Page 58 of Let Us Prey

“Eager to fight the snow leopard, enforcer?” Zhenga walks over to me, arching her brow as her grizzly friend Raquel follows behind as usual.

I snort. “Barely worth my time. I’ll have him tapping within a minute. You can put money with the slimy bastards on it.”

The lioness laughs throatily, nodding at the dim-witted bear. “Go do that. And make sure you put a grand on the Raj. He’s fighting Gregor and you know how much the canines and the cats hate one another.”

“The alpha will win,” Raquel says as she shakes her head. “Felix is too soft to do what it will take to beat him. Alpha Gregor is dominant in every way—just look at him.”

Her words draw a snarl out of me and Z has to push me back so I don’t go for her throat. “That mangey, flea-bitten mutt beats the females and acts like an assault should turn them on. Felix haswanted to get in the ring with him since he arrived late last year. This will be a bloodbath.”

“He fights dirty. Felix shouldn’t pull his punches,” Zhenga comments.

As if we summoned him, I grin at my twin when he rocks up with an expression of pure fury on his face. I tilt my head, curious why the sudden flip in his demeanor. He’s never Sally Sunshine, but he seems particularly enraged at the moment. I follow his gaze and find he’s not looking at his moronic opponent—no, he’s looking at my baby girl laughing with Chess and her friends like she’s a flank steak and he’s starving.

I couldn’t have planned this more perfectly myself.

The wolf is enormous and I’m not sure all of it is natural. Rumors spread like wildfire around Apex, even amongst the staff, and the word is the wolf pack expects a particular look he couldn’t achieve without chemical assistance. He must spend a small fortune on his habit because shifters process drugs differently than humans and whatever he’s doping with is not made by our kind. I eye him carefully, knowing Felix is next to me, doing the same. His size is an advantage, but given Felix’s speed when shifted, it will probably work against him.

“Dibs on this fucker next round if he survives,” I mutter, and Felix chuckles darkly. My penchant for picking the dirtiest, bloodiest fights is well known amongst the participants in this league. I feel like Felix requested a change in the card on purpose, so I’ll let it slide.

Felix listens as they announce the wolf, his expression getting darker by the second as Zhenga’s shit-stirring grizzly friend gushes over his past wins. When the muscle-bound douche finally walks into the ring, my twin stands taller, disguising his fury with a nonchalant look. The rightful Raj of Bloodstone never lets the sheep see his actual feelings. They get the disinterested mask now that he’s no longer on his bender.

Tearing his shirt off, he smirks when the crowd roars as he saunters into the ring. My brother is leaner than me, but every inch is hard muscle. The strength of our entire ambush flows in his veins and he looks at the rowdy on-lookers with a regal tilt to his chin. This ring is nothing compared to the trials arena at Bloodstone and Felix is used to looking up at an entire island worth of hungry fans.

When the noise dies down a little, the contenders take their places and I sneak a look over at my baby girl. Her mouth is hanging open, and she looks like she’s contemplating jumping into the ring to climb him like a tree. My lips curve as I consider what’s going to happen when he shifts and no longer has clothes for his human form. Felix’s dick is going to make her lose her goddamn mind and it will be on display when he knocks the snot out of this mutt.

What? My dick is no slouch, but my twin is terrifying—even I know that.

I finally drag my eyes away from her curves to note Felix and Gregor circling one another. The wolf looks smug, and I can’t fathom why. This idiot has never beaten anyone of our caliber, and I don’t know why he’s not scared. There’s a little crazy in those yellow orbs and for a moment, I wonder if he’s doing more than juicing. If so, I hope my twin sees it because it will change Gregor’s reaction times.

The alpha runs his mouth as they move—bullshit trash talk that wouldn’t distract me from finding his weaknesses and certainly won’t fool Felix. It’s dumb shit and while he’s spouting it, I notice him favoring his left arm. Something about it is off and I’m sure my twin sees it, too. That’s a perfect opening, especially if that’s an old injury.

Felix’s tiger ripples under his skin and I think he’s going to make his move when Gregor says something in a lower tone. In a blink, I feel my brother’s tiger bust loose, forcing a half-shift as the idiot in the ring points towards…

Oh, shit. Bad move, dawg.

Gregor’s lips are hitched in a slimy sneer, and his finger is pointing directly at my baby girl. The depth of fury I feel is making it hard not to react, but I know Felix has to handle this. That one gesture is a direct challenge to his authority, both at Apex and as the heir to Bloodstone. If he doesn’t meet it with severe punishment, our father will get word. The last thing we need is for him to decide our girl is another weak spot for his exiled son.

One set of enemies on campus is enough for now, thanks.

The ref hits the bell and Felix leaps through the air like he has fucking wings.

I swear to hell, I’ve never seen my twin move like this, but he’s on the dumb motherfucker so fast it barely registers. His claws are tearing into the wolf and everything from fur to skin goes flying. The scent of blood is heavy, amping up the crowd as they watch what a true king can do in battle. Gregor is definitely high because he’s scrambling for better purchase, but not tapping out. His eyes flash as he shifts to full wolf form, scampering out of Felix’s range.

The sound of a bone-rattling roar echoes off the buildings when my brother’s tiger enters the game. When he shifted, Felix is ten feet and almost eight hundred pounds of cat. He’s the biggest member of our ambush at home and I’m sure that played a part in my father’s ludicrous decree. He can take six tigers in the ring without breaking a sweat; that kind of threat had to be neutralized somehow. I watch him stalk towards Gregor, his prowl slow and intent.

Shit. Okay, I might have to tap in, or he’ll kill the flea-bitten shit.

Moving to the ref, I tap him, letting him know I want to sub in for my brother. He blasts an air horn and I almost tear into the dopey looking Komodo when it rings in my ears. The spectators boo, having sensed this fight was about to become a bloodbath. I don’t give a shit about their disappointment; I’m worried about Felix losing his coveted control publicly. He’s already so close to theedge—if he kills Gregor, no one will care, but it will make him punish himself even more.

I walk up to the hulking cat advancing on the wolf, regardless of the horn. “Felix, my Raj. I will make him suffer for insulting our name. Let me do my job, brother.”

His feline eyes dart to me and I shift quickly, revealing my white tiger form before nuzzling against him. Our cats stare at one another for a moment and I think he knows why I’m interrupting. Silence hangs in the air for another moment, then he shifts to human, looking down at me with a hidden, but grateful expression. All the people behind him see is a terse nod as he stalks out of the ring.

Now it’s my turn and I never play fair.

Huge paws slap the ground as I circle my prey, looking at it through my cat’s eyes this time. Every sense is heightened in this form and I can smell and hear things I couldn’t before. Gregor’s wolf backs away, and he ripples to a stupid looking half-shift that makes me think he’s not a full-blooded alpha. Information for later, but it highlights his weakness in other ways as well. He won’t be able to use ‘alpha push’ on me—or try to, at least.

“Awww. Did I scare your brother? He sent the psycho to play instead of fighting his own battles?”

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