No unnecessary killing. Points could be by surrender or knockout. Pretty much any strike or technique or use of shifter body parts was fine. No alpha powers allowed if a wolf entered. Ryland wasn’t sure if any had. Entrants didn’t have to disclose their shifted form.

  Which was good, because if Ryland disclosed his shifted form, he was pretty sure no one would want to enter. And it was hard to win a Brawl that was cancelled for lack of contestants.

  But Ryland wouldn’t bring out his bear, so it wasn’t an issue.

  He felt all eyes on him as he walked out into the arena to meet his opponent already standing in the middle. The heavy metal cage door swung shut behind him, closing off the circle that formed the fighting area, and he resisted the urge to look back at Lea one more time, instead focusing on his opponent and making this as quick a fight as possible.

  She’d be watching.

  “Good day for a fight, am I right?” his opponent asked, tearing his eyes away from Lea in time to extend his hand to Ryland for a customary handshake.

  Ryland tried to unclench his jaw as he studied the other man’s hand, not taking it. He needed to remain calm, but he wasn’t going to shake the hand of a shifter who’d been leering at his mate. “Indeed.”

  The man slowly retracted his hand, a confused look on his face. “I’m Lars.”

  “I need to beat your ass, not know your name,” Ryland snapped, and the other shifter’s face reddened, his fake politeness melting away like snow on a spring mountaintop.

  “Fine, if that’s how it is,” he said, cracking his knuckles by slamming one fist into a meaty palm.

  Ryland cocked his head. “Listen, I just wanted to warn you. You may not want to shift.”

  Lars’s brows lowered in confusion. “Why would I want to listen to you? Cheater. You shouldn’t have even entered in the first place.”

  “Right,” Ryland said lazily. “That’s what I hear. But you know why people hate the idea of me and my brothers entering so much?”

  Lars shook his head.

  “It’s because our shifted forms are absolute beasts,” he said, a mean grin spreading across his face. “You don’t want to face a Brolin in the ring? You definitely don’t want to face one shifted.” He shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. “But I’ll agree not to shift if you will.”

  He saw Lars considering it like the big, foolish animal he was. He scratched his head. “I guess… I mean… we’ll see.”

  Ryland had to be good with that. He’d at least planted the thought of being reluctant to shift in the other man’s mind. Hopefully that gave him time to face Lars hand to hand for a least a few moments.

  “All right,” Ryland said, shifting his neck back and forth to pop it. “I’m ready if you are.”

  Lars no longer looked very ready for anything. His eyes were sketchy, his body twitchy.

  He was totally caught off guard.

  Perfect.

  On the raised platform behind him, Ryland heard his brother Rock count down from three, then heard a bell sound.

  Now it was on.

  Like a racehorse flying out from the gate, Ryland’s fist launched at the man’s face, catching him across the cheek before the sound of the bell had even finished echoing through the clearing. Lars was knocked off his feet, skidding backward over the dirt and barely recovering onto one knee as he looked up at Ryland, stunned.

  Ryland wasn’t here to play games.

  He was here to win.

  Lars, definitely feeling the force of the first strike, charged at Ryland, yelling. Joining in the excitement, the crowd watching all around them gave a raucous cheer, some yelling words of encouragement and others hooting and hollering simply for the sake of violence.

  Year after year, Ryland had watched this hideous display take place. Now he was the display, as a means of ending it.

  Lars lunged with a meaty fist, and Ryland deflected the man’s wrist with his palm, driving his other elbow into the man’s skull. Lars caught himself quicker this time and redirected back at Ryland, this time with both arms outstretched in an attempt to grab him by the midsection and pull him to the ground.

  Ryland didn’t feel like rolling around in the dirt, though. So as Lars charged, he grabbed one clumsy arm with both hands, then turned his back to Lars, pulling him over himself like a sack of laundry and slamming him into the ground with a heavy thud.

  Dust scattered all around as Lars made contact with the earth, getting the wind knocked out of him.

  For a moment, the clearing became quiet as Ryland could feel the silence come over the crowd. He could feel their eyes boring into his back, could hear low murmuring as people whispered their commentaries into their neighbor’s ears.

