The canvas was hard under his feet. Dakota had told him that it was just slabs of thin plywood over a big concrete block. It used to be made of wood but the shifters kept slamming each other through it so Leo paved it with cement when he got tired of repairing the boards.
The heat of the lights warmed Grayson’s bare shoulders as he backed into his corner, staring down the huge opponent across from him. Walter had anvil sized shoulders and a thick head to match. Gray stubble speckled his wide, buttoned chin. His wild black and gray eyebrows snaked over his hard eyes, just barely out of each other’s reach.
Walter cracked his large knuckles. He had several large, gold rings on his fat fingers. That was illegal, no weapons in the first round, but nobody was going to tell him that. Just don’t get hit with them and you’ll be fine. But that was easier said than done.
“This is a three round fight,” Leo said, standing between them. “First round, human form.” He looked towards the bar. “Luke three minutes on the stopwatch.”
“Make it five minutes,” the rhino grumbled in his deep, throaty voice. “I want to take my time with this guy.”
Leo looked at Grayson nervously and then turned back towards the bar. “Five minutes a round, Luke.”
“Good luck,” Leo whispered to Grayson as he walked behind him out the door of the cage.
The bar was silent as the two fighters stared each other down, waiting for the bell.
“Kick his ass Daddy,” Brad yelled.
“Shut up Brad,” Walter grunted back.
Brad sat back down at the table with his head down.
Leo reached up and rang the bell. Walter lunged forward, catching Grayson by surprise. He wasn’t expecting him to move that fast. A meaty fist flew at his face. Grayson moved his chin at the last split second missing his chin but the knuckles still connected with his cheek.
He grunted as he stumbled backwards into the cage. White spots were filling his vision as the rhino shifter rushed forward again.
Grayson got his hands up just in time. Walter grunted as he smashed his fist into Grayson’s forearm, nearly shattering the bone.
More fists came crashing down on him like sledgehammers. He was caught against the fence and Walter was teeing off on him.
“Move,” Dakota yelled. “Get out of there.”
Grayson pushed off the cage and sprung out, ducking under an incoming roundhouse. He popped out in the middle of the cage and raised his fists. The cage was blurry. He had taken a few shots.
He shook his head, clearing his vision and waited for the next onslaught. The rhino rushed forward, straight on. Grayson pivoted to the side and tripped him, letting his opponent’s massive weight bring him down. Walter flew off his feet and crashed into the concrete canvas.
Grayson sprinted forward, letting his fists fly. Every punch that he landed on Walter’s face felt like he was punching a brick wall.
“Like that,” Dakota yelled, giving him guidance. She had seen enough of these fights to know what she was talking about. She was worth listening to that was for sure. “Move your feet.”
He was too late. Walter snatched his ankle and yanked him off his feet.
Grayson hit the ground and Walter jumped on him, smothering him with his enormous weight. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe.
And then the fists came.
As a rhino shifter Walter could overpower anyone but what made it worse was that Walter also knew how to fight.
Grayson felt his bones crack and his skin split open as Walter showed the bar why he was the Ultimate Shifting Champion.
Dakota prayed for the bell to ring. Walter was on top of her mate killing him. She glanced over at Luke and mouthed a “please.”
He nodded subtly. “Time,” he yelled.
Leo immediately hit the bell. Walter took two more free punches and then climbed off Grayson leaving his body a collapsed mess of broken bones and blood.
Dakota ran to the cage and begged Grayson to get up. “Come on Grayson,” she said. “Come to my voice.”
He raised his head like he was drunk. There was a cut on his forehead that was pouring blood into his swollen shut eyes. His soft lips that she had been kissing earlier were split and bloody.
It broke her heart to see him like that. And it was all because of her.
“Come over here,” she said to him. He managed to sit up. He was breathing so heavily.
Dakota turned to Leo. “Open the cage,” she ordered. “Get him out.”
