Alpha's Last Fight: A Paranormal Shapeshifter BBW Romance (16 page)

She was still in my bones, whining low and threatening, as I passed into the great entryway and into the roar of the crowd. But she could not threaten me.

Not tonight.

In the ring, Gina unleashed a fury of kicks onto the fighter they’d brought in from out of town. I almost felt bad for the other woman, a larger blonde lady who couldn’t keep up with the darting jabs Gina sent her way. With one solid kick to the side, Gina knocked down her opponent.

She raised one fist up to the crowd, and the shouts from the crowd rang from the rafters.

Terry stepped into the ring. Terry - I vaguely remembered him playing guitar by the fire that night. One of Hutch’s friends.

“Give it up for the gorgeous Miss Gina Marquez!”

He waited for the cries to die down. The spotlights shone brightly down on the ring.

“Next on the ticket, the fight you’ve been waiting to see…”

His words faded from my hearing, though, as I spotted Hutch climbing up into the ring. All around me, noise rained down, hard and tumultuous, but all I cared about was Hutch. His presence was like a candle in the middle of a dark room.

The other fighter joined to a smattering of applause. It was clear that the crowd was on Hutch’s side, and by the way he was grinning, he knew it.

“Don’t get too confident, Hutch,” I murmured. As though on cue, Hutch looked up straight into my eyes. He winked, kissed his fingers, and sent a kiss my way straight from his heart.

Then the whistle blew, and his face dropped into an expression of attack.

The first blow landed on Hutch’s chin, and in the second it took for him to recoil I understood what he meant when he had been talking to me in the field, talking about balance. His feet danced underneath him as though his legs and torso were almost independent. He was floating in the middle of the ring, suspended in the light like a mote of dust.

The fighter threw another blow, but this time Hutch anticipated it and ducked, sending the other man reeling. The guy must have been an amateur, for as he hit the ropes, a snarl echoed off of the metal walls, and I could see him struggle to keep from shifting.

“I know how you feel,” I said, and I was talking to both of them. For the first time ever, I got what he meant, what he had referred to with his wolf. He wasn’t controlling it. His eyes glowed amber, pinpoints of light that I could see burning from across the room, my senses were so piqued. He was like a fighter out of a painting by Goya - the shimmering of his muscles was the only curve of light that stood out in the ring. Behind him, the crowd was a muddle of brown and blue, and—

THERE!

He struck forward and knocked the other fighter back, and I saw the blur of his motion and saw where the blur would go next, what would work best, not just the balance of his body but the balance of dark and light, the negative space between the fighters growing, growing, then collapsing back in on itself in another litany of blows between them. Their skin, growing redder, and the blood and the drops of sweat that I could almost count in the air when the two bodies met in a crashing symphony of light and sound and furious survival.

Balance. That was all; that was everything. I understood. I got it.

In the middle of the ring, Hutch was standing over the crumpled body of the man, and the people around me were screaming, and I let the wolf inside of me hover so close that everything burned with light, light and sensation, and I couldn’t tell whether I was looking out at the world from my own eyes or from the burning amber eyes of
her
, of my wolf.

Chapter Fifteen

Hutch

I stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this good after a fight. No bruises, no cuts, to be honest I couldn’t recall Darryl getting a single hit in. Usually it was fairly close between the two of us.

It felt like a demonstration. A demonstration of what I was capable of when I dropped the theatrics, when I stopped trying to be the best and just let myself be the best. I wanted her to see. To make her understand… her painting, my fighting, it came from the same place.

The rush was still there. The need to bed the nearest available woman that inevitably followed a victory, or a loss for that matter, in the ring. But tonight it was tempered by something else, or more precisely, someone else.

I wondered if Nat might want to hang out with the pack again tonight. Things usually got pretty rowdy and sometimes pretty raunchy. Or so I’d been told. More often than not I’d be off banging that night’s conquest and someone would have to fill in the blanks for me the morning after.

Shit. I couldn’t deny she was getting to me.

