Alpha Champion (Wolf Fighters Book 1) (7 page)

Lucas rushed forward to stop it, but before he could, the kiss was over and Bruce was pulling away to walk past him, brushing him with his shoulder harshly.

Lily hadn’t resisted at all. Hadn’t asked him for help, hadn’t acknowledged him at all.

As a result, he felt totally broken.

Bruce turned around with one last wave. “See you in the ring tomorrow, mongrel,” he said with a laugh, walking off.

“Lucas,” Lily said, looking drained. “I’m sorry…”

“How could you?” he said. “While you were out here with him, I was freeing your sister. I thought we were going away together… I thought…”

“I have his pack’s promise. I…”

“His promise? You have his promise? You want him? You could have told me that
before
I made a fool of myself.”

She looked shaken but like she was trying to compose a response. Part of him had hoped there was something more to it, but it was clear now that he’d been mistaken. “No, Lucas, wait, please,” she said.

“I can’t. Not right now,” he said. “Give me space.”

“You don’t understand,” she said, coming toward him.

He whirled on her. “You’re right, because once again, you’ve left me in the dark. And once again, it’s hurt me.”

Then he turned and walked away. If he stayed any longer, he’d say something he’d regret. He had a fight to focus on, and he couldn’t let this throw him. He was sure that had been Bruce’s aim all along.

It just hurt that Lily had gone along with it.

L
ily ran after Lucas
. Now that Bruce was gone, there was nothing keeping her from doing so. They were safe. She could tell him it was all for them. Surely she could make him believe her…

But his strides were so long, and he disappeared into the night just as a large shadow stepped into her path. She gasped and looked up.

“Father?”

“Lily, what are you doing out here?” His voice was commanding. “I heard shouting.”

“I was just getting some fresh air before going back inside.” She hoped Lucas had gone into the ball or hadn’t made it back to his car yet and there was still time to catch him.

“Well, come back inside and hopefully you can make it up to the guests. I didn’t raise you to be this rude.”

“I’ll be there in a minute… I just need to adjust my dress.” She knew she wouldn’t shake him for long until after the party. She just needed to run back and make sure her cousins got a message to Lucas.

“Fine, I expect you soon,” he said, walking away toward the large house that had always been her prison.

She ran back to the garden and whispered Tom’s name. She heard a faint rustle and knew he could hear her.

“I need you to get a message to Lucas. I can’t go to him now. Tell him I’ll be in my room at midnight, and I’ll explain everything. I know this all looks bad, but there’s an explanation. I promise. I’ll give it to all of you, but there’s no time now.”

Silence was her answer, but she knew they wouldn’t let her down.

She ran back toward the party, holding her skirt in her hand. Bruce’s bitter taste was in her mouth, and she longed to kiss Lucas, to purge it away and know things weren’t ruined between them.

Just a few more hours and she could make things right. She knew it was wrong to kiss another, but it had meant the difference between a life together or a life apart, so she’d been willing to do it.

She’d make it up to him when this was all over, when they were far from here and safe.

As she ran up the steps to the house, she tried not to stress out. She went into the party and saw her dad looking up when she came in, acknowledging her presence.

Bruce was standing across the room, a smirk on his self-satisfied face, but she ignored him.

She played nice for the rest of the party, constantly checking the clock to make sure it would end on time. If she didn’t make it to Lucas when she said she would, she knew he’d think the worst. She didn’t blame him for it. He’d been meant to. That had been Bruce’s plan all along, but she and Lucas would beat him.

Her sister was safe. Her heart had swelled within her when she’d heard it, though he’d been so angry when he told her. It had been the hardest thing in the world to kiss another man and watch the broken expression on his face, but the only harder thing would have been letting him go when she knew this was all she had to do to hold on to him.

When the party was finally finished and the last of the guests were filing out, she looked around to make sure her dad wasn’t in sight and then crept out through a side exit that led to a stairway that would take her up to her room.

It was a quarter to twelve. Would Lucas already be there, waiting?

But as she started up the stairs, she saw a dark shadow fall over the middle landing and looked up to see her father, looking ominous as he loosened his tie and walked forward.

“I’m afraid after a certain incident happened earlier this evening, I don’t think I can allow you to return to your room.”

She gulped and froze in place. What did he know?

“You see, someone has successfully invaded our home and absconded with your sister. And I thought, who would want to do this? Who would know how? And then it occurred to me, dear daughter, that perhaps the person who would most want her out of the way is you.”

