Page 16 of Fight (Kitsune #2)

L ike he had wanted to, Devon went to Bill and asked to be allowed to act as my security any time I have to travel.

I wasn't surprised when Bill agreed, with the stipulation that Devon qualify as an enforcer first. When he told me that he had to qualify in order to be my enforcer, I asked if he minded my tagging along.

I was curious what qualifying entailed, and I didn't know if I'd ever get another opportunity to find out.

Saturday afternoon, we followed the directions from Bill to where the trial was being held. We ended up at a rural ranch house I'd never been to. I climbed out of the pick-up and saw several other people there. Bill's SUV was parked next to ours as well as a couple more I didn't recognize.

I followed Devon, staying quiet. We were there for him, and I didn't see a need to draw attention to myself. We made our way to the group of men standing in front of one building, waiting for us. The closer we got, the more people in the group I recognized.

Bill was there, of course, as well as Gabriel, the enforcer who served as his day time security, but I was surprised to see Terry there too. He normally didn't go on duty for at least a couple of hours.

Bill stepped forward. "Devon," Bill spoke first. "this is going to be pretty brutal. Are you sure you want Nickie to see it?"

Devon glanced at me before turning back to Bill.

"Yes, Sir, I'm sure. I have no intention of not qualifying, and she asked to come.

I have no problem with her seeing me fight, or what I'm capable of.

" He replied confidently. "Besides, whether I qualify or not, I intend to teach her some self-defense, it will be good for her to see how I fight, and the kind of things I'll be teaching her. "

Bill looked back and forth between the two of us for a moment, I met his eyes unwaveringly. After a moment he nodded reluctantly. "Very well, let's get this over with."

Bill turned to address the entire group.

"Devon, Nickie, this is Ethan Westwood. Ethan's our Theron, our head enforcer.

Ethan, Devon Wilson and Nickie Daniels." He finished the introductions and continued.

"As I told you, Ethan, I'm going to need Nickie to travel on pack business, but I don't want her going alone.

Devon wants to accompany her as her enforcer, but I can't allow that, unless he qualifies as one.

Whether he serves on the team afterward or not, is between the two of you.

That's why we're here. As Theron, you decide who qualifies, and who doesn't. I let you know when I scheduled this that I had someone who wanted to try to qualify, but nothing else, now I'll add a request.

"Because Nickie's like a daughter to me, I want to be sure that anyone I send with her is fully capable of taking care of her. With that in mind, I'd appreciate it, if you'd allow at least one of my security team, to participate in the qualifications."

Ethan nodded at Bill, but didn't give him an answer before he turned to Devon. "Do you know what qualifying as an enforcer entails?" Ethan asked.

"Not exactly. No." Devon admitted, unconcerned.

"Basically, you're going to have to fight.

" I listened to what Ethan was saying to Devon but I inched closer to Gabriel.

I hadn't seen him in a few weeks, and I wanted to ask how he was doing when there was a break in conversation, but I didn't want my movement to interrupt anything.

Ethan continued. "We're gonna set you up with two of my enforcers, and you'll fight until I call a stop. "

Devon nodded, accepting what he would have to do.

Gabriel saw that I was inching in his direction, and started to meet me in the middle. As he approached, Devon growled. A deep, rumbling growl, like a wolf warning off an intruder.

Gabriel and I both stopped cold and looked at Devon, surprised.

Ethan stopped speaking at the interruption.

Devon was glaring at Gabriel. "Do not touch her." He all but snarled.

"I wasn't planning on it." Gabriel held his hands up in front of himself. "She was headed for me, I thought I'd meet her half way."

Devon looked at me questioningly.

"Gabriel is a friend, you know that. He helped me a lot with adjusting when I found out I'm kindred."

"I only know you were dating him not too long ago. He needs to keep his hands off my mate."

I looked at Gabriel, confused for a second, and trying to figure out where Devon got the idea we'd dated. Then it hit me.

"Devon, Gabriel and I never dated. Sure, we went out together a couple times, as friends.

" Now that I knew what had caused the outburst I tried to calm him.

