Page 41 of The Night Movers: Season One
The crowd was loud. The air in the arena crackled with anticipation. Those quiet strangers they’d passed were now inside and they were anything but. The place was packed, the overflow who couldn’t fit on the concrete risers standing against the wall. All these people came to watch alphas fight?
Ridley’s pulse raced, his mouth more than a little dry.
The energy in the room was barely contained, like one small thing could crack the dam and have everyone tearing at each other’s throats.
Ridley had always thought of betas as bland.
Just average humans living their average lives, far above the hierarchy and politics of alphas and omegas.
But Linus wasn’t bland. These people weren’t bland.
They were voyeurs, desperate to consume a life they could leave anytime they chose.
The lower two risers around the ring were reserved for the alphas in the room, many of whom would be fighting tonight.
Each crew’s rows were now packed with their pack members—far more than earlier.
There were far more omegas, too. Now, Ridley could see how he stood out from the others.
They wore all white, some decked out in diamond-studded collars and expensive-looking clothing, others in rags with bruises marring their skin.
Regardless of their standing, they sat on the floor, still leashed, some even muzzled.
They were yanked around, groped, forced to sit in alphas’ laps.
In the short time they’d been in the arena, he’d already watched an omega get slapped and another stripped while their alpha laughed loudly at their embarrassment.
Anger bubbled in Ridley’s blood every time an omega was mistreated, but he forced himself to behave. For now. Everything about him was a statement, from his clothing to his collar. Hell, even where he sat.
Unlike the other omegas, Ridley was not on the floor.
He sat on the first riser, flanked by Jensen and Ryker, Diesel directly behind him on the riser above, his thighs pressing on either side of Ridley’s narrow shoulders.
He wanted nothing more than to hide behind Diesel, to let the alpha’s body shield him from the unwavering stares from both the alphas and betas.
All eyes were on him, especially the betas in the audience. They were confused. Even they knew the rules; even they understood the hierarchy. Ridley’s collar, as inconspicuous as it was, alerted them to his omega status, but his manner of dress and his placement within the pack confused them.
But it wasn’t only the betas who stared.
Half the omegas in the room seethed with jealousy, and the other half just looked hopeless.
The other alphas watched him closely, watched them closely.
Ridley could hear the buzz of their murmured comments, the crowd gossiping about him as if he couldn’t hear them, like they were watching some kind of theater production.
It was unnerving.
Still, Ridley refused to look weak. He sat, his elbows resting on Diesel’s thighs, his long legs crossed at the knee, watching the chaos unfold around him, doing his best to appear unbothered, even if anyone who sat too close could smell how untrue that was.
“These betas all paid to watch this?” Ridley asked.
“Not just the betas,” Jensen said. “Tickets to the arena cost a lot of money, but so does fighting. Everyone who steps in that ring tonight paid to be there.”
Ridley shook his head. “I don’t get it. Why would anyone pay to do this? ”
“The glory, of course,” Diesel teased.
Ryker laughed. “You know us alphas. We’re all ego-maniacs.”
Ridley huffed out a laugh, then thought to ask, “Where are the others?”
“Titus and Steele are in the back office. Sugar’s up there—” Ryker pointed to a set of doors at the top of the risers, similar to the ones they’d entered through earlier. Sugar leaned against the wall, staring down at them…at him.
Ridley’s stomach did that floaty thing that had him slicking his underwear.
Sugar really was beautiful. Ridley wanted him.
But when Ridley had laid with Sugar that night, he’d made no attempt to fuck him.
Did he not want Ridley? The thought ate at him.
They were his pack. He was their omega. He needed them to need him.
“What happens now?” Ridley asked Jensen.
“Sugar will explain the rules, then the betting starts. That’s Jensen’s job. Once betting is closed, Sugar announces the first fight and it’s game on. The first few fights will be the usual bouts. Two ten minute rounds. First knockout wins. The death match is only over if one yields or dies.”
“They allow people to yield in a death match?” Ridley asked, surprised.
“One can yield in a death match but that involves getting on your knees and begging for your life and the alpha can choose not to accept and kill you anyway,” Ryker explained.
“But most alphas prefer death to begging,” Diesel said. “It’s an honor thing.”
“An honor thing?” Ridley repeated, trying not to roll his eyes.
