My heart feels like a barbed wire has strangled it to the point of being unable to breathe. It’s the night of the fight and it feels like it will be my last night alive.
I still don’t understand who okayed this fight because it doesn’t make sense at all. I am 5'6 and weigh 145 pounds while Creed is 6’4 and 240 pounds of raw muscle. He’s a fucking heavyweight and by all counts, this fight should be illegal! I’m a pipsqueak compared to him, a featherweight for God’s sake; I am going to die at his hands!
But I couldn’t say a damn thing to my mother because I know she had something to do with this. Not only that, but she forbade me from going to the gym to fight, instead she kept me locked up in our home gym to train.
The director of the fight committee and owner of this gym is Creed’s Delta and known to be heartless when it comes to placing fights.
But that isn’t even what hurts me the most…it hurts knowing that even if I die, my family will get one million from my death. That’s the most I would be earning from a fight, even while dead, and after I learned that, I knew my parents were getting ready to let me go.
What exactly do I do in this situation? Well, for one I trained harder than I’ve ever fucking trained before because if I am going down, he’s going to know I fought hard to take him with me.
So here I am in my locker room, binding my fists with my red straps and hoping I don’t die tonight.
“Hey, sweet cherry,” comes the dry, sarcastic voice of one of the fighters tonight. He’s the same guy who I punched in the locker room not too long ago. “Getting ready to die?”
“Fuck off,” I grumble, feeling on edge because that nickname is actually the goddamn fight title my mother had me sign under. Sweet Cherry; what the actual eff, it sounds more like a stripper name than an MMA fighter. “I’m not dying tonight.”
He laughs at this and does his own straps. “That’s what they all say-”
“That’s what you will say when you’re up against Creed Volkov one day,” an unfamiliar voice with a Southern drawl comes from my right and I turn to see another female fighter standing there. She has her blonde hair braided down her sides and a mean as fuck expression on her face.
“So be careful, you hear? You never know when your name will get tossed up there, especially if it’s a street fight.” My heart has now successfully stopped beating and the guy who was just taunting me decided to disappear at that moment. Did she just say a street fight?
“What do you mean street fight?” I ask and feel myself pale. “This is just a normal MMA match, right? That’s what I was told.”
She narrows her eyes at me and takes a step towards me, that mean look is now gone and replaced with sympathy. “Sweety, no… they changed the rules about an hour ago. This is a street fight now with no time limit except either a knockout or death.”
This information forced the last remaining breath out of my lungs and I take a step back, only to find the cold locker behind me. My mother set me up…she wants me dead.
I sink to the floor with my head hanging in my hands and try to regain my breathing. This can’t be happening to me, not when I’m so close to leaving with my sisters! My eyes widen as my thoughts go to Marie and Eva…does this mean they’re going to be using them now?!
“This can’t be happening…” I trail off and shake my head. “This can’t be legal!”
The other woman joins me on the floor and pats my arm sympathetically. “I’m so sorry, sugar. I thought you were aware of the changes,” she says while rubbing my back. “Someone must really want a bloody fight tonight.”
Someone - my fucking so-called mother wants me dead. I can’t let her win, no fucking way will I let her win this time!
I take a deep breath and slowly rise to my feet. “I know who, and I am not going to give her the satisfaction of my death.”
The woman looks at me with a raised eyebrow, then she looks around the locker room before handing me something. It seems to be a spritz bottle filled with water and something that smells suspiciously like honey.
“Hold out your hands,” she says and I do what she asks, only for her to spritz the liquid onto my wrist wraps. “Since this is a street fight now, this can’t be illegal.”
“What exactly is this?” I ask, smelling the sweet scent again. “And why is it illegal in the first place?”
She grins. “It’s saffron extract and if my deductions are correct, then it should help you with your fight,” she says and takes a step back from me.
I can’t help but narrow my eyes at her. “Who are you and why would you help me?” I ask. Something about her seems familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it. I’m sure I’ve seen her around here, but I can’t remember where.
“Let’s just say I’m tired of the rigged fights around here,” she says with a grin. “I have nothing against Creed Volkov, but Sage needs to be knocked down a peg.”
With those words, she walks away from me before I can even ask her what she means by that. Who is this woman and what does she have against Sage Volkov?
