Alpha's Last Fight: A Paranormal Shapeshifter BBW Romance (23 page)

“Something like that.” The sneer was back, utter contempt in his voice. “But not really, right?”

Now it was my turn to force myself to remain composed. Tommy was baiting me. I’d given him the chance to negotiate on equal terms, but now he was stepping up and taking control. Trying to show me who was the boss.

“So what happens if I take my chances and just kill you now, Tommy?”

“You go to jail and I get buried in the family plot next to my old man. Which one of us do you think Natalie will come visit first? Don’t get me wrong. I’m scared of you. I’m terrified. I’m regretting drinking that beer because I am this fucking close to pissing my pants. But what happens? Nothing. I don’t matter. Your pack will implode with or without your inept hand to guide it. They’re going to bleed you dry, and when there’s nothing left, you’ll blow away like husks on the wind.”

This guy. This fucking guy. He had… issues.

“Why? Why are you doing this for them?”

“Like I said. They want me to prove I’m loyal. I’ve got plans and I need their backing and yadda yadda yadda… in theory, that’s why. But if I’m being completely honest, and I think we’ve reached a point where I might as well be honest, I’m doing it because I don’t like you.”

I spread my hands wide in supplication.
Me? Why not?

“I don’t like the way you fight. The way you swagger around the ring with no respect for the man you’re facing. I don’t like the way you think you can fuck yourself out of anything. I don’t like your piece of shit bike. Or your filthy t-shirt. I don’t like your fucking ridiculous name. But it’s more than that. I didn’t like you before I met you. I don’t like what you are.”

“But Nat? She’s a shifter and you like her, right?”

“No, I don’t like what
you
are. What you really are. You’re a bully, Hutch. You’re a bully and the worst part is you just have no idea that you are. You treat those you think are weaker than you with contempt. You embarrass and humiliate them and you don’t even notice. You have no respect for authority.

“I grew up surrounded by your kind. My father only ever acted in their best interests. The mills were going to close anyway. He couldn’t stop that. But every step of the way, they hounded him. They tried to make him feel small. Less than he was. And as the father, so the son. What he got at work, I got at school, tenfold. They made my life hell.”

By the time he paused for breath, his forehead was beaded with perspiration. There was definitely more going on here than met the eye. This guy had some shit to work out, but it couldn’t be at the expense of my pack. I wouldn’t allow it.

“Wait… you think my name is ridiculous?”

It got a chuckle out of him at least.

“So… are you going to kill me?”

“Undecided.” I shrugged.

“Well, before you decide. I have one more thing for you.”

I waited in silence. I had no idea what his game was. He reeked of loathing to the extent that it drowned everything out. He smelled of it so bad it was like he was sick. Some sort of hidden cancer that had been eating away at him since before Nat got her teeth into him.

“An offer… one fight.”

“This is for your secret pals?”

“No, this is just between me and you. One fight. Four hundred thousand dollars. Win or lose. You get to take home half of that. Two hundred large, win or lose. That’s enough to put down a deposit on a nice trailer park the fuck away from my town somewhere. I don’t care as long as it’s not here.”

“And you get a nice little payday for sitting on the sidelines twiddling your thumbs. Your pals holding out on you?”

“I think of it as a buffer. A little insurance. You might be taking the hits, but without me, it’s not going to happen. I deserve my cut.”

I thought for a moment. It was too good to be true. There had to be a catch. “Reno?” There were only a few places in the country where you could make that much money in a single fight. Reno was the obvious one.

But Tommy shook his head. “Out on the coast. A little closer to home.”

Shit. Atlantic City, or close enough. I’d heard rumors but never really had any kind of confirmation. These were big, big money fights. International and high-profile. Millions of dollars would change hands over the course of an evening and for the main event... Shit. These weren’t fights, these were battles. Gladiatorial combat with no rules and no limits.

Tommy was offering me a chance to save my pack and start again somewhere. It was more than I could have hoped for. All I had to do was to sign up for what might as well be a fight to the death.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Natalie

My dad was out of the house when the knock came. I opened the door, thinking it was him carrying groceries, but instead Hutch was there.

