“After the stories I’d heard, I thought he’d be…” Hudson shrugged.  “Bigger.  More evil.”  Hudson ran his fingers through his hair.  “Hell, I don’t know, but it definitely wasn’t him.”

Chadwick had to agree.  Refugio stepped from the back of a black SUV leaving Chadwick somewhat…well…underwhelmed.  The way the man was described, he’d thought he’d be ten feet tall and five hundred pounds of pure muscle.

He’d thought that the man would look like he ate children for fun.  Maybe have a black goatee that ended in a point and a handlebar mustache.  Why those things?  Chadwick had no clue.  Probably from the old cartoons he used to watch as a kid.

Instead, Refugio was maybe six-one and didn’t look like he was even two hundred pounds.  The smile on the man’s handsome face didn’t scream evil to Chadwick, but then again, neither did Kellach’s father and he’d nearly beaten his son to death when Kellach was caught kissing another man.

The army of men that poured out of the SUVs that had escorted Refugio there were the only menacing thing about the Council Chief.  That right there had Chadwick’s claws coming out.  Not the thirty or so men who were guarding the leader, but the rumors didn’t come out of thin air.  If there was one thing Chadwick had learned from years of hiding who he was, it was the ones who seemed harmless who could do the most damage.

“Careful Kitten, I wouldn’t want you starting something you have no chance of finishing.”  The warmth of Saber’s body as it pressed along Chadwick’s back sent chills of desire running through him.

At the same time, Chadwick was pissed that his mate had so little faith in him.  “I’m not a child.  I can take care of myself,” he whispered back vehemently.

Saber’s lips brushed against his ear as the deep rasp of his chuckle sank into Chadwick like the finest of whiskeys.  “I’m very aware of how skilled you are on the battle field, Kitten, but Refugio is as underhanded as they come.  Don’t let his appearance fool you.  Fair is not in the man’s vocabulary.”

Chadwick looked back over his shoulder and gave Saber a scowl.  “And who said it was in mine?”

Saber smiled down at him, then leaned forward to place a kiss against the tip his nose.  “You may not have given me much of a chance to get to know you, Chadwick, but I’m still quite observant.  Not only is fair in your vocabulary, it is ingrained deep in your bones.”

Chadwick melted at his mate’s words.  The annoyance he’d felt when Saber had indicated he didn’t think Chadwick could win against Refugio was gone and he found himself leaning back into Saber’s body.

Firm hands were placed on his hips, as those lips kissed him again, this time on his nape.  “Please, don’t judge me for what I’m about to do or say,” Saber whispered against his skin.

Chadwick had no clue what his mate meant, but he didn’t like the defeated tone of his voice, especially when he would be facing Refugio in the ring soon.  “I’m sorry,” Chadwick spit out before thinking about what he was going to say.  “I don’t mean to push you away.”

Chadwick could feel Saber’s lips curve into a smile against his skin.  “I know, Kitten.  I just hope, one day, you’ll trust me enough to tell me about it.”  Saber’s hands gripped Chadwick’s hips tighter as if desperate to hold on to him.  “We may not have been able to complete our mating but know we are mates in this world and the next.”

Another kiss was placed on his nape and then Saber was gone.  Helplessly, Chadwick watched his mate stride toward Refugio and his possible death.  They wouldn’t fight yet, as theirs would be the last of the challenges, but since he didn’t want to distract Saber from facing Refugio in the ring, he would be unable to tell Saber that if he could do it all again, Chadwick wouldn’t have run from Saber.

The thing was, even though that’s what Chadwick wanted to tell Saber, he knew it wasn’t exactly true.  He’d been running from reality for far too long to let it catch him now.  Even now, after finding Miracle and gaining his freedom, Chadwick was still hiding.  Instead of using silence and solitude, he’d switched to jokes and laughter.

Sure, it was more in keeping with who he was, but it was still hiding.  Instead of admitting he was terrified of not being able to admit his feelings, he became snarky and mocked those around him.

“Saber, I didn’t think you’d actually show up.” Refugio’s snide tone had Chadwick’s hands curling into fists.  He didn’t know what the man was about to say, but he knew it wouldn’t be good.  “After the way you tucked tail and ran when your father died, I assumed you were hiding in a cave somewhere.”

“Ah, Refugio, I told all of the thousands of men you’d sent after me over the years exactly how to find me.”  The cold, calculating smile on Saber’s face was just as chilling as Refugio’s.  “Don’t tell me they never bothered to inform you of my whereabouts.”

Chadwick had no idea where this was leading, but he had the sense it wasn’t going to be good.  Saber was purposefully goading Refugio.  In Chadwick’s experience, it wasn’t helpful in a fight.  Sure, it might distract one’s opponent into doing something stupid, but usually it was best just to keep one’s mouth shut and concentrate on the actual battle.

“No?” Saber asked when Refugio didn’t reply to his taunt.  “Could it be your men aren’t as loyal as you thought?”  Saber looked over Refugio’s shoulder to a man standing behind him.  “Why, hello, Bosce.  So good to see you again.  I’m sure, being Refugio’s personal bodyguard, you told your boss how to find me.”