“Yeah, begging another alpha for mercy is like being bitched in public,” Ryker said. Ridley glowered at him. Ryker gave him an innocent look. “What? I didn’t make up the term. But that’s how other alphas feel about it. It’s about pride.”
“It’s about ego,” Ridley countered.
Ridley’s heartbeat fell out of step as Sugar strode to the middle of the cage with a microphone in his hand. Once again, Ridley’s body reacted to the alpha without his permission. His body wanted the alpha’s knot .
Just then, Sugar made eye contact, winking in Ridley’s direction. His skin grew feverish until the tips of his ears were on fire. As he sat there in a room full of people, his cock twitched, a low steady pulse forming in his core. He was going to ruin these pants.
What was wrong with him?
It had to be residual hormones from his heat.
Sugar tapped on the mic, the loud thumping sound coming through speakers mounted on the ceiling.
Sugar’s voice boomed into the microphone. “Are you ready?”
The crowd went wild, shouting, clapping, stomping their feet. “I can’t hear you,” Sugar said in a sing-song voice, flashing his perfect teeth to the crowd.
Somehow, the crowd grew even louder.
Sugar gave a nod of approval. “Ladies and gentlemen, alphas and betas, welcome to the only place in this godforsaken town where real strength, real grit, and real honor are tested in the rawest way possible! Welcome to…The Arena.”
The audience once more grew frenzied. Ridley found himself holding his breath.
“We’ve got an explosive lineup for you tonight!” When more shouting ensued, Sugar gestured for them to settle down, only continuing when they did so. “As always, tonight’s fights will bring you the baddest brawls…the bloodiest battles…the fiercest fighters.”
Sugar had them eating out of the palm of his hand, as dramatic as any actor. But that was what it was. Theater. An act. But it was clear Sugar loved the spotlight even though he didn’t seem the type.
“But…tonight’s not just any fight night, folks. Nope. Tonight, if you make it to the bitter end without running for the exits, we have a little treat for you.”
A low hum of whispering voices spread through the stands until it sounded like white noise. Sugar waited for them to quiet down.
He began to pace the ring. “An alpha in this room has disrespected our king.” The crowd jeered.
Sugar nodded along, encouraging their ire.
“He maliciously and without cause attacked our pack omega—the king’s new mate—our new queen, if you will.
” Sugar paused for a moment before shouting into the mic, “Do we tolerate disrespect around here?”
“No!” the crowd shouted at once.
Sugar grinned, pleased with their response. “That’s right. What is the penalty for disrespecting our king?” He held his hand to cup his ear like he was listening.
“Death!”
“Right, again,” he praised.
“He’s so good,” Ridley muttered.
Jensen nodded. “He really loves this part.”
Sugar turned in a circle, addressing them all. “Now, had this happened any other day, we’d be parading that alpha’s head on a pike.” More cheering ensued. “But the queen has demanded that we make an example out of him. And what our queen wants, our queen gets. Have you met our new queen?”
Once more, the low murmurs and whispers swirled around him.
“Stand up, Ridley.”
Ridley startled at the sound of his name, stomach lurching. What was Sugar doing? Diesel nudged his hip with his boot to get him moving. Ridley forced himself to rise, regal as any royal, dropping his fur coat off his shoulders and striking a pose as the betas in the crowd went wild.
The alphas did not.
They glared at him, their disgust and fury radiating off them in waves, souring the scent of the place until it smelled like dirty socks.
If they didn’t hate him before, they certainly did now.
He sat slowly, going back to his previous position even though he wanted to slump into the seat and hide in Diesel’s arms.
“He wants you to see exactly what happens when someone disrespects our pack, especially in our own house. You can all thank him for this blessing for which you are about to receive.” More cheers.
“At the end of the night, we have a treat for you. Our king himself, Titus, is coming back to the ring, for just one night, at the behest of his queen, to get vengeance…justice…for our pack. That’s right.
” He lowered his voice dramatically. “We’re giving you a death match! ”
The noise that erupted was dizzying, echoing around the concrete walls, amplifying their shouts until it sounded like they filled a stadium, not an arena.
Ridley swore their screams were causing his heart to beat off-rhythm.
They were wild, like animals. Ridley was the new queen…
but of what? A drug den? A prison? They were all equally dangerous.