32. Riley
Riley
The shifter fights took place in an abandoned mine twice a month. They were illegal and security was, therefore, tight, so having a QR code was the only way to get in.
The minute I asked Kasia about a QR code, she sent one over via direct message. My new tiger shifter bestie had connections. I was thankful we were now friends.
Witches and mages could use teleportation magic to get around, but we shifters weren’t so lucky. Shifters might be goddess-blessed with exceptional strength, longer lives, and healing powers, but most of us had no magical abilities.
Unfortunately that meant I had to call a cab to take me to the fight venue, and with nobody to share the cost, it proved an expensive ride.
Felix had given me some money before I left the US. I hadn’t asked where the money came from, fully aware it was probably payment from a hacking job. He’d told me to let him know if I needed more cash, and he’d send it over via an untraceable money transfer service.
One day, when fate gifted me a billionaire human husband, I’d pay him back. But until then, I happily accepted the loans with zero shame.
“You sure this is where you want to be?” the bear shifter rideshare driver grunted. “A lot of bad shit goes on in these parts.”
Bad shit could cover many things, but I decided not to ask him for details, not needing to hear about rogue demons and feral shifter attacks.
“I’m sure. Thanks for the ride.”
“Look, I’ll hang around for a few minutes, yeah? I don’t like the idea of a kid like you getting stuck out here.”
He had a point. There was nothing but impenetrable forest as far as the eye could see. Without a map pin, I’d never have found the place.
A flashy sports car roared past us and skidded to a stop further down the gravel track. I watched as two burly, well-dressed guys stepped out. One turned and stared menacingly at my rideshare with freaky pale eyes before disappearing into the trees with his companion.
“See?” the rideshare driver muttered. “Shifter mafia.”
A message from the pussy squad popped up on my phone.
Kasia: We’re here and inside already, let us know when you arrive
Haley: Lots of hot dudes!
Raquel: Pussy power for the win!!!!
Bree: *cat twerking GIF*
I followed the narrow track through the trees, determined not to get lost. Kasia had explained that access to the cavern where the fights took place was via a cave entrance.
According to local history pages online, there were many miles of tunnels and old mine shafts under these mountains.
I silently prayed there were no mythical dragons or flesh-melting demons lurking deep underground.
Coming face to face with an angry, fire-breathing dragon or an ugly demon was unlikely to put me in a good mood.
After ten minutes, the trail ended in a wide clearing facing a sheer rock face covered in moss and small scrubby plants. It took a few minutes of staring intently before I spotted the shadow of a cave opening, partially hidden by a spiky tree.
Once I got closer, two bulky figures emerged from the gloom just inside the tunnel entrance, both wearing menacing scowls. They scanned my QR code before grunting and letting me pass into a wide tunnel lit by mage lights.
The tunnel sloped down and then turned a corner. A wall of sound hit me the minute I passed through an arch into a vast cavern. Music pumped from hidden speakers, and the roar of males yelling nearly deafened me.
The good news was my wolf seemed unconcerned. Not that her lack of response was in any way reassuring, since she only paid attention when certain males were nearby. Males I wanted nothing to do with.
The feline shifters stood at a makeshift bar guzzling bottles of cheap human beer when I pushed through the throngs of shifters, most of them male.
All four had dressed to impress in slinky dresses and sky-high heels.
If their aim was to attract male attention this evening, it was working because I spotted several males ogling them with stars in their eyes.
Kasia handed me a beer as I scanned the huge cavern with an octagonal ring in the center, surrounded by baying spectators waving their fists in the air at whatever was happening. I saw money changing hands, with several suited guys standing off to one side.
More tunnels led away from the rear of the main cavern, all guarded by shifters wearing suits. I wondered where the other tunnels went, while also resolving not to bother investigating because I had no desire to get lost or murdered.
The suited males stood out. It was pretty obvious these dudes were mafia, and also not wolves.
Wolf shifters didn’t wear suits. Wolf packs like my sperm donor’s owned extensive rural properties. Pack alphas and their families lived in stone lodges and rustic cabins, not penthouse apartments and luxury condos.
“Croc shifters,” Kasia whispered in my ear.
“My dad says the crocs have aligned with the wolves. The wolves provide the muscle while the crocs are the brains.” That made sense.
Croc shifters had a reputation for being cold-blooded psychopaths.
Or so I’d heard. Being raised as a human meant I mostly relied on Felix for shifter info.
I shuddered and averted my gaze as one of the scary dudes in suits turned our way.
“Don’t you think the one on the left is kind of hot, though?” Haley whisper-yelled as the croc stared at her.
“Goddess save us,” Kasia muttered under her breath. “That bobcat has terrible taste in males.”
“Just saying!” Haley pouted and sidled up to me, rubbing her body against mine in a catlike way.
“Glad you could come, bestie,” she purred. “I’ll be your wing-cat tonight. If you spot any dudes you want to bang, just let me know.”
I almost choked on my beer. “Um, I’m not looking to get laid,” I croaked once I’d stopped coughing. “But I do want to pick your brains on something.”
