Alpha's Last Fight: A Paranormal Shapeshifter BBW Romance (21 page)

“More,” I moaned.

He began to rock slowly, in and out. His swollen cock worked its way deeper, and his muscled abs rubbed against me with every thrust.

His movements were so slow that I could hardly bear it. When I’d thought of him before, I’d thought he would be a fierce lover, fast and hard, but right now he was moving in slow motion, his ferocity transformed into a deep patience. It was as though he was enjoying teasing my nerves out to their fraying point.

Despite myself, my legs wrapped around Hutch as he thrust. I wanted—no, needed him inside of me. I wanted him to fill me with his huge cock, to split me apart. My legs clenched his body hard and as he thrust, I began to meet him, tilting my hips up to take him fully. My head lolled back. The reflection of the sky on the water made the river seem bluer than it really was. He moved into me and I closed my eyes, closing out the world.

As he moved, his mouth moved also. All along my neck, up to my ear. His tongue flicked the soft part of my earlobe, sliding over and warming my skin with his heat.

“
Hutch
,” I breathed.

Then he shifted forward and began to push harder into me, but still slowly. Every motion forward pierced me to the core, filling me, swelling me with every thrust of his thick hard cock.

I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t take it. I wanted it so badly. My body screamed for release, and still he moved slowly, deliberately, his mouth teasing my skin, his cock sliding out and teasing me along my slick thighs. I had never been so wet, and during one hard thrust I let myself open up a little, open up my senses, just to let the animal see.

Immediately the orgasm hit me. I buried my face into his shoulder and screamed as the shudders sent my nerves unraveling. The sensation, oh god, every sense was amplified and I came over and over again, my body shaking in his. My legs clasped him in a tight lock as I pushed myself against him and let the waves of release pour through me like water. Everything was bright and spinning around me, and I shuddered once more as the last of my orgasm hit me.

I looked up into Hutch’s grinning face. He knew what I had done, and he knew why I had done it.

“You got it,” he said. “You can control it.”

Panting, I reached out and touched his face. His gorgeous, damaged face. The scarlet cut looked brighter, and even though I clamped down on the animal inside of me, the colors still stayed bright, the sensations around me still heightened.

It was incredible, this new way of seeing the world. I wanted to hold onto it, hold onto this way of seeing things. I wondered if I could.

Then Hutch bore into me, shaking me from my thoughts and making me ache again.

“Again,” he said.

“Again?”

He grinned, and I saw a glint of wolf in his eyes as he thrust into me hard enough to make me moan in pleasure.

“Let’s see if you can do it again.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Natalie

A few days after Hutch had made amends, and then some, for standing me up, I got a call from Gina. Over the phone her voice was hushed, furtive. She told me I needed to come to the fight that night. She didn’t say why. I didn’t bother getting dressed up, and I was glad I hadn’t. It let me slip through the crowd without anyone noticing me, or recognizing me as Hutch’s girlfriend.

Now, watching Hutch get pummeled, I knew why Gina had called me.

The other shifter landed a punch on Hutch’s jaw and I saw the impact ripple through his body, felt it in my own body. Sweat trickled down his arms and dripped off of his elbows as he staggered back.

He’d been limping before. Here, though, the limp was even more pronounced. He wasn’t using his left leg at all, and as a result, he wasn’t able to dodge punches that he should have dodged easily. I’d seen him fight before, and I knew what it was supposed to look like.

This wasn’t it.

The crowd around me surged forward at the next punch, their fists in the air. In the midst of the chaos, I struggled to breathe evenly. It had been different when Hutch was healthy. But as the other fighter rained down blows on his shoulders and back, I cringed back. I didn’t want to see Hutch get hit. I didn’t want to see him get hurt. Not like this.

The other fighter was smaller and more agile, darting around Hutch like a bee buzzing around a bear. His sting, though, was much more painful. My heart beat faster as I saw him come in for another hit, on the side of Hutch’s head. Hutch reeled back and fell to the mat.

Stay down
.

