Claiming His Chance (9 page)

I
rushed
through the halls for the medical wing, leaving Piers in the ring, not caring who saw or what they thought. Our secrets were out, or they would be soon. Piers had nearly shifted in the ring, his red eyes giving away his dragon side. No more hiding. Besides, I wouldn’t let anything keep me from my mate again, especially not if he needed me, not if there was a chance I could lose him.

Could have already lost him.

Surprisingly, Piers met me in the hall outside the medical ward, blocking a door I knew my mate had to be behind. How he made it there so fast, I didn’t know. Didn’t care, either. All I knew was he was in my way.

“Let me through.”

He put his hands up as if to reach for my shoulders. “Wait.”

“No.” I punched him hard, left then right as he’d taught me to hit when we were children. Both fists making a satisfying thump as they slammed into his chest, forcing him to stumble back a step. “You lost control. You promised me you wouldn’t, but you did. And you lost it with my mate in the ring.”

Before I could hit him again, Piers grabbed my arms and pulled me against his chest. I resisted at first, wanting to hurt him as much as his actions had hurt me, but then I broke, sobbing, shaking in his arms.

“I’m sorry, Trin.” He wrapped his arms all the way around me, holding me tightly. And I let him because I had no idea if this was it, if he was about to be all I had left.

“Is he—” I choked, unable to say the words.

“He’s alive.”

I sagged, crying harder, relief making me weak. “Oh, thank the fates.”

The door swung opened, and the female doctor walked out, glancing from Piers to me in confusion. “Anyone here for Cahill?”

“I am,” I said, pulling away from my cousin. I was done lying, especially when it came to Cahill. “He’s my mate.”

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything about my admission, simply directed me inside. “His heart stopped, but we were able to get it going again. He had a couple of broken ribs that are already healing. His heartbeat isn’t quite regular yet, but I’m confident he’ll be right as rain in a few hours.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, refusing to take my eyes away from my mate to give her my full attention. Cahill lay on a bed on the opposite side of the room, dwarfing it and yet somehow looking small at the same time. His eyes were closed, but his chest rose with every breath. His very bruised, very damaged chest. Dear God, what had Piers done? I couldn’t move, was too afraid to take a step, but then he opened his eyes and found mine.

“Hey, Raindrop.”

I was across the room instantly, not even thinking about moving before I was there. I gripped his hand, bending to place my forehead on his shoulder as I sobbed. Wanting so much to touch and feel and make sure every single inch of him was okay.

“It’s all right,” he soothed, bringing one arm around my back to hold me closer. “I’m fine.”

“I thought…” I shook my head. He shouldn’t be soothing me; I should be soothing him. But there he was, taking care of me. Being the gentle, sweet man I knew he was underneath all that brawn.

“I know what you thought,” he murmured, his voice quiet and a little weaker than normal. “I thought it too for a minute there. But the doc was able to get me back. I’ll be okay.”

“You’d better be.” I clenched my jaw, my nails clawing their way across his skin as I resisted the urge to strip the sheet off his hips and make sure he was whole with my own eyes. Instead, I placed both hands flat against him, taking comfort in every pulse from within.

Cahill chuckled, his chest vibrating beneath my hands. “My heart’s still there, Raindrop. I swear.”

“And I’d like to keep that old ticker ticking,” the doctor said, coming up on the other side of the bed. She put a stethoscope to Cahill’s chest, listening for a moment as she frowned. “Still not quite steady, but getting better all the time. If you can walk, you can go back to your room for the night. You can stay here if you like, but I have a feeling it’ll be a bit busy with all the fights scheduled.”

Cahill sat up without pause, gently moving me back. “My room. I’m done here.”

I shook my head. “What? How will you—”

“I’ll take him,” Piers interrupted, coming to stand beside us. “It’s the least I can do.”

“You should be running,” I whispered. “They know now. You have to get out of here before they come for you.”

“Too late,” Piers said. “Besides, I’m tired of running. I’ve been hiding everything about myself for years, Trin. Using you to do it. It’s time I come clean and deal with the consequences.”

“Piers, no—”

Just then, the door opened and two of the bosses walked in with Piers’ handler following. The older of the bosses took the lead, his face stiff and cold as he addressed the doctor.