I turned just in time to see Natalie bounding across the locker room towards me. When she was in range, she leaped towards me, and I plucked her from the air as she locked her legs around my waist, the hem of her dress bunching inappropriately at her hip.

Without warning, her lips found mine. Hungrily devouring them, with a kiss that felt more like some kind of assault. I was used to aggressive women, but this was new from her. If it were anyone else, I’d be fighting back by now. Returning the kiss in kind, letting them know who was in charge. But for her, I made an exception.

She pulled away and gasped for breath.

“Holy crap, Hutch, you were incredible!”

“Yeah. Yeah, I was.”

“I could see it. I could see it all. The way you moved. The give and take. Strength and grace and just everything. It was like a symphony. It was like a thunderstorm. It was—”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” I couldn’t resist laughing at her unbridled enthusiasm.

She unhooked her legs and returned to standing, smoothing down the fabric of her dress. It looked more than nice on her. A pretty summer thing that was out of place in this beat up locker room, but perfect on her. She knew I liked her in a dress.

I felt an unwelcome twitching beneath my towel. Yes, I wanted her and yes, I planned to have her tonight. But not here. Although… I glanced around; the locker room was pretty quiet. And one of the perks of being pack leader was I’d never get kicked out for making a scene.

I was going to suggest we get a little more naked, but she spoke first.

“When was the last time you had sex, Hutch?”

“Uh, the night before our first date, I guess. With Gina. Why?”

“That was a week ago. When was the last time you went without sex for a week?”

She had me there. I thought back but I really couldn’t think of any time I’d gone that long without. I mean why would I? Even when I’d been injured, I could still get it up, and flat on my back in the infirmary or not, I could always find someone willing to take care of it.

“When was the last time you went without sex for two
days
?”

“I don’t know, since I was a kid, I guess. I don’t really keep track of that kind of stuff. It’s like asking when was the last time I didn’t take a dump for two days.”

“That’s just… such a
wonderful
metaphor Hutch. You’ve outdone yourself.”

She was making fun of me, but I didn’t mind. I liked crazy, excited Nat.

“Where are you going with this?”

“Put some pants on. Or not. And come with me.”

I got rid of my towel and pulled on a clean pair of sweats. They didn’t do much to hide the fact that I was more than a little aroused. I caught her admiring the view, but she didn’t seem embarrassed by it. She took me by the arm and led the way.

“I have one question for you, Hutch. One question and I want you to think very long and very hard about it.”

She stepped around me as she spoke, her arm brushing a bulge that must have been becoming increasingly obvious. That can’t have been an accident. Unless I was seriously misreading the situation, it looked as if she had finally succumbed to my charms. Better late than never.

“The question is… why me?”

I shrugged. I had assumed she was leading me to the main camp, or at least to my trailer, but it seemed like we were avoiding them altogether.

“I think you’re… I mean you’ve got nice… I like that dress.”

“You really are terrible at this, aren’t you?” She smiled.

“I don’t see what the problem is. I think you’re hot. I want to fuck you. Why does it have to be more complicated than that?”

“Because it
is
more complicated than that. It’s been more complicated than that for a week now… and here we are. I might not be the epitome of physical perfection, but I know some guys like what I’ve got going on. But that’s not what I’m asking. I don’t want to know why I get you hard. I want to know why, here and now, a week later, you haven’t given up on me.”

“So what do I win if I get the right answer?” I tried to make a joke of it, but for a reason I didn’t fully understand, this line of inquiry was making me feel pretty uncomfortable.

“Oh Hutch.” She spread her arms to show what lay beyond the wall she’d taken me to. A familiar field, looking very unfamiliar in the light of a full moon. “Give me the right answer and you get to train me some more.”

“Oh, like now?”

“Sure, why not?”

“I’m pretty beat, Nat, I thought maybe we could just, y’know... hang out.” I doubt I sounded very convincing, and I hadn’t even convinced myself.

She stood on her tiptoes to address me with a conspiratorial whisper. She didn’t even come up to my shoulders.

“Don’t look so disappointed. I didn’t say what we’d be training for, did I?”