She took a step back, trying not to lose her balance on the stairs. She’d gotten so caught up in her romance with Lucas that she’d forgotten just how evil her father could be.

“So then I looked a little closer into one of the competitors that’s been bothering me. Asher Vale. You see, I remember the last name, because he shares a name with a half alpha mongrel that caused us a lot of trouble. When I found out they were brothers… well, the rest wasn’t hard to surmise. But they’ll stick up for each other and it’ll be nearly impossible to prove until it’s too late.

“Fortunately, a little help from Bruce was enough to mess him up, and we’ll see how long he’s willing to keep your sister now that he knows you’ve betrayed him. But you see, I can’t let you go back to your room because I’ve no doubt you plan to meet him, and that would ruin everything.”

“You can’t do this. You can’t run my life anymore. You already ruined it once, but Laurel’s gone. She’s safe, and you can’t use her against me.”

He grabbed her cruelly by the arm and yanked her forward. She winced. This man had never behaved like a dad, not once. “You’ll do as I say. I made you. I own you.”

She tried to jerk away, but he yanked her back down the stairs and toward an empty room to the side that no one would think twice about.

He yanked open the door and threw her inside, slamming the door behind her. She slammed her fists against it as she heard a key turn in the lock.

“Someone will come for you in the morning. You’ll need to get your rest so you don’t disappoint Bruce when he wins you as a prize. And he will win you, Lily. And in the end, I think you’ll be glad I had your best interests at heart, even if you weren’t smart enough to see it.”

She slammed her fist into the wood again, wishing she could break it. There was no window in the room, no way out. She’d have to spend the entire night wondering how Lucas would take this. Would he think the worst of her? Would he be able to fight tomorrow? Watching your mate with another was a devastating thing for a shifter, but she’d thought she’d have time to explain before his match.

“Good night, Lily,” her father called out. “See you in the morning.”

T
he arena was filled today
, and Lily pondered how it was so many shifters could fill one location like this. They must have come from pretty far and wide to attend, since humans clearly wouldn’t have been invited. In fact, they were barred from entering, since a human wouldn’t know what to make of things if they saw an alpha use their power in the ring.

It wasn’t every day an event like this was held, though, so Lily imagined news of it had spread pretty fast, and shifters were known for liking violence. It was in their blood.

Lily was alone today. Her father hadn’t brought Tim and Tom in, since presumably he knew they were helping her and Lucas.

It had all been for nothing. Bruce had promised not to tell something that her father already knew. But her father had ruined things between her and Lucas more effectively than Bruce ever could have alone.

She stewed silently as she felt her father’s watchful presence behind her. He’d been sticking to her since the servants got her ready and brought her up.

“Don’t get any ideas,” he said. “You try and communicate with him, I tell everyone just who he is.”

She bristled. She no longer cared who knew, as long as Lucas knew he was the only one for her. She just had to find her opening and run to him. She believed him when he said he could do anything if she believed in him. She just had to let him know she did.

She waited eagerly to see Lucas. To reassure herself he was fine and hopefully try to make eye contact that would reassure him she was here for him.

When the match was announced to roaring applause, she saw him make his way down to the ring in the center. But he didn’t look like he had any of the confidence of the other day. His head was hung, his long hair obscuring his face as he jogged down to the ring, ignoring the screaming fans on either side of him.

Her heart fell. He looked utterly destroyed. She prayed he wouldn’t let it affect him in the match, but that looked unlikely based on the way he paced impatiently in the ring and wouldn’t make contact with either the ref who was giving instructions or Bruce, who seemed hell bent on taunting him.

Bruce was wearing baby-blue shorts that matched his eyes and looking as smug as Lucas looked defeated.

Lily groaned. Lucas had told her before that confidence was vital to a fight, and he looked like he had none. She needed to get to him soon. She looked behind her at her dad, but he was flanked by two huge goons.

No, she’d have to wait for the right moment. And just hope Lucas could hold on ‘til then.

The bell dinged and the fight began.

Lucas was thankfully more careful out of the gate, watching his opponent closely as Bruce jabbed and swiped at him. Lucas countered with some conservative kicks but was careful to keep his distance. As long as he kept himself safe, Lily would be happy.

The first thirty seconds or so passed like this, neither man making much leeway, testing the strengths and weaknesses of the other as they sparred. Lily wished very badly she could see into Lucas’s thoughts right now. Was he okay? Was he angry? Had he given up on them already? He was here, but he could simply be here for revenge on Bruce for what he’d seen the other night.