  But above all, he could sense Lea watching from the grandstand. Could feel her gaze burning his skin.

  What was she thinking right now?

  Ryland circled his fallen opponent. “I’d stay down, unless you want more,” he taunted.

  Lars shook himself out of his stupor, and Ryland inwardly cursed, knowing what was coming next.

  Oh well. The fight had always been leading to this. Best to just get it over with.

  “I’m gonna tear you limb from limb, Brolin!” Lars screamed, looking like he was struggling to contain himself. His bloodshot eyes were furious.

  Ryland raised an eyebrow. “I dare you.”

  His calm retort had the desired effect of snapping the last of Lars’s tenuous hold on control. Ryland grinned. Whether in business or life, an out-of-control man was a stupid man.

  The same thing applied to bears.

  Lars began to shift in front of him, becoming a large, light-brown grizzly that any human would find intimidating, as it was much larger than a usual bear. But as it was nothing compared to Ryland’s animal, he found himself unfazed.

  “Not so tough now, are you?” Lars growled as he paced in a circle.

  Ryland could feel the beast within him growl back, eager to take down the bear before him and proclaim its dominance. But he tamped down the feeling quickly, knowing unless he wanted this arena to become a war zone, he’d keep his bear out of it.

  “Why won’t you shift?” Lars spat out, sending foam and spittle everywhere.

  Ryland cocked his head. “Because then it’d be too easy.”

  With a roar, Lars charged at Ryland, covering the distance between them with blinding speed, lumbering on all fours. Before he’d even reached Ryland, though, Lars slashed at him, long black claws glinting in the morning light breaking through the trees.

  Reflexes and training kicked in, and Ryland ducked beneath the wildly swung paw, feeling the air whoosh above him as he did.

  Lars didn’t hesitate, though, and swung again, making Ryland roll to the side in order to dodge as his paw smashed into the ground, making it thunder from the impact.

  But before Lars could reacquire his target, Ryland rushed forward and punched him directly in his large, soft, black nose. And even though his own fist buckled under the impact, he felt bone crack as Lars let out a loud roar in pain.

  Lars stood on his hind legs, swiping wildly with one paw as the other covered his nose, already beginning to gush blood.

  Ryland didn’t let up. He dodged the wild swings from his opponent, then closed the distance, delivering a flurry of focused punches into the bear’s stomach, catching him off guard and knocking him off his paws and onto his back.

  Sure, bear bones might be three times denser and larger than human bones. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t be broken. And just because the bear before him was many times stronger than Ryland would ever be in his human form, that didn’t mean he couldn’t make it bleed just like anything else.

  You just had to know where and when to hit right.

  Lars flopped around like a wounded seal for a moment, trying to come off his back and regain his footing. But by the time he’d rolled onto his stomach, Ryland was there again, this time right at Lars’s head. And as the bear tried to push himself up off the ground, Ryland grabbed the long, thick scruff of the bear’s neck and yanked down, slamming his head into the earth.

  Over and over, Ryland pummeled Lars’s face with calculated, mechanical lethality, aiming for his softest, weakest spots. The eyes, his bloodied nose, his jugular. And every time Lars tried to stand, he yanked him by the head from side to side like a bull by its horns, causing him to lose his footing again. And every time he’d swipe his paw at Ryland or try to bite at him, Ryland dodged to the side, only to counter with another kick to the face, as if punishing the gigantic bear for even trying to resist.

  The enthusiastic cheering of the crowd rapidly diminished until only the sounds of Lars’s bear grunting and the forceful impacts Ryland made on his face could be heard resonating through the trees. And the longer it went, the more Lars struggled to get back onto his feet. The more Ryland could sense his opponent losing track of reality as his movement became cumbersome, slower.

  Behind him, Ryland heard a single voice call out feebly, “Give up, Lars.” But everyone else was silent. Even his brothers. Even Lea.

  If Ryland had been in his bear form, this fight would have been over in seconds. But then Lars would be dead. And as much as he hated the other man for laying eyes on his mate, he couldn’t have that.

  No, this was better, albeit a little awkward to have so many people watch him pummel the shit out of a nearly unconscious bear.

