by T. S. Joyce
Layla came out of a stall a couple down, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands, and that small gesture ripped Alison up on the inside. Maybe Layla wouldn’t want comfort from the woman who was taking one of her family group, but she couldn’t just stand here watching her sniffle and look heartbroken.
“Layla?” she asked.
Layla smiled slightly and shocked Alison to her core when she pulled her into a tight embrace. “It’s okay. This is a good thing. Good for Kirk. He deserves happiness after everything he’s gone through. Come on. We’ll watch together, and afterward, everything will work out.”
“Will it?” Right now, she felt like nothing was okay.
Layla gripped her shoulders and gave her an emotional smile. “It will. Kong and Kirk have work to do tonight, but they’re the best men I’ve ever met. They’ll be okay.”
Layla took her hand and led her toward Bash, who, for the first time since she’d met him, wasn’t smiling.
“What’s wrong?” she asked him as they finally made it to the front.
“Clinton and Mason hurt each other.” His soft green eyes flicked to the corner where, sure enough, Mason and Clinton were both doubled over against the wall, surrounded by people preforming first aid.
“Do you want to go to them?”
“Can’t. My bear won’t let me leave you and Layla now, and besides, Harrison said wait here.” His dark eyebrows arched high, and worry pooled in his eyes. “Ally, Kirk will get hurt tonight. He’s my second best friend.”
“He’ll be okay, Bash Bear.” Alison wished with all she had she felt as confident as she sounded.
The crowd was banging against the ring boards and stomping against the platforms in a steady rhythm that was gaining volume. The pace got faster as Judge stepped into the center of the ring. He held up his hands and spun in a slow circle, expertly quieting the onlookers. “Tonight, my friends, you’re about to witness history. For the first time ever, two mature silverback shifters will go head-to-head in the ring.” Judge gestured grandly to the opening at the corner of the ring. “You’ve seen him fight before. You know his brute strength, his deadly accuracy, his monster reach, and he’s here tonight to defend his crew. The Kooooooooong!”
The crowd erupted as the dark-headed silverback strode into the ring, hitting the air, warming up his muscles. He clapped Judge on the back and lifted his hands into the air as he reached the center. He was a wall of solid muscle, and a smile twisted his lips but didn’t reach his glowing green eyes.
“It’s okay,” Alison muttered to herself to settle her nerves. She gripped the wooden rails and blew out a sharp breath. All around them, bystanders were screaming at the top of their lungs, phones lifted, videotaping. Kong was a natural showman, revving up the crowd as he stood on the bottom slat of the wooden ring and cupping his hand behind his ear.
Layla looked sick beside her, and she knew the feeling. Alison shouldn’t have chugged that beer.
“And the challenger tonight,” Judge yelled over the noise. “One crew, two silverbacks, and this titan wants out. And there will be blood! Kirk Slater!”
The crowd went mad, shaking the wooden rails, stomping on the ground, screaming at the top of their lungs as Kirk sauntered into the ring, twitching his shoulders side-to-side with mellow air punches as he glared at Kong with pinpoint focus. He’d removed his shirt, and his body looked like a weapon. Massive shoulders that tapered to a V-shaped waist, abs tensed, the creases between each set of muscles deep. He flicked his damp hair to the side so the crowd could see his yellow-gold eyes. As he bounced from side to side, his muscle mass moved with the movement. His holey jeans sat low on his waist, and his arms were huge. Oh, she’d seen him without clothes, but he’d never had a reason to be tensed up and puffed out around her before. Here, in the blood-stained ring, slowly circling Kong, her mate looked like a terror-inducing, rip-roaring, badass beast.
Kirk slid his blazing gaze to her, then pointed to Bash. “You keep them out of the way.”
Bash nodded jerkily and crowded Alison, and she had no doubt Bash could get her and Layla out of the way in a blur if he needed to.
“You know the rules, boys,” Judge said, backing slowly out of the ring with an excited, gap-toothed grin. “There are no rules.”
Kong and Kirk circled each other, tensed like cobras about to strike.
“Fight!” Judge yelled.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.