Leo looked at her sadly. Once the lock was closed the fight couldn’t be stopped. Grayson had to quit on his own.
Grayson shook his head. His shifter healing was kicking in and the cut on his forehead was closing. His eyes were beginning to open as well.
Dakota glanced at Luke. The minute between rounds was almost up. She knew that he would let the timer go an extra few seconds to give Grayson a bit more time to heal. But it still wouldn’t be enough.
Grayson took a deep breath and stood up, wobbling to the cage on shaky legs.
“Give up,” she begged. “Tell them you quit.”
He laughed and then clutched his ribs and winced at the pain that it caused. “I’m not giving you up.”
“You’re no good to me dead either,” she said. “Please just give up. We can still see each other a few times a year. We can make it work.”
Grayson unbuckled his jeans and slid them off. Walter was standing in the opposite corner in polka dot boxer shorts. The second round was in their animal form.
Dakota was hoping that Grayson would’ve beat him with his fists. It was his best chance to win. Because a bear against a rhino was never a good match up for her kind.
“I’ll be fine,” he said, blowing her a kiss. “I already feel better.”
Leo glanced at her with worried eyes before he flicked the microphone on. “Round two,” he hollered into the mic. “Animal forms. Fighters phase now.”
Grayson’s back jerked and convulsed. His body swelled up as his muscles blew up like balloons. Long, brown hairs sprouted out of his skin as he fell on all fours.
Dakota glanced at Walter. He was grimacing in pain as a long, sharp horn grew out of his forehead. His body was growing to four times its normal size.
She turned back to Grayson just in time to see a grizzly bear explode from his body. Her inner bear grumbled. This was the first time that she had seen him in his bear form and he was as spectacular as he was in his human form.
The bear stood up on its hind legs and roared at the thick, stocky rhino across the cage from him.
Dakota bit her nails. Bears were powerful and tough as nails but they weren’t very fast or agile. And Grayson needed to be fast to be able to dodge that huge spear sticking out of his opponent’s head.
Dakota backed away from the cage and watched with an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach as Leo hit the bell.
Why did you let him do this? What were you thinking?
It was too late now. The rhino was charging forward.
twelve
Dakota bit her nails as she watched the grizzly bear in the cage. The bright lights from above were sending shimmering waves of light over his fur as he moved. It was in stark contrast to the plain, almost matte finish, of the rhino charging at him.
The crowd erupted in cheers. Most of them had heard the old stories of Walter Cash in his glory but were too young to had seen it live. It wasn’t many shifters that had the opportunity to see a rhino shifter fight and the crowd was almost giddy with anticipation.
The ground shook as the rhino charged. Dakota could feel the vibrations in her feet. The beer bottles were rattling on the tables.
She held her breath. She was terrified for her mate. The last time those two met Grayson had almost ended up as a stain on her mattress.
Grayson’s grizzly stood on his hind legs and roared at the charging rhino. Walter kept his head down low, which kept his menacing horn pointed up. At least it was his only weapon. A bear had four paws full o
f claws and a mouth that could bring the fiercest predator to its knees. A rhino only had its horn, powerful though it was. If Grayson could avoid it he would be okay. But that was a big if. The way that Walter was charging forward it didn’t seem like he missed a lot.
Walter swung his head up, aiming the horn at the bear’s exposed belly. Dakota closed her eyes and gasped. When she opened them a second later the two animals were circling each other, both unharmed.
Grayson’s bear swiped his paw and it scraped against the top of the rhino’s back leg. It left four dripping red lines where his claws connected.
Yes. Dakota took a breath. First blood went to her mate.
The rhino lowered his head and huffed out an angry puff of air. He lunged forward and swung his horn up, catching Grayson’s hind leg. The horn sunk deep into the leg, slicing through tendon and muscle.
The bear roared in anger and pain. He dropped his front paws down, landing on the rhino’s back. Grayson flashed his long, white fangs as he opened his mouth and tried to bite down on the back of the rhino’s neck.
