CHAPTER 5
MATHIS
The wolf came at him again. Mathis snarled, bracing to receive the force of its impact. The wolf was aiming for his throat but at the last moment Mathis twisted. The wolf missed its mark, leaving its own neck open for Mathis to clamp down on.
His mind was white fire, charged with adrenaline. The moment the other shifter had transformed—he couldn’t explain what it felt like.
Finally, a worthy opponent.
He’d never fought like this before. With teeth and claws and the full weight of his lion behind each blow. It was exhilarating. Even the bite-wound in his shoulder only spurred him on to fight harder.
The wolf in his jaws yelped, claws scrabbling at the concrete floor as it tried to get purchase. Mathis shook it, and let it go. He wasn’t going to tear out the man’s throat, for God’s sake.
He crouched in preparation as the wolf retreated to a safe distance, dark eyes assessing him.
None of his training in human bouts helped him here. With humans, he knew what tells to look for: weight shifting to one foot or the other, the flicker of tension before a strike. But a wolf? A wolf who was part man? Mathis had no experience with that.
He also didn’t know how the fight was supposed to end.
There was no referee in the ring with them; Gerald had announced the start of the fight over loudspeaker, but would he do the same when he judged one or the other of them the winner?
Mathis narrowed his golden eyes. He should have paid more attention to Julian when he was explaining how the fights worked. But he had been so distracted by that scent…
Remembering it, he was distracted again, and almost missed the wolf’s next attack. The wolf darted in and, too late, Mathis poised himself for a counter-attack. He calculated the wolf’s leap and rose up, ready to meet his attack with a blow from his heavy front paw.
But the wolf’s attack had been a feint, a trap Mathis fell straight into. Mathis was already raised up on his hind legs when the wolf, instead of leaping, dove down low and bit at Mathis’ underbelly.
Mathis roared, as much with anger as from the pain. If they’d been human, he would have seen that coming. He had to stop thinking like a human, and fight like a beast.
The wolf was biting and clawing at Mathis’ belly. He threw himself forward, trapping the wolf under his own great weight, regardless of the pain as the wolf’s teeth and claws bit deeper into his flesh.
Mathis was about to hook one paw under to drag the wolf out when the alarm sounded again. Beneath him, the wolf stopped struggling.
The loudspeaker crackled. “Very good, Mr. Dell!”
Harper. Mathis shook his head. That must be it—the end of the bout.
He got up, releasing the wolf, and stood back panting. The wolf climbed to its feet, and gave Mathis an oddly human nod.
*Good match.*
Mathis blinked as the wolf’s words echoed into his mind. It had been months since he spoke telepathically with anyone. He quickly nodded back.
The wolf stretched, bones clicking and creaking as he shifted back into his human form. Mathis followed, finding his human shape inside him and drawing it out.
He grinned at his opponent, adrenaline flooding his veins in the aftermath of the fight. The wounds in his shoulder and abdomen itched as they healed. By morning, there wouldn’t even be a scar there. It was exhilarating. He hadn’t felt so alive in months.
Fighting humans was an exercise in control and focus, but this—this was like the best workout session ever.
“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight’s winner, Matt Dell!”
Mathis raised his hands to the viewing window halfway up the wall. He hadn’t paid it much attention before the match. Now he picked out a dozen or so pale faces behind the glass. There was Grayson Masters, giving him a pleased nod. Gerald Harper, preening as a woman wearing ropes of pearls patted his arm. And right at the edge of the window…
Mathis’ nostrils flared, as though he might be able to scent her through the inches-thick pane of glass. Her light eyes were startling against the pitch black of her hair. She was short and plump, and even the modest cut of her black dress couldn’t hide her curves. Her eyes widened as she saw him staring at her, but not in fear. She looked… she was…
The wolf shifter clapped him on the shoulder, snapping Mathis out of his reverie.
“Come on, mate. Time for us to go.”
Mathis couldn’t help looking back over his shoulder as he followed the other shifter out of the ring. The woman was still staring at him, and as he watched, she lifted one hand to her chest.
***
The wolf shifter—Sven, he introduced himself as—explained the situation to Mathis as they showered and dressed. They were to go up to the lounge and show off their muscles and scars to the guests for a bit, and then disappear quietly back to their own quarters.
Mathis had frowned. “That sounds…”
“A pain in the ass?” Sven snorted. “You’ve got that right. None of that lot have lifted a finger in their lives, but it gets them excited to see other shifters drawing blood.”
Mathis shrugged. That wasn’t much different to human fights.
The “gun parade”, as Sven called it, was as dull and awkward as Mathis had expected. Grayson was the only one of the guests to exchange so much as a word with him; the others complimented Gerald on his “discovery”, but ignored Mathis himself.
