Wolf Girl (Wolf Girl #1) - Leia Stone Page 0,56

tried to read if he was worried for Sawyer or not, but he just stood stock still, glaring at the fight about to unfold before us.

The man in the middle of the fight ring had a giant tattoo across his back.

Butcher, it read.

A name … a name after a profession? I prayed I would never find out.

“Do you want to be able to end this fight by forfeit or death only?” Butcher asked Sawyer, sweat gleaming off of his back tattoo.

I tried to glean information from that. Maybe they would be allowed to forfeit and keep their life? That was a nice option and I was glad he was giving Sawyer—

“Death is the only way out of this fight, you sick motherfucker,” Sawyer growled and then beat his chest twice like a maniac, before shifting instantly.

Holy fuck.

The nice rich boy with polite manners that I’d met was gone. In his place was some bloodthirsty maniac who I was extremely attracted to right now. I probably needed therapy for these thoughts, but seeing Sawyer turn into a bloodthirsty wolf, lips curled back in a snarl, it … pulled my heart back in his direction. Any anger I’d had at him for locking these cuffs on me was gone. I could see now that he was just being protective of me, that in his mind these cuffs at the time made me safe, even if now they would get me killed. He would do anything to protect me, that was clear now.

Butcher shifted as well, and I was pleased to see his wolf was much smaller than Sawyer’s, but I had no idea what fey powers he might have in his wolf form. Hybrids were not talked about. The two wolves stalked each other in a slow circle, hackles of each wolf rising as they bared their teeth at each other, saliva glistening off of the white sharp points.

Butcher’s wolf dove and I sucked in a breath, but Sawyer rolled out of the way.

He was fast.

Really fast.

Sawyer popped up onto his feet and shook the dirt from his fur as Butcher lunged again. Sawyer’s wolf kicked off the ground and soared over Butcher’s head, landing on the other side and avoiding being bitten.

I internally cheered, afraid that if I spoke, the Ithaki with the knife to my throat would kill me.

Butcher just looked pissed now that he realized he was unable to catch his prey. He lunged three more times in rapid succession and Sawyer dodged every single one.

He was so damn fast, vampire-fast, and I could see his strategy now was a strong evasive defense rather than offensively attacking. Sawyer looked barely winded while Butcher was panting like an out-of-shape dog. Butcher was doing all the hard work and heavy lifting and he hadn’t even grazed Sawyer yet.

Maybe I’d misjudged Sawyer’s fighting ability; he was clearly trained.

The air charged then, something that was hard to explain, but it felt thick and full of static electricity. For a second I wondered if I was the only one who felt it, but Sawyer’s fur stood up on end and he lowered his ears as if he was in pain.

Butcher’s wolf grinned, a slight blue mist lifting off of his skin.

Fey magic?

I wanted to move, to rush forward and help, but the knife at my throat tightened, and I was helpless with these stupid cuffs on. Sawyer whined, ears flat to his head as an ultrasonic noise picked up throughout the space. Every wolf in attendance winced, covering their ears with their hands, or flattening their ears if in wolf form. It felt like my brain was going to explode; my ears would start bleeding any moment. I wanted to reach up and cover them, but with a knife to my throat I just gritted my teeth and bore it.

Butcher lunged then and Eugene stepped forward to the very edge of the fight ring, “Tokyo!” he screamed at Sawyer, who shook himself before rearing up on his hind legs and catching Butcher’s wolf mid-attack.

Tokyo?

Did I hear that right?

Butcher slammed into Sawyer, who wrapped his front paws over the Ithaki’s shoulders and they snapped jaws at each other’s faces viciously.

The ultrasonic sound magic had stopped and I wondered if Butcher wasn’t able to do that and attack at the same time. Maybe the fey magic took too much concentration. Either way, it didn’t matter, because he was able to finally catch Sawyer, and now they were locked in one of the worst fights I’d ever