Alaric's Perfect Mate (Saber Chronicles Book One) (2 page)

Lia didn’t fight. She could – she had a hell
of a right hook – but females usually didn’t fight in the NWFA.
Call it sexist or anti-feminist, but the humans didn’t want to see
females beating each other all to hell. While Alaric and his
brothers wore only linen shorts, Lia was dressed in a dark blue
sparkly gown and would be Jonathon’s date for the night. Alaric
didn’t particularly care for the way the wolf looked at his sister,
but Lia could handle herself, and she was content with her role as
arm candy.

Galen cracked his neck. “What’s the pot
tonight?”

“Five grand for each win. First place in
final gets fifteen grand, second gets seven,” Slade said.

Between the three of them, he and his
brothers would make a lot of money tonight. They were unrivaled in
the arena. He and his brothers never fought each other in the
finals, they were engineered by Jonathon so that only one of them
made it to the battle. Jonathon knew that while Alaric and his
brothers liked to fight, they would never actually hurt each
other.

“If I make it to the final this time, I’m
going to get my car painted,” Galen said.

“If you’d stop being an asshole and parking
across two spaces, people wouldn’t purposely scratch your car,” Lia
pointed out.

Galen loved his BMW convertible more than
anything else. And he was definitely an asshole about it.

Galen rolled his eyes.

Lia said, “Here come the humans.”

Steel doors opened and a large group of
humans wearing VIP badges walked in. They were led by members of
Jonathon’s pack. The human males wore suits, the females wore fancy
dresses, and they all reeked of money and privilege. Alaric would
bet his left fang that they’d never had to hunt a meal or fight for
their lives.

Focusing on the fights ahead of him, he zoned
out and ignored the humans who walked by slowly, several yards
away, and stared at them as if they were freaks in a side show.

An alluring scent caught his attention, and
he snapped from his revelry, scanning the crowd.

“Whoa, what’s wrong?” Lia asked.

He scented the air, sifting through the
scents until he found the one that called to him. Even without
knowing what she smelled like in his dreams, he knew he was in the
presence of his truemate. The scent strengthened as the crowd
passed by, and then he saw her. Long, dark brown hair like melted
chocolate. Skin like fresh cream. A body to die for – this time
trapped behind satin and sequins. She walked between Jonathon and
another male, who had his hand on her elbow.

Everything within him focused on her. His
beast roared for him to shift and go to her, and the sound spilled
out of his mouth. The deafening roar silenced the humans for a
brief moment, and then they panicked.

As his family tried to hold him back,
Jonathon rushed Alaric’s truemate from the training center along
with the other humans and pack members, and when the doors had shut
and her scent was gone, his beast roared in anguish.

“Calm down!” Slade said, growling the
words.

“Mine,” he groaned as he went to his knees,
his bones cracking as his beast tried to force him to shift so he
could hunt for his mate and protect her.

“No, don’t shift!” Lia grabbed his face and
stared at him. “Don’t you dare shift! If you go into your form
here, you won’t be able to find her. Jonathon won’t let you out of
the center in your shift, and you’ll never see her. Let me go find
her, okay? She’s obviously a VIP. I can get her and bring her to
you after the fights.” She slapped his cheeks. “Okay? Are you
listening to me?”

He swallowed hard and breathed through his
beast’s rage. “I hear you.”

Forcing back his beast, he shook his head and
stood, his knees shaking and his heart pounding. “She’s actually
here. I can’t fucking believe it.”

“Fucking-A, that means I’m next. Yes!” Slade
pumped his fist in the air.

“I hope like hell your mate shows up faster
than his,” Galen grumbled. “I’m damn tired of dating my right
hand.”

“You guys are gross,” Lia said, making a
face. “We’ll celebrate after we get you and your mate together.
Meanwhile, get your head in the game and kick some ass. You’ll need
the money from the fights to put down a deposit on a nice place for
you and your mate.”

That thought, more than anything else, drew
his attention to the upcoming fights. Lia was right. He needed
money to provide for his mate.

“Kick ass, man. The night is yours,” Slade
said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Alaric cracked his knuckles and rolled his
neck. “It certainly is.”

