Forty minutes later, they arrived at a small shack in the middle of nowhere surrounded by overgrown fields, and Alf halted.
Jaz slid off his side, her legs gave way and she fell to the floor. She sat there, grass blades digging into her sore behind as she tried to massage blood flow into her legs. Her fractured jaw was aching like mad and she wished she was wearing her bandage again. As she rubbed it soothingly, Alf brushed his nose against her cheek, and she stroked the hair on his forehead. “I'm fine,” she sighed glancing at her red watch that read 4:12 p.m. “We need to hurry. He's been in the arena for too long.”
“Give me a minute.” He hid behind some bushes and not long after, he appeared fully clothed and human-looking.
When he approached her she commented, “I miss my lion-dog already.”
He grinned.
“You do look a lot like a lion, y'know?”
He nodded. “It's the hair.”
Do you think he's still alive? she wanted to ask him, but was afraid to. She needed to keep this happy, ignorant banter going for as long as possible. Instead she asked, whilst looking around, “Where's the arena?”
“Underground.” He pointed to the wooden, derelict-looking shack. “There's our entrance. You ready?”
She adjusted her black, cropped t-shirt, then pulled out the spray bottle from her pocket and doused herself with more scent blocker. “How do I smell?”
He inhaled. “Positively Were, my dear.”
She smiled self-consciously.
“Don't worry. In here, you're mine. As far as Kain's Pack knows.”
“They can't tell otherwise? Like smell it on me?”
Alf shrugged. “Not all of them. Maybe the alphas might. If they take the time to smell you, which chances are they won't. Anyway, I'll just say we're saving our consummation for a special day. Not unless you wanna do it in the bushes right now?” he teased, wiggling his dark blond brows.
Jaz flashed him a disapproving look.
He grinned. “Guess not.”
He strutted towards the shack and knocked on the metal door hard, in a deliberate pattern. Two knocks then one long one, followed by three fast ones. “I can't believe you rejected me. That hurt, y'know,” he said jokingly, tipping his head back in her direction.
She stood behind him with her arms folded. “You'll live,” she smirked -whilst wondering to herself, But will Nik?- before a scary, scarred face of a man opened the metal door, meeting their gaze with his black eyes.
~Chapter 39 - Heal~
Friday July 1st, 3:11 p.m.
The Arena
Nik leant over the ice bucket; the stench of his vomit infected the air and slithered up his nostrils. He blocked his smell sensors as best he could whilst he gasped for air.
He had his small team around him, crowding the metallic, prison-like underground room that was a temporary separation from him and his rival waiting in his own room on the other side of the arena.
“Jesus, Nik. Maybe you should just call it a day.” Carr eyed him with concern as Stephanie, the Pack's doctor who had travelled with them, cleaned the cuts on his face, slashed back, and his left arm he'd used to block. She applied a salve that helped quicken the healing process.
Nik was exhausted from the amount of healing his body was performing. An alpha had the added ability of faster healing when the occasion called for it. It definitely called for it. “I'm not gonna give up.”
“You can barely stand. What's wrong with you?” Carr demanded.
“I don't know.”
“Kain looks worse than you and yet he was throwing in punches you'd normally block with your eyes closed.”
Nik squeezed his eyes shut as he held back the ball of bile. It slid back down his oesophagus.
“Your wounds are not too deep. You don't need to waste any energy healing them. The salve will do that. But you have to eat something,” Stephanie instructed as she handed him a glass of green smoothie.
It looked disgusting but he took. “Do I even want to know?”
She pursed her lips. “It'll give you strength, put it that way.”
He gulped it down, only to puke it all back up a minute later. He then clenched his fist over his chest as if he was having a heart attack.
Carr put his hands on Nik's shoulders, whilst Stephanie listened to his heart with a stethoscope.
“Steph, what the fuck is it?” Carr asked.
She looked up, her eyes wide as she removed the earpiece from her ears. “You're suffering from tachycardia.” She muttered, “Your heartbeat may as well be humming.”
Carr stared at him and then turned to Stephanie. “How could that happen? Kain couldn't have done this to him, right?”
She shook her head. “I don't see how.”
Nik covered his dripping mouth and asked Carr for a towel. Nik dabbed his excessive drool and tried to calm his breathing.
“When did you start drooling?” Stephanie asked.