The rhino’s skin was too tough and he couldn’t sink his teeth into it. It was like trying to bite into a bullet proof tank.
Walter thrashed his head from side to side, tearing open the inside of Grayson’s leg. The bear was roaring in pain. Blood was pooling around his foot.
The horn slipped free and the rhino backed away, his horn dripping with dark blood.
Dakota bit her nails, feeling like she was going to throw up. Grayson’s bear was injured. He kept trying to stand up on his back leg but it kept collapsing under him, unable to hold up his tremendous weight. It wouldn’t be long before the rhino charged again.
Her inner bear kept trying to rush forward. She was desperate to be released to save her mate. Dakota held her back. There was nothing that her bear could do to help.
Grayson’s bear slipped in a puddle of his own blood and his hind legs gave out under him. The rhino, sensing weakness, attacked, rushing forward with his head low and horn pointing up.
Walter released an uppercut with his horn as he arrived at the bear. Grayson tried to claw the rhino’s face but the rhino was quicker. The horn pierced the bear’s right paw.
Dakota winced as the red horn poked out the back of her mate’s paw. The bear cried out with such a high pitched whine that it almost broke Dakota’s heart.
His left paw shot out and connected with the rhino’s face. He scratched and swatted over and over until the right side of the rhino’s face was all cut up and dripping with blood.
Dakota glanced at her hands. Her fingertips were burning as her bear tried to phase. She took a deep breath trying to keep her in control. It was painful to watch her mate go through this on his own.
Dakota glanced over at Brad. He was standing up and cheering. He was loving this.
The two animals broke apart and backed away from each other. The bear was holding his wounded paw close to his chest. The rhino’s face was covered in blood, half from Grayson’s paw and half from the claw wounds on his face. His right eye was shut.
The two shifters circled each other in the ring. They were both bleeding, which was creating red concentric circles on the canvas.
Dakota glanced at Luke. He nodded subtly. She knew what he was saying: if Grayson got in trouble he’d stop the round early. But it couldn’t be too early. People were scared to death of the honey badger Luke, but if the round was noticeably shorter even his tough as shit reputation wouldn’t save him from the outrage of the crowd.
Grayson went on the offensive, lunging forward from the rhino’s blind side. He dodged the horn and slammed his shoulder into the rhino’s ribs. The giant animal toppled over and landed on his side with an attacking grizzly bear on top of him.
Walter flipped onto his back, helpless as Grayson positioned himself over his belly. He chomped down on the inside of the rhino’s neck, sinking his teeth into the loose flesh of his throat.
Dakota cheered as the rest of the bar gasped.
“Slide out,” Brad yelled at his father, who was trapped under the large apex predator.
The rhino wasn’t moving. Grayson had him pinned. Blood was oozing out of his throat and Walter’s eyes were beginning to glaze over. He’s killing him.
Brad jumped up, his chair crashing to the ground, and sprinted over to where Leo was sitting beside the bell. He grabbed the back of Leo’s neck and whispered something in his ear.
Leo nodded, picked up a knife and hit the bell. “Round over,” he yelled as Brad strutted back to his table.
“That wasn’t five minutes,” Dakota screamed in outrage even though she was willing to cheat in the same way.
“Phase back or you’ll be disqualified,” Leo hollered.
The bear released his grip on the rhino’s neck and stumbled back to his corner. The rhino took longer to get up.
Dakota ran to the cage as they both phased back into their human forms. Grayson was sliding on his jeans with his left hand. His right hand was curled up into a ball against his stomach.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He winked at her. “All part of the plan. I’m just trying to lure him into a false sense of confidence and then I’ll hit him.”
“Right,” she said, rolling her eyes. “How is your hand?”
He opened his fingers and the hole in his palm was closing. He flexed his fingers in and out and shook out his hand.
“It’s a bit stiff but it will work.”
