Alpha Hero (Wolf Protectors #2)
Date: 2015-05-25T05:00:00+00:00

Alpha Hero

Terry Bolryder

Contents

Copyright

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Epilogue

Sample of Double Dragons

Also by Terry Bolryder

Copyright © 2015 by Terry Bolryder

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover Design by Melody Simmons of eBookindiecovers

Created with Vellum

1

Jordan Vale winced at the glaring lights in front of him. Cameras, news people, commentators, and reporters from every sports news station were in attendance at the press conference. A wall of microphones and eager faces hoping to get the latest scoop so they could keep their pathetic jobs.

Jordan hated reporters.

Seated next to him on his right was Ken, his manager. Though, as managers went, Ken was much more of a businessman than an MMA guy. Anything that involved fighting, Jordan took care of by himself.

But apparently, that wasn’t enough.

Ken did most of the talking, as he was doing right now, giving a brief overview of their tours of the past few years. Jordan had gone completely undefeated, and he didn’t even bother counting the number ofKen victories he had now.

The purpose of the press conference was to announce the future of Jordan’s career in mixed martial arts.

“So it is with great reluctance I announce a temporary hiatus for all of Jordan’s future plans in professional MMA,” said Ken diplomatically into the bouquet of microphones before him.

After a collective gasp, a loud murmur erupted in the room. Reporters instantly raised hands and began talking, trying to get their questions answered. Ken just held out his hands, shushing the crowd until they were sufficiently quiet to allow him to speak again.

“Now, before any questions, I’d like to remind you this is a temporary hold. Jordan has been going full speed for quite a while, and we all think it’s about time he had a vacation and some peace and quiet,” Ken added.

Nice spin, Jordan thought. The fact was the decision had been everyone’s but his own.

“So with that being said, I’d like to open it up for questions now,” Ken finished.

Hands went sky-high again, and Ken chose someone at random to begin the barrage.

“Mr. Vale, with this hiatus being announced, what are your plans from here on out?” asked a woman in a blue jacket and skirt.

Jordan cleared his throat and started to recite his pre-prepared answers. “I’m not sure. Maybe finally get around to using that beach house? Maybe take up pottery?” Jordan choked out.

Lie. Lie. Double lie.

Ken pointed at another raised hand, and a man several rows back stood this time, holding a notepad and a pen.

“Mr. Vale, with all the victories you’ve had during your career, do you feel your team might be afraid you’re taking up too much of the spotlight?”

“No, not at all. I’m not sure what the team’s plans are, to be honest,” Jordan replied, hoping to keep things vague.

A third person was chosen from the crowd. Another man, this one with glasses.

“Mr. Vale, are the rumors true that you’re being kicked off the team and forced into retirement because of your recent behavior and the loss of sponsors?” the man asked with just the smallest hint of snideness.

There was another gasp from the crowd, this one even louder, at the accusation. An onslaught of camera flashes went off, and the sounds of shutters could be heard intermixed with murmurs and whispers amongst the attendees.

This was the kind of reporter Jordan hated most. An instigator. The kind of reporter that was always trying to stir up trouble in the hopes of making their story juicier.

Hoping to hedge the crowd’s newfound interest in this particular scandal, Ken grabbed one of the mics in front of him and responded immediately. “No, that is not the case at all. Jordan is just taking a brief break and should be returning shortly. We’ll keep you posted when his schedule opens up. No further questions.” He ended abruptly, standing from his chair and walking out.

Jordan was already out of the room before Ken had even finished his statement. He was so tired of the news game. Of spinning things so it pleased the media. Of making up crap to satiate the masses.

Ken began pacing in the small hallway connecting to the newsroom where he and Jordan were now alone. The noise from the room was growing louder as whispers turned to talking and talking turned to near yelling as people tried to talk over each other, speculating about what it all meant or calling their stations to plan out when their segment would be airing.

“Geez, it’s a friggin’ bloodbath in there,” Ken said, running his hand through his hair. He was starting to sweat a little from stress.

Jordan just propped himself up on the wall, leaning against it lazilthenst it y. “Fun times, right?”

Ken snapped. “You see? This is the exact reason we’re doing this in the first place. You don’t give a damn about anyone but yourself.”

“Whoa,” Jordan replied, getting annoyed. “I don’t like this any more than you do.”

The fact of the matter was Ken was a good manager. Maybe even a great manager. But he had the tendency to keep too much inside and then explode on people, even his own friends.

More importantly, Ken was a wolf-shifter, like Jordan, and thus understood him a little better than most.

“I know you don’t. But if you’re going to come back to pro MMA, you’re going to need help.” Ken looked Jordan straight in the eye, now in coach mode.

“What the hell does that even mean, help?” Jordan replied, exasperated.

“It means someone to assist you in improving your image. Someone that can make the public like you better.”

“Why does that even matter? I win, don’t I?”

“Winning isn’t enough, Jordan. If nobody likes you, nobody is going to watch your fights. No viewers, no sponsors. No sponsors, no money.”

Jordan was silent. He wanted nothing more than to get out of there and go to town on a punching bag.

“Look, I’ve already got someone. She’s done great things with other fighters before. If you can prove to me you’re able to turn this around and put on a good face, then we can talk about scheduling fights for you again,” Ken said.

“And what if I’m not able to?”

“That’s for me to decide,” a third voice chimed in. Both men turned to look at the newcomer to the conversation.

“Senna. Senna Christy.” The woman reached out her hand to Jordan. He just stood there, watching.

She was a good deal shorter than him, though since he was 6’3” almost everyone was. She was wearing a black suit and had a curvy body that belonged in the bedroom. She also had a pretty, heart-shaped face with straight, shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes.

“Is this what you call getting someone?” Jordan asked his boss dryly.

“I’m one of the best in the business,” she replied formally. “I don’t have time for games, so if that’s all this is to you, Mr. Vale, then I’ll be leaving,” she replied, beginning to turn around.

“No, wait, please,” Ken implored. “Jordan, it’s either this or you can kiss your career good-bye.”

Jordan groaned. “Fine. But don’t expect me to come out of this all starry-eyed and kissing the fans’ butts.”

“Good. In the meantime, I have interviews to get to and some major damage control to do. Call me when you get back to your place,” Ken said, leaving them and waving behind him as he trotted down the hall.

And then there were two.

For a moment, they sized each other up. Jordan peered down at the much smaller, but still feisty woman in front of him. Senna evaluated her newest client, looking unintimidated.

Senna spoke first. “So a perfect win record. No violations or law breaking. On paper, you’d look like the perfect professional.” She pulled out a folder from a leather briefcase at her side.

“Thank you. Why are you here, again?” Jordan asked.

“Because in your last fight you KO’ed the fighter with one punch, walked out of the ring, and disappeared for a month without a single statement to the press or your fans,” she said, her voice rising slightly.

“I don’t see a problem with that,” Jordan said with a shrug.

“It makes you look like an ass. You have a sterling reputation for being unlikable, Jordan Vale,” she said, punctuating his name. He loved the waforloved ty his name sounded from this woman, even when she was angry.

“So what are we to do about this travesty, then?” Jordan asked sarcastically, pushing off the wall and starting to meander down the hall toward the exit.

Senna followed closely behind him.

“Over the next little while, I’m going to be your PR manager. I’ll be in charge of your schedule, planning any events you attend, and ensuring all public appearances you make have a positive impact on how the MMA community and your fans see you. In short, I’m here to make you look good,” she said curtly.

Jordan looked to his side and enjoyed the way her hips swayed as she walked. “Make me look good? If you say so.” He still wasn’t sold on the whole idea, but at least the person he was going to be working with was incredibly hot. “So when do we start?”

“Right now,” she replied, matter-of-fact.

“Wait, what?” Jordan asked, caught off guard.

“My things are already in your car. I assume you’re heading back to your place. I have a hotel rented nearby where you can drop me off.”

“So you really are going to follow me around everywhere?”

“Exactly. What’s the point of having a PR coach if you screw everything up when I’m not watching you?” she asked, as if this seemed perfectly normal.

“Believe me, some of the places I go, you won’t want to follow.”

“Try me,” Senna challenged.

“Very well, have it your way.” They were already at Jordan’s car, and he hopped inside, turning on the engine before Senna was fully inside and buckled up.

“So how long is this going to be?”

“Three weeks.”

Jordan thought it was going to be the longest three weeks ever.

The next day, Senna woke up early and got ready for the day. The hotel she booked wound up being the crappiest place she’d ever slept, despite reviews online stating the contrary.

“Stupid shills,” she mumbled to herself as she got out of the rental car at the Vale family dojo where Jordan said he would be. When she came inside, she was greeted by a younger man who looked like he could be related to Jordan. Except where Jordan’s hair was a deep, rich auburn, this man’s was pitch black. And where Jordan’s eyes were a striking deep brown that almost looked red in some lights, this man’s were dark as night. But both had the same straight nose, high cheekbones, strong jaw and tall, muscled build.

“I’m Asher,” he said. “Nice to meet you. Sorry, my brother isn’t here. I’m manning the fort until he gets in. Once he does, I have to head out to get a few things done,” he replied cordially.

“Pleasure to meet you, Asher. Are there not any classes today?”

“Oh, there are, just not until the afternoon on Sundays. Morning attendance was pretty abysmal, so we moved all the classes after one.”

“Ah, I see. Mind if I wander around until he gets in?” she asked.

“Suit yourself. Let me know if you need anything,” he replied, going back to his work at the desk.

The dojo was an interesting mix of old and new. It had the feel of a much older dojo, one that had been used for decades and perhaps seen several generations of fighters. But the equipment was new and in good condition and the building was well kept.

As she pondered what it must have been like for Jordan to grow up training here, the sound of a back door closing loudly interrupted her.

“Hey, bro. You’re late,” Asher said to Jordan as he walked in, without looking up from his work.

“Sorry for breaking your heart on your hand all that. I was out running,” Jordan replied unapologetically.

“Next time you’re running, make sure you get here faster. You have company.”

Jordan indeed looked like he’d been running. Or maybe even sprinting. His rippling muscles glistened, almost as if his body had been covered by cool morning dew. He was shirtless, and he looked even better in person than he did on TV. Perfectly defined abs came up to two huge pectorals, and his biceps and shoulders were large and cut. On one arm, a dragon snaked its way from his shoulder down to his elbow.

She groaned mentally, thinking he was the kind of guy that would run shirtless around the neighborhood. But the rest of her body responded to him instantly. Like there was a raw magnetism drawing her to him.

Keep it professional, Senna.

“Did you miss me?” Jordan asked as he grabbed a towel and hung it on his neck.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she retorted. “We have work to do.”

“Do we now?” he asked nonchalantly, walking out onto the mat and beginning to train.

“Don’t break my stuff while I’m gone,” Asher called to Jordan, grabbing keys and heading out. “It was nice meeting you,” he said with a nod to Senna before walking to the door.

“Mmmkay, pumpkin,” Jordan replied with a casual wave, mocking him. Asher gave him a short glare and then left.

“So I have a schedule planned out for you,” Senna said, focusing on business. Jordan ignored her, so she removed her shoes and walked out onto the mat in the hopes it would get his attention.

“Schedule…” Jordan muttered, trailing off, clearly in his own world centered on him and the bag he was currently pounding. He dodged, coming in for another jab combo.

It was getting hotter by the second. Senna suddenly felt the need to loosen the collar of her blouse.

“Yes,” she continued. “Tomorrow there’s a sports festival promoting local teams, clubs, and dojos in the community, and you’ll be going to it. Then later this week, there’s an MMA fighter promo event where you need to make a showing. This weekend, there’s a local tournament I want you to attend. I imagine fans of yours will be there. I also have interviews with different TV stations scheduled intermittently around those.”

“Boring,” Jordan replied with an audible yawn, then resumed his workout.

“This is what I’m being paid to do. Find ways for you to interact meaningfully with your fans and with the community so you can repair your damaged reputation.”

Jordan paused for a moment. “Honey, I’ve never even had a reputation worth caring about before. What makes you think I want one now?”

“Because you want to have a successful career.”

There was no response. Only the sound of Jordan’s strikes against the bag, the thump-thump sound echoing through the dojo.

After a long while with no answer, Senna decided to change subjects.

“Why do you give your brother so much grief?” she asked plainly.

The workout stopped immediately, and Jordan stopped the bag from swinging on its chain and then turned to face Senna directly. He stood at his full height, completely intimidating and irresistibly sexy, dark reddish-brown eyes showing shades of brandy and wine.

For a prolonged moment, Jordan surveyed Senna, looking her up and down. She could feel a blush creeping over her cheeks as he watched her, as if he were undressing her with his eyes.

Senna had always been a curvy girl, and in her childhood, she’d received a lot of jabs from her peers and her siblings about it. But gradually over the years, as she left home, got a degree, and became increasingly more successful n. succesat her job, she’d been able to stop caring about what other people thought and accept there was nothing wrong with her body.

But now, seeing the raw, unmitigated lust in Jordan’s eyes, she felt like she was the most gorgeous woman alive. She felt warm all over, and part of her ached to have him touch her right here, right now.

But reason prevailed, and she opened her mouth to kindly ask Jordan to stop his leering, when he interrupted her suddenly.

“Let’s get lunch,” he offered confidently.

“I don't date clients, Mr. Vale. It’s my policy,” she replied, standing up straight in the hopes of appearing more intimidating.

He seemed unaffected.

“You do eat food though, correct? Or are you actually a robot?” he asked. She wasn’t sure if he was teasing or being serious.

“No, of course I eat. What kind of question is that?” she replied incredulously.

“Then lunch. Fifteen minutes. I’ll meet you outside,” Jordan said, walking off and ending the conversation before she could get in another word.

Senna was flabbergasted. Never before had someone come on to her so strong and decisively. She was used to men being overtly douchey or backhanded and trying to make it look like she would want to hook up with them.

She tidied the papers in her folder and closed it, holding it close to herself while her body cooled off for a moment. It would be a lunch meeting, she decided. No more, no less. Then she headed to her car to turn on some air-conditioning and wait for the fighter who was already proving too much to handle.

2

The location Jordan decided on was one of the nicest places this side of town. If he was going to eat out, he wanted it to be worth his while. They drove up in his favorite sports car, he handed the keys to the valet, and they were seated immediately.

Earlier, Senna had looked almost too irresistible to deny. Her curves went on for days, and he especially thought about how nice her large breasts would feel in his hands as he licked them and made her scream his name.

But that wasn’t on the table. So if he couldn’t satisfy one hunger, he was going to satisfy the other in the meantime.

By the time they’d been given menus, Jordan could tell Senna was getting uncomfortable with the fanciness of the place. She opened the menu and gasped audibly.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m not very hungry,” she said, closing the menu and putting it down.

“Nonsense. Get whatever you want,” Jordan said, already knowing what he was going to get.

“I couldn’t possibly,” she said, looking uncomfortable.

“If you don’t, I’ll just choose something for you,” Jordan said, taking a sip of water.

He could see she was torn between not wanting to eat at this price and not wanting to act inappropriately.

“Consider it my apology for how I acted yesterday,” Jordan said diplomatically. “My treat.”

This seemed to satisfy her, and Senna quickly picked up the menu and gave her order to the waiter when he arrived. Jordan added his, along with an order for a nice wine that would pair well with their meals.

“Wine at lunchtime?” Senna asked, confused. “Little early, don’t you think?”

“Social lubricant,” Jordan replied. “It’s always easier to have something to talk about when there’s a little alcohol.”

Senna blushed slightly, which made Jordan smile. He liked gettino teg a reaction out of her.

“So how did you get into working with guys like me?” Jordan asked, intrigued by this person who came out of nowhere into his life.

“I worked in marketing and promotion for several years for one of the major fighting leagues. I did a little freelance PR coach work on the side. After a while, I quit my main job and moved to doing this full time, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” she said, taking a drink of water.

“So you get paid to turn assholes like myself into respectable members of the MMA community? I thought people liked the bad-boy persona a lot of fighters have.”

“Yes and no. It depends on if that’s what they’ve built their brand on… and whether or not people respond well to their personality quirks and demeanor. Some of the guys I worked with only acted like jerks in the ring so they could look tough, but they were complete gentlemen in general.”

Jordan didn’t like the thought of Senna having interacted with other fighters before, maybe even dated some of them, but he didn’t know why.

“No, I’ve never been in a relationship with one of my clients, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she said, as if reading his mind.

“I wasn’t thinking that,” Jordan said quickly, brushing the subject aside. Senna raised an eyebrow questioningly but didn’t prod further.

There was another pause. Their waiter came by and said their food would be there shortly.

“He’s my half-brother,” Jordan interjected.

“What?” Senna asked, surprised by the sudden change in topic.

“Earlier at the dojo, you asked why I give Asher so much grief. He’s my half-brother and kind of the family favorite. There’s a lot more going on I can’t say, but for now, just think of him as the next prince in line and me as the bastard son.”

“Funny way of putting it, but I guess I see what you mean. You’re at least lucky enough to have siblings, even if they’re half. My parents died when I was very young, so I was raised by my aunt and uncle who took me in. They had kids of their own, and even though I wasn’t some sort of Cinderella, I was never really one of the family.” She took a large swig of wine. Probably a lot of memories down that rabbit hole.

“Well, it’s what made you who you are, so that’s not something to be ashamed of,” Jordan replied, hoping to take the emotional edge off.

Then Jordan realized it. Something that had been tickling the back of his mind since he met this woman. Something so subtle, so repressed, that nobody must have picked up on it before.

Senna was a wolf-shifter.

There was something magnetic about her he had missed when he first met her due to his anger after the press conference. But from the moment she’d walked into the dojo this morning, he’d seen her differently. And it wasn’t just the fact that she was smokin’ hot with her sexy curves and confident attitude. There was a uniqueness to her scent. Very hidden but almost like daffodils in springtime. Something very unlike any human he’d ever met.

The longer he was with her, the more he was sure. She was wolf.

The only question was what to do about it.

Jordan had only heard of a situation like this once before, and that woman had been found by shifters who were connected to her family. This woman, though she had a great career and an ass-kicking attitude, had no other family members or friends that were shifters.

She had one now. Him. But how could he tell her everything she knew about the world was suddenly wrong?

Jordan refocused on the woman before him, who was now sipping wine and enjoying the art hanging on the walls around them.

He changed subjects again. nt awhaagain. So what’s it been like working in the world of mixed martial arts? Is everyone as much a gentleman as you make them out to be?”

Jordan knew many of the pro MMA fighters from the different leagues he’d met were shifters. Over the years, more and more had tried their hand at making a living by fighting. Most of them were rogue shifters or of fairly low status, but he was still curious to see if any of them might have figured it out or at least suspected.

“Sometimes,” she said with a small sigh. “They run the gamut.”

“Go on,” Jordan encouraged.

“Mostly, they’re just self-absorbed or egomaniacs. Which is why they tend to be the type of person that needs my services. But once or twice, I had to end a job early because a client got… weird,” she said, trying to sound normal.

“You mean aggressive?” Jordan peered at Senna suspiciously.

“A little too clingy. Not professional. So it was in everyone’s best interest I remove myself from the situation.”

“How diplomatic of you.”

At that moment, the food finally arrived. The waiter brought out a hearty steak cooked to perfection for Jordan and a lobster tail with a side of risotto for Senna.

“So a fan of the lobster?” Jordan asked.

“Yes, everything about it is perfect,” Senna said, smiling as she ate a bite.

“Is that going to be enough food?” he asked, motioning to her fairly small dish with his fork.

“Of course. I’m always trying to be mindful of, well, you know,” she replied shyly.