Kong and Kirk charged each other immediately, each with their dominant arm reared back. When they connected with each other’s jaws, a sickening thud rattled the air. There was a blur of hits too fast for her human eyes to comprehend, and she clutched Layla’s hand when the woman beside her gasped.
Kirk was lethal, keeping up the pressure. Hit, hit, ribs, ribs, jaw. Kong was blocking, ducking, looked surprised by the pace Kirk was setting, but he adjusted, dodging a big hit and putting a shoulder in Kirk’s middle, tackling him to the ground. They slid across the ring, and Kong reared back, one hand around Kirk’s throat as he pulled the other fist back to blast it into Kirk’s face. As he dropped the hammer, Kirk shoved Kong’s wrist and jerked his face out of the way just in time, and Kong’s fist splintered the wood right next to Kirk’s cheek. He bucked and swung his way out from under the Lowlander, but they were fighting too close now, and Bash yelled at the crowd behind them to, “Back up!”
Kirk’s gold eyes flashed as he was thrown toward the railing in front of Alison, and at the last second, he fell to his hands and feet, skidding to try and avoid them. Bash hugged her and Layla up tight and grunted as something solid hit him in the back.
A series of pops sounded, and Alison’s blood curdled as she heard a room-shaking roar. “Aw, fuck,” Harrison said beside them. “Kirk!”
Alison stared in horror as she caught a glimpse of Kirk’s gorilla, battle ready, canines exposed as he paced the ring right in front of them. She knew what he was doing. Kong had lost his head, lost his bearings, but Kirk had done what he could to stop the fight from hurting her.
All around her, the crowd was screaming a deafening sound. Countless phones were pointed at where her mate was pulling himself along on powerful arms and legs. He was pitch black, his blazing golden eyes glued to Kong.
Kong had crashed against the ring on the other side, snapping several boards in half. He stood to his full, imposing height slowly. There was a gash under his eye, and red was streaming down his cheek, but he didn’t favor it as the feral smile transformed his face to something terrifying. He inhaled deeply and yelled, the veins in his neck bulging as his teeth elongated. The sound of his voice turned to a roar as his gorilla exploded from him.
“Oh, my God,” Layla said in a horrified whisper. “Harrison, do something!”
The Boarlander alpha shook his head, his eyes horrified. “You and I both know there’s nothing I can do to stop this now.”
“Shit. Get back!” Alison screamed, waving her arms to the crowd.
There wasn’t time. Both silverbacks stood on their hind legs, beat their chests with a drumming sound that echoed pure power through the barn, and then they charged. The clash of their massive bodies sent a wave of energy through the air that knocked Alison backward. She staggered on her feet as Bash held her and Layla in place. The thud, thud of the fighting gorillas pounding their fists against each other’s skin sounded time and time again, and now there was blood. A flash of teeth told her why, and when the fight tumbled toward them again, Kirk bailed, launching himself onto a steel post behind her and Layla.
“This is insane!” the guy next to Layla yelled through an excited grin. He arced his cell phone with Kong’s movement as the silverback launched out of the ring and after Kirk. They climbed up to the rafters of the barn, and Kirk swung around, one arm gripping the wood above him, the other out to catch Kong’s full force as he barreled into him. With a blur of violent motion, the silverbacks plummeted to the floor and landed hard in the ring. Alison screamed and clamped her hand over her mouth a
s the flooring underneath her feet shook like an earthquake.
She couldn’t tell who was winning. Couldn’t tell them apart as they pummeled each other, a flash of teeth and jet-black fur. Someone was painting the ring in crimson. Who was it? Kong? Kirk?
Beside her, Layla shook her head and buried her face against Alison’s shoulder. Alison cupped Layla’s face and murmured, “It’ll be okay. They’re fine. It’ll be over soon.” Maybe she was telling the truth, she didn’t know. Right now, it felt like this was stretching on for eternity.
One of the gorillas was thrown against the floor, and with a flash of gold eyes, the dominant silverback slammed his fists on either side of the other’s face.
The gorilla’s stopped fighting, chests heaving as they glared at each other. The crowd quieted as something wordless passed between the brawling beasts.
