Big Bad Bite (19 page)

The female employees’ uniforms were just as
revealing. Their slave girl tunics barely covered their ample
breasts and bottoms, made of the same sheer looking luminescent
fabric as the men’s loincloths. The fabric threw shadows of their
nipples and their… well she didn’t even want to think about what
else was showing or not showing. Advertising your goods was one
thing, but this wasn’t advertising! No, this was the definition of
a walking peep show, and she hoped like hell every single one of
these employees was getting paid damn good money for flashing their
X-rated goodies! No wonder pheromones of lust permeated the air. It
would be easy betting to say that there was a hell of a lot more
going on in this club than booze, gambling, and fighting.

On the second level of the club, there were
tables and booths of all sizes packed with customers watching, what
was probably the most notable feature of the building, below them.
The modern black wood and stainless steel tables were elegantly
meshed with booths containing seats resembling carved stone, but
lushly decorated with fluffy cushion pillows in a variety of bright
jewel tones. An enchanting shade of green lighting was sporadically
placed along the baseboards of the wall to provide intimate
illumination for those seated.

However, if the second level was considered
cozy, then the first level could have been dubbed a virtual
spotlight of action. Bright yellow and white lighting turned the
bottom level into a sunspot where two men were currently beating
each other to death. Or at least that’s what it looked. Jenna was
going to pretend it was not actually to death because she would
hate for her guilty cop conscious to kick in now. That would be
rather inconvenient timing on her part.

Both of the opponents were hulking,
half-shifted men who appeared to be doing their damnedest to tear
each other to pieces. The smaller of the two men looked to be a few
inches short of six feet tall, had a lean boxer’s build, brown hair
buzz cut, and his fingertips, teeth and tips of his ears were
shifted to their gray, wolf form.

The man opposite of him in the arena could
have been the spitting image of Gage in facial features and body
build. Except, where Gage had black hair, this one had a white
blond hue styled into a short, spiky mohawk. Where Gage had golden
yellow eyes with that exotic ring of green around his pupil, this
tiger had eyes such a pale ice blue color, with a navy blue ring
around the pupil that was so haunting. She’d bet her brother,
Logan, would lift her title of serial killer eyes to re-award it to
Gage’s brother if he ever saw them. Another distinction would be
the tattoos. Jenna had yet to see any on Gage, but his brother
sported two full colorful sleeves that spilled out onto his
pectorals as well. Nevertheless, that wasn’t his most intriguing
feature as far as she was concerned. No, that distinction went to
the stripes running up his partially shifted hands and arms.
Instead of the stark black Jenna had seen on Vera’s animal form
earlier, and what she was guessing the majority of tiger shifters
sported, Gage’s brother, Alec, showcased stripes in a soft brown
hue. She was fascinated to see the way his half-shifted arms
blended with his human build and his tiger claws sprouting from
still very human finger tips. Thin arctic white fur with chocolate
colored stripes ran over his forearms, but you could still see the
tattoos beneath. It was strangely beautiful to her.

The two combatants circled each other warily
around the dirt covered floor that was splattered with blood. Both
fighters already had numerous blooming bruises from receiving blows
in the fight. The wolf’s face had deep claw marks running from his
temple down his neck, weeping small streams of blood down his
chest. Gage’s brother had a set of claw marks running diagonally
down his chest to the top of his stomach, which was also oozing its
own small streams of blood that ran down his abdominals to stain
the top of his jaggedly cut gray sweat shorts. However, Gage’s
brother must have caught on to his opponent’s goal of maiming him
in a critical spot because as the wolf lunged at Gage’s brother,
trying to claw his midsection, the tiger moved just out of range
before contact.

It might be kind of poor timing, and a little
sick to admit, but seeing those claw marks on the men’s bodies,
caused by the
Other’s
animal-like nails from their half
shifted states, made her an ugly shade of green. Even the sight of
their canines peeking out of their still human mouths made her
insanely jealous. Due to her hybrid genetics she was unable to
partially shift. There was no halfway for her. She was either a
human, or a wolf, with no in-between. It was part of the con side
of her pros and cons list she’d started after Uncle Owen had
disappeared on her. The sad fact was that the con side was a hell
of a lot longer than the pro side would probably ever be. She
imagined there would be a shit load of convenience in being able to
shift your nails or teeth into the animal’s stronger traits when
you were in a tight situation and needed a little bit of help when
you couldn’t shift to your animals form to get you out of it.

