Mate Claimed (Shifters Unbound #4)(40)
Author: Jennifer Ashley

The crowd of Shifters and humans parted under the mismatched glare as Eric approached, with Shane and Diego. Iona came right behind them with Jace, Cassidy, Xav, Brody, Nell, and Diego’s tiny mom, Juanita. All weapons had to be left at the entrance, so Eric didn’t have to worry about Nell helping things along with a shotgun.

The Shiftertown’s Guardian, Neal, was already here, the hilt of his huge sword rising over his left shoulder. The Guardian’s sword would dispatch a dying Shifter to the Summerland, rendering the Shifter a pile of dust, his soul freed. Neal was a necessity, but the other Shifters gave him a wide berth.

Graham was already waiting near the center ring. By tacit consent, no other fights would go on while the two Shiftertown leaders battled, so the other rings were empty.

Graham’s seconds came forward to meet Diego and Shane. One of Graham’s seconds was the nephew, Dougal, whom Eric had smacked down for attacking Shane. The other was called Chisholm, a young Lupine from the second-highest-ranking pack in Graham’s Shiftertown. Eric had made it his business to know the lineage of every single wolf Graham was bringing with him from Elko.

Chisholm spoke first, addressing Shane. “Your fighter understands the rules?”

“He does,” Shane rumbled. “Yours?”

“He’s made himself familiar with them.”

“No interference,” Shane said.

“No interference.” Chisholm nodded.

Chisholm and Dougal were wary of the huge Shane, but Eric watched the two try to best Diego with a stare down. Diego, however, didn’t flinch, and the wolves backed down first.

To Graham’s credit, he didn’t even look in Iona’s direction as they waited for the fight to begin. Graham was respecting the Challenge. The warriors would concentrate on the fight, and the one who remained standing would then claim the female. She was off-limits to the Challenger until he won. At least Graham knew how to follow Shifter rules.

Diego turned to Eric. “Ready?”

“Let’s get this done,” Eric said.

His followers started an immediate volley of advice and encouragement behind him. “Kick his ass, Eric,” Nell said.

“I’ll tell you what I used to tell my boys,” Juanita Escobar said. “Fight dirty if you have to, but come out looking good. Don’t just win the fight, win respect.”

Cassidy gave Eric a warm hug. “You’ll do it, Eric.”

Iona remained apart, her dark hair stirred by the wind that had sprung up over the desert, her light blue eyes gleaming in the odd light.

Damn the Challenge, and damn the humans who’d decided Graham should be moved to his Shiftertown. Eric could be holed up with Iona somewhere right now, teaching her not to be afraid of her mating need. Instead he was standing here in a crowd of excited and smelly Shifters, waiting to battle an ass**le in a stupid posturing fight.

Eric put his hands on Iona’s shoulders, caressing with his thumbs. “Don’t worry. I’ll finish here, and we’ll go out for pizza.”

Hunger flared in Iona’s eyes. “Don’t talk about pizza.” Her arms stole around his waist. “Seriously, Eric, be careful. Like you said, he’s tricky.”

“Yeah, but so am I.”

“No kidding.” Iona pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “I hate everything about this, but…Nell’s right. Kick his ass.”

Eric grinned, gave her another kiss, straightened up, and strode to the ring, where he stripped off his clothes. It was time.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

As unhappy as Iona was about this fight, the woman in her appreciated the sight of Eric’s honed, naked body as he walked toward the ring. His back was straight, shoulders broad, waist tapering to firm bu**ocks, unashamedly bare.

He moved as calmly as ever, even though he was about to fight, maybe to the death. Iona had come to realize that Eric’s nonchalant stance, like his casual sprawl on the sofa, hid a man sharply aware of everything around him. He was poised to spring even now as he stood waiting for the fight to begin.

The referees entered the ring first, three Shifters and a human. Iona wondered how they’d been chosen—who organized these fights anyway?

Graham had stripped down, the man as big as Eric, and even more broad of shoulder. The hair on his head was buzzed short, but he had thick wiry hair on his chest. Red and black fire tatts wound down his arms, more wild than the neat jagged black pattern down Eric’s right arm. Graham’s eyes were white gray, stark in the dim light.

The cold knot in Iona’s stomach tightened as the refs stepped back and Graham and Eric entered the ring.

As soon as the refs signaled the start of the fight, the noise around her became insane. All Shiftertown must be there, the Shifters shouting, yelling, screaming, or roaring and growling.

Diego’s diminutive mother had made Xavier find her a box to stand on so she could see. She and Nell were hollering, hands around mouths. Cassidy shouted as much as they did, the other Shifters and Xav not drowning her out.

Iona couldn’t make a sound. She watched from the edge of the ring as Graham and Eric circled each other in silence, each assessing the other, each waiting for an opening.

As the crowd’s noise escalated, Graham finally attacked.

He remained human but dove at Eric, rage in his eyes. His Collar sparked, but Graham totally ignored it to slam himself into Eric.

Eric shifted as the man came down, and rammed all four wildcat paws into Graham.

Who became a wolf. Graham’s wolf was huge and black, his red mouth open to show gigantic teeth. Eric’s leopard snarl reached even over the crowd noise as he let himself fight.

The refs circled, but what went on in the center of the ring was too fast to follow. Cat and wolf fought with whirlwind madness, paws striking, teeth tearing, dust billowing. Blood flowed, both on Eric’s white fur and Graham’s black sides.

Graham’s Collar kept arcing snakes of blue, the thing never letting up, but it didn’t slow him down for a second. Eric’s Collar remained silent, which no one but Iona seemed to notice.

As the fight continued, something started happening inside Iona. The hunger that was driving her crazy didn’t abate, but a new sensation rose to match it.

Fury.

Eric was fighting for his life, fighting for her. Graham was pounding him, the wolf larger than the wildcat, though the leopard was plenty fast.

Another alpha was beating up her mate, and here was Iona, stuck on the sidelines, unable to go to his defense because of the stupid rules of the fight club.