Kirk lifted his chin, then slowly backed off Kong. And when Kong stood, he didn’t charge again like Alison feared. Instead, he tilted his head, exposing his neck to Kirk.
“It’s done. It’s done,” she chanted to Layla in a shaking voice.
Kirk gave a slow, bored blink like he hadn’t just been in a bloody battle, then strode with slow, deliberate steps toward her. Alison froze when he lifted the back of his smooth knuckle to her cheek. His face morphed to a frown as he stared at the drop of moisture there. Afraid she would lose it in front of everyone, Alison grabbed his hand, kissed his knuckles.
And suddenly, Judge was announcing Kirk as the winner, and Bash was lifting Alison over the rail like she weighed nothing at all. Dragging a steadying breath into her lungs, Alison walked beside Kirk as he left the ring, and they were followed closely by Kong and Layla as the crowd went wild and surged toward them.
Everything came in flashes after that.
The fur on Kirk’s shoulder was matted and dripping.
The Ashe Crew and Gray Backs were trying to keep the crowds at bay.
So much yelling.
Cell phone cameras everywhere.
Audrey told her, “Everything is fine.” Was everything fine? She’d never seen a shifter battle on television or the Internet. Especially not while they were in animal form. Alison felt numb.
She stumbled beside Kirk, and he gripped her arm in his massive hand, his eyes concerned. He was worried about her tripping over her own shoes? He’d just gone to war with King Fuckin’ Kong.
Judge handed her money. He was so happy. Alison stared dumbly down at the wad of cash in her palm. “I don’t want this.”
“It’s for Kirk. He earned it.”
“Back off, Judge.” Clinton was there, bloody and bruised. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and he was only talking out of one side of his mouth. “She said she don’t want it.”
With a shake of her head, Alison handed the money to Clinton and wiped her palm on her jeans as if that would remove the grimy feeling of the twenty dollar bills.
Harrison’s eyes were hard as he shoved a man who got too close to Audrey for a picture of the gorillas.
Clinton was yelling. So was Mason, and now Emerson was with them, and Bash was protecting his mate’s stomach as they made their way toward the exit.
So much jostling. Kirk wrapped his massive arm around her back and moved her in front of him, then curled his lips back at the solid wall of onlookers fighting for a closer look and screaming questions at them. She looked back at Layla who was pale in the dim lighting, eyes worried. Beside her, Kong was bleeding. A lot.
Matt from the Gray Backs appeared through the crowd, a first aid kit thrown over his shoulder. Had he stolen it? Such a huge, pristine kit didn’t make sense here in the dirty barn. Chills textured her arms, and Alison rubbed them to try and rid herself of the tingling sensation. Was she in shock? How weak. She’d only been a witness to the battle.
No, that didn’t seem right. She’d felt right there with him, affected blow by blow, hurting alongside her mate.
“It’s the bond,” Layla said from behind, as if she could read her thoughts.
Oh. The bond. More she didn’t know about.
Outside, Kirk cast her a lingering glance over his shoulder, then took off, charging away from the crowd, Kong following directly after him. They disappeared into the woods behind the field where all the cars were parked.
“They have to shake the crowd,” Harrison explained to Alison as he drew Audrey close to his side. “Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”
Chapter Eighteen
It took half an hour bouncing around in the back of the Jeep on old dirt roads to track down Kirk.
And by the time Audrey pulled them into a clearing that looked like it was a local hangout for muddin’, Kirk and Kong were Changed back to their human forms and dressing in a couple pair of jeans Matt pulled from a duffle bag, while Willa stood off to the side, eyes a blazing green color Alison had never seen on her. Apparently the boys had riled up her inner bear, and from what Alison had gathered, Willa’s animal was a dominant she-grizzly.
Willa was funny as hell, but Alison made a mental note not to piss her off in the future. Really, after seeing the brutal power with which Kirk and Kong had fought tonight, she was disinclined to piss off any shifter.
The headlights illuminated the silverback shifters who were talking low to each other. Matt was administering first aid to the side of Kong’s neck, but it was Kirk who kept drawing Alison’s attention.
