and slammed his elbow into Logan’s sternum, knocking him down and leaving him breathless. Katey covered her mouth and watched as Logan struggled to get up and breathe, but Erik was too fast and within the blink of an eye, had Logan’s shoulder in a tight squeeze. Katey screamed out in objection, knowing exactly what Erik was trying to do.
They were facing Katey on the edge of the ring so she could see every agonizing, twisted expression Logan made as Erik gripped tighter and tighter into that tendon between the shoulder and neck. Logan roared in anguish as the pain shot through his entire body, setting his nerves and blood on fire.
“No!” Katey shouted over the crowd. Erik looked up and locked glares with her. Logan lifted his eyes to her as well, full of agony and rage. Katey felt tears swelling up in her eyes, but Erik had no mercy and gripped tighter.
Katey could hardly stand to hear Logan’s screams as Erik even dug his claws into his shoulder, blood trickling down the front of his black shirt.
Logan suffered for what seemed like an eternity, holding onto himself, forcing down the wolf within him that was bubbling up to the surface, willing for it to stay suppressed. He couldn’t wolf-out, not here, and not like this in front of humans. But his strength of will slowly left him. His golden eyes shot open and looked deep into Katey’s with emanating regret, defeat, and pain.
“I’m sorry,” she saw Logan mouth to her. Katey hysterically shook her head and pleaded that he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t let go, not now.
Logan took his nails and dragged them across Erik’s arm that was holding his shoulder. Erik roared and released Logan, turning his back and covering his injury until it had a chance to heal. Logan breathed heavily through his nostrils and helped himself up with the aid of the ropes. He hadn’t changed completely, but she could tell he was about to let the animal out of its cage.
Logan rushed up and began to punch Erik at a blinding speed and lashed at him with his claws. Erik dodged as many as he could, but every time Logan made contact, it was like a train had crashed into his jaw instead of a fist. Logan dug his claws into Erik’s shoulder, grabbed him by the seat of his shorts and threw Erik into the ropes with astonishing strength.
Erik countered this by making himself collide with Logan after bouncing off the ropes. But, Logan didn’t so much as budge to this attack. He stood as stiff and sturdy as a brick wall against Erik’s assault.
As Erik lay on the mat, trying to get his bearings straight, Logan grabbed him by the neck and pinned him where he lay. Logan roared in his face with everything he had and Erik didn’t hesitate to do the same, fangs bared and both eyes glowing gold. They roared and growled like this for a few long moments with Erik snapping and yelping under Logan.
Katey glanced around to the crowd, but no one seemed shocked or perplexed by their bestial behavior. The loups-garous in the crowd would understand, but the humans seemed to be enjoying the animalistic carnage. Did they know about loups-garous? Or did they think it was all for show?
Finally, Erik managed to shove Logan off, grabbed him by his shirt and hurled Logan into one of the corner poles.
Logan countered by climbing up onto the top of the pole, blindly jumped backwards and spun in mid-air to nail Erik in the chest once more with a ferocious battering that left Erik gasping and wincing on the floor.
Then, Logan did something completely unexpected. Katey watched breathlessly as he jumped over the ropes, onto the cage that had them trapped in the ring, and climbed to the very top. Logan pulled his shirt up over his head, threw it off to the side and roared to the ceiling. The crowd cheered him on, but all Katey could do was watch in pure horror as he leapt from the cage and flipped down all the way to the stage, planning to snap Erik in two. Katey wished he had, but Erik had moved at the last second and Logan landed flat on his own back with a loud crash onto the mat.
Logan cried out in pain, but the pain was short lived because he immediately jumped up as Erik began to climb the cage as well, more so in a desperate attempt to escape than to do a spectacular move like Logan had just performed.
Logan rushed over, gripped Erik by his back flesh and threw him off the cage wall and into the middle of the ring. All the while, The Enigma maintained his humanly appearance, but was fighting like the wolf that seethed inside of him.
Katey couldn’t help but notice the regret on Erik’s face as he pushed himself up from the floor. Logan used a stealthy, swift move and flipped Erik completely over his shoulder, making Erik land hard on the stage again.
The crowd shouted and placed
more bets on The Enigma, but all Katey could do was watch and wait. Logan stepped off to the side, pacing back and forth and shouting insults in the loup-garou language as Erik recovered and stood up on shaky legs.
Logan was on him in an instant and they locked arms, their hands on each other’s shoulders and heads bent down, pushing and pulling against each other, trying to make the other fall over. They resembled two mighty deer that had locked antlers, tussling over the mating rights to a doe.
Erik managed to get Logan into a position with his arm around Logan’s neck, the other around his back and body slammed Logan into the mat.
Logan countered this with a headlock as Erik managed to lift them both to their feet.
Erik pushed Logan aggressively into the ropes, but Logan came straight back and elbowed Erik in the chest, making Erik fall flat onto his back.
This didn’t keep The Killer down for long. When Logan was bouncing off the ropes again, Erik lifted himself up and placed Logan into a tight headlock. Logan maneuvered to the side and kicked Erik’s calf out from underneath him sending Erik down onto his back.
All of these attacks were so insanely fast that Katey could hardly follow everything. All she could tell was that they seemed to be evenly matched. Logan had the skills and the attacks, but Erik had enough endurance and stamina to last through everything that Logan could throw at him.
Katey could also see that Logan was beginning to weaken. He was panting harder and his eyes were losing their brightness. They were still gold, but just not as defined as when he had first let loose. The wolf within was slinking back into its dark shadows, leaving Logan high and dry.
The two fighters struggled for a moment until Erik changed positions, putting Logan into another headlock and rolled Logan onto his stomach, leaving him helpless and choking for air. Erik took his palm and pressed it down in between Logan’s shoulder blades, trying to snap Logan’s spine.
Becoming the Enigma (The Loup-Garou Series Book 2) Page 17