He hadn’t looked up at her once.

The atmosphere in the arena was tense too as everyone watched the top two competitors circle. There were mild cheers whenever a light kick or a punch landed, but the crowd was mostly silent. Waiting.

Then, in an instant, Lucas exploded forward, throwing everything he had. Quick kicks followed by elbow strikes and punches. But instead of panicking, Bruce was collected. He dodged and blocked each attack flawlessly. Almost too flawlessly. Usually, with the speed and skill Lucas was displaying, something would have connected. But nothing did. It was like Lucas was trying to hit the air even though his technique was perfect.

Lucas dodged back, creating space between them again, huffing after the exertion and keeping light on his toes. Bruce looked slowly up at the VIP box, stared directly at Lily, and gave her a thumbs-up.

Lucas raised his haggard eyes to hers for a split second, and she tried to send him a quick, encouraging smile, even from this distance. But he merely flinched as if struck and then turned away, back to the fight.

Was he truly done with her?

L
ucas gritted
his teeth as he looked away from Lily. She’d smiled, but was it for him, or for Bruce? After last night he wasn’t sure.

The human in him had tried to wait for an explanation, tried to calm the wolf raging inside him at the supposed betrayal of their mate. But she’d never come.

Anger and confusion burned inside him, twisting him into a knot that seemed to grow bigger every moment he was in the ring with this bastard and couldn’t take him down.

“Finally giving up?” Bruce asked, folding his arms and circling Lucas. “Probably a good idea. You’ll never beat me anyway. Even if you weren’t acting like a kicked dog.”

Lucas clenched his teeth. He didn’t want to give Bruce the satisfaction of knowing he’d messed him up as much as he had. All he had was Lily. All he wanted was Lily, and if Bruce meant to take what was his, then he intended to take Bruce’s head off.

But he was more than a little frustrated that his combos had missed completely. He knew his technique was perfect. How had his opponent been able to predict every move like that? Lucas knew for sure this guy didn’t have more MMA experience than he did. His stance was slightly sloppy, his strikes initially had been more imprecise, and everything about him bespoke privilege and status, not backbreaking work or honed skill.

Lucas guessed even the upper classes were desperate for alpha female matches at this point, for someone like Bruce to be here competing in this stupid event.

But somehow, despite his relative lack of physical fitness, Bruce had won every match so far with a knockout, usually within the first minute or two of the fight starting.

Bruce was one of the few unknown competitors on the list that Matt had given him, so Lucas had no idea what he was dealing with. He just knew he hated him. And he would take him down for touching his mate.

Lucas growled and went into a defensive stance, waiting for Bruce to make the next move.

A
t first
, they just circled each other, Bruce just moving lazily, as if he had all day. Then he suddenly lunged at Lucas with a sloppy front kick. Lucas dodged easily to the side but was surprised to find that Bruce had anticipated his movement and caught him with an elbow strike that just grazed his cheek. Bruce took advantage of the opening to throw more punches, and Lucas put his hands up to deflect the blows.

There was nothing supernatural about Bruce’s strength or his speed. Nothing superb about his form or his abilities thus far.

Or at least Lucas thought so until Bruce swept his knee, catching it squarely and throwing his balance off. While Lucas had been defending against Bruce’s punches, his fists had blocked his view so he hadn’t seen Bruce’s attack coming.

Lucas recovered and threw a hook at Bruce, who dodged back flawlessly. Once again, it was like trying to punch air, and Lucas growled in frustration as he dodged back to assess the damage to his knee.

It hurt, but he could fight through it. He’d have to. But somehow his body didn’t feel as immune to pain as it had when he’d thought Lily was beside him.

“You feelin’ it?” Bruce asked, walking lazily toward him with a grin. His voice grated intensely. All he could remember was them in the garden and Bruce’s taunting voice as he leaned forward to kiss Lily. And she’d let him.

And she’d never come to explain. Because there was nothing to explain. Maybe he should just let Bruce win. Maybe she’d be happier that way. She’d probably felt guilty for letting him down and had said she’d come talk with him but had chickened out, not wanting to see his face when she broke his heart.

Dark thoughts flooded through him, making his wolf at odds with his human, and he tried to fight them off so he could think well enough to fight. But not knowing if his mate wanted him to win tore him up inside.

“I said, are you feelin’ it?” Bruce repeated, coming closer.

“Nope, not a thing,” Lucas lied, not willing to give his opponent any kind of recognition.