Those questions are drowned out when I hear entrance music being played and I swallow my pride before walking to the caged octagon. A fucking street fight to the death; my parents will fucking pay for this, I swear.
The crowd is buzzing with anticipation, but as soon as I step into the octagon, I hear laughter and mocking. They’re expecting me to die at Creed’s hands, heck I’m expecting to die at his hands too.
But there’s one thing about this abused dog - she never knows when to give up even if she’s pinned.
The noise of the crowd immediately stills and I swallow hard when I see the dark figure of Creed approaching the octagon. Even if I wanted to escape, this is it for me now - I either win this by some miracle, or I die.
Dressed in his signature black color, he steps into the ring and the first thing I notice is he’s not even looking at me. His eyes are downcast as he stalks towards me with his fists clenched, along with the referee, and my heart leaps into my throat at the bloodlust on his scent.
Why is there bloodlust on his scent? Is he out here just to murder me? The referee explains everything but I don’t even register the so-called rules because Creed has finally looked at me.
A cold shiver shoots up my spine when I notice his eyes and I know right there that this must be what they mean by looking Death in the eye. Creed’s are split; two crimson irises are occupying each eye, but it’s like he’s not even seeing me.
The sound of the bell reverberates throughout the arena, setting off a flurry of action when the referee calls for us to bump fists. The second we do, Creed looks at me with a daring smirk, ready to make the first move. He darts towards me in a blind fury, arms outstretched ready to grapple. But since he’s so large, I was ready for him and sidestepped, then tripped him up with a swift kick.
He goes down with a huff, but then quickly jumps to his feet and terrifies the shit out of me. Okay, using his weight against him won’t work because he’s apparently lithe which makes no sense at all!
Think, Cherie!
Dashing towards him with a fierce jab, I attempted a double collar tie. But Creed, however, was ready and countered the attack with a quick uppercut right in my jaw. The jab momentarily blinds me and he doesn’t let up or allow me to get my bearings. Lunging forward and unleashing a flurry of powerful punches, that momentary daze now seems like a blink.
Because I can’t even get a punch in.
He pins me to the ground and rears back to punch me, but I roll out of the way just in time to fucking feel the punch against the floor reverberating through me. Growling when he sees me scurrying away, he lunches towards me again, but this time I’m ready.
His punches are brutal and he’s quick on his feet, but his movements are predictable.
I parried each blow, my movements swift and precise and matching his. Every kick, I countered and I retaliated with a series of kicks and jabs, forcing Creed to back away. That low growl in his chest when he bounces off the cage should send a shiver of fear through my body, but it does the opposite.
I must be losing it because I laughed in his face.
“You’re going to regret that,” he says in a low timbre and it sends a delicious shiver down my spine. What the fuck, why does his voice turn me on?
/“Use me, Cherie!”/ my wolf, Zhen, calls out to me. /“He’s using his Lycan, it’s only fair that you use me!”/
Lycan? /“Is that why his irises are split?”/ I ask while dodging a punch that scrapes my left side, sending a searing pain through my body and Zhen says yes. Fucking asshole must be taking the ‘no rules’ rule to heart.
But I won’t use Zhen, I can’t use her as a promise I made to myself. I’m the reason we’re in this mess and I will only use her healing powers, never her strength.
Breathing through the pain in my left side, I shoot forward and swing a right hook toward his head. Creed deftly tries to block it and counter with what seems like a left cross, but when my punch lands, I hear the sizzling of skin.
He cries out and ducks the other punch at his face, and I wheel round and spin her right foot into a vicious roundhouse kick. Staggering backward and giving a frustrated growl, he lunges at me. We go back and forth like this; I feel like I’m close to giving up with all the jabs at my sides.
Fuck, these ribs will take forever to heal.
Time is running out, and I know that I had to move fast because the more I block and punch him, the angrier he seems to get. This has to end, I have to pull a rabbit out of a fucking hat, or I’m dead in the next few minutes!
Taking a breath that burns like the pits of Raerin’s rivers, I leap forward, but Creed grabs me around the waist, his grip like iron as he wrenches me off balance and slams me to the ground.