“Bullcrap, there isn’t enough there to feed a kid. Waiter.” Jordan waved down the waiter. “Another lobster tail and a filet, medium rare.” The waiter nodded and left to take the order to the kitchen.

For a moment, Senna’s eyes blazed indignantly. Jordan just smiled back in reply. But as she resumed her meal, her annoyance turned to contentment. Jordan found it oddly satisfying, watching her eat merrily and savor each bite. He looked forward to getting her dinner.

Jordan finished his food quickly as he pondered what to do next. His manager, Ken, was a shifter as well. Maybe he’d know what to do.

“Thank you, Jordan,” Senna said, interrupting his thoughts. “You may come across as a jerk, but I can tell, deep down, you’re much more than that.”

“Well, I’m glad you feel that way,” he replied neutrally. “Now, about these guys you had to “remove yourself” from. Who are they?” Jordan asked, feeling protective.

“I’ve taken care of it. It’s nothing you need to be worrying about, anyway,” she said, taking the last piece of lobster and enjoying it.

“Well, if you’re going to be following me around, it’s my business too, is it not? Can’t have my consultant fearing for her life while we’re working together, can we?”

Senna chuckled quietly, then smiled as the waiter brought the second order to her. But Jordan could sense the tension there, just in how the mood shifted whenever he brought it up.

He’d have to ask Ken if he knew anything about that as well.

“So where are you staying?”

“Ugh, don’t even get me started about the hotel I’m at. It is without a doubt the worst place I’ve ever stayed before,” she said, moving her plate so the waiter could set the food Jordan had ordered in front of her.

“Really? Then stay at my place,” Jordan said.

Senna paused for a moment, head cocked, trying to read Jordan, almost as if she expected him to rescind any second.

“No, seriously. I have a place not far from the dojo. It has a spare bedroom with its own bathroom and everything. I won’t even be around, since I us, sinceually stay in the overnight room we have at the dojo. Makes early morning training easy.”

Jordan could see she was considering it. She took a bite of steak and chewed thoughtfully.

“The place is completely safe. I just want you to be comfortable while you’re working with me,” Jordan added, hoping to tip the scale.

“No funny business?” she asked accusingly.

“None. Scout’s honor.” Jordan halfheartedly held a hand up with several fingers pointed upward, hoping it at least resembled something a Boy Scout would do.

“You never struck me as the kind of person who would ever be a Boy Scout. But I trust you. Just promise me it doesn’t have any sort of infestations or serial killers living inside the walls or anything,” she said, resuming her meal.

“None whatsoever. And I’ll just be a call away if you need anything.”

“Jordan Vale, are you being a gentleman? Am I witnessing the first sighting of this momentous event?” she said jokingly.

“I can be a gentleman when I want. You just have to rub me the right way. Now eat up. You’ll need your strength if you’re going to be around me.”

Senna rolled her eyes at Jordan, but he could see a slight blush on her cheeks at his insinuation. Damn, she was beautiful. And every time she got even a little aroused, he was more and more sure she was a wolf. And it made something call from deep inside of him, drawing him more to her each second they were together.

There was only one little problem.

How to tell her all of this.

The “guesthouse” Jordan had insisted Senna stay in was much more than just a guesthouse. It was more like a guest mansion.

After lunch, during which Jordan had asked more than once if she’d had enough to eat, he brought her back to the dojo so she could take her rental car back to the hotel, check out of that hellhole, and bring her stuff to the address Jordan had given her.

When she pulled up, she thought he must have been pulling a prank.

But the key he’d handed her worked, and no sooner had she gone inside than she was greeted by an almost stately, fully-furnished home that must have had at least half a dozen bedrooms with bathrooms, a large kitchen, a den, and other spaces befitting of a trust fund family or someone from old money.

As much as she wanted to, she didn’t have time to explore though. She chose a room, unpacked, and spent the afternoon making calls to various events companies, newscasters wanting to do interviews, and local organizations.

But during all of it, she couldn’t get the way Jordan looked at her out of her mind. Especially the way he’d looked her over that morning, like a hungry wolf sizing up its prey. There was something feral about it, something unleashed.

Just thinking about it gave her chills up her spine and made her cheeks warm. She’d never been one for overnight crushes or summer flings. Never been one to want a man just because he looked hot. But there was something different about Jordan Vale. Something she couldn’t put a finger on.

Dinnertime approached all too quickly, and Jordan sent a text saying he would be busy and unable to join her for dinner. Along with it, he sent the number for a good takeout place and insisted she order something or he would “come after her” later.

Incorrigible man.

She called the place, which apparently was actually a fairly expensive Chinese restaurant in the area. She cringed at the thought of spending the amount they charged just for fast food, But Jordan had instructed her to simply use his name and they would put it on his tab. And she didn’t plan on seeing whDinon seeiat his reaction would be if she decided to skip dinner.

As she placed her order, she decided to double it and take some to Jordan. He was probably at the dojo, and if not, she would have leftovers for tomorrow.

In no time at all, the food arrived, smelling delicious. She left the house, making absolutely sure the door was locked, and drove her rental car to the dojo.

When she arrived, she came through the front door, surprised to see the lights on but the dojo completely empty. A lone punching bag hung from the ceiling in the center, so she sensed Jordan couldn’t be far.

She heard a hushed voice from one of the back rooms, so she followed the sound behind the desk and into a small hallway connecting several rooms with files, old equipment, and other clutter. As she got closer, she heard Jordan, presumably on the phone with someone.

“She’s one of us. You can’t just pretend that information doesn’t change everything,” she could hear him say quietly.

A short pause. Senna waited in the hallway, not trying to be a snoop, but too drawn in by the conversation to walk away or interrupt him. Something about it made her strangely excited.

“No, you can’t do that.” Pause. “I won’t just accept she’s going to have to live like that.” Jordan was sounding increasingly agitated. Whoever he was speaking to wasn’t telling him what he wanted to hear.

“Well, you can kiss my ass,” she heard Jordan yell. There was a tap and then the sound of what was presumably Jordan’s phone crashing against the wall.

Jordan walked out into the hallway, looking harried. The second he saw Senna, he stopped.

“Oh. I didn’t know you were here,” he said, trying to sound calm.

“Yeah, I brought us dinner,” she said, holding up the bag of food. “What was that all about?”

“Just helping a teammate out with some girl troubles. You know, women.” Jordan rolled his eyes, but he wasn’t convincing.

“Since when were you the kind of guy people went to for advice?” Senna prodded.

“There’s a first time for everything.” Jordan winked, dodging the subject.

Jordan led them out into the main area and pulled some plates and utensils out of a side closet near a mini fridge in the corner. But the whole thing still stuck with Senna. What were they talking about in there?

“You can tell me anything, Jordan. I want you to know that,” Senna blurted out between bites of delicious orange chicken.

“Confiding in me already?” he joked.

“No, I mean if there’s anything bothering you, you can tell me.” The words seemed to come from nowhere. She’d never been this forward with a client before, or any man for that matter.

“Well, maybe someday, Senna,” he said, seemingly lost in thought.

The rest of the night passed quietly, but once Senna was back in her room, the conversation and Jordan’s response still hovered in her consciousness.

What was that all about?

The next day was their first event, and Jordan’s first formal public appearance since the announcement of his hiatus.

It was a moderate-sized fair to promote local sports. In attendance were dozens of clubs, leagues, dojos, and organizations seeking to find new members or clients for every sport from baseball to cross country running to Tae Kwon Do. Senna thought it odd Jordan’s dojo didn’t promote at the event, but he’d simply told her they served a “fairly specific type of clientele” when she’d asked earlier.

It was late morning, and already there were throngs of people around. Some to promote their own sn their tudios and teams. Others just to be outside and enjoy the fresh air and food vendors in attendance, and others that seemed to just be passers-by on this city block.

In reality, Senna had scheduled and coordinated much larger events, both at her previous job and in conjunction with doing PR work for her clients. But she thought this would be a good starting point, since Jordan was notorious for skipping out on things like this, even after having committed to it.

They walked side by side, scoping out the different booths where they would make an appearance. She was wearing a green blouse and feminine slacks, hoping to appear professional. Jordan, on the other hand, didn’t care about that at all, wearing a tight black T-shirt with tattered angel wings that extended across the back and a logo for an edgy MMA brand on the front, with fitted jeans that showed off his taut thighs. He looked like something from a fantasy, with his dark, edgy hair and his perfect, masculine features.

Get it together, Senna.

Thus far, only a few people had stopped and asked for autographs, recognizing a well-known MMA fighter. And Jordan had, at least thus far, been professional and cordial with his adoring fans.

“So why did you choose an event like this?” Jordan asked dryly. Something seemed to be wearing on him, and small stress lines were forming at the corners of his eyes.

“It’s a good place to make a public showing without getting inundated. You’ll have plenty of fans here, but it’s not an MMA-only event. And as such, it should be fairly low key,” she replied.

“The fact of the matter is…” Jordan trailed off. As they walked to their first booth, he got closer and closer to her, to the point their arms were touching. Senna was acutely aware of how tall the huge man next to her was. She felt tiny, a feeling she wasn’t used to. And yet she felt totally safe.

“The fact is, I hate crowds, Senna,” he grated out, looking ahead as they walked.

“What do you mean? You’re a pro MMA fighter. How can that be?” Senna asked, curious.

Jordan stopped, standing in place in the middle of the throng of people. Senna stopped and stood in front of him.

“I just… hate crowds like this. Fighting in the ring is different. You’re surrounded by people, but there’s a ring or a cage between you and them. And when you’re fighting, all you can focus on is you and your opponent. You beating them. But when that’s over, when you come down from the adrenaline high, then it’s all those people. All those cameras. So many.” Jordan seemed only half there, partially lost in thought as he spoke.

He seemed to have a tendency to do that. But especially more so when he was stressed about something.

“Well, we can get out of here if you need to. This event isn’t even that important,” Senna said, hoping to be understanding.

“No. Stay. As long as you’re here with me, I don’t feel so alone. Don’t feel like I want to run or need to hit things,” he said, starting to walk again.

Senna sidled up next to him, and he smiled weakly as they arrived at the first booth they were slated to visit. This one of a Jiu-Jitsu club from a local university. The faces of the young twenty-somethings lit up as they recognized the world-renowned fighter in their midst.

“Is that Jordan Vale?” one young man asked.

“Hell yeah, it is!” another said, coming up to Jordan and offering his hand. Jordan returned it, and others came forward to greet their idol.

Senna stood on the sideline, watching how Jordan reacted. His demeanor was a lot better now, and she could even see a smile escape his lips as his fans asked questions about specific matches or asked for tips on improving their technique or how to traiive how ton better.

This definitely wasn’t the same angry, unmanageable, disappearing act of a fighter she’d initially been hired to work for. What was so different now?

As Jordan was signing shirts, a small crowd began to gather around as word spread of the famous fighter at the event.

That’s when things started feeling off.

Senna couldn’t place it, but she could feel goose bumps creeping up her arm. A slight feeling of dread, like eyes were watching her. Senna spun around, hoping to see whoever it was, but all she saw were blank, unfamiliar faces in the crowd.

I must be crazy, she thought to herself. Just my mind playing tricks on me.

But the feeling wouldn’t go away. She continued to scan the crowd, and it still felt like someone, somewhere was following her every movement.

“You all right?” a voice interrupted her. She let out a quiet gasp and then covered her mouth with embarrassment.

“Jordan, you startled me,” Senna said, catching her breath.

“I just figured we should probably get to the next group,” he said plainly.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that again,” she said, holding her hand to her chest.

“Is everything okay?” Jordan asked, sounding worried.

“No, everything’s fine. Just got caught up thinking about something,” she lied.

“If you say so,” Jordan said, starting to walk. Senna walked next to him, though keeping up with his long strides was often an exercise in futility.

“Great job with your fans back there,” Senna complimented.

“Thanks. They’re frankly a bunch of posers when it comes to fighting, but most of them seemed like good folks.”

“Folks? Who says the word ‘folks’ anymore?” Senna joked, jabbing him with her elbow. Her arm met with rock-hard muscle, and she tried to hide her blush.

“People do, of course. How dare you question my use of the word folks?” he joked back, sounding less stressed than earlier.

Morning became afternoon as they went to the various booths promoting anything mixed martial arts related where fans of his or the sport might be. Once or twice, she could feel eyes watching her, but she just told herself it must be the crowd today.

At one point, Jordan offered to grab a snack for her, and she agreed, not thinking about it.

Within seconds of Jordan leaving, the feeling came back again. Only stronger this time. It was like an alarm going off inside of her head, warning her of imminent danger.

Senna turned to where Jordan had headed, but he was gone, enveloped by the crowds around them. She started walking toward the direction she’d last thought she saw him go but became overwhelmed by an intense feeling of vertigo. She could swear she could hear steps moving when she moved, pausing when she paused. But everywhere she looked, all she saw was people passing, a few of them looking at her strangely, but all walking past her just the same.

It’s happening all over again.

She could feel herself reeling mentally. All of a sudden, she could hear all the noises coming from the crowds, like she was surrounded by voices. And in the midst of them, a silent pair of eyes. Watching her. Following her.

“Senna? Senna?” Jordan was next to her now, looking at her, his dark crimson eyes worried. “Is everything all right?”

She couldn’t respond. She felt herself locking up, unable to speak or think.

In an instant, she was in his powerful arms, and he was carrying her through the crowd to his car, like she was floating.

When they got to the car, he put her inside and turned on the A/C. By then, she felt safe and fare csafe an away from whoever, or whatever, had been following her. She felt safe as long as Jordan was around.

“You doing any better?” Jordan asked, sitting in the driver’s seat of the car.

“Yes. I think it was just the heat from the afternoon sun.” But she’d never had heat issues before in her life.

“Guess I better not leave you alone out there again, then,” he said, trying to improve the mood. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s all right. It won’t happen again. I’ll let you know,” she said.

But she couldn’t be sure when or if it would happen again because she didn’t know if the whole thing was a fluke or not.

This had happened once before, but not in a long time.

History had told her to follow her instincts, though.

And her instincts told her this wasn’t over.

3

A couple days later, Senna was in her bedroom at Jordan’s house, though it still struck her odd that Jordan never actually used it and preferred sleeping in the spare room at the dojo instead.

They had attended several events together, and she’d been impressed so far by how he had composed himself. He even avoided swearing during the interviews with newscasters, something he’d become famous for in the MMA community. She made sure to take notes as part of her evaluation to hand over to Ken.

So far, things had been fairly uneventful. Thankfully, she hadn’t felt the same presence following her around at any of the other events. It was difficult because she knew the person was still out there, but it was hard not to feel safe with Jordan around most of the time.

She had only one guess at who it was, but it had been years since they’d tried stalking her. Why now all of a sudden?

The phone call from the other night also still bugged her. It felt like Jordan was hiding something from her, something potentially very important. Was he just waiting for the right time to tell her? Or was it really about someone else entirely?

As she pondered, a breeze came through the window of her second-floor room. She moved to close it and then felt it again. Eyes. Somewhere out there. She scanned quickly, but the house was surrounded by a small field bordered by tall trees and the sun had gone down hours ago.

She quickly closed the window, locked it, and drew the blinds. But she still felt creeped out, the kind of feeling you get when an insect has been crawling on you and even after you’ve swatted it off, it still feels like it’s there.

Senna knew she should be safe, but right now, the large, quiet mansion felt foreboding and eerie. Its emptiness only scared her more.

Plus, Jordan would probably be at the dojo, training. He was always there, and she’d come to rely on that fact these past few days.

She locked the door and went to her car just in front of the house, feeling hurried but not wanting to make a scene by rushing. She drove up to the dojo, only a couple minutes away, and saw the lights were on inside.

Thank goodness.

She walked in and saw Jordan in the middle of the floor, training by himself, his only company the lights and various punching bags. Each strike he made was powerful, intentional. As if it were the final blow in a match. He seemed driven by an inner force that was insatiable.

Just being around him made her instantly feel better. Less alone, less worried.

“So you really do train all the time, don’t you?” Senna called, waving toward Jost wrdan in the hopes it would draw his attention.

“Oh, hey, Senna. What brings you in here so late?” Jordan turned to wave back at her.

“Just came to check on you,” she said. “What are you doing up so late?”

“Just training. You know, for when they let me back onto the team. After you’ve reformed me.” He gave her a dry smile.

That’s right. When this was over, he’d go back to being a superstar and she’d go back to working with some other fighter that needed her help. The thought made her slightly sad for some reason.

“You’ve been great the past few days, by the way,” she said, hoping to change the subject.

He tilted his head curiously. “What do you mean?”

She leaned against the wall, keeping her distance. Now that she felt safe from the stalker, she was aware of the odd tension between them, a crackling electricity like something was about to break. “You’ve been coming to events and being downright bearable at them.”

He laughed, a husky sound that affected her to the tips of her toes. “I try.”

“You’re a night owl, aren’t you?” she asked, rubbing her arms to rid herself of the cold that still stuck with her. “And you like to be alone. You’re in here every night by yourself or out running who knows where when we’re not at a scheduled event. Tell me, Jordan Vale, do you always want to be alone?” she blurted out, trying to get the question out there before her courage failed her at the sight of those stoic, crimson eyes.

His gaze never faltered. He just strutted up to her, not breaking eye contact. She could see fire in those eyes. Fire that probably burned for her. But she had no clue what to do about it.

“It depends. If I find the right person, then no. I don’t want to always be alone.”

By now he was standing right before her, and she almost had to lean back to be able to see up into his dark eyes, now glistening with the reflection of the bright dojo lights. A few stray strands of hair fell over his face, and she wanted to move a foot forward and touch him, see if those muscles felt as delicious as they looked.

“And what about you, Senna Christy? Any plans for the future involving members of the opposite sex?” his voice was low, almost growling.

“It also depends, if I find a man that can please me,” she said, trying not to gulp or lick her lips or do something stupid that would give her away. The sight of the man before her was entirely overwhelming. She could sense him, feel the heat radiating off his body, and scent something that smelled like a waterfall crashing over a pine-covered mountainside mixed with something that was purely masculine. Purely him.

“Oh, so what does this man do to please you?” Jordan asked. He was inching closer, closer. His body felt like it was mere millimeters from hers. She could see the details of his eyes now, a liquid red-brown, almost the color of wine and just as intoxicating.

This went against everything she stood for. All her professional compunctions and procedures.

But she wanted him so badly.

Kiss me, dammit.

“What would he do?” Jordan asked quietly.

“Well he… he…” She felt her voice catch in her throat. She couldn’t stand it any longer.

He reached his hand behind her ear. She could feel his powerful fingers brush her hair ever so softly. The feeling was electric, and it shot down her spine and enlivened every nerve on her body, making her hyperaware of his touch.

He’s going to do it! Is he going to do it? Please do it!

She felt his fingers in her hair, but then all of a sudden, they were gone again.

He brought his hand betox his hafore her, holding a small leaf.

“You had something in your hair, Senna,” Jordan said, flicking the leaf away.

“Oh… uh, thank you,” she said, trying to compose herself. What the hell, Jordan!

“I’m done here. Come on. I’ll drive you back,” he said, tossing the leaf aside and walking off, as if it were all nothing.

She felt all the air in her lungs come out in a huff. How long had she been holding her breath? She could hear the door close to the back exit, the one Jordan usually took.

He had to have been feeling the same thing, right? It wasn’t just her. It was like the air was filled with an electric current generated by the proximity of their two bodies, and then it was gone.

Well, fuck you, Jordan Vale.

The next day, Senna decided to take the morning off. Partly because they didn’t have anything scheduled until tomorrow and partly because she needed space away from Jordan Vale to clear her head.