His eyes were still too bright to be human, and the wisps of conversation carried on the wind made his voice sound like a snarly demon’s, but it was his body that drew the gasp from her lips. Harrison and Bash were trying to get the bleeding stopped on his shoulder, and his entire torso was black and green with bruising.
“Oh, my gosh,” Emerson murmured from the front seat.
Alison scrambled down from Audrey’s jeep on shaking legs, then ran across the knee-high grass that stood between her and her mate. Kirk’s gaze, reflecting like an animal’s in the headlights, collided with hers, and he broke away from Bash and Harrison. He was favoring his arm to his ribs, but he strode toward her at a quick clip, his good arm out.
She meant to go in easy so she wouldn’t hurt him, but Kirk pulled her against him hard and rocked them slowly back and forth, his cheek pressed against her hairline. His chest was heaving, and his heart pounded like a drum. He smelled like iron, but he was here. He was whole, alive. Okay.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured.
She laughed in surprised disbelief and eased back. “You’re sorry? Why on earth would you be apologizing to me right now? You did nothing wrong.”
“Disagree,” Harrison barked, eyes narrowed on his glowing phone. “And now excuse me while I get my ass chewed out.” He accepted the call and said, “Hey Cora. Before you give me what for, you should know I couldn’t stop it.” Harrison cocked his head and winced, pulled the phone away from his ear as if Cora Keller was yelling. “Well, you can blame Kirk and Kong for any bad press. Tell me something. Would you send Boone in there to break up two warring silverbacks?” He paused. “Didn’t think so. I wanted to survive. Yeah.” Harrison sighed, rubbed the heel of his hand against his eye as if he was getting a headache. “Yeah. Will do, just give me a call tomorrow and tell me what I can do to clean this up.”
Kirk lowered his lips to her ear and whispered, “I’m sorry you had to see that. I couldn’t stop the Change. My animal didn’t like feeling so out of control when you were that close to the fight. Next time you’ll have to watch from the platforms.”
“Next time?”
Kirk pressed his lips against her forehead. “Kong and I are settled, but like I told you—”
“You’ll have to fight. Because of me.”
When he finished his kiss with a soft smack, he leaned back. He had a sexy, crooked smile. “You’re worth it.”
She sighed and shook her head as she studied his torso.
“Hey,” he murmured, hooking his finger under her chin and lifting her gaze to his. “I’m okay. We’re okay.” Another b
reathtaking smile. “I got us a crew.”
“Boarlander Crew!” Bash called.
“Boarlander Crew!” Audrey and Emerson said in unison.
Clinton and Mason stood off to the side, but they both murmured, “Boarlander Crew.”
And now Harrison’s scowl lifted in a slow smile as he approached. He clapped Kirk on the good shoulder. “Welcome to my crew.”
“We fit,” Kirk said.
Alison didn’t understand what he meant, but Harrison grabbed him by the back of the head and pressed his forehead to Kirk’s. And for a loaded second, the two behemoth men stayed just like that, sharing air, and then Harrison slapped him roughly on the back again and said, “Damn straight, Slater. You and Ally fit. Boarlander Crew.”
Alison blinked back the burning in her eyes as it dawned on her what had just happened. They were pledged now. Audrey pulled her away from Kirk and into a hug, and Emerson wrapped her arms around both of them.
Kong began a slow clap, and Layla joined him. Willa whistled, and Matt stood from where he was packing away first-aid supplies. Some of the Ashe Crew was standing off in the shadows, and they clapped, too. As Alison was passed around for hugs and congrats, it became harder and harder not to cry as the potency of this moment slid over her shoulders.
She had a place now.
She had people.
Her mate watched her with a proud smile as his body shook from handshakes and back claps.
She had Kirk.
And when Layla pulled her in tight, Alison lifted her gaze to the twinkling stars above them and squeezed her back.
“Take good care of him,” Layla murmured.
“I promise I will.”
“You two come by Sammy’s this weekend, and we’ll celebrate it up right. Drinks will be on me.”