“Oh!” The crowd yelled when Aric leaped up and nailed me in the face. Two of my teeth hit the grass like hail. I kicked his boys again—more out of instinct than tactic. He hunched over in agony. I spit out a lot of blood and about three more teeth. No worries, they’ll grow back in a few hours.

Things were starting to go my way, so I decided to have a little more fun. “You probably heard that Celia is staying in Misha’s guesthouse. I heard the same thing, but I don’t believe it for a minute. If I know my boy Misha, Celia is probably with him right now—if you know what I mean.”

Aric broke my nose with his fist then under-hooked my left shoulder and slammed me into the frozen ground. I choked, trying to breathe, and spit out more blood.

Okay, now I’m pissed. I’d bled enough, now it was his turn. I staggered to my feet. “Nice one, Aric. Do you think that’s how Misha throws Celia on the bed every night?”

My trash talk didn’t have the effect I wanted. When I charged, he flipped me onto the ground again. I whirled back to my feet—not wanting him to realize how bad he’d knocked the wind out of me. We faced each other again, circling with challenging stares.

Enough is enough. Time for you to go down, you cocky son of a bitch. I prepared to take him out with my best move, but not before letting one last comment sink in. “So, do you think Celia screams out Misha’s name? You know, when they’re doing it like monkeys?”

• • •

I’m not sure how it happened exactly, but the world went black. When I opened my eyes a hell of a long time later, it was white and I couldn’t see a goddamn thing. It took me a moment to realize that it was because I had a note conveniently stapled to my forehead. It read:

Dear Loser,

From now on, you will be at the Den on time and ready to work. When you are here you will be respectful to my Warriors and to me, and you will abide by our ways. You will also be in charge of cleaning this bathroom you’re lying in by six o’clock every night for the next month.

One more thing. Celia is my mate. If you ever disrespect her again, I’ll tear out your f**king throat.

Sincerely,

Aric Connor, aka Your Fearless Leader, who knocked the shit out of you

I looked around. The place was an eyesore of black tile and chrome. It had seven stalls, seven separate urinals, and four showers. I swore up and down. When the hell am I going to learn to keep my mouth shut?

I may have been an ass**le, but I was an ass**le who kept his word. It took me hours to clean the damn place. Didn’t anybody teach these little pukes how to aim? I was finishing up scrubbing the last urinal when a stampede echoed down the long corridor outside the bathroom. A pack of young wolves stormed in, occupying every last stall and urinal. Apparently they’d just finished dinner, and judging by the sounds and smell, chili had been on the menu.

Liam, Koda, and Gemini roared with laughter outside the door as I let loose on the evil little bastards. “Hey! You better get your assess back in there and flush, you pricks. . . . You, aim for the hole, aim for the hole, don’t look at me—aim for the goddamn hole! Oh I know you ass**les aren’t showering now. Everyone get the hell out. . . . I don’t give a shit if you’re not done, get the f**k out now!”

Every last turd scrambled out leaving wads of toilet paper and dirty towels scattered across the muddy floor. I swore when I glanced at the wall clock and saw it was five-goddamn-thirty. Somehow, I was going to get the Warriors back for this.

Chapter Two

Three rolls of paper towels, a nasty scouring pad that needed to be lit on fire, and one destroyed mop later, my ass was finally done cleaning. I barreled down the steps and almost crashed into Celia’s younger sister, Emme.

Her lids practically shot back into her skull and she clasped her hands over her mouth when she saw me. I didn’t have a clue what freaked her out until I remembered my teeth hadn’t finished growing back in. I greeted her with a nod of my chin and flashed her a hillbilly grin. “Wassup, Emme?”

Emme reached to touch my hand from where I stood and led me down the steps like someone’s grandpa. “Oh, Bren. What happened?” She wrinkled that cute little nose of hers with all the menace of a Golden Retriever pup. “Tell me who did this to you.”

“I got into a fight with another wolf. No big deal.”

Her jaw popped opened. “Bren, it is a big deal. No one has a right to treat you this way. You should tell Aric right away so this lunatic doesn’t get away it!”

I stopped grinning. “Ah, Emme, that’s not going to happen.”

“Why?”

“Because the lunatic was actually Aric,” I grumbled.

Emme released my hands, the rising heat of her body flushing her fair skin pink. “Bren . . . what did you do to make him so mad?”

How come everyone always assumes it’s my fault?

Emme didn’t wait for me to answer and led me down the long stretch of hall and into the kitchen. Someone must’ve been on galley duty, ’cause the stainless steel appliances and granite countertops shone to spotless perfection. Unlike the bathroom upstairs.

Emme pulled out a chair and motioned for me to sit. She searched through the drawers until she found two kitchen towels. “Bren . . . Aric hasn’t been in pleasant spirits these past few months.”

“No shit.”

She smiled softly despite not being one to swear and ran water under a towel at the sink. “I don’t think you understand. What Celia and Aric shared was beautiful and rare, and something few get to experience.” She squeezed out the excess water before returning to where I waited at the table. With a sigh, she gently slid the towel along my face, paying close attention to the area around my mouth and nose. “Don’t be too hard on Aric. And please try to be a little more patient with him. He’s hurting. In some ways, I think he hurts more than Celia.”

I scoffed. “That’s a hell of thing to say, seeing how he dumped your sister, knowing how much she loved him.”

She stopped wiping and pulled back her hand, showing me the amount of dry blood she’d cleaned, with sadness dimming her gentle green eyes. “I’ll be honest. I don’t understand a lot about matehood. But I believe the wolves when they say it’s what bonds my sister and Aric. I saw how Celia and he were when they were together, and I see how they are now.” She offered me the dry towel. “They’re miserable, Bren. They are. And I’m convinced they’ll never know happiness apart.”