Last night had been the last straw. She needed a fresh pair of eyes on the whole situation. Her friend Tiffany was in town, so she called her so they could meet up for a late breakfast at a nearby diner.

When Senna arrived, Tiffany was already seated at a table, looking as she always did. Like a thin, pristine blond newscaster, which she was. When she came up to the table, Tiffany jumped out of her seat, wrapping her arms around Senna.

“So good to see you, Senna!” her friend said.

“Good to see you too,” she replied, hugging her back.

“So what are you doing out here?” Tiffany asked, motioning for Senna to take a seat so they could order.

“I’m working with a new client who’s based out of the area. Not far from here, in fact,” she said, sitting and picking up a menu.

“Really? What hunky man do you get to hang around this time?” Tiffany asked, her curiosity piqued.

Senna paused, looking at the menu. Tiffany was always intensely curious about her career, mostly because she got to work with MMA fighters, though she’d never gotten involved with any of them.

“It’s Jordan Vale,” Senna said under her breath.

“What? The Jordan Vale?” Tiffany asked, her voice rising quickly, and then lowering again after it attracted curious looks from people sitting around them. “The one that’s taking a break at the height of his career?”

Tiffany worked in broadcast media, and though she was still fairly low on the totem pole, she was well aware of things that happened in the news.

“Not taking a break, just on hiatus. I’ve been working with him on improving his public image before he goes back on tour.”

“Well, my oh my. And are you getting any “treats” on the side, if you know what I mean?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Senna could feel herself blushing but tried to blow it off by giving her order to the waitress, who took her menu. “What are you talking about?” she replied, hoping to sound innocent.

“I’ve seen those posters of Jordan. I wouldn’t mind breaking off a piece of that KitKat bar,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows. “That’s one M&M that can melt in my mouth.”

“Gross, Tiffany,” Senna scolded. “He’s a client.” But she felt oddly upset at the idea of Tiffany, or anyone, taking a piece of Jordan for themselves.

“Just saying,” Tiffany said, putting up her hands.

“Besides, I’m not really looking for anything right now anyway,” Senna added, justifying herself.

“Honey, it’s been a while since you’ve had anything serious, right? Don’t youSen Don’ think it’s time to take some chances?”

“No, I don’t. I know exactly where that leads,” she heard herself say bitterly. There was an awkward pause as the both of them realized what she was referring to.

Tiffany leaned over and put a comforting hand over her friend’s. “Senna, that was a long time ago. You deserve to be happy, honey,” she said softly.

It hurt to hear those words. Hurt to think she’d been so wrong in the past. Hurt to know she could make the same mistakes again if she let her guard down. But her friend was just trying to be nice.

“Thanks, Tiffany. That doesn’t mean I have any plans to get it on with one of my clients, but you might be right.”

Tiffany smiled. It was good to have at least one person who understood.

Senna sighed, gathering her courage. “The fact of the matter is I think there might be something there with Jordan, but he’s the most frustrating man I’ve ever met.”

“What do you mean?” Tiffany asked.

“It’s just, whenever I’m around him, I feel something… different. And last night, there was this moment when he got real close and I thought he was going to kiss me, and I actually wanted him to. And I don’t think it’s just because we’ve been spending lots of time together, though we have. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about someone.” She could feel her cheeks burning red as she explained.

“Wow. Do you know how he feels about you?” she said.

“I have no clue. Part of me does; part of me thinks he’s just playing games. Ugh, I sound like a teenage girl pining over the cute boy in gym class,” Senna said, aggravated. She buried her hands in her arms to hide from the embarrassment.

After a moment, there was a soft poke of her shoulder.

“I know, I know. I should just tell the damn guy how I feel,” she said, her words muffled.

There was another soft nudge.

“Sorry, Tiffany, it was just a long night last ni…” she trailed off and looked up. Tiffany was still sitting across from her but looking up, wide-eyed, at someone standing next to Senna.

Tiffany turned and saw dark, sexy eyes peering down at her.

It was Jordan, and Senna’s stomach dropped at the thought he’d just heard what she was saying.

“Do you have a minute?” he asked. “I need to tell you something.” He sounded serious, almost worried.

“Uh…” Senna looked over at her friend, who was nodding not-so-subtly and giving a thumbs-up. “Yes?”

“Good, then come with me,” he said, reaching out a hand. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said to Tiffany as he set several bills on the table to pay the check and took Senna’s hand to walk out of the diner. Senna looked over her shoulder and put her hand up to her ear, mouthing, Call me.

Tiffany just mouthed back, Good luck.

Senna would need it.

Jordan had no clue how he was going to do this.

It had been days since he’d found out Senna was a shifter. Since then, he’d talked to almost every shifter he knew about whether to tell her. All their responses had varied from yes to no to I don’t know.

But after what happened last night, when he’d almost kissed her, he couldn’t wait any longer.

“So where are we going?” Senna asked as Jordan zoomed down a back road not far from his mansion. They were going far from where anyone else could see them. And since this was private land his family owned, nobody else should be there.

“I’ll let you know when we get there,” he muttered, lost in thought.

“You’re >

There was an awkward silence. “Of course not,” Jordan replied but didn’t take his eyes off the road.

Senna settled back into her seat, peering at Jordan with curious eyes.

Jordan had never run into this sort of situation. How do you simply tell someone everything they know is wrong and they’re not fully human, but a being capable of shifting into a wolf and back again?

Jordan gulped as they rounded a corner, turning off the main road and down a gravel path lined with tall pine trees.

He’d come out here often when he was younger, to be alone and think in silence. The woods were his home away from home. He felt more peaceful here than anywhere else. And it would be the perfect place to share his secret with Senna and reveal her own secret to her.

“So what is it you wanted to talk about?” Senna asked, hoping for an answer.

“Just a minute more,” Jordan said, parking the car on the side of the road and grabbing a duffel bag with a couple spare changes of clothes in it. Unless you removed your clothes before shifting into wolf form, they would be torn off and unusable, so it was always a good idea to have extras nearby.

“Is this about that call I overheard the other night?” Senna asked, folding her arms and following behind him as they went deeper into the forest.

“Yes. Well, no. Yes and no.”

“Why all the mystery, Jordan?” she asked, sounding a little worried.

“This is a good spot,” Jordan said, dropping the bag onto the ground. They were in the middle of a small clearing, not more than a few dozen feet in diameter. The late morning light shone clearly into the small meadow surrounded by silent, giant trees on all sides.

“Okay, I need to ask you something, Senna,” he said, turning to her with a conflicted expression.

Senna stopped a few feet from him, looking up with confusion.

“If a person knew something about someone they cared about, something that could possibly change everything about their lives and everything they knew… something that probably sounded crazy to most people but was unchangeably true, would you tell them?”

Damn, that sounded batshit crazy. Jordan felt a muscle twitch in his jaw.

“I don’t know…” Senna said, trying to figure out what he meant. “This person, are they open minded?”

“I’d say so. At least, I think they are.”

“And this secret isn’t a dangerous one, is it?” she asked, probing for more information.

“No. At least not to the person themselves. Most people would see this as a good thing I would think,” Jordan replied, starting to get nervous. Maybe he should just take her back and leave well enough alone.

“Then, yes, the person should definitely tell that person they care about the secret.”

Here goes.

“Okay. Then, Senna, I have to tell you something. Something you don’t know… You’re a werewolf,” he said, trying to be as solemn as possible.

Senna blinked.

“Well, more specifically, a shape-changing wolf-shifter, but you get the idea.”

There was a long, pregnant pause.

“Is this a joke?” Senna asked, unfolding her arms. “Did one of your teammates put you up to this?”

“No, I swear. This is no joke, Senna,” Jordan said, remaining serious.

“Am I on camera right now?” she asked, circling around and looking at the forest around them. “Ha-ha-ha-ha. Very funny, guys. I get it. The joke’s on me,” she called out to the trees. There was no answer.

p>

“I mean it. I only figured it out a few days ago,” he said, walking toward her.

She backed away a few steps. “Oh, and how did you figure this out? Are you some shapeshifting werewolf thing too? Man, I’d heard a lot of things about you before accepting this job, but that you were utterly bananas wasn’t one of them!” she yelled bitterly. She threw her arms up into the air with frustration.

This wasn’t getting him anywhere.

“Fine, I’ll show you. You just have to promise not to tell anyone. Maybe this will help you believe me,” Jordan said, trying to soothe her.

“Show me? You’re kidding, right?” she spat.

It was entirely against shifter law to show yourself to a human, especially changing in front of a human. And to many, it was the ultimate sin, with serious punishments if someone found out. But Jordan was absolutely sure Senna wasn’t a human. He’d bet everything on it.

He had to at this point.

Focusing his energies inward, Jordan closed his eyes and felt the forest around him, the energy surrounding them. With a long exhale, his body changed, hands becoming large paws, his tall body lengthening and coming to stand on all fours.

He opened his eyes and saw Senna standing in front of him, stunned and wide-eyed.

“Now do you believe me?” he asked, his voice deeper and gruffer in his wolf form.

She fainted on the spot.

Shit.

Not the response he was going for.

4

Senna awoke to the sounds of birds chirping. Then sun was right above her, bright and inescapable. She felt moss and soft forest soil beneath her.

She sat up instantly.

What am I doing here? Was it all a dream?

Clearly not all of it was, as she looked around and saw the small glade she remembered Jordan brought her to. A few feet away, there was a small black duffel bag he’d set down right before he—

Turned into a giant wolf.

Senna shook her head. She must have been crazy. She thought back to lunch with her friend Tiffany. She hadn’t taken or drunk anything.

Where was Jordan now? Whatever he’d done, Senna wanted to know what special effects company he had hired to pull it off. That crap looked real.

Speak of the devil.

From the edge of the treeline, she saw a huge black wolf bounding toward her, fast approaching, its eyes a bright crimson, reflecting the noonday sun.

Eyes a more intense version of Jordan’s.

Senna froze in place. She couldn’t outrun the giant creature even if she tried. It walked up to her and regarded her, standing almost as tall as she was, with a long body covered in dark fur that shone as the sun caught it.

“How are you feeling?” it spoke, clearly understandable to her.

It can talk?

“Uh… okay, I guess.” Her voice faltered. This had to be a dream. But it clearly wasn’t.

“I’m sorry if I was too abrupt. I didn’t know how you would take the news.”

“Is that really you… Jordan?” Senna asked. “Are you sure I’m not dreaming?”

He came closer. “Not at all. Here, feel.” He leaned his head forward, and she could feel the warmth emanating from his body. She reached out a hand and petted the soft, black fur along his muzzle, then around his ears.

“Not so lightly, that tickles.” He chuckled, then stepped back a few paces. tht“So back to you, Senna. You’re one of us.”

“How could you possibly know that?” she asked incredulously.

“I scented it on you,” he stated.

“What?”

“Shifters can smell other shifters. It’s like a fingerprint. Each one has a unique scent entirely their own.”

“So what does mine smell like?”

Jordan took a long breath through his nose. Senna simultaneously felt self-conscious and a little aroused by the act.

“Daffodils. Daffodils at the height of spring when everything is fresh and warm and excited to be alive.”

Senna blushed. It was embarrassing, but somehow, all of it was slowly coming together.

“So have I always been a—a shifter?” Senna asked tenuously.

“Yes. You’re born with it. I suspect your parents must have been shifters, or at least one of them. I guess the family that raised you didn’t know this, so you were never taught about it,” he said, starting to pace slowly around. There was something powerful, regal about his wolf form. Yet it still felt like him and set Senna at ease.

“Right now, you need to connect with the wolf that’s buried deep inside you, Senna. I want you to try to shift,” he said.

“What? Now? How in the hell am I supposed to do that?” Senna replied.

“I doubt it will be easy, but just do as I say. I think it’s high time you let your wolf run wild.”

It was funny the way he referred to “his wolf” or “her wolf.” But she could feel something deep inside her, buried beneath years and years of neglect. Something that growled and longed to be free.

“Okay, I’m willing to give it a shot.”

“Good. Now close your eyes.”

She did.

“Take in everything around you. The ground beneath your feet. The scent of the trees and ferns. The sounds of the forest. The moist breeze on your skin. Take a deep breath and just let your human form melt away. The sensation is a little weird at first, but just go with it. Don’t hold back,” he instructed.

Senna did so, and as she did, she could feel everything change around her. When she opened her eyes and looked down, instead of seeing her feet, she saw large wolf paws. She looked around and saw a large wolf’s body, covered in brown and white fur.

Jordan sauntered up to her, his wolf a good deal taller and larger than her own.

“Beautiful,” he said reverently.

“What, me as a wolf or me being able to transform like that?” she asked.

“Both,” he said, red eyes peering at her, examining her.

She could smell that particular scent again, like rushing water through a pine forest. It must have been Jordan’s she was picking up on earlier.

“So what now?” she asked, feeling surprisingly stable for being on four legs instead of two.

“What do you say we go for a run?”

“Sure,” she said as he began to walk into the forest, and she followed.

For the first time in her life, she felt completely whole. As if something had been missing but now was found. She could hear a voice, that of a wolf howling, somewhere inside her subconscious.

As Jordan moved deeper into the forest, it was as if she were coming home for the first time. All of the sounds and scents were clearer in her wolf form, and the woods around them felt alive.

“So do you come out here often?” Senna asked.

“You could say that,” Jordan said, slowing down so Senna could come up beside him.

Something about being around Jordan like this made her feel warm inside.

“Did you grow up around here?” she said, loin,she saiving the sound of Jordan’s voice.

“Yes,” he replied, his mind lost in thought.

Senna thought it interesting someone like Jordan with a reputation for being harsh and abrasive was actually just a very quiet person in these surroundings. In moments like this, she felt she was getting closest to the real Jordan Vale.

“So you have two brothers, right? What are they like?” Senna was curious about his family as well, since she imagined they were shifters as well.

“You know my older brother Lucas, I imagine. Once upon a time, he was just as famous in MMA as I am. Or was.”

Senna nodded.

“My younger brother Asher runs the family dojo. Well, he’s technically a half-brother, and the next in line to be alpha of the family. I’ll explain more later. There’s a lot about shifter families and politics you need to learn. Needless to say, when we were younger, between Asher the family favorite and Lucas being the hard-working oldest brother, I kind of fell through the cracks,” he said.

“Sounds like it was hard,” Senna said, feeling for him.

“So yeah, I kept to myself. Reading, training, coming out here. Anything to engage my mind.”

Senna had never heard Jordan say so much about his past. He really was closed off most of the time, but somehow, walking out here in their wolf forms, everything just came more naturally.

“Sorry for the overload,” he exclaimed. “Probably not the kind of crap you care to hear.”

“No, I like getting to know more about you,” Senna replied, examining the ground under her paws. It still felt surreal.

“So how’s being a giant wolf for a change?” Jordan asked, his tone lighter.

“Ha, it’s funny. Surprisingly natural,” she said.

But something felt off.

It started with a tingling in the tips of her paws, which gradually spread up her limbs.

“Actually, I feel kind of funny. Is that normal?” she said, voice faltering. She began to feel woozy.

“What do you mean?” Jordan turned and looked at Senna, who was starting to quiver. “Oh, dammit, I forgot about that.”

But Senna could feel her mind slipping, like it was detaching from her body, which was quickly going limp.

The last thing she saw before blacking out was crimson eyes.

Then blackness.

Senna awoke to the feel of plush sheets and cool air-conditioning on her skin. She was groggy, the kind of feeling you get after napping too long in the middle of the day.

She looked outside. Apparently, that had been the case, as the sun was coming down over the hills in the distance. How long had she been asleep?

Upon further examination, Senna realized she was in the mansion. At least it looked like the mansion based on the design, but this was a different room from hers. This must be the master bedroom, based on the huge king bed, expensive, modern-looking furniture that lined the walls, and the large vaulted ceiling above her.

And the fact that Jordan was now watching her from the doorway, holding a platter with what looked like food, the delicious smell wafting toward her.

“Hey. Glad to see you’re awake,” Jordan spoke, coming toward her.

Seeing his brownish-red eyes, so like his wolf’s, she instantly remembered everything from the forest.

“How did I get here?” she asked, sitting up and rubbing her head.

“You passed out. Again. It happens to people when they shift for the first time or if they haven’t shifted in a long time. I should have thought about that before we walked so far.” Hhatso far.e placed the food on the bed next to her.

She realized she was ravenous. How long had it been since she’d eaten?

“Eat up. Shifting can take a lot out of you, especially if you’re not used to it,” he said, picking up a plate loaded with roasted potatoes, asparagus, and delicious-looking steak.

“Did you make this?” she asked, incredulous.

Jordan laughed. “Maybe. You were out for a while, so I figured you’d like something good to wake up to.”

Just the sight of Jordan watching her, now wearing a pair of fitted jeans and a tight T-shirt, made her hungry in a different way. Until her stomach growled, and she took the plate, starting to eat. It tasted divine.

“Nobody told me you knew how to cook,” she said between mouthfuls.

“You never asked,” he said, looking at her with a tiny smile hiding at the corners of his mouth.

His features were so masculine, so straight, and so perfect. Despite his rougher appearance, she could see the more regal, more refined aspects of his face that were hidden behind the toughness.

“So how did we get back here?” Senna asked, eating the last few bites of her food.

“I brought you back here,” he replied.

In that moment, Senna realized she wasn’t wearing the same clothes as before. Instead of her blouse and jeans, she was now wearing a loose shirt and soft sweatpants.

“Where are my clothes?” Senna asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

“Well, that’s the thing about shifting. Anything you’re wearing when you shift is…” Jordan trailed off. He’d said enough for her to catch his drift.

“So you saw me naked?” She gasped. “How did I end up dressed?”

“That’s what the duffel bag was for. I got you in some clothes and brought you back here.”

Senna was mortified. Maybe in his world, being seen naked wasn’t a huge deal. But for her, it was the last thing she’d planned on happening today.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want him to see her. She might have fantasized about getting him in bed once or twice, but it felt so sudden. She could feel her cheeks burning.

“There was no funny business though. Promise,” Jordan said, holding up his hands.

So maybe it wasn’t the worst thing to happen in the history of the world. Since earlier, when she’d been exploring the forest in her wolf form with Jordan, she felt more and more attracted to him. Objectively, he was the hottest man she’d ever seen. But now that other part of her, her wolf she guessed, growled in approval as well. Pushing her forward toward the thing she would have never allowed herself to want before.

As Jordan moved the platters off the bed and onto a nearby table, Senna considered her next move.

“So… how much did you see?” she asked shyly. She felt so odd. So self-conscious. But there was something she wanted. And it was right in front of her.

“Enough,” Jordan said with a rakish grin, eyeing her hungrily.

“And what would you say to getting a second look?”

“I would say that sounds like you’re reading my mind,” Jordan replied, sitting next to her on the bed, his hand on her leg.

The air was fully electric now. Anticipation rose in her as he came closer, his deep red eyes watching hers. She could feel the air rise in temperature several degrees. All of her wanted him, right now in this moment.

With one deft motion, Jordan came over her, straddling her on the bed, surrounding her on every side. She could feel his taut, muscled thighs touching her.

He leaned forward, caging her with his powerful arms. He was directly above her now, and she could see each deth= see eafined muscle in his arms. Could scent him perfectly. Could see his irises glowing in the early evening light.

“And what about your precious rule about not dating clients?” he said curiously, desire burning in his eyes.

“Dammit, Jordan Vale, kiss me already.”

5

Senna bit her lip, waiting for his reaction. She didn’t know where this would go, but right now, this was what she wanted.