Chapter 3

Aubrey sat in her brother’s limo, and through
the tinted glass, she watched the crowd surrounding the entrance to
the NWFA building. The renovated high school football arena was
covered in lights and looked like a coliseum from ancient times.
She could picture gladiators fighting for their lives and crowds
cheering for blood. She sat between Gabe and Lance, who she’d
chosen as her private guards. They both wore solid black suits.

Her own outfit was chosen by Star, a member
of her brother’s kiss. She was a stylish woman, and whenever Aubrey
had to go to a party, she always let Star dress her. The black,
floor-length gown had a slit up to the middle of her thigh, and
tiny sequins and seed pearls decorated the tight bodice. The
strapless gown gave her great cleavage, and a single, seven-carat
diamond pendant – a birthday gift from her brother – was nestled
perfectly between her breasts.

The limo crawled forward on the street.
Paparazzi lined the curbs and the red carpet leading up to the
front gate.

“This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,”
she said.

“There hasn’t been anything like this in
Belle Terra before,” Gabe said. “There are a lot of local bigwigs
here, in the human
and
shifter communities. Plus, you’re
here on behalf of the kiss. Everyone is always interested in what
the sister of the master of the city is up to.”

“I’m really just a girl.”

Lance snorted. “Hardly. You’re gorgeous and
sexy as hell. Plus, you run the supernatural hotel and are friends
with all the shifter leaders. Even without Caleb being the master
of the city, you’d be a big deal on your own.”

She didn’t really think that was true, but
she knew that there were people who believed she had a lot more
power and influence over her brother than she actually did. They
were simply siblings who loved each other dearly and happened to
work together. She sometimes had a hard time remembering that the
master of the city was her brother, who, when they were young, had
once frozen shaving cream and told her it was ice cream.

The limo stopped in front of the red carpet.
A wolf from the front passenger seat got out and opened her door.
Lance exited quickly and held out his hand to Aubrey. Cameras
clicked rapidly as the paparazzi took pictures of her as she
emerged from the limo. Questions were shouted at her, ranging from
what designer she was wearing to why her brother wasn’t with her.
She ignored the questions, anxious to get inside the arena and away
from the prying eyes of the media. Lance and Gabe surrounded her,
walking her swiftly through the gates.

“Miss Aubrey, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” a
tall, lanky man said after looking over the invitation that Gabe
handed him. “My name is Krel, and I’m Alpha Black’s assistant. He’s
waiting for you in the staging area.”

As Krel turned to lead them, she saw that the
tips of his ears were pointed, and she suspected he was a fairy of
some kind. Inside the gate was a line of stands selling NWFA
merchandise. They moved to the right, and Krel pressed a badge
against a security panel next to a steel door, and a lock clicked.
He held open the door, and then led them down a long hallway.

“Alpha Black will give you a tour of the
staging area, and then you’ll join him in the owner’s suite for the
fights. Have you ever been to anything like this before?”

“No,” she said. “I hadn’t heard of this sort
of thing.”

“We’re unique. Our fights are sanctioned by
the governing council of shifters, and there are strict rules. No
one can be forced to fight, and the fights are not to the
death.”

She was glad about that. She didn’t want to
watch someone die.

Two guards stood in front of a set of steel
doors. As they approached, the guards opened the doors, and they
followed Krel through. A man wearing an impeccably tailored suit
strode forward.

“Aubrey Night, it’s a pleasure,” he said,
bowing over her hand and kissing the top. “I’m Jonathon Black.”

“Thank you for the invitation. These are my
guards and friends, Gabe and Lance.”

“From the local pack,” Jonathon said.
“Welcome to the NWFA. We have openings if either of you are
interested in fighting.”

“We’ll stick to our jobs tonight, thanks,”
Gabe said dryly.

“There are other VIPs waiting. We’re going to
tour the staging area first. The fighters wait for their matches in
their groups.” He offered her his elbow, and she took it. “You look
lovely, by the way.”

“Thank you,” she said.

