Boarlander Silverback (Boarlander Bears Book 3) (15 page)

“Kirk, be easy on him!” Layla pleaded. “I… Kirk, I’m pregnant.”

“What?” Kirk asked, releasing Kong instantly.

“I’m pregnant.” Layla’s face crumpled, and her eyes filled with tears. “You were supposed to be in our group, helping us raise our child, but you want to leave. Can’t you see? His animal can’t just let you go.”

“Tell me why,” Kong rasped out.

Kirk ran his hand over his beanie, pulled it off, and chucked it at the wall. “Because, Kong! You and Layla will have a baby. Lots of babies if you’re lucky, but I have no shot at a family if I stay under you. I’m not just some blackback in need of your protection. I’m a fucking silverback under a more dominant silverback. You stifle my instincts!” Kirk looked sick. “You always have.”

A wiry man with dark, greasy hair popped his head into the stall. “You two are up next. Five minutes.”

“Thanks, Judge.” Harrison growled to Kirk, “I need to wrap your hands.”

Alison didn’t know what to do, but the air was so thick it felt like mud in her lungs, and she was going to suffocate soon. “I love him.”

Kong and Kirk both jerked their gazes to her.

“What did you say?” Kong asked low.

Alison looked from him to Layla to Harrison to Kirk. Softly, she murmured, “I love you. And I think,” she said, attention back on Kong, “he won’t be able to love me back if you stifle his instincts again.” Her voice dipped to a broken whisper. “And I really want him to love me back.”

Kong stared at her for a loaded few moments, then sighed out the word, “Fuck.” He kissed Layla’s forehead, his hand resting gently on the slight swell of her stomach, and then he pulled his shirt over his head. To Kirk, he said, “I didn’t know it was like that.” He slid a reluctant glance to Harrison and nodded once. “Fight granted.”

Shoulders shaking, Layla hugged Kirk’s shoulders, and then followed Kong out of the stall.

Harrison’s sigh tapered into a growl as he pulled Kirk’s hand away from his side and began to wrap his knuckles with white tape. “Keep him still, will you?”

Alison looked behind her, but it was just her in here with them now, so she approached Kirk slow.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, his eyes on the work Harrison was doing on his hand.

“This is a big deal, Kirk. I should’ve heard about it from you.”

“I have my reasons for not telling you.”

“Because you are worried about me?”

“Yeah, Ally! Yeah. Ignoring that this place isn’t all legal eagle and it could affect your
job
, you’ve gone through trauma, seen bloodshed. You told me yourself you were diagnosed with PTSD, and I don’t want to make it worse on you. I want to protect you from this.”

“Protect me from part of you? Because that’s what this is, Kirk! It’s a part of you that I wasn’t invited to see. You have to fight. I get it.”

“You don’t.”

“I do! You have a dominant animal side, and deep instincts I can’t even fathom. I’ve already told you, I’m in this.” She rested her forehead on his arm and murmured, “Hiding won’t protect me, mate. It’ll hurt me. You’re choosing the Boarlanders, and we’re in this together.” She lifted her eyes to his. God, she hoped she had the words to make him understand. “You choosing a crew doesn’t just affect you. You’re choosing a crew for me, too.”

Kirk clenched his jaw, and a muscle twitched there, but his voice lost the feral edge. “I didn’t think about it like that.”

“Other hand,” Harrison demanded over the ripping sound of the tape.

“Yeah,” she said, nodding. “Now go out there, win this fight, and make us Boarlanders.”

He searched her eyes, his long, damp hair hanging in front of his face, his expression fierce, and his features sharp as glass. Kirk leaned down and kissed her hard. He nipped her bottom lip and released her, then rested his forehead on hers and murmured, “I will.”

“All right, I’ve got to get his head on straight,” Harrison said. “Bash is out by the rail. He’ll make room for you.”

She could feel Kirk’s eyes on her as she walked out of the stall, and as she rounded the corner, she paused, took a steadying breath, chugged the beer in her cup, and made her way toward the ring. Did she want to see Kirk fight another dominant silverback? Hell no. But shifters lived by different rules, and she either had to accept all of him, or she had no business reaping the benefits of these friendships. She had to be strong enough to support him no matter the outcome of tonight.

