Chapter One
“Whoa…look at the old boy, he’s getting old and slow. Just you watch, he’ll be getting fat next.”
Veyr rolled his eyes and ducked as his sparring partner aimed a vicious roundhouse at his head. Had the blow connected, and had he been human, it would have knocked him unconscious. It didn’t, and he wasn’t. An alpha werewolf, he was about as far from human as it was possible to get, without being like, a dragon or something.
Dropping to the ground, he swung a hard leg at his opponent’s ankles. The blow didn’t connect, but he hadn’t expected it to. What he expected was a second body hurtling through the air and he twisted to the side as an elbow slammed into the mats where his face had been just a moment before.
A back flip later and he was on his feet, fists up as he regarded the two men in front of him. One was Jace Trenton, his Captain, and the second was Reese, the cage fighter who’d replaced him as champion in the fight clubs: The King of the Ring.
“Fat? Really?” He arched an eyebrow. “I think you’ve forgotten who you’re talking to.”
Before he finished speaking, he launched into a complicated punch-kick combo that had him spinning and tumbling through the air. Jace and Reese stumbled back, both blocking before launching their own attacks.
His heart pounded, and energy sang through his veins, but a great sense of peace settled over him as they fought. It was just a sparring match, a friendly, but they were all fight professionals, and Weres to boot, the blows being exchanged would have felled lesser men. Yet, here, amongst the blood and the violence, he felt at home. Content. Free from all the bloody politics and mind games of his position as Master of the City.
Reese threw a punch, which Veyr blocked, but then hissed as lines of fire raked across his upper arm.
“Hey!” He backpedaled, putting some distance between himself and his opponents. “Put the damn claws away! Asshole cats.”
“Woof woof,” Reese threw back and rolled his shoulders. His eyes were bright green with his cat, but the claws at the tips of his fingers receded. “Sorry man, they get away from me at times. Won’t happen again. Besides, you’ll easily heal a little boo-boo like that. You want me to get you a plaster? Or your woman to come kiss it better?” He shrugged. “I could kiss it better if you like…”
“Screw you, Reese.”
“Sorry, doll.” The cat blew kisses. “You’re not my type. Your girl though, what’s her name… Blue? She’s a real cutie. I’d love an armful of that.”
Veyr laughed and headed over to the bench. Grabbing a towel, he wiped the sweat off the back of his neck and shoulders. “Cyan… and she’d eat you for breakfast, believe me.”
Reese flopped down on the bench, his expression curious. “Really? The grapevine say’s she’s a non-shifter. One step up from human…”
Veyr chuckled, and even Jace cracked a smile. “Yeah, right. She’s a wolf through and through, even if she can’t shift. And she’s got balls of steel, seriously. I wouldn’t cross her.”
“Oooohhhh,” Reese caroled, unable to remain serious for a moment, then sang. “Veyr and Cyan, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G …”
Veyr threw his towel. It hit the cat in the face, but Reese just chuckled. “Sad… you’re both in love. Real pathetic.” He heaved himself off the bench. “Which means all the single ladies are fair game for the master pussy cat here. The Cat gets the cream! Again!”
“What he’s not telling us,” Veyr commented to Jace as he reached down to snag his water bottle from where it had rolled under the bench. “Is that he gets slapped more times than he gets laid.”
Tipping his head back Veyr slugged down the water as Reese coughed and spluttered, trying to come up with a response. It was no good. Veyr had outmatched him and they both knew it.
The bottle was empty too fast and he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. Sparring always
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