Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 120031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Okay, enough was enough.
Casey whipped up her arm to block a punch—the same arm that was pulsing with pain after Sherryl went at it so aggressively. The lingering pain from the soccer injury would have faded by now if it hadn’t been for that. “I’m done going easy on you.”
Sherryl snorted. “Easy?”
“Yeah. I won’t lie, this is gonna hurt really bad.”
Eli smiled as his mate ceased holding back and finally engaged in her own brutal art of kicking ass. She was fluid, efficient, and smooth as she punched, blocked, parried, deflected, and kicked, incorporating her whole body into the brawl. Every strike was powerful and perfectly timed. Her footwork was faultless, and her speed was blinding.
Like his pack mates, he cheered her on and yelled encouragements. Shaya occasionally slung curses at Sherryl even as she gave Harley a move-by-move commentary of the fight via her cell phone.
“How the fuck can anyone move that fast?” asked Nick. “I mean, I thought Ally was fast. This … this is something else.”
“Casey goes from move to move without pausing,” said Dante, his voice filled with respect. “And yet, every strike is incredibly precise.”
Pride snaked through Eli. He loved the savage, gritty, hardcore way with which his mate fought. Loved that she could tear a person to shreds with little effort. But a part of him still hated to see her partaking in a real duel. He enjoyed watching her fight at The Den, but that was different—her opponents weren’t trying to fatally wound her. Sherryl, however, would do her best to kill Casey. She’d also fail.
Sherryl was fast—he’d give her that much. But she was nowhere near as fast, strong, or skilled as Casey, and it was clear that she’d now come to that realization. Fear flickered in her eyes as she tried fending Casey off with little success.
Nonetheless, his wolf paced up and down, peeling back his upper lip. He felt his mate’s pain as clearly as Eli did, and he did not like seeing her bruised and bleeding. The scents of blood, pain, anger, and fear were prodding at his composure, making him want to shift and attack.
“Yeah, fuck that bitch up, Casey!” Mila shouted. She put a hand on her mate’s arm. “God, if Sherryl hasn’t yet realized she’s outmatched, I can’t fathom why and—oh my God, she just kicked Casey right between her legs! Oh, now that’s low.”
“Literally,” said Taryn.
Eli flinched as Sherryl’s teeth sank into Casey’s upper arm. Worse, the little bitch sharply twisted her head, trying to bite a chunk out of Casey. With a feral grin, his mate dealt Sherryl a solid punch to the windpipe that sent her staggering backwards, gasping for breath. She topped it off by swiftly carving a perfect ‘C’ into Sherryl’s cheek.
“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be making Casey my sparring partner,” said Roni.
Eli would have laughed if a fist hadn’t then clipped his mate’s jaw. “Come on, Casey, be done playing with her!”
Eyes swollen and tearing from Casey’s bone-crunching strike to the nose, Sherryl angled her hips and whipped out her leg, landing a kick on Casey’s side. His mate only smiled. It was a satisfied, cocky, you’re-so-dead smile. Then she sent her fist smashing into Sherryl’s jaw and, yep, down the bitch went.
Dazed, Sherryl curled up on the blood-spattered ground, her face a mask of pain.
“Yield, Sherryl, or she’ll kill you!” one of the Seals yelled. “For God’s sake, yield!”
But Sherryl did something else instead.
Perched on the edge of the armchair, Harley gaped at the cell she’d put on speakerphone. “She shifted?”
“Yes,” replied Shaya on the other end of the line. “And now Casey has too! Oh God, this could be bad.”
Bad, but no doubt entertaining, which was why Harley was mega bummed that she was unable to watch Sherryl get her ass handed to her.
“Next year, I am so going to these games,” declared Ally, leaning forward on the sofa.
“Me, too,” insisted Makenna. She and her mate, Ryan, had come to visit, along with another mated couple from the Phoenix Pack, Riley and Tao. Everyone other than the pups—who were both playing upstairs—had gathered in the living area of the main lodge to listen to Shaya’s live commentary.
“So what’s happening now, Shaya?” asked Harley.
The Alpha female blew out a breath. “Well, the minks have jumped out of their clothes and they’re … oh God, this is getting weird. They’re doing that war dance thing that weasels do.”
“I’ve heard of that,” said Riley. “What’s it like?”
“Um, well, they’re sort of glaring at each other while twisting, hopping, rolling, and darting from left to right,” replied Shaya. “Ooh, Casey’s mink just pounced on Sherryl’s!”
Makenna’s eyes lit up. “Awesome!”
They all jerked back at the sounds of screeching, hissing, and growling.
Riley grimaced. “That’s a whole lot of noise they’re making.”
“Tell me about it,” said Shaya. “They sound like Tasmanian devils or something. I can’t even give you a good description of the fight, they’re moving too fast. There’s a lot of pouncing, rolling, and each trying to wrap their body around the other. Basically, they’re going crazy on each other’s ass.”