“Jane, I’d appreciate it if you left. Now.”

“Of course, Mick.” The doctor nodded, glancing at me before she disappeared through the door and out into the hallway. The handler closed the slab of metal behind her with a hollow slam then leaned against it. Blocking our way out.

“Interesting fight, gentlemen,” the man named Mick said, his voice making his displeasure clear. “I’m quite certain that’s the closest we’ve ever come to revealing ourselves to the spectators. Well, not ourselves, seeing as how Piers isn’t quite one of us, are you?”

He glared at Piers, who simply shook his head.

“And you—” he scowled as he directed his ire my way “—you seem to have found yourself a new beau. Or perhaps that’s your true mate seeing as how I doubt a dragon shifter and a wolf shifter would end up in a triad.”

I clung to Cahill’s hand as he edged a step in front of me. His hands were shaking, his skin pale, but he was ready to fight. I could tell by the hard set to his shoulders, the intense expression on his face. He’d protect me, even though he may have been the one needing the protection. The two men I cared about most in this world were in danger, and there was nothing I could do about it.

“This is my fault,” Piers said, making us all turn our heads. “It was easier to hide my dragon side with her as my accomplice. You wolves have strong noses; Trinity kept me smelling like one of you instead of like a dragon. I take full responsibility for almost shifting and for Trinity’s part in my lie.”

“As you should, boy,” the other owner said, his voice harsh and growly. “If the wolf shifters knew there was a dragon to fight, they’d be here in droves vying for a shot to take you on. Do you know how much money you’ve lost us?”

I glanced at Piers, confused. “You’re mad because his dragon-shifting would have made you more money?”

“Yes, of course.” Mick shook his head as if scolding children. “Dragons are rare these days, but the legends remain. Too tough to be broken, too mean to be bested. They are the ultimate test for a wolf shifter. Beat a dragon, and you can brag forever that you’re the biggest and the baddest. Wolf and bear shifters alike would have paid to be in my ring with Piers. But instead, you come here on a lie, hide what you really are, and dare to bring an unmated female into our midst.”

“I’m not unmated.” The words escaped me without thought, without care for what my place was in this mess.

Mick growled, puffing up in a sign of aggression as he glared in my direction. “I’ve heard about enough from you.”

“Well, I haven’t.” Cahill grabbed my hip, pushing me farther behind him. “She’s not unmated, and I’m not about to let you speak to her like she’s nothing.”

Mick’s growl turned harsher, louder. “Now, look here—”

“What’ll it take?” Piers asked, distracting all of us.

Mick cocked his head, looking over my cousin in a way that sent chills down my spine. “What is it you’re asking, dragon?”

Piers lifted his chin and took a step forward, brave and ready to do battle. “What’ll it take to get these two out of here…alive and uninjured?”

I gasped. “Piers, no.”

I took a step toward him, but Cahill held me back. Mick noticed and smirked, his eyes dropping to Cahill’s injured chest.

“You think you can take me, boy?”

“I know I can,” Cahill said with an arrogant tilt to his brow. “I’m the only shifter who’s ever come close to besting Killian O’Shea. I fought beside three witches and a tiger shifter to destroy not just a mob of shifters trying to stage a coup, but two werewolves. And I walked away without a scratch. You want to come at me? I’ll fight back, and I’ll win. And I’ll tell everyone I see that the owner of The Pack House fell to a tired, injured shifter. But if you dare to come at her?” Cahill crept forward, a throaty snarl leaving his lips. “I’ll fight, and I’ll win. But the difference is, you’ll be dead when it’s over.”

Mick glared at Cahill, the two exuding more power than I’d ever been around in my life. For several tense moments, I thought for sure I’d have to watch my mate battle one of the leaders of The Pack House fighting ring.

But then Mick sighed. “She’s free to go. You still have one fight left with us to pay your debt.”

Piers looked at Cahill, something unspoken happening between them. “I take his last fight.”

“Piers,” Cahill said as if in warning, but my cousin refused to be deterred.

Piers stepped forward, back straight and chin up. “You want my dragon in your ring? Fine. But I take Cahill’s fight so he can leave with Trinity. My cousin and her mate deserve a new start away from the noise of this place.”