I tried to close the door, but he stopped it with his hand.

“Let me talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” I said, my voice quivering. I hadn’t been able to paint at all since I last saw Hutch. Nothing came out on the paper. I’d been squeezing the wolf back into its cage inside of me. There was no way I wanted to let it back out into the world. But now, smelling Hutch and seeing him stand in front of me, the monster was back and roaring to come out.

“Natalie, I want you.”

“Really? I thought you wanted to fight.”

“Let me explain. Please.”

I hesitated, but the apologetic look on his face made me let go of the door.

“Fine,” I said. “But don’t expect me to—“

Before I could finish outlining my terms, Hutch was inside and had pulled me against him, kissing me with a fervor that pulled my breath from my lungs. He slammed the door with his foot and pushed me up against it. His lips seized mine, and as his hand pressed my hip back, the desire I thought had died out came burning strong through my body.

“Nice dress,” he said, once he’d finally unlatched from his kiss. He was still holding me against the door, and damn me, I loved it. I wanted his hands all over me, I wanted his cock in me, and though I fought against my feelings, I was fighting against the wolf as well. And losing.

“Hutch—“

“I can smell you through your panties,” he whispered, stroking my hair with his free hand. His fingers reached down and pulled at the hem of my dress. Whether it was his smell or the visions passing through my mind in sharp, vivid flashes, I was wet already, and I knew he knew it.

“Hutch—“

“Tell me you don’t want me, and I’ll leave. But I want you so badly.”

“You could have any other girl—“

“I haven’t fucked anyone else, Nat. I can’t. You’re my mate. I want you. Only you.”

He punctuated each sentence with a hard kiss on my neck, his lips taking me over, turning my muscles to jelly.

I could only moan as his hands touched me where I hadn’t even touched myself. Immediately my body was on fire, aching to have him inside of me.

“God, Hutch, I—“

“I’m sorry for everything. I’ll make it up to you. I swear.”

“Stop that.”

“What?”

“You keep making promise after promise, Hutch! You promised to stop fighting. You promised I’d be yours. I’m sick of promises, Hutch! If you want me back, you’re going to have to show it with your actions. Not another promise.”

Hutch’s face fell.

“That’s why I’m here, Nat. I fucked up bad. But I will make it up to you.”

“Hutch—”

“Tell me you don’t want me.”

He pulled back, and I stood flustered at the door, my hair disheveled. I couldn’t say the words. I couldn’t lie. I wanted him back as badly as I wanted to send him away. There was nobody else that had ever made me feel the way he did, and the thought of losing him now drove any other fear from my mind.

I reached out and grabbed his shirt, then pulled him to me in a hard kiss.

Our hands ran over each other like we were teenagers who had gotten a minute alone in a closet. My dress came off over my head, and Hutch picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist, feeling his hardness already ready to burst through his jeans. He unhooked my bra, kissing and sucking my breast before coming back up my neck to my mouth.

“Where?” he said breathlessly. I pointed down the hall to my bedroom door. He moved quickly, kicking aside the cardboard boxes without so much as a glance. I’d been so worried about him seeing the inside of my dad’s house, but now there was only one thing on both of our minds, and it had nothing to do with how clean the floor was.

He kicked open the bedroom door and carried me to the bed, throwing me down on the mattress. Lifting his arms, he tore his shirt off and threw it on the ground, then his pants and underwear. His cock was already erect, standing stiff and throbbing above me.

“Take off your panties,” Hutch said, in a tone that brooked no disobedience. I slid them down my legs, over my knees. I had just reached my ankles when Hutch threw himself on top of me, pushing me back against the mattress.

“My dad will be back soon,” I gasped.

“That’s alright,” Hutch said with a grin, and his cock twitched as though in agreement. “I don’t think I’ll last very long.”

Without another second, he spread my thighs apart and knelt down. I cried out as his lips touched me in my most sensitive spot, and I couldn’t help the new wash of desire that burst through me. My wolf scrabbled at the door, and I let it out tentatively.

The world burst into color and scent. Yes, I could handle it. My hips rose to meet Hutch, and he took me in his mouth. His tongue slid in circles around me, then thrust deep into my core.