Leo walked up to the cage holding two wooden baseball bats. “Round three,” he yelled. “Human form with clubs.”
Dakota backed away from the cage with her hands trembling. This was the round that she could never watch. She always went outside for some fresh air or went into the employee room for a snack. It was way too barbaric for her.
This was the round that most shifters got dragged out of the cage. And some of those shifters never got back up.
thirteen
Grayson gripped the baseball bat in his left hand. His right hand was still stiff and burning like crazy. His enhanced shifter healing worked fast but it still took time to reconnect all of the torn tendons and muscles under his skin.
Walter was glaring at him on the other side of the cage. His throat had a nice, new pink scar courtesy of Grayson’s grizzly.
This was harder than he thought it would be. The old man was tough. And faster than he expected. Grayson thought that he would have a speed advantage but that wasn’t the case. At all. Walter was surprisingly fast and his fighting instincts were on point. He was a natural fighter.
But so am I.
The bell rang and Walter snorted out a breath as he stumbled forward dragging the bat behind him on the concrete. The wooden floor boards were torn up and broken from the weight of the two animals. The cement base was showing in patches.
Time to knock this fucker out.
Grayson rushed forward, ignoring the pain in his wounded leg. He raised the bat and swung it down at the shifter trying to separate him from his mate.
But Walter was faster than he looked.
The rhino shifter dodged out of the way of the incoming bat and pivoted. He used his weight to swing the bat and slam it into Grayson’s stomach.
Grayson’s breath exploded out of him with a grunt as he fell backwards onto his ass. His head was spinning from the blow and he looked up in confusion as Walter swung the bat again.
Grayson jerked his head back and he felt the wind graze his chin as the bat flew past him, missing by less than an inch.
Walter was off balance with the follow through of the swing. Grayson took advantage and hit him in the leg with his bat. The old man fell to one knee as his leg gave out under him.
Grayson punched him in the face with a left jab, connecting directly on his thick chin.
Man that felt good.
He tossed his bat behind him and got to his feet, clenching his hands into fists. This was personal. He was going to make him pay.
Gray
son dodged a lazy swing of Walter’s bat and then came crashing down on the rhino shifter with well timed and perfectly placed punches. He let go in a fury of knuckles, teeing off on his opponent’s face and body.
Dakota cheered from somewhere behind him. It drove Grayson on, adding more power to his punches and more speed to his onslaught.
Grayson was a fighter. This was his art. His fists were his paintbrushes and Walter’s face was his masterpiece.
Walter was covering his face up with his arms and trying to get up on wobbly legs. “Wait,” he whispered so low that only Grayson could hear him. “I tap out.”
Grayson lowered his fists. He had won. He had made the best fighter that Laughlin City had ever seen tap out.
He glanced over his shoulder at Dakota and smiled. They were going to be together.
She had a look of horror on her face and she was pointing to something behind him.
Grayson turned back just in time for Walter’s swinging baseball bat to crack against his jaw. His vision turned black as his body flew backwards, limp as a wet noodle. The back of his head slammed into the concrete canvas. His mouth was wide open, his head spinning. A little bit of his vision returned in blurred patches and hazy lights.
He could hear his mate screaming but he couldn’t make out the words over the thumping in his ears.
The bright light over his head turned black, as a massive figure stepped over him.
“Get up, get up,” Dakota screamed, her voice making it through the pounding in his head. He tried to but Walter stomped his big foot onto Grayson’s chest, pinning him to the ground.
His vision started to clear. Walter was smirking manically as he raised the baseball bat over his head to finish the job.
“On your right,” Dakota yelled.
Grayson’s right arm shot out. His fingers wrapped around the handle of the baseball bat.
He yanked it in front of him as Walter brought his weapon down. Grayson held the bat across him with two hands, protecting his body.
The Hitman's Baby: A Standalone Bad Boy Romance Novel Page 21