I grinned and she ran into the middle of the field, doing a twirl so her dress lifted around her, revealing glimpses of creamy thighs glowing in the moonlight. It was as if, before that moment, I had no idea just how much I wanted her. She called to me across the field, her voice clear and crisp in the night air.

“Ask me how long it’s been since the last time I had sex!”

I jogged across the field towards her, I wanted this to be between us, not something she had to yell. As I got close, I noticed she had tears in her eyes, glinting like diamonds in the night. I reached her and took her hands, listening. When she spoke again, her voice was a whisper.

“I almost had sex. Once. I didn’t really want to. I was scared. I wasn’t ready. So when he tried to make me… I made him stop. I hurt him, Hutch. I hurt him really bad.”

“Never?” My jaw dropped. I would never have guessed, not in a million years. She was so gorgeous, and… well, shit.

“Not once. I’ve come close a couple of times. But no.”

“But you can, right? Like you, uh… jerk off and that.” I spread my hands, claiming ignorance as she fixed me with a disapproving look. “Shit, I don’t know what women call it. Jerk… in?”

“Yes Hutch, I do that. I like sex, Hutch. I like the idea of it. I like the promise of it. I like it a lot. I just don’t like hurting people. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“You won’t hurt me.”

“No.” She touched my bare arm and I felt a chill. “I won’t hurt you. But not because you’re bigger than me and stronger than me. I won’t hurt you because of what you’ve shown me. I get it now. I really do. I saw it when you were fighting. Balance, not control. I’m not scared of hurting you or anyone anymore.”

“That’s amazing. You think you can find a balance. Like right now? Is that why you want to do more training?”

She grinned.

“Look at me, Hutch.”

“I can’t stop looking at you.”

“No.
Look
at me.”

I looked at her.

I sensed it before I saw it. The hairs on my arms prickling, the faintest scent of something unfamiliar and new. And then, as a cloud passed and the moon shined down on her once more, the faintest hint of a golden halo around her iris.

“You did this, Hutch. Here in this field, in my paintings, in the ring. You showed me the way and for that I will always be in your debt. I don’t think you’ll ever fully understand what this means to me. But I still need to know. “

“Know what? I don’t get it.”

“Why me?”

“Well, for a start, you’ve got nice…”

I made a lunge for her breasts, but she darted away. She wasn’t exactly graceful, but I was surprised at how fast she moved.

“Yeah, tell me something I don’t know. And you’re not getting anywhere near them until you answer the question. Why me?”

I shrugged. If this was some sort of game, I clearly didn’t understand the rules.

“No! You don’t get to do this without an explanation.”

She lunged at me with surprising speed and ferocity, but compared to what I was used to, she might as well have been moving in slow motion. I sidestepped and grabbed her by the arm, swinging her round so we faced each other.

She growled up at me through bared teeth and when she spoke, it was with a delicious vibrating purr at the back of her throat.

“You don’t get to shrug your shoulders and pretend nothing matters except fucking and fighting.
I
matter. I matter or you wouldn’t have come back to me after that first kiss. You wouldn’t have invited me into your home and made sure your pack treated me like family. I matter to you, Hutch. Stop pretending I don’t, and tell me why. Tell me!”

She brought her fists down against my chest to emphasize her point. This wasn’t the first time she’d hit me like this, but before, I’d barely noticed. This had all her strength behind it.
All
her strength. I pulled her across my leg and tripped her, catching her before she fell to the ground. She was under me now, pinned and trying to wriggle free.

“I don’t know, okay? What does it matter? I don’t know.”

“Why?
Why?
”

She was snarling now, snapping at me as she tried to free her arms. She was formidable in a way I could never have expected and I found myself having to call on some of my own inner strength to keep her under control.

What was most remarkable was the fact that she wasn’t shifting. To let her emotions get the better of her like this but stay in human form was impressive. I’d known people who’d trained for years and never got the hang of it.

“I don’t know.”

And just like that, the fight went out of her and she went limp in my arms.