“Oh?” Four sets of cat eyes sharpened.
“What does she look like?” Bree asked once I’d explained why I’d come to Moonfall Academy.
“She’s slim, about five-eight, with long, pale blonde hair and gray eyes. Gorgeous.” Way prettier than me.
Kasia hummed. “And she was at the July and August full moon parties?”
I nodded.
The cats exchanged glances and shook their heads. “I don’t recall any females matching that description,” Raquel said. “And she’s a feline?”
“A snow leopard.”
They all gasped. “Ooh, that’s super rare!”
“I’ve never met a snow leopard shifter before,” Bree exclaimed. “And your dad’s a wolf?”
I grimaced. “Sadly.”
“Your sister’s mom must be a feline then, as two wolves don’t make a feline shifter.”
That was my understanding too, yet Lorna hadn’t known her mother. I wondered whether our father had something to do with that. It seemed likely from what I knew about him.
“Before she disappeared, Lorna had dated shifters from Moonfall Academy. Not long after that, she said she’d fallen for a shifter whose name began with T. It’s why I’m there.”
Kasia frowned in confusion. “Moon Academies are super hard to get into. Like, no shade on you, dude, but you can’t just get a last-minute place.”
Deciding to be honest with them, at least on this, I leaned in and whispered, “Felix hacked the admissions system and created a scholarship place for me, even though I’m a hybrid, not a full-blooded wolf.”
I muttered a silent prayer to the goddess that these females didn’t betray my trust. If one of them repeated what I’d just told them, the MIB would arrest me for fraud, along with Felix.
All four felines sucked in a breath and huddled closer. I braced myself, expecting questions about my hybrid status, but to my surprise, that wasn’t what they were interested in.
“Can this Felix hack anything?” Raquel asked eagerly. “Asking for a friend.”
Kasia slanted an annoyed look her way. “Please tell me you didn’t let your douche ex film you blowing him?”
From Raquel’s blush, she had. “He promised me it was only for us,” she whined. “Then he uploaded the video to OnlyShifters!”
“Dear goddess, save me from stupid females,” Kasia groaned. “I warned you that tiger shifter was a red flag cat!”
Stars, there were some toxic males out there, and I thanked the goddess for being single, even if my wolf was unhappy about that.
“Um, I can ask him if you like?” I offered, eager to show some sisterly solidarity.
“Oh my goddess, I love you, Riley!” The petite mountain lion shifter flung her arms around me and squeezed so tight I yelped. “Wow,” she exclaimed in surprise, “you’re slimmer than you look.”
“Um, moving on,” I said hurriedly, putting some space between us. “So you definitely didn’t see my sister at either of the parties?”
The felines all shook their heads.
“Sorry, babe,” Kasia said. “There was fae wine, so we all got wasted.”
Ugh. I still had no solid leads whatsoever.
If only Felix could figure out who the guy pictured with Lorna was.
I drained my weak-as-piss beer and was about to ask what they knew about Tate Montes when my wolf went nuts as the crowd near the octagon began chanting.
“Tank! Tank! Tank!”
“Tank?”
Kasia grinned. “The Frosthaven pack heir. He’s unbeaten, but some dumb fucker always likes to try their luck.”
I craned my neck to see who she meant and recognized him immediately. This was the alpha wolf who’d intervened in the canteen that time. Of course he’d be here.
I, like every other female—and half the males—swooned.
Tank Frosthaven towered over everyone else, even Tate.
I drank in his chest, hard-packed with slabs of tanned muscle, and thighs like tree-trunks.
The male exuded raw power. The sort of power that would be hard to beat.
Somehow, I suspected he and Tate would be evenly matched if they fought each other.
As I stood staring—okayyyy, ogling—he turned and caught my eye. A flood of awareness ripped through me, and my wolf came to the fore, desperate to escape her cage.
It was him, she told me. The wolf who’d saved our life in the forest. The giant beast that lay with us on the frozen ground and kept us warm and safe while we healed from our injuries.
And from the way he inhaled sharply before his eyes burned with pure gold intensity, he recognized the wolf in me too.
A pair of wolf shifters clad in denim and leather pushed in front of me, momentarily blocking my view of the alpha wolf. It was enough to restore my sanity.
I needed to leave before the alpha wolf caught up with me and started asking questions I couldn’t answer, like why my wolf was female when I appeared male. It was bad enough that Tobias knew.
I ducked between a group of feline shifters and moved at speed toward the exit. Kasia and the others would wonder where I’d gone, but I’d message them once I got outside.
The path to the exit tunnel cleared as a loud voice announced the next fight was about to begin. Thankfully, people were more interested in watching two shifters beat each other senseless to pay much attention to me.
My phone buzzed in my pocket as I ran down the tunnel, but I ignored it. The two large wolf shifters guarding the entrance turned just as a heavy hand grabbed my shoulder.
“Little dude,” Tobias purred in my ear, his voice silky-smooth, like honey dripping off a hot spoon. “I’m disappointed you’re leaving so soon.”