I scream out in pain as I hit the ground, and I know if I stay down here, that will be it for me. “Zhen…” I call out, breaking my own rule and asking my wolf for help. I have to…for Marie and Eva. I can’t lose here, not to him!
Zhen cries out in elation and offers her strength; I can feel myself rapidly healing and no longer feel the pain in my left side. She presses her advantage when Creed rears back, raining blow after blow until he is pinned to the opposite side of the octagon.
The crowd was silent, holding their collective breaths as Zhen defends and fights for me. I can feel my wrist breaking and being healed simultaneously with every blow I land on Creed, but this seems to be what makes him snap.
He roars and pushes me away and before I can react, he has his hand wrapped around my throat and forces me to the opposite side of the octagon. I cry out and wait for the referee to call Creed to stop because this is an illegal move even in a street fight.
But nothing fucking happens.
I attempt to kick out, but it’s like kicking against a brick wall. My eyes become blurry, and through the haze, I see Creed’s eyes start melding into one again. That bloodlust in his scent seems to slip away, and his delicious bergamot and vanilla come to the forefront more potent than before.
The snarl on his face evaporates as we stare at each other, and the grip on my throat loosens. It feels like the temperature seems to drop and I can hear Zhen calling to me, saying the one word I cannot comprehend right now.
Creed stumbles back, his eyes not leaving mine and I take this opportunity to strike. He murmurs something, but I ignore him as I lunge at him, leaping into the air rearing my arm back, and crying out when my closed fist connects with the side of his head. I expected a blowback or at least the anger I saw before.
What I didn’t expect was Creed’s eyes rolling backward in his head as he fell to the floor.
My father has let us know he’s not coming back anytime soon, if at all. The worst part? He told Viktor to tell me, he didn’t even bother to tell me this himself. Just like that, he won’t even come home and he won’t tell us why. I’m starting to think it’s because of me, but then again, he never rejected the pack./“He will soon,”/ Haze chuckles. /“Alpha Kai is a coward without his Luna.”//“Shut the fuck up!”/ I growl, not understanding why I’m defending my father right now when he’s clearly running away. /“My father is no coward.”/I know what Haze is doing and I am powerless to do anything about it. He takes advantage when I am angry and I am helpless to stop him…just like now.The second I walk the path to the octagon, my self-control slips and Haze takes over. I don’t even know who I’m fighting, all I know is that I need to feel this person’s blood on my fists, his bones crushing beneath my grip, and listen as his last breath is taken.I never let Haze lead in my fights anymore, bu
I’m used to this. I’m used to this. I’m used to this.No matter how many times the whip lands on my back, that little voice tells me I am not used to this. I will never get used to being strung up in silver chains and whipped within an inch of my life with my mother screaming about how useless I am.“All you had to do was DIE!” she screams, landing another lash. “Just lay down and die like a good little bitch, but no! You just had to fight back!”“It’s…what you trained me for…” comes out of my mouth before I can blink and this time a silver bar lands across my ribs, cracking them.I cry out at the viciousness of the blow and she laughs as if she finds some sick joy in this abuse. Then again, it’s definitely not an ‘if’ because she does find pleasure in inflicting pain. I think it’s the biggest reason my father is terrified of her.“How did you do it?” whip. “Tell me how you won against a beast like Creed Volkov!”But I can’t bring myself to say the words. I can’t tell her that my wolf
“Why am I here, Pappa?” I ask for the thousandth time as we walk through the forests of the Taiga. When I saw my father in the mansion after my fight with Cherie, he didn’t have much to say. Only that I need to follow him because it’s a matter of life and death and it includes my Lycan. He’s been cryptic about it ever since, and from the way he looks now, you would have sworn my father has gone off the rails.His hair is completely silver now, as well as his beard and his blue eyes which used to sparkle with purpose, are now dimmed with what I can only assume is madness. It seems like my father has completely lost it after my mother’s passing.Responding to my question with a grunt, he continues further and I can do nothing but sigh and follow him. “We’re almost there, then I will explain everything,” he says again.Gritting my teeth, I push forward because even if my father has lost his mind, I trust him with my heart. He felt comfortable enough to come to me and seek me out this ti