They passed through an archway and into a
sprawling area where small groups of males appeared to be waiting
for their fights. The males wore linen shorts and nothing else. A
group of well-dressed men and women were waiting nearby, and they
stopped long enough for Jonathon to introduce Aubrey to them.

“We’ve made many improvements to the arena
since we came here, to make it more hospitable for our fighters.
Training facilities are underground and open twenty-four hours a
day. This is our inaugural night. Beginning next weekend, our
fighters will be battling on Fridays and Saturdays. We’ll stay here
for a few months and then move on to another location.”

Gabe walked next to Aubrey with Lance close
behind. The other VIPs chatted about the fighters. Aubrey wasn’t
sure if it was really all on the up-and-up, but the fighters seemed
to be content, and no one was chained or caged up.

“Be honest,” Jonathon said, “you thought they
would be in cages.”

She smiled at him. “It’s hard to imagine
someone wanting to do this.”

“It’s no different than what the human MMA
fighters do. Weres aren’t allowed in human fighting leagues, so we
make our own.”

“I’m not judging. People should do what makes
them happy.”

“Or
who
makes them happy,” Gabe said
under his breath.

Aubrey blushed and elbowed him, and he
laughed, tucking her hand over his biceps.

“There aren’t a lot of women here,” Aubrey
said, trying to change the subject.

“Some females will fight, but those fights
aren’t as popular as the males.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe humans
don’t like seeing women fight.”

“Supes do?”

“Under the right circumstances,
definitely.”

A furious roar split the air, and her heart
stopped for a brief moment. She felt something click inside her,
and she couldn’t explain it, but she had to see who had roared.

She scanned the room and found one of the
small groups struggling to hold back a male, but before she could
move to see who roared, Jonathon and her guards hustled her from
the arena. They flew up a flight of stairs and into the owner’s
box, where cushy blue seats sat in rows and overlooked the dirt
floor of the arena.

“Who was that?” Aubrey asked, pressing her
hand to her chest. Her heart was pounding, and she had a strong
urge to go back down the stairs.

Jonathon opened his mouth, but the door to
the suite opened and a beautiful blonde in a sparkly blue gown
stood in the doorway.

“What are you doing here, Lia?”

“I came for her,” she said, pointing at
Aubrey.

“Me?”

Nodding, Lia walked gracefully into the
suite. She took both of Aubrey’s hands and squeezed lightly. “My
name is Lia, and that roar you heard downstairs belongs to my
brother, Alaric. He’s a saber shifter.”

Gabe and Lance made surprised noises but said
nothing. Aubrey glanced at them and then at Lia. “I’m Aubrey Night.
Did you say
saber
as in saber-tooth tiger?”

“Yep. Alaric, my brothers, and I are the last
saber tigers in existence.”

Aubrey looked down at their hands. She could
feel a connection to this woman, and even though she didn’t
understand it, she knew that the roar belonged to a man she needed
to be with and that Lia could take Aubrey to him.

“Is Alaric all right? He roared.”

Gabe snorted. “He’s the happiest mother
fucker on the planet right now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You and that saber are truemates. No more
playing on the full moon with the pack for you.”

Lia growled angrily and jerked Aubrey behind
her back. Aubrey stumbled and the heel on her favorite pair of
heels broke. “Keep your paws off my sister,” Lia said, her voice
low and threatening.

“They’re my guards,” Aubrey pointed out. “And
no one is putting anything on me right now until I figure
everything out. Except maybe some new shoes.” She slipped off her
heels. “Did you say
sister
?”

Jonathon cleared his throat. “I need to do my
welcome speech and settle the humans. Aubrey, do you want me to
send Lia out of here? If you’re uncomfortable, I’ll remove
her.”

Lia snarled and claws sprouted from her
fingertips. “You can try.”

Aubrey put her hand on Lia’s shoulder. “It’s
okay, Jonathon. I don’t want anyone to get in trouble. I’m fine.
I’m just a little confused.”

“Lia will tell you what you need to know,” he
said. Smoothing his hands down the front of his jacket, he glanced
at Gabe and Lance and then strode from the room.

Lia relaxed only fractionally. “You two need
to back off,” she said. “You’re too close to my sister.”