Worse, the woman in the black dress was nowhere to be seen. When he looked around for her, Sven explained telepathically that the house staff were excluded from the gun show.
*Best not to get involved anyway, mate. Keep your head down and your mind on the game. And…* Sven’s mouth twisted. *I’ll tell you more about that later. Harper gets… funny about some things.*
By the time Gerald waved the two fighters away, Mathis’ good mood had completely evaporated.
Sven slapped him on the back as they headed back toward the north wing. “Buck up, Matty. It’s not all bad. Sure, the bastards’ll look right through you once you’re out of the ring, but the pay isn’t bad. You’ve just got to hold out through your contract.”
Mathis bit back a bitter response. He might not have any need of the generous salary Gerald was offering, but Matt Dell did. And so must the other fighters here.
Unease struck him. The base salary was one thing, but Gerald was also offering a bonus for matches won. He hadn’t considered before that his drive to win might go up against some other shifter’s very real need for the prize money.
“Hey.” Sven nudged him in the ribs. “That was a good fight tonight. Your first against another shifter?”
Mathis grunted. “Yeah.”
“Bit different, eh?” Sven chortled. “How much do you weigh, four or five hundred pounds? Bloody oath. I’ve only been here the one season, but the other guys say there hasn’t been anyone with that sort of mass since—well, for a fair while, anyway.” He paused. “You want to come grab a drink with me’n some of the guys? It being your first night here, there’s a few house rules we should get clear.”
“Nah.” Mathis rubbed his face. “Sorry. I’m feeling—I don’t know. I need to clear my head.”
“No worries. We’ll be in Cap’s rooms if you change your mind. Third door to the left, ground floor.”
Mathis watched Sven until he disappeared around a corner. Any other day, he would have taken Sven up on his offer. But not tonight. Not with the dark-haired woman’s scent still teasing his mind, and the memory of her eyes still taunting his heart.
Instead, he made his way outside. The night air was cool, a steady breeze coming off the water and making the palms shiver. Mathis inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of salt water… and something else.
The same smell he remembered from his room.
Her.
This woman, whoever she was, was out here somewhere.
Mathis closed his eyes, inhaling slowly, following the breezes. His feet began to move almost of their own accord. The gravel path at the front of the house gave way to close-cropped grass, then became wilder, deeper grass hiding clumps and divots in the earth. Mathis opened his eyes.
He was standing on top of a rocky outcrop. A few feet in front of him, the ground dropped away, fallen stones and hardy shrubs leading down to a sandy beach.
And a few feet to his left, a single, wind-warped pine tree clung to the edge of the bluff, spreading its twisted branches to the sky and holding the strangest bird Mathis had ever seen.
The woman from the viewing room was perched halfway up the tree. She’d exchanged her black dress for a sensible pair of sweatpants, and had her legs wrapped around the pine’s trunk. One of her arms was gripping a branch, and the other was waving up above her head, holding something that glowed in the darkness.
He grinned. “Having a little trouble up there?”
The woman froze, and a moment later, Mathis heard the first words out of her mouth: “Oh, shit.”
She twisted and glared down him; then, as she saw who he was, her face cleared. Mathis’ heart leapt.
“Oh—it’s you!” she said, her voice excited. “Wait there for me, all right?”
Mathis had no intention of moving. He planted his feet on the stony ground, enjoying the view as she wriggled back down the tree. She was curvier than the other women he’d seen on the island so far, guests and staff included, and her descending the tree was a beautiful sight.
She jumped the last few feet to the ground and turned around, dusting off her pants. Her face was alight with excitement as she looked at Mathis. Mathis’ lion preened at the attention as she blatantly stared him up and down, her eyes pausing almost imperceptibly between his legs and on his muscular chest.
“So,” he said, casually changing his stance to better show off his pecs, “Enjoying some stargazing?”
“Uhh…” The woman’s fingers tightened around her phone, and she hastily shoved it in her pocket. “Stargazing? Yeah… something like that.”
Her eyes were still locked on to Mathis. She was looking at him as though… as though he was something wonderful.
She smiled, and his heart sang. “Did you want to join me? There might not be room in the tree, but…” She gestured vaguely at the sky. The cloudy, starless sky.
“Nothing would make me happier,” Mathis said bluntly. “Maybe… down on the beach?”
He watched her eyes flicker down the bluff to the sheltered, sandy beach. Private, secluded… out of sight of the house… He saw her make the decision even before she spoke.
“All right, then.” She narrowed her eyes at him, a smile dancing at the corners of her mouth. She held out one hand. “I’m Chloe.”
“Matt—Mathis,” Mathis replied. He took her hand and a shock ran up his arm. Did she feel it, too?
Her grin grew wider. “Shall we?”