I prayed silently that he would give up. Hutch wasn’t the kind of guy to give up, though, and before the ref could call the game, he staggered back up on one knee. Blood ran freely down one cheek from a cut on his brow. The scars on his back glistened with sweat and accreted dirt.

No, Hutch
, I said silently.
Don’t do it. Stay down
.

It was almost as if I’d spoken the words out loud to him. He raised his head and looked out into the crowd.

Straight at me.

One hand on the ropes, he clambered to his feet. Behind him, the other fighter danced and shifted his weight from one foot to the next. Hutch put two fingers to his heart and kissed them, then pointed at me. His hand shook as he pointed, blood and sweat mingled on his lips. Then he turned back to the fighter.

He was straining not to shift. I could tell by sight and by smell. His wolf was close to the surface, and the balance he’d talked about was nowhere to be found. He growled, and I could see the glint of wolf eyes behind his eyes. He lunged forward, and there was a flash of claw before he was human again, swinging at air. The fighter had ducked.

A single hit was all it took. A single hit to the side, and Hutch fell over, coughing blood.

The crowd screamed at him to get up, but I knew that he wouldn’t be getting up again. The light in his eyes had died out, and he was ready to lick his wounds. The ref called the fight, and the other fighter howled triumphantly. The floor trembled with the stomping cheers of the crowd, and I trembled along with it.

The mob of spectators was packed too tightly for me to get any closer to the ring. Instead, I wiggled my way out to the side and edged around the pack of screaming fans. Nodding at the security guard, I made my way to the locker room to wait for him.

“Natalie.”

I looked up to see someone I only barely recognized as Hutch. Half of his face was coated in blood, a bandage hastily applied to his eyebrow. The bruise on his hip had spread halfway across his body already, and I knew it would be a shade of blue-green by the morning.

“Hutch—“

“You came to my fight,” he mumbled. He sat down on the locker room bench.

“You said you weren’t fighting for a while,” I said, swallowing as I saw his injuries up close for the first time. “You said—“

“Another guy had to drop, so I took his place. Don’t worry about it, honestly, Nat. It looks worse than it is. And I won’t fight again for a while; I was just substituting for this kid—”

“That’s not what Gina said.”

“Ah, fuck.”

Hutch looked up at me, caught in his lie. Anger shivered inside of me.

“She called you?”

“You lied to me.”

“Nat, I didn’t want you to worry. That’s all.”

“That’s not all. You lied to me. You’re hurt bad, and you have no business fighting—“

“What are you, a doctor?”

“What did your doctor say?”

Hutch looked away, licking his lip and shaking his head.

“Let me guess, he told you to stop, and you wouldn’t listen to him either.” I was shaking with anger now. That he had lied to me made me mad, but putting himself in danger was too much. “Hutch, you could have died out there!”

Hutch barked a laugh.

“Sure,
died
. Really, Nat? What, you think I have a death wish?”

“It looked like it, out there.”
When you kept standing up...

“Why are you here? Huh?” Hutch stood up in front of me. I could smell the other fighter on him. I could smell him, his scent, and it turned me on even as the smell of his blood sickened me. He towered over me and raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “You here to kick me when I’m down?”

“I’m here because I care about you!”

“You have no idea what it takes to run this place!” His voice rose to a shout, echoing through the locker room. “You have no idea what kind of pressure I’m under!”

“Maybe if you told me—“

“You have
no
idea—“

“Maybe if you didn’t
lie
to me—“

“How could you even understand? You’re just a
dog
!”

My breath stopped, and rage numbed my entire body. I had no idea how to respond to the insult. He locked his jaw for a split second, and then his face crumpled.

“Natalie, I’m sorry.”

“No.” The world was dark, spinning around me. I had to get out of there. Away from him. I could feel my monster coming out, and I didn’t know if I would be able to control it now.

“Natalie, I didn’t mean—“

“You don’t want me to come here? Fine. I won’t ever come to one of your fights again!”

“Nat—“

Tears spilled down my cheeks as I ran from the locker room and brushed by Gina. She called after me, but I couldn’t stop running.

***

Back at home, I parked on the street and stumbled into the garage. I couldn’t face my dad now; I was still fuming and the monster in me was still raging to be let loose.