Jordan answered by bringing his lips down to hers in a searing kiss. It felt every bit as good as she’d hoped, and better. He didn’t stop, but held the kiss, bringing a hand up behind her head and holding her, his fingers threaded through her hair.

He deepened the kiss, exploring her mouth, as if he instinctively knew where he should go to bring her the most pleasure. Each stroke of his tongue sent currents of sensation running through her body.

Jordan moved from her mouth to her ear, kissing the lobe gently, then taking it in his mouth and biting delicately on the soft flesh there, eliciting a gasp from her lips. Everything he did felt so good.

Still cupping the back of her head with his hand, he came down from her ear and made a trail of kisses down her neck until he reached the collar of the shirt.

“This is in the way,” he mused, offended by the fabric impasse before him. In one swift motion, he lifted the shirt up and over Senna’s head, baring her breasts to him.

She didn’t feel ashamed, but instead, felt empowered by his burning gaze roving over her body, eyeing her hungrily.

“That’s better,” Jordan said, coming down to place a kiss on both her nipples, then bringing his hands to her breasts, kneading the soft flesh there. Each motion of his hands made her skin feel like fire, and Senna could feel she was getting wetter by the second.

Her nipples were now erect tips, and he brought his mouth again to one while he held the other in his hand, teasing it with slow circles. Then, holding it between his lower lip and teeth, he applied just the right amount of pressure, which made Senna writhe with delicious agony. She dug her hands into his back as he continued to love one nipple, then the other, all the while his hands working up and down her soft skin and around her ample breasts.

Then he came lower, making a trail of kisses down her soft belly, until he came to her belly button, licking along the sensitive curve with his deft tongue as he held her hips. The lower he got, the more heated Senna felt inside.

He ran his hands over and around her stomach, then came lower, until he stopped.

“Also in my way,” he said, as if speaking to the sweatpants barring his passage lower. In an instant, he yanked them off, leaving her completely naked before him.

Jordan resumed where he left off, kissing down the small line between her leg and her hips, setting off sparks inside her, then coming down the other side parallel, not missing a single spot.

Both of his hands now on her hips, Jordan went lower, his tongue exploring her soft folds until he found her clit. Jordan grinned up at her devilishly and then ran his tongue slowly around and over it. Each motion felt like it was more pleasure than she could bear, and it was fast building to a fever pitch.

Jordan paused for a second. She could feel lips against her, his tongue light and still. As if he were trying to draw out her anticipation.

It was driving her crazy—in the best way.

Then with one, agonizingly slow stroke, where she could feel the entirithe length of his tongue run across her, Senna felt her body come apart with sweet release. She grasped onto Jordan’s shoulders, holding on as she was shaken by the strongest orgasm she’d ever had in her life. Her body arched involuntarily as she instinctively called Jordan’s name into the quiet room. Wave after wave of sensation coursed through her body, until it finally ebbed and her body relaxed.

For a moment, she breathed deeply, invigorated by the scent of Jordan surrounding her, the feel of him against her, strong and reassuring.

But she wasn’t ready to be done. Her body was still a firestorm of desire, and Jordan looked far from finished as well. All she knew was she wanted him inside her so badly she couldn’t wait. She reached for the buckle of his leather belt, fumbling to undo it.

“Not until I say so,” he growled, taking her hands and pinning them both above her head with one of his as he reached down with the other hand.

Before she could think another thing, he stroked inside her with one finger, then two, feeling her wetness. He brought his hand up and licked it slowly, staring at her with fierce, possessive eyes.

Senna was too aroused to be embarrassed.

“Wow, you taste amazing,” he said, eyes glowing in the quickly waning evening light.

Senna opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted as he lowered himself to lick the small center of her desire again. She was definitely more sensitive now, and each stroke built faster and faster this time.

It wasn’t long before she came again. This time Jordan moved close to her, wrapping his arms around her as she held tightly to his hard, muscled back. This release was every bit as powerful as the last, leaving her quivering and exhausted, but not fully satisfied yet. She was ready, and it was clear he knew it.

“I can’t wait,” Jordan whispered into her ear. Jordan whipped off his shirt, giving Senna a delicious close-up of the perfectly toned muscles that spanned his chest, abs, and arms. She wanted to touch them, to see if each muscle felt as powerful as it looked.

He moved to the side of the bed and pulled off the rest of his clothing, revealing just how ready he was for her.

Jordan was huge. And though Senna was by no means a virgin, she’d never experienced anything like what she saw in front of her.

He reached into one of the nightstand’s drawers and pulled out a condom, tearing open the package and putting it on quickly, then coming back over her.

“You’re not going to pass out on me, are you?” he asked, his wry smile unable to hide the raw lust and desire she saw in his eyes.

“Hardly. Now stop making me wait,” Senna growled back. She could feel the wolf inside her, hungry and impatient.

Jordan was poised outside her entrance, and just the lightest touch from him made her skin light up. With one smooth, slow motion, he stroked up and inside her, filling her completely. The sensation was overwhelming and amazing at the same time.

Jordan looked down at Senna, waiting for her. When she felt adjusted, she nodded, holding on to his powerful arms for strength.

He moved slowly out and then pushed back into her. It was unlike anything she could have ever imagined. Each slow thrust was perfection. Her entire body responded to it, felt shocked and warmed and filled by it.

Jordan kept going at a slow pace, drawing out her pleasure as he placed small kisses down the side of her neck. The air was heavy, filled with Jordan’s scent. And she could hear his breathing growing heavier.

It felt like heaven, but now she wanted to be the one to see his eyes roll back in pleasure. With a swift motion, she pushed her hips down to meet him, quickening their pace.

Jordan gasped and then looked at Senna with curiosity and hunger. She wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing them tighter together.

“I can’t wait,” she whispered, her voice husky as she thrust against him. Jordan didn’t say a word, just smiled as he moved with her. The pleasure was so intense it was agonizing. So immense it bordered on pain.

Her body was at the very edge of everything, mere millimeters away from tipping over.

With one final push, Jordan came all the way in. At the same time, he brought his hand down to her center, giving one deft stroke that sent her rushing over the threshold once again, into a free-fall of pleasure almost too strong to comprehend. A second later, she felt him go rigid inside her, both of their bodies releasing the tension and pleasure and the sweet ecstasy that had been building for what felt like forever.

Senna held on to Jordan, her hands digging into his back as she called out his name, her body quivering and on fire in every imaginable spot.

As her body came back down to earth, she saw Jordan looking at her with surprisingly tender eyes. He smiled, and she managed to give a weak grin between gasps as she tried to catch her breath.

Jordan withdrew slowly and grabbed a towel, quickly cleaning up and coming back to the bed. As he did so, Senna relaxed, enjoying the sight of his powerful body moving around the room and pondering just what had happened.

It seemed like a dream.

Jordan came back to the bed and sat beside Senna, stroking a hand through her hair and watching her closely. After a few moments, the adrenaline wore off, and Senna was left wondering where to go next with this. Had this just been a one-time thing or something more?

Jordan spoke first, with a small grin. “I’m glad you didn’t pass out on that last one. You have the constitution of a gerbil.”

“How do you know gerbils don’t have stout constitutions?” she teased, shaking her head. “Sorry we can’t all be MMA fighters who run a bajillion miles a day, or whatever it is you do to have that,” she said, motioning at his perfectly fit body.

“Actually, the funny thing about shifters is most of this comes naturally,” he replied.

“Well, if I’m supposed to be a shifter, why am I so opposite of that?” Senna queried.

“Shifter men are like this, I mean. The other thing I’ll have you know about shifter men is we like our women built exactly the way you are,” he said, leaning down and placing a kiss on her mouth. “Curvy and hot.”

For some reason, it made her wonder about his past. He’d never mentioned a lover, but a man like Jordan Vale could have literally any woman he wanted. Was he someone who took this kind of thing lightly? She didn’t think so, but did she really know him at all?

“So where do we go from here?” Senna asked, the tone in the room more serious.

Jordan lifted an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“What did this all mean?” she asked, gazing back at him.

Jordan pondered for a moment. “As I see it, this was amazing, but we don’t have to make more of it than we want.”

“And what do you make of it?” she asked, needing a concrete answer.

“That we’re very compatible in bed,” he said, smiling.

So that’s what this was to Jordan. Just a fling? Her heart sank. She knew it wasn’t fair to expect more of him, but somehow, part of her did. And the way he looked at her while they made love had felt so much deeper, so much more meaningful than just sex. A part of her felt connected to him, and it hurt to hear he didn’t feel the same way.

Maybe it had just been a long day, what with finding out she was a wolf-shifte sa wolf-sr and having the best mind-blowing sex of her life. She felt pleasured but bone tired from the exertion. She wrapped a sheet around herself and got up to walk back to her room in the giant mansion.

“Is everything all right?” Jordan asked, sitting up.

“Yes. I’m just tired, and we have a busy day tomorrow,” she responded robotically, just wanting space from the incorrigible man more than anything else right now.

“See you tomorrow, then,” he said carefully, studying her as if he were still wondering if she was okay.

But Senna knew what this was all about now. It was just sex. Nothing more, nothing less. As long as she remembered that, she could hopefully not get hurt by Jordan Vale.

Besides, she had bigger problems to worry about at the moment. The remnants from her last attempt at trusting and believing in someone were still out there somewhere, maybe even somewhere close.

Senna shivered at the thought. She left the lights on and went to sleep.

The next day, Jordan and Senna were to go to Jordan’s team dojo to meet with his manager to discuss the progress that had been made so far. Senna had been standoffish during the drive up, and Jordan still wasn’t sure what was wrong exactly.

Last night had been amazing. He still could remember the look of her gorgeous body beneath him, the feel of her velvety skin, her scent, the sounds she made when she came…

But Jordan knew this couldn’t be a permanent thing. Senna was scheduled to work with him for only three weeks. After that, she’d move on to the next client, and he’d continue with his MMA career. There was no room for commitment. They both knew that, right?

At that thought, Jordan could hear his wolf howling in disapproval. It had a mind of its own sometimes, but Jordan ignored it as they pulled up to the dojo.

The place was much fancier, much more modern than most dojos. Partially because the team was extremely successful and had the money to do so, but also in part because Ken cared a lot about appearances. Whenever the news or spectators came by, he wanted to be viewed as a successful team manager with a well-equipped place for his fighters to be seen training.

When they walked in, Ken greeted them both and ushered them into a side office where he was usually found working. After they both sat down, Ken spoke first.

“So Senna has been sending me periodic updates. I want to discuss how things are going in general,” he said, tenting his fingers in front of him.

“Jordan has made good progress. He’s shown up to events, and I’ve seen no reason why he shouldn’t be able to get right back into the swing of things when our time is finished,” Senna said.

The way she said it bugged Jordan, specifically how she emphasized things finishing. Was she looking forward to it?

“Good, good. And do you think he’ll be ready by our planned date? I’m eager to announce it to the sponsors and the press,” he said.

“I see no reason why not. The ball is really in his court, whether he wants to screw it up or not,” Senna replied, speaking as if he weren’t there.

“And, Jordan, how is your training coming along?”

“If by training you mean I haven’t become a complete slob and am still capable of fighting, then fine, I guess,” Jordan said, his mind still preoccupied.

“Good, because I want you to meet the newest member of our team,” Ken said, standing and motioning out the window that offered a view into the heart of the dojo.

Jordan and Senna stood. Inside the dojo, many of his teammates could be seen training with each other. All of them looked up to him as the pda him asundefeated one on the team. Or at least they had. Jordan didn’t really care what they thought about him now.

For some inexplicable reason, he did seem to care intensely what Senna thought though.

As they walked out onto the mats, different fighters nodded or greeted Ken, until they were met by an unfamiliar face.

“Jordan, I’d like you to meet Drake. Drake Sibley,” Ken said cordially.

The man in question was an interesting sight, a couple of inches shorter than Jordan, with short blond hair and a crooked smile. He looked fairly young, but that didn’t seem to mar the extreme confidence he appeared to possess. He was also a shifter, as was every fighter on Jordan’s team.

“Jordan Vale. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said. The man exuded smug self-satisfaction. Jordan hated it.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” Jordan said, lying.

“They say Drake is going to be the next big thing. Some have even guessed he might be as big a sensation as you one day,” Ken said, beaming over the new addition to the team.

“We’ll see,” Drake said in mock humility. “And who’s this lovely lady?” he added, his attention turning to Senna.

Jordan watched as Drake unabashedly checked her out. It made him furious, and he wanted nothing more than to deck the smug bastard right then. But that would probably get him fired on the spot. Violence outside of the ring was considered unacceptable.

“Senna Christy, PR manager,” Senna replied, offering her hand to Drake, who shook it excitedly as he peered at her.

“Oh? So you’re the one that’s been working with Jordan. Perhaps you and I will have the opportunity to work together some day,” he said, his hand lingering a few moments too long. Senna pulled hers back, and Drake smiled and turned his attention back to Jordan. “So there’s a few people from the press here. Want to have a short exhibition match? Give them something to talk about?” he offered.

Jordan folded his arms. The opportunity to smash his newest least favorite person in the world was tantalizing.

“Okay, I’m in,” Jordan said, cracking his knuckles.

“How about a little wager? Something to raise the stakes?” Drake asked.

“No money, that’s all I ask. Betting on non-sanctioned exhibition matches like this is illegal,” Ken interjected. “And keep it clean. I don’t want my two best fighters injured,” he said, walking off to scold two fighters who were arguing over something on the other side of the dojo.

“Well, what do you suggest, then?” Jordan asked.

“How about a kiss from the lady?” Drake said, leering at Senna.

Jordan shook his head. “No, she’ll never accept something like—”

“Sure,” Senna interrupted. “Why not? I’m sure Mr. Vale won’t care either way,” she said, her icy gaze burning into Jordan.

Jordan was stunned. What was she getting at? Surely she wasn’t interested in Drake, was she?

“It’s on!” Drake said excitedly, heading toward the caged practice arena in the center and getting inside.

“What’s this all about?” Jordan said under his breath to Senna while Drake waited eagerly in the ring.

“Oh, I thought we were just compatible in bed, so a little kiss from someone else shouldn’t be a problem, should it?” she whispered, arms folded.

Jordan sure as hell wasn’t going to lose to someone like Drake Sibley. It was the principle that bugged him. The fact that Senna seemed so eager to write him off.

“Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back for that kiss before you know it,” Jordan murmured, strutting toward the ring. As he walked, he threw off h sc threw is shirt and put on a pair of MMA gloves that were in his pocket. Jordan was still wearing the shorts from his workout this morning, so that wasn’t a problem.

He hopped in, closed the fence door that led into the cage, and turned to face Drake.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Drake said, putting up his hands.

A small group of fighters that had been training just a minute ago were now crowding around the ring to watch. Thankfully, it was raised, so Senna would have a clear view.

Jordan walked straight toward Drake, his movements fast and intentional. Drake threw a roundhouse kick. Jordan ducked back, then leapt forward, driving his fist into Drake’s jaw. Drake flew against the side of the cage, rattling it, and then dropped to the floor, unconscious.

There was no applause from the group of spectators, only a hushed gasp and then murmuring. Jordan left the cage and walked over to Senna, standing right in front of her. She looked up at him, agape at what he’d done to his teammate.

In the background, Jordan could hear Ken’s voice swearing as he climbed into the ring to check on the downed fighter. Ken would be angry later, but it had been Drake’s idea after all, so he wasn’t worried there would be any long-term implications. From the feel of it, Jordan had only knocked him out, not even breaking his jaw. Though part of him wished he had just for hitting on Senna.

“I want that kiss now,” Jordan said sternly, towering over the much shorter but still unmoving woman.

“A word, Jordan. In private,” Senna replied. The crowd’s attention was gradually shifting to the two of them. He picked her up and carried her to the back of the dojo and down a short hall that ended with a back room away from the view of everyone else. Then he set her down.

“Here, we’re in private. Are you happy now?” Jordan said, leaning toward Senna, determined to take the kiss he was still angry she’d offered to Drake.

As he got closer, he realized she was furious too, but he had no idea why. He’d fought for her. He’d won, and now he’d take his prize.

He reached for her, bringing her up on her toes to slant his lips over hers, feeling no resistance from her either way, and then he felt a sharp pain in his lower lip and pulled back, glaring at her angrily.

She’d bitten him, and she looked damn proud of herself too.

6

“What the hell was that for?” Jordan stepped back angrily. “Dammit, you could have just said no!”

“What is wrong with you, Jordan?” Senna asked forcefully. “First you knock out one of your teammates, and then you try to take me like some kind of prize?”

She was so frustrated with his mixed signals. Sure, she was disappointed he wasn’t the type to commit, but she’d gotten used to it. And yes, she shouldn’t have agreed to the kiss as stakes for the fight, but she’d been frustrated.

But Jordan was being so dense, and it infuriated her to no end that he’d try to act like she was his when he apparently wanted no such thing.

“You agreed to it,” he said, frustrated.

“It was impulsive. But I wouldn’t have done it if I knew it meant you were going to knock the living daylights out of your new team member,” she said. “I thought you’d learned a little restraint in our time together.”

“Drake is a complete tool. Did you not see the way he was ogling you back there?” Jordan asked, shoving a hand through his hair in frustration.

“That doesn’t mean you needed to come carry me off like some caveman. It’s not like you have any claim on me.”

Senna let out a slow breath of frustration, and Jordan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her thoughtfully.

“Is this really about the fight or something else?” he asked.

Senna plopped down onto a stack of old mats, her adrenaline fading and leaving her tired.

No point in lying to him.

“It’s just… Why are you being so protective of me when we’re not even in a relationship? You said it yourself,” she said, looking up at him.

“Just because you and I aren’t dating doesn’t mean I want you kissing other men,” he replied, sounding puzzled.

“Yeah, but that’s what I don’t get. Why do you have a right to be jealous over me?”

“I don’t know. I guess we shifters, along with preferring women with luscious curves, also don’t take too kindly to other men making advances on the woman we’re interested in,” he said.

“Interested in? What does that mean?” she asked, shaking her head. “Look, there are a lot of things I don’t know about shifters and all of that, obviously. But shifter or not, I need to know where you are in this whole thing. You’re sending seriously mixed messages.”

Jordan paused for a long moment, thinking seriously. Silence permeated the small storage room. She could hear muffled voices from the dojo, but she kept her attention on Jordan.

“I don’t know,” he said finally.

“What do you mean you don’t know? What kind of an answer is that?”

“It means I don’t know. I don’t want anyone else kissing you, touching you, or even looking at you. Just the thought of it makes me furious. But I’ve also been a lone wolf for such a long time. It’s hard to let someone in,” he said solemnly.

Senna just watched him, his eyes showing tiny micro expressions of pain and confusion.

“So what next?” Senna replied, standing up, her arms still crossed.

“I say we finish our time together and see what happens.”

“That’s not good enough for me, Jordan. I don’t want to sound clingy, but if you’re not sure if you’re interested or not, then we’re probably better off keeping our distance from each other. It will make things a whole lot easier and whole lot less complicated,” she said, exasperated.

To be honest, Senna wasn’t sure what she wanted either. And if Jordan had come straight after her, she probably would have flat-out run away. Just the thought of being with a man again terrified her. Of being that vulnerable, that close to someone who could hurt you if they wanted to.

“If that’s what you want, then I’ll respect it,” he said, walking toward her, her back turned to him. “But in the meantime, I think you should make good on that promise of yours.”

Senna turned to see a pair of deep reddish-brown eyes peering at her intently, mere inches from her face. Just being this close to him, the air instantly heated around her, like someone had turned the thermostat up twenty degrees.