“Ha-ha, you will be pretty soon,” Bruce said with a cocky smile. “Everyone was talking about how talented you were, how strong you were. Do you know how fucking annoying that was? But I’m here to prove that no matter what you stupid upstarts think, you can’t do anything against a real alpha with a real alpha power. And we’re just getting started.”

“Unless your alpha power is shit-talking, I suggest you hurry it up,” Lucas spat back at him. Then he went on the offensive again, throwing everything he had into it in an attempt to get past Bruce’s perfect defense. If he could just land one punch, he knew he could take the other alpha down and physically wipe that smirk off his face.

But once again, it was impossible, a waste of Lucas’s energy, as Bruce just dodged each attack as if he’d fought Lucas millions of times and knew his every move perfectly.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Bruce jeered. “You might as well just give up now, since we both know you can’t win this.”

Lucas gritted his teeth. He might not have the same reasons for winning as before, but he still wanted to knock Bruce’s teeth in.

“Only I’m not going to stop at knocking you out. No. You’ve been with Lily, and for that, I’m going to end you. It’s going to be fun,” he said. “Something to celebrate with my future mate.”

Something in Lucas cracked at Bruce referring to Lily as his mate. Lucas cringed at the insinuation that he was in any way worthy of Lily. He charged at Bruce, but Bruce met him halfway, and the two grappled while standing, trying to throw the other off balance. Bruce was surprisingly strong, but that wasn’t it.

They were clinched, neither making headway, and the crowd was getting more boisterous with the lull in the fighting. Their noise filled Lucas’s ears, so he tuned it out.

All he could hear was Bruce’s breathing. All he could see was Bruce kissing Lily. Bruce walking up to the VIP room when it was over, picking her up, taking her to the bedroom.

A second later, Bruce took advantage of his momentary zone out to take him to the ground, pinning him fiercely. The next second, he crashed down on Lucas’s sternum with his elbow, digging it in painfully.

Lucas tried to strike Bruce off of him, hoping for an opportunity to flip them over and get the upper hand. But Bruce answered his attempts with a fist to the face that left Lucas dazed.

Focus
, he told himself.
Stop thinking about Lily. We can’t do anything about that right now.
But it was easier said than done. The image of her kissing Bruce was burned into his brain, as was probably Bruce’s intention.

He pushed at Bruce’s side, hoping to angle him off.

“Keep struggling, lover boy. It’ll just make it that much easier to crush you in a second,” Bruce taunted.

Lucas bucked with his hips and followed with a hook to Bruce’s face, just to see if it could rattle him, make him go on the defensive. Instead of connecting with his face, though, Bruce caught Lucas’s fist with his open palm without looking. From a spectator’s view, it could have appeared that Bruce just put his hand in the right place at the right time and happened to catch Lucas’s fist. But Lucas knew better. That sort of shit didn’t just happen.

Bruce grinned, squeezing Lucas’s hand. “Sorry, I know how this part goes. You’ll try to throw me off. I’ll push you back down. You’ll try to hit me. That will leave your arm open for me to grab and then…” He made a snap sound with his fingers. “It just goes downhill from there.”

Lucas grimaced. It was as he suspected. It wasn’t that Bruce was stronger, faster, or more experienced.

He knew exactly what was going to happen before it happened. He could predict each and every one of Lucas’s moves with perfect precision.

Bruce looked down and smiled at Lucas as he made the realization. “Go ahead and do what you’re going to do already. I haven’t got all day,” Bruce said with a smirk.

Oh fuck, this was bad.

L
ily’s
whole body strained with tension as she watched Lucas on the ground, being pounded by Bruce. This was her fault. Somehow, she should have been stronger. Somehow, she should have fought her dad, found a way around Bruce.

Lucas had been fighting for her for so long, and what had she done? He had even saved her sister. She looked behind her, glad her father’s thugs were gone. Not that it mattered. She was remembering the girl she’d been with Lucas. The one that had learned to fight, the one that had hope. The one that didn’t let everyone else run the show for her, at least when she was with him.

He needed her now.

She stood to face her father.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked. “You can’t interfere now. The match is almost ov—”

He was interrupted when she put a hand on his shoulder and brought her knee up into his stomach as hard as she could. He toppled forward with a thud. She heard him curse in agony, but she’d already hopped over him and run for the door before anyone in the VIP room could really make out what was happening.

It was sweet justice that it was the self-defense Lucas had taught her that had finally felled her dad.