The patrons’ loud cheers and taunts brought
her back to reality and drowned out the other noise around her. She
watched in fascination as the wolf’s attempts to punch, kick, or
claw his opponent resembled jerky, robotic movements in comparison
to the tiger’s fluid counter kicks, punches, or blocks. With a wide
smile on his face and radiating a cocky attitude, Jenna realized
with sudden clarity that the tiger was
letting
his opponent
make occasional contact in a hit or kick to give the wolf a false
bolster of confidence. She recognized this fight for what it was, a
giant, brutal game of cat and mouse. Or perhaps it would be more
accurate to say, tiger and wolf-like-mouse-toy, but it
was
a
game to the tiger. She wondered if the wolf had any idea at all
that he was royally screwed and about to have his ass handed to
him.

Gage walked over to stand at the glass half
wall and let loose a shrill whistle. His brother looked up at him,
saw Gage move his hand over his shoulder in a circular motion with
his finger pointed towards the ceiling, in what Jenna guessed was a
‘wrap-it-up’ signal, and totally missed the fact that the wolf was
taking advantage of his distraction. Lunging forward, the wolf
surprised him with a four punch combo with the first two hits to
the stomach, and the last two hits to his temple and cheek bone.
Before the tiger had a chance to react, the punches were followed
up by a stomp kick that sent Gage’s brother flying backwards to
land several feet away on the sand floor. It all happened so fast
there was no way a human’s eyes could have tracked the movements.
Hell, she had barely been able to see the punches and kick launched
and landed against the tiger’s body.

The crowd went berserk, the entire second
level on their feet roaring. As the wolf stalked boldly forward,
thinking he had the upper hand on the tiger who was still lying on
his back in the dirt, the wolf’s cockiness cost him the chance to
catch the telling clues that the tiger was about to make his move.
Jenna saw them though. There was the tiger’s subtle shift of hands,
moving them so that they were no longer parallel with his body, but
instead shifted so that his fingers were facing more outwards. She
knew it was in preparation for the tiger to brace his body for an
upcoming maneuver.

The tiger’s legs had already been drawn up
after he landed, so that his feet were still planted on the ground.
Now the left leg was moving slowly downwards so that his leg was
still cocked up slightly, but his right foot was no longer planted
on the ground, and he let the leg lean a little to the side. Right
before the wolf was within reach, she saw the tiger’s abdominals
tighten, and then a flurry of movement exploded. Gage’s brother sat
up in a graceful move, with his left hand planted on the ground,
dropping his left leg so that it lay flat on its side against the
floor, and pivoting the right side of his body in a powerful kick
that landed against the wolf’s mid-thigh, knocking him violently
sideways as the sound of bone breaking echoed throughout.

Gage’s brother leapt to his feet, calmly
walking over to the wolf that was frantically dragging his body
across the arena’s floor, desperately trying to escape the
approaching danger. The wolf didn’t make it five feet before the
tiger grabbed him by the foot of his healthy leg, jerking him
backwards so that he lay on the ground at the tiger’s feet, and
flipped the wolf’s body from his stomach to his back. The wolf
threw desperate punches towards the hands and arms quickly
descending towards his head, but they did no damage. Gage’s brother
placed his large paws on either side of the wolf’s head and twisted
viscously. The sound of the wolf’s neck breaking was the last thing
anyone heard before the crowd went wild.

Guess it was evident to everyone that the cat
had grown tired of playing with his toy. The wolf’s seemingly
lifeless body laid unmoving on the arena’s dirt covered ground
before two bouncers, wearing black t-shirts and black BDU pants,
picked him up by his arms and legs to move him out of sight where
he could recover. The sight of the wolf’s body being carried away
should have been beyond horrifying to Jenna. And if it had been a
human, instead of a species of
Other
, it would have
undoubtedly given her nightmares for months. The only thing that
kept her from those nightmares was the knowledge that the wolf
wasn’t actually dead.
Others
could heal from a broken spine.
It was only when you ripped their heads off, or their hearts from
their chests, that you killed the otherwise un-killable.