Layla came out of a stall a couple down, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands, and that small gesture ripped Alison up on the inside. Maybe Layla wouldn’t want comfort from the woman who was taking one of her family group, but she couldn’t just stand here watching her sniffle and look heartbroken.

“Layla?” she asked.

Layla smiled slightly and shocked Alison to her core when she pulled her into a tight embrace. “It’s okay. This is a good thing. Good for Kirk. He deserves happiness after everything he’s gone through. Come on. We’ll watch together, and afterward, everything will work out.”

“Will it?” Right now, she felt like nothing was okay.

Layla gripped her shoulders and gave her an emotional smile. “It will. Kong and Kirk have work to do tonight, but they’re the best men I’ve ever met. They’ll be okay.”

Layla took her hand and led her toward Bash, who, for the first time since she’d met him, wasn’t smiling.

“What’s wrong?” she asked him as they finally made it to the front.

“Clinton and Mason hurt each other.” His soft green eyes flicked to the corner where, sure enough, Mason and Clinton were both doubled over against the wall, surrounded by people preforming first aid.

“Do you want to go to them?”

“Can’t. My bear won’t let me leave you and Layla now, and besides, Harrison said wait here.” His dark eyebrows arched high, and worry pooled in his eyes. “Ally, Kirk will get hurt tonight. He’s my second best friend.”

“He’ll be okay, Bash Bear.” Alison wished with all she had she felt as confident as she sounded.

The crowd was banging against the ring boards and stomping against the platforms in a steady rhythm that was gaining volume. The pace got faster as Judge stepped into the center of the ring. He held up his hands and spun in a slow circle, expertly quieting the onlookers. “Tonight, my friends, you’re about to witness history. For the first time ever, two mature silverback shifters will go head-to-head in the ring.” Judge gestured grandly to the opening at the corner of the ring. “You’ve seen him fight before. You know his brute strength, his deadly accuracy, his monster reach, and he’s here tonight to defend his crew. The Kooooooooong!”

The crowd erupted as the dark-headed silverback strode into the ring, hitting the air, warming up his muscles. He clapped Judge on the back and lifted his hands into the air as he reached the center. He was a wall of solid muscle, and a smile twisted his lips but didn’t reach his glowing green eyes.

“It’s okay,” Alison muttered to herself to settle her nerves. She gripped the wooden rails and blew out a sharp breath. All around them, bystanders were screaming at the top of their lungs, phones lifted, videotaping. Kong was a natural showman, revving up the crowd as he stood on the bottom slat of the wooden ring and cupping his hand behind his ear.

Layla looked sick beside her, and she knew the feeling. Alison shouldn’t have chugged that beer.

“And the challenger tonight,” Judge yelled over the noise. “One crew, two silverbacks, and this titan wants out. And there will be blood! Kirk Slater!”

The crowd went mad, shaking the wooden rails, stomping on the ground, screaming at the top of their lungs as Kirk sauntered into the ring, twitching his shoulders side-to-side with mellow air punches as he glared at Kong with pinpoint focus. He’d removed his shirt, and his body looked like a weapon. Massive shoulders that tapered to a V-shaped waist, abs tensed, the creases between each set of muscles deep. He flicked his damp hair to the side so the crowd could see his yellow-gold eyes. As he bounced from side to side, his muscle mass moved with the movement. His holey jeans sat low on his waist, and his arms were huge. Oh, she’d seen him without clothes, but he’d never had a reason to be tensed up and puffed out around her before. Here, in the blood-stained ring, slowly circling Kong, her mate looked like a terror-inducing, rip-roaring, badass beast.

Kirk slid his blazing gaze to her, then pointed to Bash. “You keep them out of the way.”

Bash nodded jerkily and crowded Alison, and she had no doubt Bash could get her and Layla out of the way in a blur if he needed to.

“You know the rules, boys,” Judge said, backing slowly out of the ring with an excited, gap-toothed grin. “There are no rules.”

Kong and Kirk circled each other, tensed like cobras about to strike.