The paintings I’d hung up to dry earlier taunted me from where they hung. I tore one down and held it in trembling hands. My thumb moved across the lines, the perfect red lines on the perfect ochre background. I held the paper tighter, tighter, until my tears blurred the lines and I was no longer human.

I felt myself shift in pieces. My hand first. The claws came out. I held up my arm and stared at the paw where my hand used to be. I flexed my muscles and the claws retracted. The hand came back, all pink skin and polished nails. I’d made myself pretty for him, and he didn’t care. I relaxed and the claws emerged again, glad to be allowed free.

The painting I’d made spoke to me. It whispered words I didn’t want to whisper to myself.

Dog.

Animal.

Monster.

“I’m not a monster!” I screamed. With each word my hand came down, slashing.
“I. Am. Not. A. Monster!”

Claws sliced through paper as easily as they’d sliced through the air. I cried and howled as I tore through the painting. I stopped myself only once I’d turned the painting into scraps of red and yellow. I turned to my other paintings. All of them I’d painted for Hutch. I wanted to ruin them all. He had lied to me. All of his lies piling up on top of other lies. Did he want me for a mate? Or was that another lie? My sobs sounded like growls in the air.

My hands tore at the paintings and my teeth ripped them to shreds, and I could not tell whether I was woman or wolf.

***

I woke up hours later, lying on the couch. My dad was sitting next to me, rubbing my back slowly.

“Pops?” My throat was hoarse, and I could only whisper.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” he said. He looked down at me and I saw love mixed with sorrow in his face.

“I’m sorry, Pops,” I said. “I’m so sorry—“

“Don’t.”

His voice was stern, and I looked up in surprise. Although the expression he wore was gentle, his words came out emphatically.

“You’re not like your mother, you know,” he said. “I know you’re scared of what’s inside you, and that’s okay. It’s a scary thing. But you don’t have to be sorry for it. Ever.”

“I want to be a good kid,” I said. Tears sprang to my eyes. “I don’t want to do bad things.”

“You’re the most wonderful daughter in the world,” my dad said. “And you’ve got a kind heart. That’s what matters. Anything else...”

His words trailed off and he let them fade in the stuffy air of the garage before speaking again.

“I was worried that you would be like your mother. But you’re not. You’re not. You’re your own person, and you’re a good person. So talented. So beautiful. So kind. Natalie, I’m so proud of you.”

I sat up and he wrapped me up in a big hug.

“Thanks, Pops,” I said.

“Hey. If this guy is the one making you cry, you just let me know. I’ll beat him up for you.”

The image of my dad fighting Hutch in the ring made me burst out laughing through my sobs.

“I’ll take him down and wipe the floor with any man who thinks he can make my daughter cry. Okay?” he said. “Are you okay?”

I wiped the last tears from my eyes and looked around at the mess I’d made in the garage. Shredded paintings littered the ground. Despite everything, I couldn’t help but smile.

“I’m okay,” I said. I would be okay. Even with the monster inside, I would be okay. If Hutch had only given me one thing to keep from our relationship, it was that.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Hutch

“Nat?”

“Yeah, in my dreams I have tits as big as hers.”

“Fuck off, Gina,” I moaned.

“You need to get your ass out of bed.”

She stood in the door of my trailer, looking for all the world like the living personification of pissed off. I really couldn’t deal with her bullshit right now.

“I’m recovering. Fuck off.”

“They’ve scheduled another fight for tonight.”

What the fuck?

“That’s a mistake, they don’t schedule the fights. I do.”

“Bullshit. I don’t know what’s going on, Hutch. But you need help. You won’t survive another beating like that. The pack is in trouble, and don’t even get me started on how badly you’ve screwed things up with Nat.”

I’d heard enough. I was getting sick of Gina’s constant bitching and moaning.

“No.” I hauled myself off the bed, ignoring the pain in my chest, and stood facing her. “
You
screwed things up with Nat.
You
called her. You’ve been on my case since I started going out with her and you fucking called her just so she could come and see me get beaten like a bitch. I get it. I get it now.”