I held my breath, anxious and scared and hopeful all at once. Piers was giving us a chance to go, to start a new life. One away from this place. I didn’t want to leave him behind, not for a second, but he fit here. We didn’t. And we never would.

The two owners looked to one another, saying nothing. I waited impatiently, clinging to Cahill’s arm. Time seemed to slow as we all watched, wondering what was next. How this would all end.

“Fine,” Mick said finally. “You still have two fights to fulfill your contract, yours and now Cahill’s. You fight those two fights, plus give us two extra—all with the shifter opponents knowing you’re a dragon—and the Southern Appalachia pack is free from their debt. We can work out a mutually beneficial payment agreement for more fights at that point if both parties are so inclined.”

Piers looked to Cahill and nodded. “Deal.”

Mick extended a hand, shaking Piers’ then—reluctantly—Cahill’s to solidify the agreement. He ignored me, but I couldn’t say I expected more from him. The man never would see me as more than an annoying woman who got in the way of his fighters’ concentration. Still, Cahill kept his arm around my waist, holding me close, refusing to let me disappear into the background. Something that made me respect him all the more.

Mick sneered, running his hands over the lapels of his dark suit. “Piers, we’ll see you in the morning. Appalachia, you and your mate get the hell out of my building.”

As the owners turned and left the room, Piers glanced my way, giving me a goofy smile. That expression, the contentment and excitement I saw on the face I knew so well, soothed something inside of me. Piers liked it here, he wanted to fight, he wanted to stay. And now he could without worrying about me. I had a place to go and someone to go with. But my God, I would miss him.

Cahill wrapped his arm around me, tucking me into his side and kissing the top of my head as if sensing my conflicted emotions. “So Trinity and I are free to go? We can just leave?”

“I guess so,” Piers said with a shrug. Casual, sort of surprised, it seemed. But
that
wasn’t it for me. I’d been by his side since I was a child, had left my pack behind for him when they found out his father was a dragon shifter, not a wolf shifter as they’d always thought. I’d brought him food when they’d caged him like a beast as they waited to see how he would shift. I’d helped him escape before the Alpha could kill him once he shifted to his dragon form. And I’d followed him across the country as we tried to find a place of safety to call home, as we hid and lied and conned our way through life. He was my family, my friend, and I couldn’t just leave him behind.

Tears falling, I rushed to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I don’t want you to stay.”

“Hush, Trin. I like it here, remember?” He held me tightly for a moment, then pulled back, ducking down to look me in the eye. “But you don’t have the stomach for this place, and that’s okay. You deserve more than living a life you’ll never be happy with.”

“What if you get hurt?” I whispered.

“That doc was kind of hot. I’ll just snuggle up to her until I feel better.” He dodged my playful slap, grinning before focusing on Cahill. “You take care of her for me, okay?”

Cahill nodded. “I’ll make sure you know how to reach us for when you’re through here. There will always be room in our pack for you.”

“Even though I’m not…like you?” Piers swallowed hard. “Your pack won’t think I’m too dangerous or a mutt?”

Cahill’s face grew serious, his fingers sliding along the handprint burns on his forearm. “I made the mistake of calling a man a mutt once, but I don’t intend to do that ever again. If there’s one thing this past year has taught me, it’s that your character is way more important than your genetics.”

I grabbed Cahill’s hand, smiling up at him. He sighed and shrugged, a sly grin sliding across his face.

“You’re my mate’s kin, and that makes you my family. No one will judge you while I’m around. Besides, you’re tough, smart, and have a hard time controlling your temper. You’re
exactly
like the rest of the men in my pack. You and our Alpha will fit right in together.”

Piers laughed, stepping forward to give me another hug. “Sounds perfect…for someday. I’m not ready to be tied down to one place yet, though. Plus I’ve got a few fights left to win.”

I hugged him back, wishing we didn’t have to be separated but knowing it was for the best. For now. “Call us if you need help, or if you change your mind. We’ll come get you. And don’t be gone forever, okay? You come join us soon. Who knows? You may meet your mate there.”

Piers chuffed a sad little laugh. “Dragons don’t mate like wolves, Trin. You know this.”

“What do you mean you don’t mate like wolves?” Cahill asked.