“The rest of you think you’re either better than me, or better than my mate, who I have loudly, clearly, and enthusiastically accepted.”
A few more of them, both male and female, grimaced.
I was going to slash their numbers.
Definitely should’ve warned Bloom that this was going to be brutal.
“Whichever category you fall into, you need to get one thing through your thick fucking skull.” I took another step forward.
A few of them flinched.Those were the morons who were never going to go through with their challenge.
“I am not going to go easy on you. I am not going to hold back. I’m going to get these fights over with as quickly as possible so I can get back to the people who matter to me. That doesn’t include you. So either walk away, or prepare to be dragged off this field barely breathing—if you’re lucky enough to leave it at all,” I finished.
Two more women walked.
Two men followed.
There was a tense beat of silence.
Nine women, seven men.
It could’ve been worse.
I looked at the crowd, raking my mind for memories of the women. I recognized most of them, but only one had tried to bite me in the past. She was the strongest of them.
I’d break her to scare the others off.
Bloom was going to be fucking scarred.
I itched to reach out and assure her through a mental link of any kind. Even just a pack bond would’ve done it. But that wasn’t possible, obviously.
So I turned my back to the crowd, walked over to my vampire, and kissed her. Slowly.
Cheers erupted from a grand total of one person in the crowd.
That would be Shelley. She’d be on the receiving end of a few glares, but she had thick skin considering how close she was to her brother, who was mated to a vampire.
No one in this pack would risk offending an Omega anyway. They were fairly rare, and packs tended to implode without them. The Erren pack scaring theirs away would be particularly bad, since they hadn’t managed to keep one around for longer than a few months over the last few dozen years. Shelley was among their last options.
“This is going to be bad for the people I fight. I’d recommend keeping your innocent little eyes closed,” I said into her ear as I pulled away. The sting of her earrings on my lips barely registered.
“My innocent little eyes can handle it.”
“I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”
She patted my chest, over the fuzzy, pink sweater I’d borrowed. “Don’t get blood on my favorite sweater.”
I shook my head. “So stubborn.”
“You like it.”
“I do.”
“Don’t get hurt either, Mav. I’m tired of driving.”
I chuckled as I released her and stepped back. “Yes ma’am.”
The slight curve of her lips eased my worry just slightly, and I turned back to my challengers. “Get on out here, Olivia Iron.”