Bosce’s face went ghostly white as he took a step back from his boss.  But Refugio didn’t let him get away.  A bang of a gun went off and Bosce crumbled to the ground.

Saber made a tsking sound.  “Not that I blame you for wanting to make the traitor pay for betraying you, but the rules of challenge are quite specific.  No guns.”  Saber cocked his head to the side.  “You weren’t going to be a coward and cheat, were you, Refugio?”

The nonchalant way Saber talked about Refugio killing Bosce put Chadwick’s hackles up.  From what Saber had said, it sounded like Bosce had helped Saber in the past, so why would he purposefully put the man in Refugio’s crosshairs?  Saber had to know what the Council Chief would do.  It just didn’t make sense.

Edrick and Brecken stepped forward to flank Saber, along with the other Alphas that were there.  “Surrender your weapons,” Edrick demanded with his feet braced apart as if ready to battle.

Hudson had already scrambled to one of the lookout points and had his rifle trained on Refugio just in case he refused.  Lucca, Trygg, and Krill took up positions to the side and slightly behind Refugio’s men to ensure they didn’t try something.

“I have never in my life had to cheat.”  Refugio actually sounded offended.

Trygg let out a snort.  “I worked for you for years, Refugio, we all know the only way you win is by cheating.”

A fire that reminded Chadwick of the bowels of hell flared to life in Refugio’s eyes.  “Watch it, or I will make sure you end up like Bosce.”

Kellach, incensed that his mate had been threatened, stepped right up to Refugio.  Too fast for any of them to register what he was doing before it was too late, Kellach had his claws out and gripped Refugio’s balls.  “You are going to die here today.  Threaten my mate again, and I’ll make sure you lose your manhood before you lose your life.”

Based on Refugio’s face twisting in pain, Chadwick was pretty sure Kellach had just dug his nails in deeper.  “Got it?” Kellach asked.

Chadwick was pretty sure Refugio couldn’t speak at the moment so he just gave Kellach a nod.

Satisfied that he’d gotten his point across, Kellach stepped away from Refugio and strode right over to his mate and planted a searing kiss on his lips.  The look of disgust on Refugio’s face had every man there growling in displeasure.

They were all either gay, or had family or friends who were.  Either way, they didn’t appreciate Refugio’s bigotry toward two men kissing.

With things going south quickly, and the possibility of a battle happening which would delay or completely halt the challenges, Edrick held up his hand.  “The first challenge will commence in one hour,” he announced.  “Between Zara Snow and Licen Vadel.”

Then he turned to Refugio.  “Chief, if you will come with me, I will show you where you can prepare.”

Not giving Refugio a chance to respond, Edrick spun on his heel and strode to the back of the houses where massive tents had been erected for the Council and their men.  Chadwick had protested having to put them up, but Edrick had overruled him.  He just didn’t see why the Council got a tent when most of their own people still slept under the stars because there wasn’t enough shelter.  At least it hadn’t rained since everyone had arrived.

As if the Gods themselves were laughing at him, clouds rolled in, blocking out the sun.  The wind picked up and a dampness in the air announced the probability of rain.

“Damn it,” Chadwick muttered as he went to where the ceremonial rings had been placed.

The ring itself was sixteen feet in diameter.  Chadwick and his men had spent hours creating it by removing all debris, which included the grass, twigs, stones, hell, even the tiniest of pebbles had to be eliminated from the area so as not to sway the fight one way or the other.

Tradition demanded the rings only have dirt on the floor with nothing else to impede the battle.  It meant not only removing the top layer of grass but also digging up two feet of dirt and running it through a fine sediment sifter. Once the clean dirt was put back, they then had to pound it back down so it wasn’t loose enough to cause one of the opponents to twist his or her ankle.

Just as he arrived, the first raindrops started to fall.  Chadwick didn’t waste any time.  He dashed into the back of the house, grabbed the tarp he’d put there just in case and ran back outside.  Yelling for the men guarding the ring to help him, they quickly covered the area.

In a fight for dominance, the fight would go on, regardless of the weather.  Once the challenges started, the tarp would be removed.  If it was still raining, the ground was going to get soaked.  Not able to do much about that, Chadwick could only do his best to keep it dry until then.

That done, he went in search of Saber.  If his mate really did get Bosce killed on purpose, Chadwick wanted to know why.

Heading back into the house he went right for their main meeting room, the kitchen.  Due to the challenges occurring shortly, Jari had closed The Mousetrap Café as Lucca had wanted to keep him close with so many of Council’s men in their midst.

The scent of bacon reminded Chadwick that he’d been too damn nervous to eat earlier.  He still was, but his body was demanding food and with the aroma of bacon in the air, who was he to turn down food?

But all thoughts of food fled when he rounded the corner to discover Bosce sitting at the kitchen table with a bullet-proof vest on the floor at his feet, while he rubbed at the area over his heart.  Chadwick’s gaze went from Bosce to Saber.  “Something you forgot to tell me?”

Then he stormed off.  He should have known better than to ever believe he could actually trust Saber to be honest with him.