"Nothing more." I stepped away from Gabriel, trying to placate Devon, "I was going to wait until I wasn't interrupting things, and talk to him, that's all. "

I couldn't imagine how I might feel if I saw Devon with someone I thought he'd dated recently, especially if I thought she were hitting on him right in front of me.

I went back to Devon and took one hand. I leaned against him and rubbed my forehead against his jaw.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were under the impression that Gabriel and I had dated. "

He placed a gentle kiss on my forehead and wrapped one arm around my waist. He pulled me up against him, holding me there as he spoke to the Theron. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to interrupt. Instinct got the best of me."

Ethan, who had watched the exchange with interest, seemed unperturbed. "I see why you're unwilling to let another enforcer travel with her. You do realize that it's only going to get worse unless you seal the mating, don't you?"

"I do, but we're not ready to commit to a lifetime, just yet. We've both had a lot of changes in a very short time and we've agreed to hold off until we're sure." Devon replied.

I could see that the Theron had more to say, but knew he would be wasting his time so he changed the subject.

"All right, then, back to what we're doing here.

I know you want to qualify as an enforcer in order to serve as Nicki's security when she travels, but will you want to work on the enforcer team? "

"Not full time. I've got a job I like, and I don't want to leave it, but I wouldn't be opposed to occasionally helping out, when you need an extra body."

"That works. I don't really need someone full time right now, but occasional help would be good to have in reserve.

Assuming you qualify." Ethan nodded to himself.

"All right, let's get this done." He waived the rest of the men who had been standing to one side.

"This is what we're going to do. Devon you're going to fight two men.

Terry and Mike, I think." He motioned to one of the new comers, a tall blond man with pale blue eyes.

"Here are the rules," Ethan continued. "hand to hand only, no weapons, no equalizers. The point isn't to hurt each other but to let me see how you fight. Oh, and human form only, you shift, you fail. Understand?"

"Got it." Devon agreed, still holding me against his side.

"Then let's get the show on the road." The Theron turned back to the group of enforcers waiting for instructions. "Terry and Mike, you two against Devon here. Let's see what he's got."

The others backed away forming a rough circle, as Devon released me and stepped into the middle of the space formed by the other enforcers, and waited calmly.

Mindful of Devon's reaction when I'd approached Gabriel earlier, I stayed close to Bill, not wanting to distract Devon. I'd get a chance to talk to Gabriel later, I was sure.

I stood quietly and watched, as first Terry, then Mike, advanced on Devon from different sides.

He watched both of them, looking for signs of who would move first. He didn't wait for them to attack, instead he rushed Mike, surprising him with an elbow to the face before slamming Mike's body down into an upraised knee.

Mike backed off, gasping for breath, Devon turned to face Terry, his hair flying with the force of his spin.

Terry moved in swiftly, with a hard blow to Devon's stomach.

Devon twisted, avoiding some of the blow, but not all of it.

Behind him, Mike had recovered enough that he was moving into the battle again.

Devon knocked Terry's arm away, as he tried for another blow and returned the strike.

He landed a hard slug alongside the head, knocking Terry off his feet.

Devon crouched under the roundhouse that Mike threw behind him, and spun low, sweeping one leg out as he went, knocking Mike's feet out from under him, making him land hard on his back.

Mike rolled and hit his feet about the time Terry made it to his.

They both charged Devon at the same time, one from the front, the other from the side.

As Devon used the elbow of one arm to block the kick Terry threw at him, he was unable to block Mike's tackle and they both went down.

Devon hit the ground first but was already twisting his body, maneuvering so that he rolled on top of Mike before Mike could use the position to his advantage.

Clouting Mike again, Devon stood, and turned in time to dance out of Terry's path, he grabbed Terry's shirt with both hands and tripped him, sending him sprawling on top of Mike.

"Enough!" Ethan shouted.

Devon was the only one still standing but he extended his hand, offering to help the men he'd been fighting up. One at a time, they took his hand and let him help them stand. Once all three men were on their feet, and knocking the dust off their clothes, Ethan spoke again.

"Well, Devon, you qualify. Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"I spent the last ten years with the Army."

"That's not standard Army hand-to-hand training." He sounded like he knew what he was talking about.