The tiger sauntered out of the fighting area
and made his way up to our group on the third level. He didn’t make
it off the patch of dirt covered ground before someone handed him a
water bottle and towel to clean off his injuries and the wolf’s
blood from his body. He didn’t make it to the second level before
patrons were clapping him on the back, praising him for a good
fight. He made it halfway across the second level when the first
woman stepped up to rub her body all over his in invitation while a
second woman shoved her panties into the hand holding his towel. He
flashed a smile at the two women before gently disengaging himself
from the situation to continue his trek to us. Two feet more and
women practically sexually assaulting him by running their hands
first over his chest, then over his butt, before grabbing his
package and rubbing him erotically. The man couldn’t take ten steps
before the women were practically raping him in public.

After disengaging himself from a woman, for
what seemed like the thousandth time, he finally made it over to
the tall table that she, Vera, and Gage were standing at waiting
for him. He shot her an interested look before leaning over to kiss
Vera on the cheek.

“Privyet Babushka. Did my little brother
bring you out to have a good time?”

Gage slapped his brother on the back of the
head after their grandmother was done hugging him. “Just because
you’re ten minutes older than me doesn’t mean you’re a big
brother.”

Gage’s brother slugged him playfully in the
arm. “That’s precisely what it means, little brother. Besides,
that’s not the only way I’m bigger than you. For one, I’m taller
than you by two inches, and for two, according to the last little
morsel we played with together I’m also bigger where it counts.”
The blond fighter shot her a lascivious look, “Is this our new
morsel, brother?”

Gage smirked. “She doesn’t seem to play well
with others, so we better leave that one alone. No, this is Kent’s
lovely new partner, Jenna. They’ve come to ask a few questions we
might be able to answer. Jenna, this is my brother, Alec.”

Jenna held her hand out to Alec to shake.
Alec took her hand in his, but ignored the concept of shaking it.
Instead, he brought the back of her hand up to his lips and kissed
it.. When he let go, Jenna brought her hand back to the table in
front of her before leaning across the space, closer to the randy
tiger.

“Charming. Really. But you can give up all
your attempts to get into my undies now, because it’s not going to
happen. I see you for what you are; a card carrying member of those
determined to prove that it’s possible for men of the supernatural
species to get STD’s. I’m just not sure who’s President of the club
yet, you or Kent. Not to mention that I’ve discovered I’m basically
allergic to you, and frankly, I don’t feel like taking an allergy
pill just so I can see this big dick you claim to carry. It’s nice
to meet you though. Really.”

Alec’s mouth hung open in shock while Gage
shook his head and Vera laughed her ass off at her grandson getting
the verbal smack down. Gage finally patted his brother on the back
and murmured, “I tried to tell you that she didn’t play well with
others. Besides, Kent mentioned something about that Alpha McPhee.
Better luck next time though, bro.”

Alec finally closed his mouth, and then
shrugged his shoulders as he looked at Gage, “Oh well, can’t blame
a guy for trying. She is hot.” The white tiger looked around them,
“You said Kent’s here. Where is he?”

Jenna pointed her thumb over her shoulder at
where Kent had one of the waitresses in a corner, wandering hands
roaming freely on both sides. “He’s over there providing a fabulous
example of why he should be President of that club I
mentioned.”

The three tiger shifters peered over her
shoulder to see Kent place his face in the waitress’ triple D
bosom, with the waitress’ dainty hands entwined in his dark brown
hair, just before he proceeded to shake his head from side to side
while making a loud buzzing sound. The waitress giggled loudly
before she used his hair to pull his face up and kiss him. The two
started to go at it like a couple of sloppy, horny teenagers in the
backseat of a borrowed car until Jenna could no longer look at the
pair without rolling her eyes in disgust. Giving up on her hopeless
partner, she looked back to her three companions. The amused looks
on Gage’s and Alec’s face were expected. The confused look on
Vera’s face, however, was unexpected.