“
Ahh!”
I cried out as his tongue moved inside of me, teasing me and sliding with delicious friction against the walls of my core. I twisted, my thighs hot and wet with his saliva and my juices. Then he pulled out and I whimpered.

“More,” I said. “More. Take me, Hutch. Fuck me hard.”

This time Hutch didn’t hesitate. His cock plunged into me so deeply that the world went white and I couldn’t hear a thing. My wolf twisted under my skin and sent me into an agony of pleasure. I shifted and pulled his hips into me so that he went deeper.

“
Ohh,
” he groaned into my ear. “God, Nat. I’m going to explode.”

“Not before me,” I gasped. My body was already on the edge of climax, and as he eased his rock hard cock back, I felt the ache of emptiness come back.

“Please,” I said. “Please, oh god Hutch, please—“

He grinned and then slammed back into me. His body didn’t stop thrusting, not until I fell screaming over the edge and into the most explosive orgasm I’d ever felt. He didn’t stop then, his cock pulsing deep into me. The bed slammed against the wall over and over again and I muffled my scream with my fist as my body spasmed again and again. But he wasn’t done, not even after sending me into an orgasm again.

He needed more, and he would take it.

Withdrawing, he grabbed me by both hips and turned me over, dragging me to the edge of the bed. My ass felt cool and naked in the air, until he reached back and spanked me, hard.

I bucked and felt the wolf snarl inside of me. The sharp pain of his palm on my skin was gone in an instant as he plunged deep into me from the back, filling me even deeper than before. His thumb grazed my asshole and I twisted under him, but to no avail. He was in control now, and he would do whatever he wanted with me.

And I loved it.

He spanked me again and I screamed as his cock came thrusting deep. Then his hands were on my shoulders and all of his weight was bearing into me. I could barely breathe as he jackhammered his cock into me from behind, his palms sweaty, his scent filling the room with desire. Then I felt him shudder once, hard, then again. He bent down and kissed the back of my neck, then bit me as he spasmed into me. I could feel his hot seed inside, his thick hard cock stiffening and jerking as he shivered into me.

He fell down onto the bed next to me, breathing hard. I turned to him and saw the flush on his cheeks.

“Hutch—“

He turned to me and kissed me roughly, his hand caressing my cheek as his tongue sought mine and drew another breath from my lips.

“I love you, Natalie,” he said. “I didn’t tell you that enough, but I do.”

Tears filled my eyes and I couldn’t say a word as he pulled me to his chest. I simply buried myself in his arms, and began to cry tears of joy.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Hutch

“Hutch?”

“Mmm?”

“When’s your next fight?”

Natalie was snuggled up in the crook of my arm, hot and sweaty and satisfied. At least, I’d done my best to make sure she was satisfied. I finally had things figured out. My pack. My mate. Everything was going to work out just fine, the way it always did.

“You wanna come watch?”

Her head rolled on my arm, her features drawn together in a frown. Uh oh.

“I want to make sure you have enough time to recover,” she said, a hint of maternal concern streaking her tone. “I want you to be safe and healed.”

“I’m fine,” I said. I didn’t tell her that she was putting weight on my bruised rib and it was taking all of my effort not to scream out loud when she shifted her knee over.

“Besides,” I said, “I got the best plan to figure out this fight stuff.”

“A plan?”

I could tell she was skeptical, but I wanted to lay it out for her as convincingly as I could.

“It’s a fight,” I said. She opened her mouth and I stopped it with my fingers. “Not tonight or anything, it’s plenty of time for me to heal up beforehand. And I won’t be fighting anytime before then.”

“What kind of fight?” Nat asked.

“It’s a big fight,” I said. I was getting pumped just thinking about it. “It’s a really big deal Nat. Gonna be all elegant and shit. And who knows, maybe it could get me to the big leagues. Get a regular gig in Reno or even Vegas It could be my chance, Nat.”

“
If
you win.”

I didn’t want to think about what would happen if I didn’t win.

“Even if I don’t win, it’s a ton of money for the pack. It could fix everything, all in one swoop.”