“Surely you must be joking,” she choked out, her voice catching in her throat at the sight of the gorgeous man so very close to her. She could make out each defined muscle across his abs and chest and shoulders. His dark hair was still perfect, un-mussed from the two-second match with Drake.

“I take promises very seriously I’ll have you know,” he said, his full lips teasing her with each movement.

He inched ever so slightly closer to her, towering over her.

“Well, make it a quick one, then,” she tried to retort but caught herself licking her own lips in conflicted antinotflictedcipation. “I won’t have people saying I’m not a woman of my word.”

“How honorable of you,” he said, putting his hands on the wall behind her, caging her in on all sides. She could see the tattoos on his arms, could see desire burning in his eyes.

He brought his lips over hers in a powerful kiss that rocked her to the core. It reignited everything she’d felt for him since last night. His lips were warm against hers, and as he opened his mouth, hers instinctively followed suit. As his tongue slid inside her, her entire body heated with a burning passion for him all over again.

Senna knew this was crazy. But it felt so good, so right, she couldn’t resist. What could one last kiss hurt?

His tongue moved inside her mouth, slowly stroking her with agonizingly controlled motions over the most sensitive spots. Each small movement made her gasp as he held their lips together tightly with his, anchoring and surrounding her with his powerful arms.

Senna had no clue how long the kiss lasted. It could have been two seconds or two minutes for all she knew. But when Jordan finally pulled back, she could see more than just desire in his eyes as they watched hers. His lips were red and slightly swollen from the kiss, and she wanted to pull him back to her and pick up where they left off.

“I’ll wait for you in the main room of the dojo, to drive you home,” he said silently, then pushed off the wall and walked away, not looking back.

Senna felt her lips, like the whole thing had just been a waking dream. Everything about this confused her. Did Jordan actually want her or not?

Regardless, whatever it was, it was clear her body still responded to him. She took deep breath, straightened her blouse, and headed back inside to get her things.

As Senna came back inside the dojo, she saw Jordan speaking with Ken. Ken was clearly furious with him, but between looking attentive and nodding disinterestedly, she could feel Jordan watching her as she crossed the dojo, his gaze possessive and intense.

Senna went into the office where she, Jordan, and Ken had met earlier to grab her purse, but when she reached for it, she found a small note poking out of the center.

She picked up the note and opened it. The handwriting was small and in bolded letters.

I’m watching you closely. I’m coming for you soon.

I’ll be there when you least expect it.

Senna could feel her jaw tightening as she read it a second and third time, then looked on the back to see if there was anything else. No signature. No address. Nothing.

Senna froze up, her hand locking around the small piece of paper. Her mind began to flood with fear and terrible memories.

So she wasn’t crazy. It had to be her ex who’d been watching her this past week. He had even been here, in this very room, at some point. The thought unnerved her, and she looked around her frantically, wondering if he was still near. The possibility of it freaked her out.

She scanned the dojo but saw no sign of him. Only unfamiliar faces of fighters and random news people loitering around or chatting with each other.

How he had snuck into the dojo unnoticed and put the note in her purse while she was there, she had no clue. He’d done things like this before, but this was too far.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Jordan walked into the room, looking exasperated at the berating he’d just received.

“You ready to go, Senna?” he asked. His gaze turned from tired to confused as he saw Senna’s face and the note she clutched in a still hand. “What’s wrong? What’s this?Theat’s ” He took it and glanced at it before she realized what he was doing. “A note from a secret admirer?” He unfolded it as she stared in horror.

She didn’t know when or if she was planning to tell him.

It wasn’t like there was anything he could do.

As he read it, his expression turned unbelievably dark. The paper crackled as he crushed the note in his hand, and he seemed to need a moment to compose himself.

“What is this? Who gave this to you?” he said, voice tight with anger and concern.

“I… It was just here in my purse. I’m not sure,” she tried to eke out, but her throat was tightening.

“Has this happened before? Is someone following you?” he asked, sounding more angry. Clearly not at her, but at whoever had left the note.

Senna had nobody else she could tell. Tiffany was on the road right now, and she’d already told her family and other friends in the past and received no help from them. No one could really do anything about someone who hid like a creeper but never showed their face.

Still, Jordan had found the note, so she might as well tell him what she thought was going on.

“Yes. I… I think it’s my ex-boyfriend from years ago. He stalked me before. It’s just… he hasn’t for a long time…” She trailed off, words escaping her.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier? I could have helped.” He watched her with concern, his eyes dark and his brows lowered.

“I didn’t think he would come back.” Her own words scared her. The thought of it was too much to bear. She suddenly felt eyes all over her, watching her. Like she was standing in the middle of a crowded room and everyone was observing her every movement, judging and hating and wanting her all at the same time.

She whirled around wildly, trying to find whoever it was that was looking, but found no one.

“Hey, you okay?” Jordan asked, gripping her softly by the shoulders and holding her.

“I… I don’t feel safe here,” she could hear herself murmur.

“Let’s get out of here. I’ll take you back to the house,” he said, picking up her purse and bringing an arm around her to usher her out of the room discretely. “When we get back, you can tell me the rest, okay?” he said.

His words, along with the touch of his hand on the small of her back, soothed her slightly, and she went with him out to the car. She could still sense someone was watching her, but as long as Jordan was with her, she felt safer.

“Will you stay the night?” she asked as he opened the car door for her.

“Of course. After that note, I’m not letting you out of my sight,” he said, his words sincere. He hopped in and started the engine.

As they prepared to drive off, Senna felt like she could still sense the person who had written the note was nearby. And now that she knew she was part wolf, she was much more willing to trust her instincts.

She closed her eyes and counted the seconds until they would be safe indoors again.

Jordan hadn’t seen this coming. He’d noticed a couple of times, especially when they were out and around crowds, Senna had acted strange or slightly spooked. But until now, she’d never given him a reason to believe it was anything more than something similar to his dislike of crowds or her just having an “off” day.

As they drove up to the house, Jordan saw Senna was paler than a sheet. He came around to her side of the car and picked her up, closing the door with his leg and carrying her inside the house. He locked the door behind him and then carried her up to her bedroom, laying her down carefully on ttelrefullyhe soft bed and pulling the blankets around her.

She was starting to look less frightened than she had in the dojo, but Senna was still clearly shaken by the note she’d found in her purse. Anyone would be. Jordan burned to know more about the situation that had her this frightened, but didn’t want to make her panic again by forcing it.

“If it’s too hard to talk about right now, that’s okay,” Jordan said. He was still figuring out his own feelings for Senna. He knew he wanted her, knew his wolf wanted her, but didn’t know if they could really work out or not.

But he would be damned if he let anything happen to her. He’d protect her with his last breath.

“No, you need to know. You’re involved in this now, whether I like it or not,” she said, sitting up in the bed, looking tired but strong at the same time. Strong because she’d clearly been through tough things in her life and had come through them because of her inner strength. Jordan admired that.

“It was one of the reasons I went into working PR for myself. I needed to travel, needed to be somewhere new every month, needed to have an irregular schedule so he couldn’t find me. But it looks like he did regardless,” she said, looking down at her trembling hands in her lap.

“Who?” Jordan asked.

“And it’s been years. I thought it was all over, that I could put it all behind me,” she said, continuing her own thought.

“What happened?” he asked, wanting to be persistent, but not pushy. She was obviously going through a lot in her head right now.

“He was my first real boyfriend. We met while we were in college. I was working on my marketing degree back then. Everything seemed so perfect at first. And I felt so lucky because before that, nobody seemed to notice me.”

“That’s ridiculous. You’re the hottest woman I’ve ever met, Senna.” He wasn’t lying.

She chuckled disbelievingly. “Be that as it may, until him, I didn’t exactly have boys lining up at my door.”

There was a long pause. Jordan remained standing but kept his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t fold his arms and start pacing. Whoever this man was, Jordan knew he hated him with everything he possessed for what he did to make Senna feel like this.

He wanted to protect her, which meant right now, he just waited and listened.

Senna took a deep breath and continued. “Everything felt so right at the start. We both graduated, and I got a great job at the marketing firm that worked with the MMA leagues. I moved in with him. We even talked once or twice about getting married.” She paused again, and Jordan could see tears starting to well up in her eyes.

“You can stop if you need to,” he said, kneeling down next to her.

She didn’t. “But then it changed. He changed. I don’t know what triggered it. Maybe because he had a hard time keeping a job. Maybe it was because I was doing great at my job. But whatever it was, he started to get angrier with me. Whenever we talked, we fought. He started tearing me down emotionally whenever he had the chance, like he was trying to break me.”

Hatred welled in Jordan’s heart. Hatred for this man that, if he ever had the chance to meet, he would break like a toothpick without a second thought.

“I tried to break it off before things got worse, but he got clingy. Told me he needed me more than ever, even on the same days he would torture me verbally. I finally moved out, with Tiffany’s help, but he wouldn’t let me go. He’d follow me around town. He’d wait outside for me after work, try to reason with me and get back together with me. It was too much. It started affecting my work. So when I was given the opportunity to work freelance with a low-tier fighter, I jumpeto ter, I d on the chance to leave my job and my routine and find a new life.”

Jordan ached for this woman he so badly wanted to defend from all the hardships she’d endured. He’d never in his life felt like this about another person. The only person that had given a damn about him and his future had been himself. As a result, he’d long been used to only watching his own back. But Senna changed everything. He wanted to keep her safe always. Wanted to make her happy.

“And the rest is history I guess?” he asked.

“Yes. I left my old job and took on working with fighters full time. Thankfully, people seemed to think I was pretty good at it, and the pay isn’t bad either. Above all, it keeps me on the move. Keeps me in a different place each time. But now, this changes everything. I didn’t think he’d be able to find me again. Maybe because this job is pretty close to home. Or maybe because he’s desperate.”

“Whatever it is, you’ll be safe here, Senna,” Jordan said calmly, reaching out his hand to cover hers. “You have my word.”

With that, the tears Senna had been holding back started to flow freely. Jordan instinctively wrapped his arms around her, hoping they would offer some sort of comfort.

Our mate, Jordan could hear his wolf growl. He didn’t disagree, but put it out of his head for now. He’d have to figure that out later.

“The worst part was…” she said, choking between soft, heartbreaking sobs. “The worst part was being afraid I’d never get another chance at finding someone.”

Jordan just listened and let her cry on his shoulder. His wolf snarled at him for not speaking up and telling her she’d already found someone, but he didn’t think any sort of confession of love or whatever the two of them had together would be appropriate right now. Not with her stalker still out there and not with her experiencing so much turmoil.

As her crying subsided, Jordan came behind her and laid her down to rest on the bed, cuddling her closely from behind. She seemed soothed by it, and he pulled the sheets up over her as she nestled into the soft pillows. Jordan frankly didn’t know why he’d decided several years ago to build and furnish such a lavish mansion he thought he’d never use. But the fact that it was a safe place for Senna made it all worthwhile.

She fell asleep in his arms, and while he listened to her soft, silent breaths, he contemplated what to do next.

And what the hell he should do when their three weeks were over.

7

The next day, Jordan insisted they take the day off and relax, much to Senna’s protest. After crying it out last night, she felt much better and was both embarrassed and comforted by the fact that Jordan had listened so attentively while she gushed all the pent-up emotion and fear she’d been clinging to the past week.

Senna refused to stay in though, to Jordan’s chagrin. She didn’t want fear to rule her life, and as long as Jordan was with her, she felt safe. So they compromised on going to the mall. It was a weekday morning and, as such, wouldn’t be busy at all.

“So anywhere in particular you’d like to go?” Jordan asked as they walked in. The mall they chose was in the nicer part of town, so it tended to attract a more expensive crowd than the typical places Senna shopped.

Today, Jordan was wearing a dark pair of worn-looking jeans and a fitted shirt with another absurd, macabre but artistic sort of print that suited his style. But despite his rugged appearance, Senna got the inkling Jordan wasn ag ’t a cheap person and if he shopped in places like this, his rougher look might be spendier than one would have otherwise thought.

“Nowhere in particular. I just enjoy window-shopping,” Senna said as she admired the beautiful, glittering shops all around her.

“Well, I know just the right place for that, if it’s what you’re in the mood for,” he said, pointing at an expensive jewelry store to their right.

Senna saw no harm in it since she didn’t get easily attached to things like jewelry or clothes.

And Jordan seemed more than happy to accompany her wherever they decided to go, so it didn’t really matter. Just being around him soothed her. She could feel his protective presence guarding her at all times.

They walked in and were greeted by a formally dressed employee.

“So what are you? A ring person? A necklace person? Or more of a bracelet wearer?” Jordan asked casually, looking at the various pieces on display in the many cases.

“Kind of none of the above. My job pays all right, but not excessively well. I get by, but I don’t really have the time or money to invest in things like this,” Senna replied, admiring the workmanship.

“So something like this doesn’t suit your fancy?” he asked, pointing at a necklace with big, fancy flowers dripping in crystals.

Senna laughed. “No, not really. If I had a preference, it would be for more simple, symbolic things. Say… like this,” she replied, motioning to a small pair of earrings shaped like water droplets. “There’s a lot of potential meaning there.”

“Ah, so earrings are your thing?” he asked curiously.

“Not really. I don’t get to look at them, so what’s the point of having nice ones on?”

“That makes sense actually. Hadn’t thought of it that way before,” he said thoughtfully.

They browsed for a while and then decided ice cream was in order. As they walked, they discussed everything, from what it was like being a professional fighter to all the exotic or interesting locations they’d visited with their work, to their favorite hobbies.

After they’d ordered and sat down to enjoy their ice cream, Jordan furnished a small box from his back pocket, wrapped in a colored bow and touting the name of the store they’d just visited.

“I wanted to get you something small to say thanks for getting me back into the swing of things. Your help has made all the difference.”

Senna was shocked. “What? You really shouldn’t have, Jordan.”

“Nothing huge, just a token of my appreciation. Please, open it,” he said, motioning to the small box.

Senna opened it. Inside was a small pouch, and inside that was a gold bracelet with a key attached at one end. The workmanship was perfect, classy and understated. There was a small price tag still connected to the bracelet by a piece of string that the clerk must have forgotten to remove, and Senna gulped at the cost.

Apparently, Jordan Vale’s “token” of appreciation came in 18-karat gold.

“What you said about symbols… I figured this could have multiple meanings. Not only because you work with fighters in locked cage matches, but on a deeper level. You’re the one who holds the key to unlocking your destiny, your future. Nobody else.”

“It’s perfect. Thank you, Jordan.” It appeared he really was a thoughtful person at heart to have put that much consideration into what he got her in the small time they spent in the store. “How did you get it?” she asked, putting it on and enjoying how it caught the light in the mall.

“When you were looking at the paintings in the store, I slipped the clerk my card and told him to box it up. Then when you weren’t ling werenooking, he handed me the package,” he said with a devious grin. “As I see it, whatever they’re paying you, I’m sure it’s not enough to make it worth having to deal with me,” he said unapologetically.

Working with you has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my entire life, she thought.

The hardest part was that it had to end though.

They enjoyed their ice cream and chatting as Senna enjoyed the wonderful gift Jordan gave her while she tried not to look too far into it. The gift hadn’t come with any pronunciation of love or feelings from him. No promise of commitment. Just gratitude for doing her job. No strings attached, no matter how much she wanted there to be. So for now, she had to keep her distance.

When they got back to the car, having enjoyed their morning outing, Senna was surprised when Jordan drove them back to the dojo instead of the mansion.

As Senna followed Jordan inside, she saw Jordan’s younger brother, Asher, working a punching bag like there was no tomorrow.

“Hey, bro, mind if we use the dojo for a bit?” Jordan called out.

“Sure,” he said, holding the bag and turning to Senna and Jordan. “Next class isn’t for a couple hours. Just keep the place in one piece.”

“Can do,” Jordan said, giving Asher an awkward wave as he walked past them and out the back exit.

Jordan walked out onto the mat and pulled off his shirt, then went to a cubby and pulled out a set of gloves and a set of striking pads, tossing them into the middle of the floor.

“What’s this all about?” Senna asked, curious as to what Jordan was doing.

“Something I’ve been thinking about since yesterday,” he answered cryptically.

“And that is?”

“Come here,” he said, motioning to her. She took off her shoes and came onto the mats. When she was next to him, he handed her a pair of gloves.

“I think you’ve done a great job at taking back control of your life after what happened to you. But I think if you’re going to be able to be truly confident you’re safe, whether it’s with someone or by yourself, you’ll need to know how to defend yourself. So starting now, for the next few hours, I want to teach you the best techniques I know.”

“I don’t know about this,” Senna said hesitantly. She was the opposite of a violent person and was somewhat uncomfortable with the idea.

“I want to be there for you, but I also want you to always know you can protect yourself. To let that inner strength I know you have show on the outside, if the time ever comes that you need it.”

“So are you going to teach me mixed martial arts?” she said, putting on the gloves, which were light and cut off at the fingers, giving her knuckles padding but not limiting the movement of her hands.

“Yes and no. Most of this stuff is illegal in sanctioned matches. For good reason.” His voice was deep and serious. It was obvious he wasn’t taking this lightly. “But first, we’ll start with the basics,” he said, picking up two rectangular pads and holding them up in front of him. “Lesson number one: striking.”

Senna put up her fists. She was going to do her best.

After training for a couple hours, Jordan was pleased with how much Senna had learned in a short period of time, and even Senna seemed jazzed about her new knowledge and skill. Jordan hoped to continue the lessons over the next couple days.

They were drained by the time they decided to walk home from the dojo. Thankfully, it was only a few minutes’ walk, and it gave them a chance to chat and let their bodies cool down from the exertion.

dth="2em">And from the sexual tension. Even though Jordan stayed entirely professional during the lessons, the second they were finished and he watched her glowing as she gathered her things to go home, his body heated just knowing she was there, close and happy.

It was hard being around such a drop-dead gorgeous woman. Every time he found his eyes wandering over her luscious curves, he had to remind himself there were bigger things to focus on than how much he wanted her body.

She had a stalker out there somewhere. And whether the threat was physical or verbal, it was real either way.

When they reached his house, Jordan led her in and then locked the door behind them.

Now that they were safe and alone, the sexual tension seemed even more palpable.

“I’m going to take a shower,” he said, starting toward the steps. She’d be safe here now that they were home behind locked doors, and he needed a few minutes to calm himself so he could give her the space she needed. “Is that okay?” he asked.

Senna nodded and then paused. “Wait, Jordan,” she said in a hesitant voice, making him pause on the steps and look down at her.

“Yes?”

“I, um… This may sound like an odd request, but could you use the shower in my room? I still get creeped out being in my room by myself, and I want to know you’re nearby if I need you,” she said shyly.

“Sure thing. Of course,” he said, feeling oddly proud that she trusted him like that. “I’ll just grab my clothes and take them in with me.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sure that’s really weird. I’m just still a bit on edge after yesterday, you know?”

“Makes sense. I’ll be in and out before you know it,” he replied, coming up the stairs with her, going into his room to grab fresh clothes, and then coming over to her room. She’d already nestled onto her bed and opened a book by the time he went in, but he could feel her eyes following him whenever his back was turned.

Jordan made the shower quick, but it was hard not to be aroused at the thought of her voluptuous breasts in his hands, getting her off over and over again like he had the other night, tasting her again.

When Jordan finished his shower and got out, he realized he’d forgotten underwear when he grabbed clothes. And going commando while turned on wasn’t a great idea.

He decided he’d just go back to his room and change really quick. Try to be nonchalant.

He wrapped a towel around his waist, exited the bathroom, and walked for the door.

“Sorry, I forgot something. Be right back,” he said, moving quickly.