Rebecca dragged me towards the gym cafeteria and now I’m sitting in front of her not knowing what to believe.“Wait…so you’re a-” she nods because I can’t believe I was about to say the word. “And he held an auction that sold off your kind?”She nods with a pissed-off look on her face. “Last Spring. He didn’t care what he had done, either! No matter how many times I have tried to arrange a meeting with him, he blatantly ignores me!” Woah, okay I know the Volkov family is part of the Russian Mafia but I didn’t know they dealt in the slave trade. “Does Creed know about this? Is he aware that his cousin is selling off supernatural creatures?”She looks at me as if I’ve lost my mind. “You’re aware of Creed’s position in their pack, right? He’s the goshdarn Alpha, nothing happens without his say-so!” she exclaims, then lowers her voice and moves closer to me. “Sorry about that, just talking about it gets my back up.”I reach out and touch her arm while managing a sympathetic smile. “I’m s
“So, I wouldn’t have thought a fairy- whoops, a Seelie Princess would become an MMA fighter. What led you here?” I ask Rebecca while she spots me on the bench press. She shrugs. “It seemed like the logical choice since this is where Sage works from, but now it’s become more of an addiction,” she says with a grin. “You know what I mean.”I do. As much as I hate doing this for my mother, I love being in here training my body. Getting stronger physically seems to hide the fact that I am not strong emotionally. Wolf shifters are naturally strong, but I don’t want to rely on Zhen and what she can do for me. Doing it on my own feels better.Except for the other night…A shiver runs up my spine and Rebecca’s eyes widen when I nearly drop the bar on my chest, but she’s not the one who catches it.Bergamot and vanilla send my head in a tailspin and I don’t realize just who exactly is holding the bar until I look up…straight into a pair of amused blue eyes. My breath hitches in my throat when
Pretending Cherie doesn’t affect me is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. For one, my eyes always seem to find her when we’re in the gym at the same time, and how could I not look at her? And it’s not even her obvious beauty that drew me in, it's her eyes; those eyes knock the air out of my lungs whenever she looks at me.I only marked her with my scent the other day to prove a point, and the way she nearly lashed out at me had my dick hardening. Then the Seelie girl pulled her away and I could literally see her growling at me. Gods, she’s even more gorgeous when she looks bloodthirsty; how is that even possible? It feels like I’m crushing on my own mate. What the fuck?I’m in the separate weight rooms housing the punching bags when I see her bounding towards me with wide eyes. Holding the bag after I had punched it, I raised a questioning eyebrow at her red face.“What is this?!” she asks, holding up a piece of paper. “Is this a pity pay-off?”I narrow my eyes at the p
I grin when I see her running towards me with red cheeks with her gym bag slung over one shoulder. She looks both ways before walking towards me, a look of pure anxiety etched on her face. “I was starting to think you wouldn’t come,” I say while fishing my car keys out of my pocket. “Thank you for deciding to trust me.”Her mouth opens slightly when I say this, then her lips form into a thin line when she nods. “We have to start somewhere, and if this…mate bond turns into something more then at least we know it wasn’t forced,” she says, looking everywhere but at me. I don’t have anything to add to that, so I simply sigh and gesture to the parking lot. She follows me as I walk towards my car, then I hear her suck in a breath when she sees the one I’m approaching.“No way,” she says, shaking her head. “Tell me that flashy thing isn’t yours.”I look at the sleek black and orange sports car and press the key fob to show her that it is mine while flashing her a grin. Her red cheeks turn
“No!”“Yesss….” I groan with my head hanging in my hands while Rebecca looks like she’s about to do a bunny binkie right in the middle of the gym cafeteria. I’ve spent the entire afternoon telling her what happened with Creed, and for some reason, she’s all here for it.I still don’t know what happened, or how I ended up in his lap and grinding into him. Just being close to him makes me lose all sense; I feel like I can trust him with all my secrets and that he won’t hurt me.This mate bond thing is something else.Rebecca sits down and heaves out a sigh. “To be honest, it sounds like he’s really into you, Cherie,” she says, leaning in closer. “Like, really into you. I mean, he could have just rejected you, you know? But instead, he wants to…get to know you? Normal cavemen Alphas would just take what’s supposedly theirs and lay claim or whatever.”She doesn’t have to spell it out because I know Creed isn’t exactly your average Alpha. But why does he want to get to know me? There’s not