The woman knew better, though it was easier not to kill anyone because she knew she could shoot Alberto when he cheated.
The referee made the call and the challenge opened.
Gibson stepped in and delivered the first blow. So hard it knocked Alberto off his feet and to the floor. Sadly he got up after five seconds, brushing himself off. He circled but Gibson eluded all his attempted strikes, landing several more of his own.
Gibson had so much focus it was impossible not to be impressed. Mia watched him, knew he didn’t miss a single thing about how Alberto moved and attempted to strike.
She shifted her attention back to Alberto. He might have had the blood of leadership in his veins, but he’d grown soft. He was slower than Gibson. Like by a mile. Gibson’s movements were fluid and graceful. A man who spent time training. Alberto was a big cat, but he wasn’t hard.
Alberto shifted and leapt at Gibson, who’d already shifted and slammed Alberto down to the mat, his cat snarling. Alberto’s cat had a long set of scratches down its side where Gibson had caught him. He tried to shift back but it was slow. Gibson was already there and punched him in the face and then the side.
Alberto was outmatched on every single level. He wasn’t faster. He wasn’t harder. He wasn’t stronger or smarter. Mia saw the exact moment when this realization came over Alberto’s face. He’d only landed two blows to Gibson’s dozens. He stumbled but kept his feet. And then he dipped and grabbed something his second had thrown him.
Her weapon was out of the holster, and she’d thumbed the safety off before he’d even straightened.
“I call a cheat!” She projected her voice loudly, knowing both Alberto and the referee had heard.
But Alberto didn’t stop, he made to lunge at Gibson so she shot the ground once at Alberto’s feet.
“I said, I call a cheat. Hold!”
It all seemed to happen in slow motion as Alberto turned with a full-throated roar and lunged toward her, clearing the ring.
She planted her feet and kept her cool, squeezing the trigger once, twice, three times. Alberto hit the ground.
“Don’t kill him!” Dario shouted over the ringing of her ears.
She wanted to so very badly, but she obeyed as the crowd all around them went wild, screaming and shouting.
“She’s broken the law. This challenge is forfeit!” Alberto choked from his place on the ground. Blood oozed from where she’d shattered each kneecap.
“You have attempted to cheat in the full view of the panel and the referee. You were told to cease by the second, who fired a shot into the ground, not at you. You not only refused to stop, but you broke the ring and attacked a second along with the spectators directly behind her. You have broken our laws, Alberto de La Vega. The forfeit is yours.”
Dario hauled Alberto to his feet. “You’ll heal. Consider yourself lucky she didn’t aim for your head. Now you and yours have some ground to make. Remember de La Vega territory stretches several hundred miles in all directions. You have two hours, and this time, we’ll know if you come back.”
“So what? What do I care about a spell?”
“You’ll care because the spell is now keyed to your DNA. If you step foot into de La Vega territory again your heart will explode.” Kendra said it in a low voice, laced with menace. “Stay off my land or your life will be over. And anyone else associated with you.”
“You wouldn’t!”
Kendra smiled. “Oh I would. You see, I have a pretty big hate-on for you and yours and all those who attack us for being different. You not only tried to harm my cats, but you consorted with those humans who seek to do all Others in. I am Alpha of the de La Vega jamboree and you are beneath contempt. So just try it. Come back and see if I’m lying, and you’ll no longer be a problem at all.”
White-faced, he allowed his sons to take him away.
“I’m on it,” Dario spoke to Gibson, who simply pulled Mia into his arms.
“You saved my life yet again. Clearly I need to keep you around just for that.”
She hugged him tight. “I wanted to kill him. Dario wouldn’t let me.”
“My lovely Mia, covered in blood, gun in your hand, death threats on your lips. My perfect female.” He stepped back and the crowd hushed as he addressed them. “It is my sincere hope that this chapter of our history is done. Alberto and his compatriots are banned from our lands and from the lands of his other jamboree. We will fight to the death to protect our cats and our land. I will continue to do so with this female at my side. And I hope to do it with her not only as my mate, but as my wife.”
Her hands shook from the adrenaline still in her system, and she used the back of her hand to wipe the blood from her face. Her father appeared and handed her a handkerchief.
“What do you say, Mia? Will you be mine for the rest of our lives? Have my babies? Keep me in line and out of trouble?”
Her voice shook as much as her hands did. “I—I’m not sure even I have the power to keep you out of trouble, Gibson. But I’ll marry you and give it my best shot.”