Senna’s eyes popped up from their place in the book she was reading. She met his gaze for a moment, and then he felt her eyes roam over his body. Just watching her watch him like that made Jordan want to pounce her right there on the bed.

She seemed happy and calm, and he couldn’t resist teasing her.

“Like what you see?” he asked. He was still wet from the shower, and he flexed his arms and chest for her, noticing her blush got redder and more pronounced the longer he stood there in front of her. He always liked getting a reaction out of her, but this was the best kind.

“I don’t know,” she said in a husky voice. “You’ll have to come a little closer so I can see.

Jordan did so. “And is the inspector pleased with what she sees?” he said playfully, moving closer.

“Very,” she said, her gaze fixed on him.

“Any last requests before I have to cover this up?” he said, motioning to his body. Jordan was enjoying the foreplay, whether it was going anywhere or not.

Part of him cautioned against taking it any further, burda furthet his raw, animal desire to claim her, to take her and make her his, was stronger.

Senna paused. “I can think of one or two things,” she said.

Hot damn.

Senna was out of her mind. She could tell what she was about to do was insane. But she just couldn’t help it. Every part of her wanted Jordan Vale. She could deny it no longer.

Just having him in the connecting room got her wet. Hearing him in the shower, imaging those chiseled muscles and perfect face, those nearly crimson eyes burning with lust for her, his hands all over her. She hadn’t been able to read a single page since he went in.

And reading sure as hell wasn’t the first thing on her mind right now.

Jordan appeared torn between taking her invitation to do awesome things to her and walking away.

“I don’t know,” he said, running a hand through his dark, gorgeous hair. “I don’t want to rush you. Especially when things are still… complicated.”

“Then just a kiss,” she said. “For that night you teased me at the dojo.”

“Sounds fair,” he said, as if negotiating.

Senna knew she was baiting him, and she knew he knew. But it was clear that right now, there was only one thing on both of their minds.

And Senna wanted him as badly as he wanted her. Damn the consequences.

He came close, his tall, wet body reaching over her on the bed, the corner of his lips curled on one side in a wry smile, his gaze roving over her unabashedly, and her eyes unable to keep from enjoying every inch of his body exposed to her view.

Jordan was as close to her now as he was those nights ago. But this time her head was filled with all of the incredible things she was imagining him doing to her. All the things he could be doing right now.

He came forward and kissed her on the lips. First softly, barely brushing hers with his, the feel sensual and arousing. Then it deepened as his mouth covered hers entirely, enveloping her and filling her with fire and desire and want beyond anything she’d experienced before. But before he could do more, Jordan ended the kiss, backing an inch away from her.

“We should probably stop before we go any further,” he said, his voice raw.

“Don’t you dare stop, Jordan Vale, or I’ll never forgive you,” she growled, her blue eyes burning with passion. She appreciated he was trying to be sensitive to her feelings, but she could wait no longer.

“Spoken like a true wolf,” he said with a low growl in his voice.

Jordan came down and kissed her again but wasted no time in moving from her mouth to her ear, going straight for the one tiny spot behind her earlobe that drove her crazy with desire as he kissed it, the touch of his lips sending sparks flying through her body.

Senna didn’t wait for him to take her clothes off this time, and she threw them off as quickly as possible, leaving herself bare to him, and his eyes heated as he resumed where he left off.

The air was warming rapidly with each kiss. Each stroke of his hands as he ran them up and down her body while he kissed and lightly bit the sensitive areas on her neck tantalized her. And she could pick out his scent perfectly mingled with the clean, post-shower smell of soap and shampoo.

He worked his way up the other side of her neck while he held her breasts, feeling and massaging them and playing with them. The sensation was magnificent. His hands were powerful and deft. Everywhere he touched came alive and filled her with heat that was building faster and faster.

Senna could hear her wolf howling its approval. It seemed an odd thing to her but somehow natural. Perha artural. ps it was some sort of sign the person she was with was a viable potential mate. Or maybe her wolf was just horny. But regardless, listening to her wolf so far had taken her magnificent places.

Even if this has to end, at least I’ll have memories like this to remember it by.

Jordan came down and began to kiss one breast while his hand massaged the other. He licked and laved and loved each one, lightly pinching the puckered nipples, which sent shocks of pleasure going through her.

Senna could feel the tension building quickly inside. And while Jordan continued to kiss on and around her beasts, he brought his hand down to the center of her hips, feeling between her soft folds and slowly stroking her.

It was too much. The combination of great kissing and massaging and his other hand working down lower completely overwhelmed her, and her breath caught as she felt an explosion of agonizing, almost painfully good pleasure sweep over her as he held her with his arms.

Being with Jordan Vale like this was ecstasy. The other night had felt like a dream to her. It was so good. But now she knew she wasn’t dreaming, and all of this only verified what she knew in the back of her mind.

She was falling for this man.

Nothing in the world compared to seeing Senna go. The tense pause he could feel in her body the second before, the way her hands dug into his back, how she screamed his name and came apart in his arms… It was all ecstasy.

It aroused him unlike anything ever before had or ever could.

As soon as her breathing abated, Jordan couldn’t resist going back to what he was doing before, this time moving more slowly with his finger over her clit. Making her feel the agonizing ecstasy he could give her to its fullest. And as he stroked her slowly, feeling her body quiver and hearing her breath catch and grow faster with each movement, he continued to worship her body with his mouth. He loved each soft curve. Her breasts, her belly, her hips, her legs. Everything was perfect.

Holy hell, I really do want this woman forever, don’t I?

The realization didn’t surprise him, and he didn’t skip a beat when it came to pleasuring his woman.

His woman. It had the sort of ring to it he liked. Mine. Mine forever, his wolf growled.

Jordan knew Senna was close again, so he brought his lips to a desperately hard nipple begging for his attention and sucked it gently as he stroked her one more time, slowly, making sure the entire length of his finger came across her clit. He wanted her pleasure as intense as possible before she came.

She orgasmed again, and as she screamed his name, he bathed in the ecstasy of feeling her soft body entwined with his and her delicious scent filling the air in the room.

“Jordan, I don’t think I can handle much more,” she gasped, her voice slightly hoarse. Jordan brought his finger to his lips with a playful, “Shush,” and brought his lips down to where his hand had been a moment ago. He looked up and saw Senna go wide-eyed with anticipation.

Surely one or two more wouldn’t hurt.

He brought his tongue down between her legs and felt for the small spot he knew would drive her crazy with arousal. He licked once, hearing her gasp in shock, then held there, breathing lightly and intentionally over her, the wetness there increasing the sensation.

“You’re torturing me,” she said, her voice husky, her hands coiled in the sheets at her sides.

Jordan loved it when she did that. When she looked like she was holding on for dear life, the feelings were so strong.

He also loved the view of her beautiful body from urvl body down here.

“Would you like me to stop?” he asked mischievously.

Senna shook her head, and he returned to what he was doing. He brought his tongue over her again, but this time, he also went inside her with his finger, feeling her wetness while his tongue laved the center of her desire.

She was so ready for him it made him painfully hard. The feel of her body, the marvelous touch of her soft skin, her scent, and oh, the sweet, sweet taste of Senna in his mouth.

He could feel her tense inside each time his tongue crossed over her, and each time he did, he felt a little deeper inside, stroking and moving in time with his tongue.

Senna arched her back in arousal at the sensation, her hips bucking toward the source of her pleasure.

Jordan was satisfied that she was ready and, with a final motion, brought his tongue over her one last time as he held her hips with both hands, feeling for her body’s signals that she was going to come.

Senna came again, and Jordan brought his body over hers so she could anchor herself to him as the sweet sound of his name on her lips as she went filled his ears.

He would never get tired of doing that to her. Ever.

This was truly the happiest Jordan had ever been in his thus far lonely life. The possibility that Senna was the one for him had always been there. It was there from the beginning. But the undeniable truth that he loved nothing more than making her happy, protecting her, and pleasuring her was getting clearer by the second.

If he had Senna for the rest of his life, he would be the luckiest man on the earth.

But did she want him forever too?

Jordan was interrupted by Senna’s hands stroking him now, the sensation surprising him.

“You know what I want now. Give it to me,” she said in a sultry, provocative tone. His woman knew what she wanted, and he liked that.

Jordan leapt off the bed and grabbed a condom. He put it on quickly as he walked back to Senna and came over her on the bed.

Senna’s eyes were alight with passion and desire. Jordan had loved that about her from the moment they’d met—that inner spark she possessed.

He would always want to guard her and keep that safe from anyone else.

Jordan spent no time teasing his woman, and he slowly slipped inside her, the soft, wet velvet of her warmth encompassing him with sweet ecstasy. He savored the sight of Senna as she gasped and her eyes rolled back as he came inside and waited, letting her adjust to his sheer size.

It felt so unfathomably good, feeling like one person with this beautiful, luscious, intelligent woman who had somehow been able to surprise him at every turn. Had been able to captivate him from the second he’d seen her.

Once her breathing slowed a bit and Jordan was satisfied she was ready, he began to move out slowly, gauging her reaction, watching closely how she responded as he moved.

It was important to him that everything he did satisfied her.

She let out a soft, aroused sigh that made him shudder from how much it turned him on. He began to move more quickly, falling into a steady rhythm that made his nerves explode from just how damn good it felt. He couldn’t help bringing a hand up and cupping her face, gathering stray strands and bringing them behind her ear, then running his thumb over her cheek.

He felt oddly connected to Senna, almost as if they were already mated, even if they weren’t. And as he looked into her pretty blue eyes, he could sense a similar feeling from her.

She nestled against his hand and then let out another moan as he drove into her, the sound filling his ears and getting him closer and closer to the edge.

The heat k tm">The and passion of the moment was at a fever pitch, and Jordan was ready to send them both cascading over the precipice of pleasure to face whatever happened next.

He reached his other hand down to her center, refusing to go without her, and stroked the small point that made Senna gasp loudly and grasp onto him tightly. With one final thrust, he gave one last flick along her that caused her entire body to tense in his arms as she came.

That brought him to his limit, and Jordan met her all the way inside, hip to hip, as he could feel his entire body ignite with fire that radiated from the tips of his fingers, down his arms, and back all the way to his toes.

Powerful sensation after sensation surged through him as he went. He held Senna closely, aware of her orgasm and pleased she was fully satisfied by it. The release was so incredible, so intoxicatingly good.

Even after he was finished, he stayed next to Senna, just enjoying the sound of her breathing as it slowed, enjoyed the warmth of their two bodies so close together.

How was he going to tell her how he really felt? The first time he’d been with her had been amazing. They’d been new to each other, still exploring and getting to know one another. This time had been an awakening, exposing him to feelings so strong he didn’t know how to handle them.

He wanted Senna. Not just for now, but forever.

But what if she rejected him and decided to just move on?

His wolf couldn’t take it.

He tried to put the thought out of his mind as he got up, cleaned up, and came back to the bed to lie next to Senna, but he couldn’t shake it.

He had no idea what to do now.

8

The next day, Senna woke in Jordan’s arms, happy and content and safe. But when he got up to make her breakfast, they got a phone call that changed everything. It was Ken, asking Jordan if he and Senna could meet with him to talk business, and Senna couldn’t help worrying about what the meeting meant for them.

Last night had been complicated, had stirred up emotions in her and made her realize just how much she cared for Jordan. It had also made her worried it would be that much more devastating if they couldn’t figure out a way to work things out.

After last night, she felt Jordan clearly had feelings for her, but the question remained if they were stronger than his desire to get back to focusing on his career.

When that happened, he’d be training every day with his teammates at the team dojo, and Senna would never be able to stay with him then.

In the past few years, she’d only felt safe by never staying too long in the same place. She’d felt safe here because Jordan was with her, but if he started training again, it would require full-time focus, and she’d need to go back to watching out for herself. Which meant staying mobile.

Still, last night, she’d just wanted to stay in his arms and enjoy the warmth and safety there for a little bit longer.

She’d decided to deal with the more complicated issues when their time was over.

The problem was she had a feeling this meeting with Ken might mean their time was over sooner than she’d thought.

When they arrived, Ken met them both with a warm smile and ordered coffee for them. He looked particularly happy today to see them both.

“So how are things going with my best fighter and the best PR consultant in the business?” he asked flatteringly.

“Good. What did you need to call us in for T

“Huge news for the both of you. So I spoke with the league and with the sponsors and told them about the progress you’ve been making with Ms. Christy the past little while, and they’ve agreed to host a fight to welcome you back into the pro tour. Well, you’ll have the one fight and then you’ll need to focus on training full time with the team before tour season.”

Jordan nodded, his expression neutral. Ken continued. “They’ve already gotten a fighter to agree to face you, and they’ve set up everything—the venue, the press release. They’ve even gotten several sports stations to come out and record it live.” Ken was clearly very excited.

“So what will happen to Senna?” Jordan asked.

“Ms. Christy will be paid for the full three weeks, plus a bonus. All she has to do is make an appearance at the promotional fight to fulfill her contract, and then she’s finished. You won’t have to worry about her following you around anymore. And you, Senna, can take some paid time off from dealing with him. How does that sound?” he asked, turning and looking at her and then back at Jordan.

Jordan paused, showing no discernible emotions at Ken’s words.

In the back of her mind, Senna was filled with dread. There were still so many things left unsaid that she’d assumed could be worked out if given enough time.

But the countdown timer on their reason to be together had just been set to zero.

“I think it would be a huge surprise for the fans to have you back so soon. And all your sponsors are excited to see you in the ring,” he added, sounding pleased with himself.

Senna saw Jordan wince for a split second, then smile weakly at his boss, who was, by most accounts, giving them both incredible news.

The only problem was things were a lot different now than back when they’d first met.

“Well, regardless, Jordan, I have to head out right now to meet a few people. The press release is at the team dojo in an hour, and you need to be there, so I suggest you leave soon as well,” he said, looking at his watch, then standing to leave. “Mind getting the tab?” he said without asking, then left before any answer could be given.

As the door to the cafe swung shut, Senna was intensely aware of how quiet Jordan was. He seemed to be deeper in thought than he’d ever been before.

“So are you excited?” Senna asked weakly. “Looks like you’ll be back on the road sooner than we thought.” She tried to keep her spirits up, tried to remind herself this was going to just be a passing thing anyway, that it couldn’t have lasted, even if they’d had more time. But her brain was sending messages her heart wasn’t receiving.

Jordan turned abruptly to Senna, studying her intently.

“If I had you hired as the team’s public relations manager, would you stay here with me?”

The words shocked her. She hadn’t expected something like that to come from his lips.

“I, well…” She trailed off, trying to think things through.

“I want to be with you, Senna. I should have said it sooner, and all this has complicated things. I know the past couple of weeks have been crazy for you—finding out you’re a shifter, your ex coming back, our relationship. But I won’t just let you disappear out of my life when you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Her heart leapt at his words, but Senna was still reeling from the news Ken had given.

“I’m not just asking you to be my girlfriend. I want to be mated to you,” he said.

essage"2em">“Mated?”

“It’s the shifter version of marriage. Only it doesn’t end, like marriages can end in divorce. It means we’ll always have each other.”

“So you just want me to stay here, waiting while you train?”

His expression fell slightly. “Do you not want to?”

She sighed and brushed hair behind her ears. “It’s not that. It’s just… Look. You’ll have your career, and I need to look out for myself. I can’t do that if I’m pinned down to one location.”

He looked panicked. “You want me to walk away from my career, my team? MMA is the one thing I’ve known. It’s all I was able to eat, sleep, or breathe since I was a kid. Do you want me to leave that all behind, then?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “I don’t want you to walk away.” She fought back tears. “But I have to do what’s right for me too.”

“What’s right for you is to stay by my side. I would be there for you. I promise. Senna, what do you want from me?” he asked, exasperated.

Senna didn’t know what she wanted. She knew she felt very strongly for Jordan. Probably even loved him. But she also knew her sense of security, her sense of self, had been dependent on mobility for such a long time.

She couldn’t just stay in an office here, writing press releases and going home alone while Jordan stayed late or even overnight.

He was caring and protective, but he’d quickly be caught up in training. As he should be. It wasn’t fair of her to stay around and be a burden, not now that he’d been given everything back.

Senna perked herself up, trying to be as formal and impersonal as possible. “You are no longer in need of my services. I’ve seen to that personally. Now you go take care of your business, Mr. Vale. I’ll see you tomorrow at the fight, and then our business is finished,” Senna said. She could take no more, mentally or emotionally.

Maybe if she had more time, things could have been different. Maybe if there were some way of knowing unequivocally that things would work out.

But life was never that simple.

“Now take me home, Mr. Vale. You have a press release to be at,” she said, sounding colder than she’d intended.

Jordan frowned, pulled out his keys, and dropped several high-value bills on the cafe table.

Best to end things quickly and move on to the next place.

Tomorrow would be the last she saw of Jordan Vale.

The day of the fight came on like a freight train. Jordan was upset. Angry. Frustrated that Senna wouldn’t take a chance with him. Frustrated with himself that he’d been unable to convince her what they felt for each other was real, so much more real than anything else either of their careers or their lives apart could offer.

But he would be an idiot to think she didn’t have reasons for what she did. He knew she was afraid, that she didn’t trust easily.

But his damn wolf wouldn’t stop howling for her. It was there, constantly, fighting for what it wanted more than anything.

He could only hope Senna would somehow change her mind, because he wasn’t going to be the one to force something on her against her will. She’d gotten enough of that shit in her life already.

The event was relatively small compared to most of the fights he’d participated in over the years. Clearly, it had been thrown together fairly last minute, but the turnout was still good. The promoters had done a good job of getting the word out, and anything with his name on it tended to attract attention, both good and bad.

Senna arrived to the event unaccompanied. He had insisted she stay Cted to attruntil the fight, just so he could keep an eye on her as long as possible. But he’d stayed in a room far from hers, where he could keep watch over the house, so this was the first he’d seen of her since yesterday.

She wore the same formal-looking blouse and skirt as when he’d first met her. It seemed ironic they had come full circle, back to where they’d started.

It made him angry. But even in spite of it, her luscious curves teased him at every glance. Made him painfully aware of her.

“Mr. Vale,” she said, nonplussed.

“Ms. Christy,” he replied dryly.

“So are you excited?” Ken asked, coming up to them and interrupting their staring contest. “Now remember, just make sure to give them a good fight. I had to pull a lot of strings to get these TV stations to even consider coming, so if you kill their time slots by finishing the fight in one punch again, you can pretty much consider your career over.”

“Yes, please don’t waste all the time we had to spend working on your public image by ruining this,” Senna said. She sounded formal, businesslike, but he could sense a twinge of regret in her voice at her mention of their time together.

Maybe his wolf was just trying to hear what it wanted to hear though.

“If you’d like to be seated, I’ve saved spots for the two of us right there in the front row.” Ken pointed to two front-row seats with a perfect view of the fight, and she went off to take one.

As she walked over to her seat, alone, Jordan was painfully aware of the openness of the arena and the nameless crowds surrounding everything. If the stalker knew she was with Jordan, they would know she was here.

Whether they were going to be together or not, Jordan could never let anything happen to her.

He would never stop wanting to protect her.

Ken turned to go sit as well, but Jordan grabbed him, surprising him.

“Ken, if I could ask a personal favor,” he said under his breath, hoping to not draw Senna’s attention.

“Sure, whatever you need,” he replied.

“Just, during and after the fight, there are a lot of people here. Could you keep an eye on Senna for me? Just make sure she’s safe,” he asked, hoping he didn’t sound ridiculous but unable to put it out of his mind.

