Page 5

I see the light leave his eyes a split second before he drops to the mat like a sack of potatoes. The ref yells at me to step back, and my wolf bristles at the man’s sudden proximity.

The mountain lion doesn’t stir as the ref counts it out.

One.

Two.

Three.

The crowd explodes in a deafening storm of cheers, boos, whistles, and claps. The wolves are celebrating, the big cats are sore, and I don’t care about any of it.

I barely have the patience to stand there and acknowledge my victory as someone yanks my arm into the air. Two shifters I don’t know bound into the cage, and Coach pulls me into a hug that’s more backslap than embrace.

I was considered the underdog in this fight, which is why my win is such a big deal.

I stagger out of the cage, blinded by the lights, and search the shadowy faces in the crowd for hers. The rest of my team tackles me before I make it off the steps, and I’m dragged forward into the sea of bodies and noise.

I think I grin, but I’m moving in a daze. Then I see Raf, and behind him is . . .

Her.

She’s even more beautiful than I remember — goldenskin, dark eyes, glossy black hair, and lush pink lips that have haunted me for years. She’s petite enough to tuck under my arm.

When she sees me, her lips part slightly, and a hard look passes through those chocolate-brown eyes. The look is gone as soon as I see it, replaced by a congratulatory smile.

“Congrats, bro,” Raf hollers, throwing an arm around my shoulders and slapping me on the back.

“Thanks, man.”

Elena’s friend Carmen appears behind Raf. “You were . . .scary. And amazing. Scary amazing.”

A chuckle rumbles through me, and I grin at Carmen. Elena shoots her friend an annoyed look and finally meets my gaze.

“Hey, Lena,” I say, my voice softening automatically the way it used to whenever I talked to her.

It started because she was Raf’s little sister — five years younger than me. Even when I was eight or nine, I felt intensely protective of her.

“Hey, Jake.”

My smile widens. “Long time no see.”

I have to hold back a grimace at my own lame greeting.Long time no see?

Elena gives me a squinty sideways look, but I catch the twinkle in her eyes.

“What are you doing here?” I ask. “Shouldn’t you be in Boston?”

“She’s here for Carmen’swedding,” says Raf, his voice dripping with disapproval. “I told her it wasn’t a good idea.”

“Will you tell him he’s being ridiculous?” Elena cuts in,crossing her arms over her chest and drawing my eyes to her perky little breasts.

I clear my throat and look away. In that moment, it’s as though no time has passed. Raf and Elena are still bickering. Raf is still trying to control her life. The two of them were always putting me in the middle.

Raf probably assumes I’ll take his side. He thinks I see Elena as a little sister.

For years I told myself that was all I felt — that platonic, brotherly love. But the night Elena kissed me in her living room, that illusion was shattered forever.

“I don’t know,” I say slowly. “There are gonna be a lot of wolves there.”