He fell to his knees and she went with him, hugging him because he was real and all right and all hers. Relief rushed through her, bringing tears to her eyes.
“Shhh, don’t cry. It’s over now.”
“They’re relief tears. It’s the adrenaline,” she lied. “I love you.” And that was the truth.
“Me too, you crazy female. Glad you didn’t kill him. I was worried for a moment.”
“I wanted to. Really badly. But I figured we needed to have the referee make the ruling while he was alive. But those kneecaps will be hard to grow back. Learned something new today. Shattered bone can’t be reknit like a slash in his skin. It’ll be painful. And he’ll probably feel it for a few years. I hope he thinks of me every time he gets a twinge.”
He grinned, kissing her soundly. “You’re so hot when you’re vicious. Come on.” He hauled her to her feet. “A shower and then an engagement dinner is in order. Followed by rigorous sex once we’re alone.” He whispered the last part.
“Rigorous? Will there be a test?”
He laughed. “You make me laugh. I love that about you. I’m happy to test you.”
“Only if there’s discipline if I don’t get it right.”
“You’re playing with fire, missy.”
She laughed, taking his hand. “Come on then, my beautiful handful of a mate. Let’s wash off the blood and celebrate our victory and our engagement.”
“You got it.” He held her hand and drew her through the crowd of well-wishers and out the back door.
* * * * *
To purchase and read more books by Lauren Dane, please visit Lauren’s website here or at www.LaurenDane.com.
About the Author
The story goes like this: while on pregnancy bed rest, Lauren Dane had plenty of downtime, so her husband took her comments about “giving that writing thing a serious go” to heart and brought home a secondhand laptop. She wrote her first book on it before it gave up the ghost. Even better, she sold that book and never looked back.
Today Lauren is an award-winning New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of over sixty novels and novellas across several genres.
Find out more about Lauren’s books at www.laurendane.com, Twitter.com/laurendane or Facebook.com/authorlaurendane.
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Craving more sexy paranormal romances from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Dane? Don’t miss these!
The Diablo Lake series
In Diablo Lake, Tennessee, a town populated by werewolves, witches and more, magic woven deep into the earth protects the town’s secrets from outsiders.
DIABLO LAKE: MOONSTRUCK (Diablo Lake, book one)
DIABLO LAKE: PROTECTED (Diablo Lake, book two)
The Cherchez Wolf Pack series
Follow the Cherchez werewolf pack in Washington’s North Cascades National Park as everything in their world changes.
WOLF’S ASCENSION (Cherchez Wolf Pack, book one)
SWORN TO THE WOLF (Cherchez Wolf Pack, book two)
“WOLF’S ASCENSION is paranormal perfection—with a sexy alpha werewolf who worships his queen, and a fast-paced story full of mystery and suspense.”
—Fresh Fiction
The Cascadia Wolves series
RELUCTANT MATE (Cascadia Wolves, book one)
PACK ENFORCER (Cascadia Wolves, book two)
WOLVES’ TRIAD (Cascadia Wolves, book three)
WOLF UNBOUND (Cascadia Wolves, book four)
ALPHA’S CHALLENGE (Cascadia Wolves, book five)
BONDED PAIR (Cascadia Wolves, book six)
TWICE BITTEN (Cascadia Wolves, book seven)
The de La Vega Cats series
TRINITY (de La Vega Cats, book one)
REVELATION (de La Vega Cats, book two)
BENEATH THE SKIN (de La Vega Cats, book three)
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SAVING HIS WOLF by Kerry Adrienne
A woman born blind and without the ability to shift yearns to seek her own fate away from her watchful, devoted wolf pack. Vulnerable and stuck in human form, she’s alone and at risk when she’s rescued by the bear shifter who is her destiny.
WOLF SUMMER by Sionna Fox
An accident forces a werewolf to change the best friend he’s loved for years...or leave her for dead. There’s no reason to hide his true self anymore—but can she ever forgive him?
DRAWN TO THE WOLVES by Shari Mikels
A pack alpha finds that rescuing his fated mate from a violent confrontation with two wolf shifters is easy. Helping her move from fear to acceptance of the animals—and him—is a challenge.
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ISBN-13: 9781488081217
Beneath the Skin
Copyright © 2017 by Lauren Dane
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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Lauren Dane, Beneath the Skin (de La Vega Cats)
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