“Victory has never felt so f**king good!” he crowed.
The cards said it all. Arys stared in stony silence at the pair of kings in his hand. They were shitty cards, especially compared to Jenner’s flush. Arys’s arrogance had been the driving force behind his decision to settle it this way. He had never really believed he would lose.
It was over. Jenner had his vengeance victory. Hooray for vendettas.
Chapter Seven
I wanted to be surprised. Really, I did. But I wasn’t.
“Fina-fucking-lly,” Shaz muttered. Tipping his beer to his lips, he settled back into his seat with an uncharacteristically sly smile. “What a boring way to settle a score.”
My jaw dropped. Where the hell was this attitude coming from?
“The excitement starts now.” Like a kid on Christmas, Jenner was unable to contain his glee. His fang-flashing smile was so wide I thought his head might split in two. Icy blue gaze locked on Shaz, he cackled, “In fact, it can start with you.”
“Alright, Jenner, you made your point.” Arys tried quickly to intervene. “I owe you. Fair enough. Leave him out of it.”
“You married my fiancée! And killed her. Your wolves killed Harley.” The dangerous vibe seeping from Jenner had the little hairs on my arms standing on end. Pointing a finger at Shaz, he barked, “You’re going in the ring.”
I stood back and watched the vampires dissolve into slinging barbs and threats. Chairs abandoned and power raging, they took turns promising one another a slow, painful death.
Searching the crowd for Jez, I spotted her near the stage with Sloane. The two of them were draped all over each other, giggling and talking. I didn’t trust Sloane’s intentions, but I had no time for that now.
“Boys, boys, boys,” I tsked, stepping in between the raging vampires. “There’s got to be a better solution.”
Despite the knot forming in my stomach, I stayed calm, refusing to let my emotions show. Putting Shaz in the fight cage was cruel in the worst way. It couldn’t happen. There was no way I could allow that. As my mind raced, struggling to come up with an amicable alternative, Shaz blew that plan to hell.
“I’d be happy to show you how I tore Harley’s throat out,” he proclaimed, slamming his beer bottle onto the poker table. He sneered at Jenner. “I wasn’t afraid of Harley, and I’m not afraid of you. Put me in the ring.”
Everyone fell quiet. Forgetting Arys entirely, Jenner slithered over to Shaz, eyeing him up like a prize-winning piece of meat.
“Well, look at the balls on this one,” Jenner mused. “I’m tempted to put money on you myself. Too bad I don’t want you to actually walk out of that ring alive.”
“I guess you’re going to be disappointed then. Might as well place your bet.” Arms crossed, the wolf shining in his eyes, Shaz stood relaxed, ready even. Not a shred of fear emanated from him.
Arys looked as stunned as I was. Our eyes met, and I shrugged. This side of Shaz was new to me too.
“Shaz, you don’t have to agree to this,” Arys said. “I won’t let him force you into anything.”
Shaz scoffed, looking insulted. “Did I stutter? I said I want to do it. Don’t talk down to me, Arys.”
“Are you out of your mind?” I asked, incredulous. There weren’t words enough for the flurry of questions I wanted to hurl at him.
With a snap of Jenner’s fingers, three vampires from his security team surrounded Shaz. Both Arys and I took a defensive stance, but the blond wolf waved us away.
“My guys here will take you down to get ready for the fight,” explained Jenner. “Drink, shower, beat the hell out of one of them, I don’t care. Do whatever you need to do to be at your best. I want to see a good show.”
“Oh, you will.” Shaz went with them willingly. The wolf was heavy in him, creeping close to the surface. His green eyes almost glowed.
I stepped in front of him, refusing to let him just walk away like this. “Wait. There has to be another way. You don’t have to do this. Why would you want to?”
Shaz touched my cheek; something almost wistful crossed his face. Then it was gone, and I saw only wolf. “Don’t do anything to stop this, Lex. I mean it. Consider that a command from your pack Alpha.”
He leaned in to press a brief but surprisingly deep and sensual kiss to my lips before following the security guys through the crowd. I gaped after him, speechless and a little pissed off.
“I don’t have a pack,” I mumbled when I found my voice, but he was already beyond earshot.