“Of course. I won’t leave her side. You just take care of what you need to and give the people a good show. Draw it out. Give them something to cheer for. I’ll take care of Ms. Christy,” he said with a smile.

Jordan was satisfied with that. If the stalker was here, they’d be no match for Ken. Ken might be smaller and shorter than Jordan, but he was a shifter, and no human was a match for a shifter with training like Ken had. He was, after all, an MMA team manager.

Jordan just had to focus on this fight and get back to his career. Any attempts to persuade Senna right now would just make her think he was like her ex, a monster who didn’t listen or care about her feelings.

He’d just have to win the fight and then he could continue thinking about his next move in making Senna his mate.

A bell sounded, and Jordan’s name was called.

He walked up to the ring and went inside.

The crowd roared.

Jordan wished it were over already.

While waiting for the fight, Senna was resolute. She’d watch this match and then leave this city and her stalker and Jordan Vale behind her. Hopefully forever.

Somehow, she doubted she’d ever be able to forget him though.

The moderately sized crowd was very receptive seeing Jordan in the ring. Hopefully, C. Hforall the time they’d spent doing interviews, networking, and trying to give him a better reputation had worked.

But seeing Jordan up there, wearing only his gloves and shorts, she couldn’t help but ache for his touch again. She desired him still so badly, and she knew her wolf did too.

“Ms. Christy?” She heard Ken leaning toward her, speaking just barely loud enough for her to hear him over the crowd. “May I speak with you in private for a moment? It’s about the contract and your payment. I’d rather not talk money in public.”

“Isn’t the match about to start?” Senna replied, puzzled.

“It looks like they need to reset the PA system,” he said, pointing to several technicians working at a tangle of wires coming from a small metal box at the base of the ring. “And this will only take a few moments. I promise.”

“Sure, just as long as we’re back in time for the fight.” Senna wanted to see Jordan’s body in motion one last time, a memory for the many times she’d watched him working out at his dojo, admiring every corded muscle working in tandem across his beautiful frame.

As she and Ken got up to go down a side hallway reserved for fighters and managers only, Senna saw Jordan turn and look down at them as he waited in the ring.

“One second,” Senna mouthed and held up one finger, knowing he wouldn’t be able to hear her over the crowd’s murmuring in anticipation of the fight. She’d be right back.

Jordan looked confused, then nodded slowly, appearing hesitant about the whole thing. He pointed at her, then pointed at the seat, as if to say, I expect you back in that chair soon. At least that’s how Senna read it.

She followed Ken down the lit hallway, noticing how empty it was. Probably because it led to the locker rooms and the exclusive parking reserved for fighters and their immediate staff. Everyone else was in the ring, readying for the fight, so it made sense.

“So how has it been working with Jordan?” he asked as they reached the small locker room where fighters prepped prior to their matches.

“Uh, pretty good. I guess. He was cooperative, at least with me,” Senna said, unsure how to respond.

“That’s good to hear,” he said, stopping abruptly and turning to her. Senna noticed probably for the first time how tall he really was, at least compared to her. Every other time she’d seen him the past couple weeks, it had been around Jordan, who was even taller and more built.

“Now, as for your employment, I have just one last thing to ask of you before we consider your contract fulfilled,” he said, blue eyes looking down at her. They seemed oddly cold despite his previous joviality at having Jordan back in the ring.

“And that would be?” Senna asked, hoping to get back before the fight started.

His eyes narrowed. “Don’t struggle.”

The technicians working on whatever was wrong with the sound system were finally starting to look like they were finished, and the fight was about to start.

The only thing was Senna hadn’t come back yet.

Ken was gone as well, but he rarely sat and watched Jordan’s fights. He was usually off schmoozing a potential sponsor or scouting out other fighters in attendance at matches.

Senna should be safe, but Jordan was far beyond worried at this point. What if Ken had left her alone and something happened? What if they split up and she was in danger?

Jordan shook his head. He knew the low likelihood that a so-far unseen stalker would choose such a crowded place to make a move. But he couldn’t shake a feeling of dread for her.

The announcer came back Cer wed. onto the stand and once again stated the names of the two fighters in attendance to a roaring, if impatient, crowd.

Jordan’s opponent was a mostly nobody, Joe something-or-other, probably some up-and-coming fighter who stood to gain something from getting in the ring with Jordan, whether they won or lost.

His opponent would lose, of course. But Joe didn’t know that for sure yet.

But Jordan’s eyes were fixed on the empty seat in the front row. Every second that went by drove him mad with worry.

He wasn’t normally an anxious person, but this had him on pins and needles. Every possible scenario was going through his head. What if she got injured somehow and was in a coma this very instant? What if her stalker had been able to subdue Ken and had her in his clutches right now?

He tried to focus his thoughts on the match that was about to start, but everything about this felt off. His intuition was yelling at him, telling him to go after her.

And his intuition was much stronger than the average shifter.

It was then Jordan came to a realization. He looked at the gloves on his hands, glanced at his opponent looking ready for the bell to ding any second now.

None of this mattered compared to Senna Christy.

He loved MMA. It was his life. It had been his best coping mechanism as a kid and his only passion as an adult. But if drawing out the fight could mean any chance of Senna coming to harm, even if it was the most infinitesimally small probability, he would give it up.

Senna was everything to Jordan. She’d brought him back into the world when he was ready to shrink away from it and give up. Had helped him be more comfortable with being around people, with interacting with them. Had shown him by her example people weren’t at all what they seemed on the surface. Had given him the best memories and experiences of his entire life.

Just one minute with Senna was more valuable than all the belts, awards, accolades, money, or fame MMA had brought to him put together.

It was a decision he could never reverse. But as the possibilities played out in his head, all he could do was make his decision and follow his heart.

The bell dinged, signaling the start of the match.

“Sorry,” Jordan said to the opponent across from him.

“For what?” the young but capable-looking fighter asked quizzically.

“For this.” Jordan took a quick step forward and leapt off the ground, arm cocked all the way back. His opponent was fast, putting his arms up to protect himself. But he was a hair too late, and Jordan’s fist drove past his upraised arms and into Joe’s face, sending him flying backward across the ring and into the corner.

The crowd fell silent. A bored-looking ref went over and gave the countdown. Joe was fine but out cold. The announcer picked up the mic that he’d just put down a moment ago and dryly announced Jordan as the winner.

But Jordan was already gone, having hopped the cage before they even had a chance to unlock it, and bolting down the hallway where he’d last seen Senna go.

Jordan’s mind was racing. All he could think of was Senna and finding her this very second, wherever she was. All he wanted right now was to know she was safe. For her to know he would come for her, no matter what.

He followed Senna’s scent as it trailed down to the locker room. She’d been here recently, so why hadn’t she come back?

He smelled fear in the air. Her fear. Why was she afraid?

Then he smelled Ken’s scent.

Shit.

9

Senna tried to struggle against Ken’s grip around her arm, tried to yell out for help, but the hallway leading out into the private lot was deserted. And with the noise from the crowds, she doubted anyone would ever hear her.

Jordan’s match had probably started by now. She wondered what was going through his mind. Did he even suspect anything?

“Stop fighting and I’ll go nicer on you,” Ken said, his voice cold and harsh.

“Why are you doing this?” Senna blurted out.

“Ever since I met you that first time, when you and I discussed hiring you, I knew something wasn’t right. That something about you was off. But I could never put a finger on it. Not until I got that call from Jordan, telling me what he thought you were. Can’t believe he was the first to figure it out.”

“What do you mean? Figure what out?”

“That you’re an unmated shifter female. Pretty hard to come across these days. Very desirable. And once a wolf mates you, you’re his, so I’ve been watching you and waiting for an opportunity. But Jordan wouldn’t leave your side for an instant. And from the looks of things, Jordan got pretty close to having you for his own, didn’t he? So I figured I’d have to make my move before it was too late.”

So Ken was a shifter like Jordan? Jordan had never mentioned it, and the sudden realization that she wasn’t being taken by some ordinary man, but a shifter with the kind of strength Jordan had, made her heart race even faster.

“And this whole thing was just a setup to keep Jordan busy?” she choked out.

“You bet. He knows I don’t care to watch his fights anyway. Not with his piss-poor showmanship,” he said, annoyed.

“But Jordan expects me back at the fight. How do you think he’ll take that?”

“Oh, I’ll just tell him you couldn’t bear to watch him fight, so you took a cab to the airport and caught the first flight out of here,” he said, pulling her forward. “He’ll never find you where I’m taking you,” he added menacingly.

They were in a small, self-enclosed lot that only had a couple cars in it. Probably because there was only one fight scheduled for today, and it was a relatively small one, so there wouldn’t be anyone else using this entrance.

Senna tried to yell again, but Ken covered her mouth forcefully. The only answer was the sound of cars outside and the dull noise coming from the hallway they’d just left.

“Nobody can hear you. I made sure to plan this on a day nobody else would be back here,” he said, removing his hand and pulling out his keys. The trunk to the car they were facing popped open, and Senna dreaded the thought of being locked inside.

And what seemed to be inevitably coming after that.

“Ken!” a voice yelled from behind them, low and masculine and echoing off the walls of the indoor parking lot.

Ken whirled around, holding Senna close to him, not letting his grip slacken.

“You two-faced son of a bitch.” It was Jordan, striding powerfully toward them. He was still wearing his clothes from the fight, and he looked more furious than she would have ever thought possible.

How did he get here so quickly?

“What are you doing down here? You’re supposed to be in the ring,” Ken said, trying to sound authoritative.

“Shut it, asshole,” he said, his pace not slackening. All the muscles in his arms and chest were tensed, like a jaguar seconds from pouncing on its prey.

Or like an alpha wolf.

“I didn’t want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice, Vale,” Kice="2em"> Ken said, pulling something out of his back pocket. Senna heard a click and a sharp point grazed her neck.

A knife.

Jordan stopped where he was, no more than six or seven feet from them, but he didn’t back down an inch from where he stood.

“That’s not going to save you from the worst ass kicking you’re ever going to receive, bastard. I swear I’m going to punch you so hard you’ll be pissing teeth for weeks.”

“Very funny,” Ken said, sounding shaken by the intimidating sight of Jordan. “Now if you don’t mind, we have somewhere to be going right now.”

“You’re not going anywhere unless it’s in a fucking body bag,” he threatened, pointing at Ken menacingly. It was clear the threat wasn’t empty.

His crimson eyes were alight with fury, almost glowing in the faint parking lot light.

“You’d never get to me before I killed her,” Ken said, bringing the knife close to Senna’s neck.

Jordan glared at Ken with cool confidence that Senna almost found unnerving. But he was also angry. She could feel it radiating from him in waves, and she knew without a doubt he was going to get her out of the situation, even if she didn’t know how.

“Aren’t you forgetting something, dickwad?” Jordan grated out.

“What?” Ken goaded, not backing down.

“I’m the king of one-punch wins.”

Then Jordan rushed forward in a motion so quick it was like a bolt of lightning, grabbing the length of the blade with one hand and throwing his other hand so powerfully into Ken’s face that Senna could feel the whoosh of the air past her and the force of the impact into Ken’s face. It sounded with a loud crack that reverberated off the walls.

Ken’s grip slackened as he was thrown backward, and Senna ducked under his arms and behind Jordan, who’d pulled the knife from Ken’s grip and was now holding it in his hand. He tossed it aside and moved toward Ken without pausing.

It was clear Jordan’s fist had hit with perfect precision. Ken had been knocked back against the car, and as he tried to stand up from where he was, he toppled and keeled over onto the ground face first, completely out.

Jordan turned to Senna. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?” he asked, checking her over with his hands, concern bright in his eyes.

Senna shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Thank you,” she replied, still shaken.

Jordan had come for her. He’d deserted his fight in the face of direct orders from his boss and his benefactors and had found her. Rescued her.

Given up everything to make her safe again.

Despite everything, Jordan had never said he loved her.

But if what he’d just done wasn’t love, Senna didn’t know what was.

While she was thinking, Jordan turned and went over to Ken, pulling a phone from Ken’s back pocket and dialing 9-1-1. Senna could hear him giving a brief description of what had happened, and then he threw the phone onto the pile that was Ken’s unmoving body.

He turned and walked back to her. “Let’s get you home right now,” he said seriously. “Before any more crazy shit happens. I want you where I know you’re safe.”

“But, Jordan, what about the fight? Your career?”

“None of that matters to me now. Nothing is more important, or ever will be more important, than you are to me, Senna.” He paused a moment. “I love you.”

Jordan’s words only further verified what was already crystal clear to her. This man would give anything for her. And she would give anything for this man too.

“Jordan, I’ll talk to the press. I’ll make sure they know the circumstances of the fight… You do Kghtas thinkinn’t have to lose your career.”

“It’s okay, Senna. It’s okay.” He pulled her close, reassuring her. “I realized in that ring that my life was empty without you. We’ll find something that works for both of us, make life work around our relationship instead of the opposite. As long as I have you be my side, I’ll be happy.”

Senna didn’t know what to say. She felt totally overwhelmed by how wonderful he was. “Okay,” she said quietly.

“Now, can I take you home?”

Senna nodded, then laughed as he swept her into his arms and carried her toward his car parked at the other end of the lot. She nestled into the strength and warmth there, feeling safe and loved, at peace with things.

She could hardly wait to take the next step.

Jordan’s adrenaline slowly wore off as he drove Senna home.

Knowing she was safe calmed him, but he wouldn’t be fully satisfied until she was his and his alone.

“Senna, will you be mine forever? My mate?” Jordan asked, needing to hear her response. It was abrupt, but it was the one thing he needed to know more than anything else in the world.

“Of course,” Senna said, looking over at him, her blues eyes sparkling with what looked like happiness.

Jordan could hardly believe it. This beautiful woman would really belong to him. He couldn’t believe how much his life had changed in such a short amount of time, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

They arrived at the mansion, and Jordan opened her door and picked her up to bring her inside, then took her upstairs.

“So what happens next?” Senna asked shyly.

“When you’re ready, we’ll perform the mate claiming, which is essentially making love with nothing between us.”

“Oh,” she said, her eyes widening slightly.

“I want you to be mine. I want to be yours,” he said, bringing her into the room and putting her down gently on the bed while he sat on the edge.

“And I want to be yours,” she said. “I don’t understand completely how this works, but I know enough to know my wolf wants it. That it feels right.” She nestled against him and then tensed. “But why was Ken trying to take me?” she asked with a little shudder. “Are females that rare?”

Jordan’s expression darkened and his jaw tightened. “Nothing excuses it. But yes, you’re a beautiful, rare shifter female, and unfortunately, some wolves are still a little animal about claiming mates.” He brushed hair behind her ears and looked tenderly into her eyes. “But I would never do anything until you were ready. Until you were sure you wanted me.”

She lowered her eyes, then looked up into his. “I’m ready. I do want you.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, stroking her hair gently. “You’ve been through a lot.”

She shook her head, holding his hand against her face. “You saved me. Nothing happened. There’s no point in waiting.”

“I’m still worried that—”

She grabbed his shirt and yanked him forward, holding him eye to eye with her, in shock. “Jordan Vale. You just proved you’d walk out on your career for me, give up everything for me, and kick your only friend’s ass for me. So what if I tell you right now that I want you to take me?” she asked boldly, her eyes roving over his body.

Jordan cocked his head and then one side of his mouth quirked in amusement. “Well, if that’s the case, then I don’t want to keep my woman waiting.”

He kissed her lips, cupping her face with both hands, his love and passion and feelings for her pouring out of him. He could kiss her forever Ks hnt you, the softness of her lips on his.

Senna gave a soft moan, and he brought his hands down her sides, feeling her luscious hips, feeling her soft curves and the perfect shape of her body.

“How about we wash the last few hours off in the shower? I’m still sweaty from the fight,” Jordan suggested, lifting Senna in his arms and carrying her toward the bathroom. Her eyes swirled with desire and she nodded to him eagerly.

Her scent was getting stronger by the moment, and he couldn’t wait to have her naked in the shower with him.

When they got there, he put Senna down and she wasted no time in disrobing as he turned on the water. By the time he was satisfied with the temperature, she was already inside, and she motioned to him to come in and join her.

His wolf howled, and he was instantly hard seeing her perfect, wet, beautiful curves just begging to be touched.

Jordan pulled off his clothes, feeling the heat of passion burning brighter and more strongly than ever toward his amazing woman. He pinned her against the wall and kissed her ravenously, slipping inside her mouth as his arms held her sides.

She arched against him as his tongue felt inside her, seeking out everywhere and anywhere that would draw a muffled moan from her lips and cause her body to tense against his as he held her closely with the heat and wetness of the shower surrounding them.

He left her mouth and moved toward her breasts, loving how they glistened with the water streaming down them. He kissed one hungrily, sucking it while he held the other with his hand, running his finger over the nipple and teasing it.

Senna moaned again, and Jordan felt himself get harder with each moment. He wanted her so badly; he would never be fully satisfied until she came over and over again.

He moved to her other nipple, running his tongue over the pointed tip, then holding it between his upper lip and his teeth, slowly applying pressure until she gasped out in arousal. His other hand massaged the breast he’d been kissing moments ago, supporting it and squeezing it lovingly.

The shower was beginning to fill with steam, which only further increased the heat surrounding them. Her scent mixed with it, filling his senses as his hands roved over her body, enjoying the feel of every inch of her.

He instinctively pulled a soap bottle from the corner and filled his hands with it, lathering them and running over every curve of hers, massaging her breasts and her soft stomach, cupping and squeezing her perfect butt in his hands, and moving lower to feel between her legs.

She moaned and sighed with pleasure as he felt everywhere. Her breathing began to race as he ran his finger along her clit, the wetness of the shower driving them both crazy with desire.

He couldn’t wait to be inside her.

“Not fair,” she gasped out, catching her breath and holding his hand to stop. “I want my turn,” she said, grabbing the bottle of soap and filling her hands as Jordan stood at his full height next to her. “I want to feel those muscles of yours,” she said, her voice husky.

She lathered her hands and ran them along Jordan’s body, feeling every defined muscle from his pecs to his biceps and every abdominal. Her touch was ecstasy, knowing she wanted him as badly as he wanted her.

Jordan was shocked as she grabbed his erection, running her slick hands along it. He could see the glint of her alpha wolf in her eyes, her sexual desire and dominant personality coming out in full force.

It made his wolf howl in approval and drive him mad with lust for her, and his alpha responded in kind.

He wasn’t going to wait any longer.

Jordan pinned her against the wall of the shower, kissing her along her neck as his ha Keckidth=nds found their way down her hips and to her butt. With one motion, he picked her up in his arms, holding her with his hands as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Senna looked into his eyes and licked her lips in anticipation. They both knew what they wanted. And with this, they would be mated forever.

Forever would never be long enough with this woman. But it was a start.

With one smooth motion, he came inside her, the wetness of the shower and the smooth slickness inside her a wave of sensation against him. And as he went all the way in, Senna’s eyes rolled back and her neck arched as she moaned in pleasure.

That sound. It would never cease to arouse him.

For a moment, they held together, his hands still cupping her butt and supporting her as the water continued to run around them and over them. Her skin glowed as it reflected the light of the bathroom, and he placed a kiss on the side of her neck as they enjoyed the feel of being together.

She moved her hips into his, and the motion revved him up inside. Using his hands to hold her steady, he glided slowly out, then came inside again, feeling her tightness surround him as she moaned his name again.

Jordan moved again, and Senna shuddered with pleasure against him. He continued the motion, feeling her body respond to his more and more with each passing moment as he kissed and lightly bit her earlobe and down her neck.