“Fight!” Judge yelled.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

Kong and Kirk charged each other immediately, each with their dominant arm reared back. When they connected with each other’s jaws, a sickening thud rattled the air. There was a blur of hits too fast for her human eyes to comprehend, and she clutched Layla’s hand when the woman beside her gasped.

Kirk was lethal, keeping up the pressure. Hit, hit, ribs, ribs, jaw. Kong was blocking, ducking, looked surprised by the pace Kirk was setting, but he adjusted, dodging a big hit and putting a shoulder in Kirk’s middle, tackling him to the ground. They slid across the ring, and Kong reared back, one hand around Kirk’s throat as he pulled the other fist back to blast it into Kirk’s face. As he dropped the hammer, Kirk shoved Kong’s wrist and jerked his face out of the way just in time, and Kong’s fist splintered the wood right next to Kirk’s cheek. He bucked and swung his way out from under the Lowlander, but they were fighting too close now, and Bash yelled at the crowd behind them to, “Back up!”

Kirk’s gold eyes flashed as he was thrown toward the railing in front of Alison, and at the last second, he fell to his hands and feet, skidding to try and avoid them. Bash hugged her and Layla up tight and grunted as something solid hit him in the back.

A series of pops sounded, and Alison’s blood curdled as she heard a room-shaking roar. “Aw, fuck,” Harrison said beside them. “Kirk!”

Alison stared in horror as she caught a glimpse of Kirk’s gorilla, battle ready, canines exposed as he paced the ring right in front of them. She knew what he was doing. Kong had lost his head, lost his bearings, but Kirk had done what he could to stop the fight from hurting her.

All around her, the crowd was screaming a deafening sound. Countless phones were pointed at where her mate was pulling himself along on powerful arms and legs. He was pitch black, his blazing golden eyes glued to Kong.

Kong had crashed against the ring on the other side, snapping several boards in half. He stood to his full, imposing height slowly. There was a gash under his eye, and red was streaming down his cheek, but he didn’t favor it as the feral smile transformed his face to something terrifying. He inhaled deeply and yelled, the veins in his neck bulging as his teeth elongated. The sound of his voice turned to a roar as his gorilla exploded from him.

“Oh, my God,” Layla said in a horrified whisper. “Harrison, do something!”

The Boarlander alpha shook his head, his eyes horrified. “You and I both know there’s nothing I can do to stop this now.”

“Shit. Get back!” Alison screamed, waving her arms to the crowd.

There wasn’t time. Both silverbacks stood on their hind legs, beat their chests with a drumming sound that echoed pure power through the barn, and then they charged. The clash of their massive bodies sent a wave of energy through the air that knocked Alison backward. She staggered on her feet as Bash held her and Layla in place. The
thud, thud
of the fighting gorillas pounding their fists against each other’s skin sounded time and time again, and now there was blood. A flash of teeth told her why, and when the fight tumbled toward them again, Kirk bailed, launching himself onto a steel post behind her and Layla.

“This is insane!” the guy next to Layla yelled through an excited grin. He arced his cell phone with Kong’s movement as the silverback launched out of the ring and after Kirk. They climbed up to the rafters of the barn, and Kirk swung around, one arm gripping the wood above him, the other out to catch Kong’s full force as he barreled into him. With a blur of violent motion, the silverbacks plummeted to the floor and landed hard in the ring. Alison screamed and clamped her hand over her mouth as the flooring underneath her feet shook like an earthquake.

She couldn’t tell who was winning. Couldn’t tell them apart as they pummeled each other, a flash of teeth and jet-black fur. Someone was painting the ring in crimson. Who was it? Kong? Kirk?

Beside her, Layla shook her head and buried her face against Alison’s shoulder. Alison cupped Layla’s face and murmured, “It’ll be okay. They’re fine. It’ll be over soon.” Maybe she was telling the truth, she didn’t know. Right now, it felt like this was stretching on for eternity.

One of the gorillas was thrown against the floor, and with a flash of gold eyes, the dominant silverback slammed his fists on either side of the other’s face.

The gorilla’s stopped fighting, chests heaving as they glared at each other. The crowd quieted as something wordless passed between the brawling beasts.