It didn’t just feel good; it felt awesome. For once, she wasn’t held back by fear, because her only fear was not getting to Lucas fast enough. If she didn’t get to him in time, if she didn’t wipe that look of despair off of his face and set him straight, nothing else would matter.

She didn’t even blame him for being this beaten down. She was his mate. A shifter lost all purpose when he thought he’d lost his mate. But she needed to make him see he hadn’t lost her.

Not at all.

She ran down toward the arena, pushing through the crowd and ignoring the mutters and curses from those she shoved out of her way. She saw her father’s guards making their way toward her, and she ran across a row of people, begging their pardon as she stepped over their legs.

On the ground, Lucas was struggling. He didn’t look like he had much longer. A guard was waiting for her on the other side of the row, but he wasn’t one of the bigger ones, so she decided to try one of the self-defense moves Lucas had taught her before. She slammed her palm upward into his nose, and it made a satisfying cracking noise as he stepped back with a shriek. She shoved past him and ran down the stairs toward Lucas. There was almost no one in her way anymore.

Just hang on, Lucas, just a little longer…

L
ucas felt
despair sinking through him as Bruce continued to strike his face. Hit after hit left him dazed and bloody as he tried to consider a way out of this position. He knew what Bruce was now, but it changed little. He continued to try to strike Bruce to get him off, but Bruce anticipated one of his hits and was able to trap Lucas’s arm in a vise. He started cranking it back at the elbow, causing severe pain that nearly made him black out.

Using all of his energy, Lucas moved to break free from Bruce’s grip. For a moment, Lucas felt Bruce’s weight shift too far to one side, and Lucas pushed off, coming out from under him and coming back to a standing position.

It had been close. His arm, face, and chest ached. Bruce didn’t have alpha strength, but he’d had the better position on the ground for far too long, and he was still a shifter.

“Not bad. Not that it matters,” Bruce said, coming forward menacingly. He swiped hard with his right leg at Lucas’s head. Lucas tried to raise his arm to block, but the force still threw him to the ground. He was still dazed from the pain of nearly having his arm broken.

Lucas tried to roll back onto his feet, but his movements were too sluggish, and Bruce threw a kick into his side that hurt like hell. Lucas tried to push himself off the ground, but instead, he coughed and saw blood on the ground.
Never a good sign.

“Hey, now you’re making it too easy,” Bruce said, kicking Lucas onto his back and sitting on top of him. Rage ran through Lucas at Bruce’s words, but it was like they were coming at him through a tunnel, echoing and distant. He needed to get up, needed to beat Bruce’s face in, needed to make sure he never got another chance to touch Lily.

But Bruce had a power he could never match, an alpha power to surpass all others. And Lucas had no alpha power. His only power had been knowing for sure that he was Lily’s alpha, and that had been taken from him.

He couldn’t win.

Bruce slammed his fist down into Lucas’s face, again and again, and Lucas tried to cover his face as he became more and more dazed.

“Get up!” a hoarse female voice yelled at him. “Get up now, Lucas, or I’ll never forgive you!”

Was it Lily? He tried to turn to see her, but couldn’t.

“I still love you, Lucas,” she shouted. “I’ve always loved you. If you die, I die, so get up, you stupid wolf! You know I would never betray you! Get up and beat his ass like I know you can!”

Lily’s words seemed to penetrate his very bones. It was the voice of his mate saying she was his, saying she believed in him, and he felt his body flooding with strength he hadn’t known he possessed.

It made no sense, but as her voice became clearer, he found himself able to deflect Bruce’s punches.

He pulled his fist back and slammed it through Bruce’s face. For some reason, Bruce didn’t see it coming, and he flew back off of Lucas with a grunt and an arc of spittle and blood.

Gathering all his strength, Lucas stood, ignoring the screams from his spent muscles, his aching head. His eyes found Lily standing beside the ring, waiting for him to win.

It was the most welcome sight in the world. He wanted to go to her but Bruce was already pulling himself to his feet.

“I should have seen that. It shouldn’t have happened.”

“Looks like you’re the one running out of steam now. One thing I heard about alpha powers, the stronger they are, the more they wear you down. Maybe you shouldn’t have spent all that energy punching me when I was on the ground. Now I doubt you’ll be able to finish me.”

The tightness of Bruce’s jaw indicated Lucas was right. It would finally be a fair fight. Except it wouldn’t be fair at all because Lucas had Lily on his side, and with her, he couldn’t lose.