Her breathing grew heavier and heavier, and he could feel her orgasm fast approaching. His hands gripped her ass as he drove in all the way to the hilt one more time, and her body tensed and then exploded with energy as she yelled his name, the delicious declaration echoing off the walls of the shower.

He held her close as she came, enjoying the scent of her and the sound of her breathing evening out as the waves of pleasure abated.

“Finish it,” she said, her voice hoarse. She gripped his shoulders with her hands and pushed, bringing her body away and then down over him again.

Jordan growled with excitement as he moved faster and faster inside her as Senna met him with her own frantic movements. The friction and feel of it was unlike anything else, skin to skin, the feel of her wetter than she’d ever been.

His own breath caught in his throat as she brought him closer and closer to the edge. He could see in her eyes that she knew, and she moved more vivaciously against him, gasping but smiling with pleasure at him slowly losing control.

Jordan growled and held her thighs more tightly, loving the feel of her soft flesh, but not willing to be beaten at his own game.

He slowed for just a moment, letting his entire length move slowly inside, drawing a long moan from her lips. Then he followed up with fevered thrusting as her breathing became fast and ragged.

With one last push, Jordan came all the way into Senna, and she screamed loudly as she came apart. The sound she made, the feel of her, all of it brought him over the edge, and his senses burst with pleasure and fire across his entire body as he came with her.

It was pure euphoria. All of it. Senna’s quivering body connecting with his, the feel of the two of them together, surrounded by warmth and wetness and the promise of just the two of them joined for the rest of their lives.

His wolf howled in pleasure, letting him know he’d done the right thing and she was finally his.

Jordan gasped as the last pulsations of pleasure moved over him. He came back to his senses and saw Senna smiling at him and looking fully satisfied. He placed a tender kiss on her lips and then picked her up, slowly coming out of her, already missing the feel of being one with her.

Jordan carried her out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her, bringing Ker, breaher to the bed and putting her down.

“Wow, so that’s what being claimed feels like?” Senna said, her voice soft and her eyes beautiful as they looked up at him.

“Yes. But I can promise it only gets better from there,” Jordan replied, unable to keep from smiling at the sight of his beautiful mate, satisfied and in his bed. In their bed.

“Seriously?” she said, wide-eyed.

“You’re mine now. Forever. Just you and me,” Jordan said, pulling the sheets over them and wrapping his arms around her.

“I love you, Jordan Vale,” she said, Senna’s voice sounding tired and happy.

“And I love you, Senna,” Jordan whispered into her ear.

Within moments, she was fast asleep in his arms, sighing contentedly. Jordan remained awake, enjoying the feel of her against him.

So much had happened the past few weeks. He really owed everything to her. Most of all, the overwhelming happiness that filled him where emptiness and loneliness had once been.

“I love you,” Jordan whispered again to his sleeping mate. He would always keep her and protect her. She was more precious than any fame or fortune the world could ever offer in a million years.

It was the start of a new day, a new chapter for both of them. But this one would never end. They would always have each other.

Jordan smiled and drifted off to sleep.

Epilogue

Three months later, they were at Jordan’s first fight back, and Senna was waiting nervously to see her love get back in the ring.

Even if she’d really enjoyed the break they’d had, just spending all of their time together. Every day was a new best day for her and Jordan.

The day after the fight, Senna had called the director of the league that had hosted the match that Jordan had unfortunately needed to end abruptly and explained what had happened. Jordan had told her there was no need, but she knew how much she loved fighting, and after some persuasion, she’d helped him see that letting the fans and organizers see the truth about him was better than just walking away. So she’d given them enough details of the event to help portray Jordan as a hero who had prevented a felony and saved someone, not an unruly has-been.

Once the news got hold of this, they gobbled it up with delight. News stories of athletes (especially MMA fighters) doing heroic things were hot, and in a matter of days Jordan’s phone was ringing off the hook with calls from sponsors, interviewers, and teams wanting to hire him.

Not long after, Jordan had whisked her off to a quiet exotic place so they could have privacy from all of the newspeople and media that hounded them.

The sex was amazing.

Once they got back, they had talked about what would be best. Jordan refused anything that would take him on the road or take him away from his mate. But Senna knew how much MMA meant to him, so they signed on to a local team that was just happy to have him there for the publicity, and as such didn’t have too many demands other than that he fight once in a while.

So here they were. The arena was filled to capacity with fans and spectators. Senna had a front row seat, along with Jordan’s brother Asher and their friend Laurel. Jordan had been slowly letting people in a little more, and as a result she’d noticed that Asher had gotten more involved with his brother. It was hard because they were both stubborn alpha males who would rather fight than talk, but Senna was just glad there’d be progress.

N">“ace so the

She loved having others see the side of Jordan she knew.

“Are you excited?” Laurel asked. Laurel was a close friend of the family and the younger sister of Jordan’s older brother Lucas’ mate, Lily. Lucas and Lily were traveling in anticipation of having their first child, so she didn’t really know them, but she’d gotten to see a lot of Laurel, as she worked at the dojo and liked to hover over Asher. Much to his chagrin.

“Mostly yes,” she said, answering Laurel’s question. “The fact is that the past few weeks have been so exciting already, it’s hard to compare,” Senna replied, eagerly awaiting her mate’s appearance.

“So is he going to pull another one-punch-wonder in this match?” Asher asked sarcastically. Lauren shoved him for the snarky remark. “Hey, just asking,” he retorted, settling back in his seat with a scowl, muttering something about “bossy females”.

Senna looked over and caught Laurel looking at Asher with a wistful expression and felt for the younger woman. Asher was like a more stubborn version of Jordan, and could look even more fierce, with his coal black eyes and hair. It was clear that if Laurel had feelings for him, she had a tough road ahead of her.

But one thing she knew about the Vale boys was that they were worth any trouble they caused.

“As for the one-punch-wonder, as you so charmingly put it, that’s up to him. Technically, I’m his PR manager. But more than anything else, I just want him to be happy,” Senna said.

An announcer stood in the arena and called Jordan’s name. The crowd roared with applause at the return of the renowned, and now beloved, fighter. Jordan trotted down the walkway next to them that led up to the cage. But instead of walking up the stairs, he turned towards the three of them sitting together in the front row.

The announcer gave a confused look, and the crowd’s applause waned for a moment.

Jordan ignored it and strode right up to Senna, standing impossibly tall and muscled before her. The sight of him still took her breath away.

“Couldn’t go in there without a kiss,” he said, raising an eyebrow and smiling.

Senna stood up and Jordan took her hands in his.

“What, are you the PR person now?” she replied playfully.

“Nope. I just couldn’t go another second without doing this,” he said, bringing his lips down to hers and wrapping his arms around her in a warm, wonderful kiss that made her senses come alive.

The crowd erupted with applause and cheering around them, but Senna could barely hear them over the feelings of love Jordan was transmitting to her through the kiss. Each second with him like this was worth a million years of any other kind of happiness, it was so wonderful.

He ended the kiss, but lingered with her in his arms, deep brown-red eyes catching the light of the arena.

“Go get ‘em,” she said encouragingly.

“Will do,” he replied with a wry smile. Then he brought his mouth down to her ear and whispered, “I love you, Senna.”

“I love you too,” Senna replied, and with that, he turned back to go into the arena to face his opponent.

Senna sat back down into her seat, and turned to see Laurel grinning widely and Asher raising an eyebrow at the blatantly public display of affection.

Senna just tried to hold back the blush at the realization that thousands of people had just been watching.

As the emcee made the final announcements prior to the match, she saw Jordan smile down at her one more time and give her a wink. From the possessive glint in his eyes, Senna could tell that despite other people coming to understand and appreciate him, deep down, Jordan would always be hers alon S bet ie, just like she was his.

And in the end, that was the part that was truly worth fighting for.

Hi, thanks so much for reading Jordan and Senna’s story. I hope you enjoyed it and if you did I hope you’ll leave a review for it to help others find it! Asher’s story will be out soon, so make sure you’re signed up with my newsletter here:

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While you wait for Asher, I have a sample of a new book that has two hot dragons paired with one delicious BBW on the next page.

And thanks so much for all your support in buying and reading and reviewing my books. I’m so grateful to have the best fans and readers in the world. It means everything and keeps me writing every day.

I appreciate you all so much,

Sincerely,

Terry Bolryder

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I’ll be hard at work on the next story!

Sample of Double Dragons

Now available on Amazon

Double Dragons

“Just put her in the bag.”

The frightening words jolted Melissa Jones out of the book she was reading.

Just who was trying to put whom in a bag?

The library was eerily dark all around her. She’d stayed late, reading, as she often did after work, because she tended to get caught up in books and because there was no one waiting at home for her.

Being assistant librarian with a key to all the books in the world was truly the perfect job.

Until a bunch of thugs had to come along and ruin it.

Her heart pounded as she plastered herself to the wall and risked a look out the side window.

A large group of the some of the biggest, meanest-looking men she’d ever seen was partially blocking the window. As she moved to the other side to get a better look, she realized there were at least a dozen. All angry, all fierce. All twice her size or more.

And they were looking down at something in the center that she couldn’t make out. Something that was whimpering in a heart-wrenching way. They’d said words like “kidnapping,” “slavery,” and “valuable.” And the growls and mewls she heard seemed to be coming from a human child—girl, she thought, though she couldn’t see properly.

Human traffickers. And even though she was woefully unequipped to take them on, she would sooner cut out her own heart than walk away without trying to stop them. No child deserved something like this. No human for that matter.

Melissa took a deep breath and considered her options.

At 5’4” with an amply curvaceous figure and no athletic ability to speak of, she knew she wasn’t the best option for a hero. But she also knew with the slow re Vd alwply cusponse of police in the little town, the group could be gone and untraceable by the time they arrived.

She heard another yelp from outside and felt her heart thump hard inside her.

Despite her fear, her heart hammered in approval as she walked stubbornly to the door and opened it wide, drawing the men’s attention to her instead of their prey.

“You there,” she said, trying to figure out what one would say to human traffickers. “Stop what you’re doing.”

The man closest to her straightened to full height and stared at her with glowing yellow eyes. The rest of the men followed suit. Most were wearing dingy black leather and had longish, shaggy hair and unshaven faces. Their eyes gleamed as they stepped between her and their prey, blocking her view and eyeing her with thinly veiled rage and something a little more predatory.

She clenched her hands into fists at her side and tried to stay calm, despite being hopelessly outnumbered. “I’ve called the police,” she lied. “Just get out of here.”

“Not until we take what’s ours,” the leader said. “If I were you, I’d just turn around and go straight back into that library, little lady.” He flashed a sneering grin at her, his teeth looking more like fangs. She took a hesitant half step back but then held her ground, pointing a finger at them.

“No, you need to leave her alone and move on,” she said, still hearing little yelps and growls from whatever they were hiding.

The tallest one, the one in front, cracked his neck abruptly, keeping flashing yellow eyes on her as he approached. “Oh yeah?” He advanced on her menacingly. “And what are you going to do about it if I don’t?”

She took a step back but put her fists up defensively. This was going to be stupidly easy for them, but she would die knowing she’d done the right thing. She hoped the self-defense classes she’d taken at the community center helped her put up at least a token fight.

A few men stepped out from behind the others. Damn, there were more than she’d thought. Cold fear spiraled down her spine in icy lines, but she held her ground. She heard more whimpering and held firm.

“Don’t come any closer,” she said.

The lead eyed her lazily, like he was deciding how best to dispatch her without anyone knowing. The sad truth was it would be all too easy. Melissa had practically made a career of not having any connections in this small town, and she had no family to speak of.

No one would miss her. The thought was chilling.

“You should just move along, ma’am. This ain’t none of your business,” a man with scraggly blond hair said, stepping into the light. “You should just go back into that library where you’ll be safe.”

The dark-haired leader sent the blond man a silencing glance. “It’s too late for that now. She’s seen.”

“She ain’t seen much. Just us helping taking this wolf cub back to the forest,” the blond man said, moving aside to give her a view of what they’d been threatening.

Sure enough, a little wolf cub with pale fur was sitting in the circle, trembling. It looked up at her with baleful blue eyes, eyes that begged her not to leave. She felt puzzlement move through her.

“I heard a girl… I was sure…”

The blond man’s face tightened and he moved in front of the tiny cub, folding his arms. He was lankier than his leader, but all of them were obscenely tall, at least a few inches over six feet, and built as well. There was something animal in their gazes. Were they some kind of motorcycle gang or something?

“Are you sure there’s not a girl back there? I was sure I heard a human voice…”

“Shut up!” the leader said, making a slash [akit was ching motion with his hand as he came closer. “This has nothing to do with you.” He closed the distance between them in a motion too fast to be human, grabbing her by the front of her shirt and hoisting her up so her toes were barely grazing the cement. Then he took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he scented her, and when his eyes opened, he was leering down at her.

“We’ll take her as well,” he said.

She struggled to break free. His eyes glowed with pure evil, the kind that made her insides twist into tight, painful coils.

So maybe she’d made a miscalculation by putting her life on the line for a wolf rather than a human, but either way, nothing small and helpless deserved to be at the mercy of this horrible man.

The man scented her once more and then tossed her to a subordinate, who caught her against his body and leered, his hands wrapping around her waist as she struggled. The leader approached her as she was held, helpless and still, forced to look at him.

He grabbed her chin and looked into her eyes. “I’ll mate with you first. When we’re done, you’ll be screaming for mercy. Begging for someone to come save you, to be as stupid as you’ve just been tonight.”

She gritted her teeth together, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of knowing she was scared shitless.

“I don’t know about the begging part, fucker, but if you don’t take your hands off her, in about three seconds, you’re going to be the one screaming for mercy,” a deep voice boomed toward them.

Melissa tried to see her rescuer but couldn’t turn enough in her captor’s arms.

“I happen to agree,” another deep voice said, cutting into the silence of the night.

“Release the girl,” the first voice said, equally deep but with a different, smoother tone.

Both voices had a rich, reassuring quality that resonated deep within her and bespoke strength and power. Just what she and the tiny wolf cub needed right at this moment.

The man holding her loosened his grip slightly as his attention was turned toward his leader.

The leader walked forward, scenting the air slowly. Then his eyes flew open and his whole body tensed up, ready for battle.

“Dragons,” he growled. He waved at her captor. “Let the woman go. We’ll need all hands.”

Thrown to the side, she landed painfully on the pavement as the whole group turned to the men who had spoken. She still couldn’t see them, so she crawled to the side, onto the grass, hoping to catch a glimpse of her rescuers.

When she saw them, her heart simultaneously leapt and fell. Leapt because they were the most beautiful, intimidating men she’d ever seen. Fell because there were only two of them.

They were taller than the men around them but with a clean, elegant refinement that set them apart from their brutish opponents.

The one in front seemed to be in charge. He had tanned skin and golden hair that shone in the light from the streetlamps. He was the shorter of the two, though still tall at a few inches over six feet, and had a face that reminded her of a movie star, sharp and gorgeous and completely unique.

But almost too beautiful. He seemed to almost glow. Still, his nearly feminine face was offset by the feral gleam in his green eyes and the muscles all over his tall, lean body.

The man beside him stepped forward with folded arms. This one was the opposite of his partner, with dark hair, a forbidding height of around 6’5”, and a dark expression that bespoke ill for whoever crossed him. His face was classically handsome, with square jaw and chiseled features. But there was a calm coldness in his bearing that complimented the feline menace of his partner.

Despite the horrible situa [orrcattion, she could feel her body respond to her perusal of them. The most gorgeous men she’d ever seen, and she had to meet them just before dying.

Just her luck.

If she had her way, she’d give anything for just one night, just one look from either of them—and in her wildest fantasies, the two of them together. The thought took her breath away.

Then the golden one turned to her sharply, as if he could read her thoughts, and she swore she saw a sparkle of mirth in his gorgeous green eyes. Nevertheless, his gaze hit her straight in her core.

The dark-haired one kept his hands in his pockets as he walked forward. He was wearing a suit without the jacket, and the cuffs of his white shirt were rolled up, baring powerful forearms.

“Give us the cub,” he said, pinning ice-cold blue eyes on the wolfish men in front of her. “And I’ll make sure my partner makes this quick for you.”

“Ha,” the leader of the thugs said. “Mercy from a dragon? Like hell. We’ve heard of your kind. Never thought our operations would be enough to warrant your attention.”

The golden-haired man stepped forward, pushing back the sleeves of the sweater he wore. “You thought wrong. Trafficking is one of the forbidden acts. But you knew that.” A menacing rage seemed to emanate from the beautiful man, and she felt a shiver of dread course through her.

His dark-haired companion put a hand on his forearm as if to stop him, and the golden-haired man flicked his gaze to him with a hiss. “What is it, Draven?”

Draven, the dark-haired one, gestured in her direction, sending her heart pounding into her stomach. “What do you want to do with her? We can’t use fire…”

“I know,” the golden one said, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck back and forth with little popping sounds, seemingly excited by the violence ahead. “Did you see her step in before? I think she’s perfect.”

“Oh no,” Draven said, putting a hand up to his forehead. “You’ve got to be kidding, Ran.”

“She’s a dragon-heart,” his companion said, giving her another appraising glance. “I’m sure of it.”

Draven shook his head. “You were wrong last time, Ran.”

“I’m not this time,” Ran replied.

She cocked her head. What an odd name. Ran flicked his gaze to her in annoyance, and once again, she had the extremely uncomfortable feeling he could read her mind.

But that was impossible.

The leader of the thugs let out a low, fearsome growl. “If you could shut up, we’re waiting for you here. Despite the stories about dragons, which are no doubt inflated by myth, I’m sure even two dragons can’t possibly take all Fang’s crew at once. We’ve become one of the most powerful clans. Surely you knew that when you were sent.”

Ran flashed them a wicked, feline grin that sent heat shooting down to her toes. He was too beautiful to be real, with the kind of honed body one only saw in sculptures or magazines. “Perhaps that could be true if you’d pulled a different pair. But unluckily for you, you got the black dragon called on your ass.” He shook his head. “Too bad.”

Double Dragons available now on Amazon

Also by Terry Bolryder

Bearstone Park Series (Standalone novels)

A billionaire tech mogul, a movie star, and an Olympic snowboarder co ^orrca byme back to Bearstone Park and find unexpected but wonderful mates.

Bearllionaire

Bearlebrity

Bearthlete

Polar Heat Series

A matchmaking papa bear sets his three shifter sons up with women on a Caribbean island.

Bear-ever Yours

Some Bear to Love

One in a Bear-llion

Remem-bear Me (Dad’s book)

The Alpha Series

Alpha Games Serial (Novellas with cliffhangers between volumes)

An alpha female returns home to the pack mates she left and finds herself choosing between three alpha males in this paranormal romance serial from Terry Bolryder

Alpha Games Boxed Set

Or buy separately:

Alpha Games 1

Alpha Games 2

Alpha Games 3

Alpha Games 4

Alpha Rogue Serial (Novellas with cliffhangers between volumes)

An MMA fighting shifter meets his match in his exciting paranormal romance serial from Terry Bolryder.

Alpha Rogue Boxed Set Sale

Or buy separately:

Alpha Rogue 1

Alpha Rogue 2

Alpha Rogue 3

Alpha Contender Serial (Novellas with cliffhangers between volumes)

A average human woman finds out she’s a desirable female alpha and ends up in a mansion with ten possible suitors in this paranormal romance serial from Terry Bolryder.

Alpha Contender Boxed Set Sale

Or buy separately:

Alpha Contender 1

Alpha Contender 2

Alpha Contender 3

Alpha Contender 4

Thanks so much for reading!

Terry

Table of Contents

Copyright

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Epilogue

Sample of Double Dragons

Also by Terry Bolryder