  With one last grunt, Ryland drove his elbow down into Lars’s snout, hearing another crack as the bear hit the ground, but this time not moving.

  “Stay down,” Ryland commanded, turning away from his opponent as adrenaline raced through his body. The animal in him was pacing, wanting to go in for the kill, wanting to finish anyone who threatened him or his mate.

  He took a deep breath and held it, waiting for the rage to abate, for the fire to die down and ice over, leaving him cool, calm, collected.

  He couldn’t afford to black out this early in the competition. Or at all.

  A few tenuous cheers went out as it slowly became apparent the match was over, but most everyone just sat and watched in stunned silence.

  Ryland headed for the exit, sparing a quick look up at Lea. She was watching him intently, mysteriously, showing nothing.

  He wanted to go to her, kiss her, take her.

  But with his bear this close to the surface, he wasn’t safe to be around anybody.

  And besides, she’d made it clear she wasn’t ready for him. One fight wouldn’t change that.

  He walked along the path away from the arena, ignoring the shocked silence of the spectators around him as they quickly moved out of his way, murmuring once they thought they were safely behind him.

  There would be talk in the camp about this fight. About the fact that Ryland Brolin could win a match without even shifting, even against a shifter.

  The fear he inspired would be a boon in his mental game. His first match hadn’t been perfect, but it had accomplished what he needed it to.

  And now he could go calm down and take a break for a couple days until the next fight.

  He was away from the crowds and halfway to his cabin when he looked down with cold detachment to see he’d broken one of his fingers in the melee.

  He’d been so focused that he hadn’t noticed. With a sigh, he gripped it and reset the split bone back into its place. If there was any pain, it didn’t register.

  Then again, sometimes he pushed his animal so deep down that it was hard to feel anything.

  Sometimes it felt as if he were splitting himself in half.

  But he knew it was temporary. Eventually, the animal would stop screaming, and he’d feel normal again.

  Right now, he’d focus on the satisfaction of having made it through another step in his plan.

  4

  Lea watched in mild amusement as Rock and Riker chased after their youngest brother. Riker, who seemed to be emanating a mix of rage and worry, caught up to him first.

  “What the hell was that?” he asked, grabbing Ryland by the arm and jerking him to a stop.

  Ryland pulled out of his hold and whirled to face him, gray eyes flashing. “A win,” he retorted. “What, you’ve never seen one?”

  “Not one like that,” Rock mused as Ryland began walking again, and they continued to follow him.

  She didn’t think she’d ever seen a fight like that either. She totally understood why his brothers were clearly displeased with what had been a very odd, disturbing fight, for many reasons.

  But as Ryland’s trainer, she couldn’t help being a little proud that he’d taken on a fully shifted bear with his bare hands and come out basically unscathed.

  Up ahead of them, Ryland pulled off his tank to reveal an incredibly honed body. He was glistening with sweat that emphasized every hard, toned bulge.

  Her throat went dry and she resisted a gulp, glad she was behind Rock and Riker so they couldn’t see her reaction.

  As if he’d heard her, he came to a halt, nearly causing his brothers to bump into him. He turned around and gave her a small half smile, and she fought back a blush.

  Meanwhile, Riker resumed angrily explaining all the ways Ryland had fucked up, as Ryland simply shrugged and kept walking until they reached the large main cabin where they liked to congregate.

  Rock held open the door for everyone, and they trailed in, her at the back.

  She sat at a chair at the table across from Riker and Rock while Ryland jogged upstairs for a towel, coming down with it draped over his shoulders.

  He leaned back in a chair next to her, giving her a long, heated look as he ignored more ranting from his brother.

  “And what are people going to say?” Riker shouted. “That we’re cheating?” He pointed to Lea. “You’ve just made her job harder.”

  “What was I supposed to do, shift?” Ryland asked, bored.

  “No,” Riker said, shoving his hand through his dark hair. “I don’t know. How about not enter?”

  “Too late. I already did.”

  “Next time, end it before they can shift,” Riker said, taking a chair with a heavy sigh. He was the only blond one of the brothers, and his dark scruff made him look extra masculine. They all had a version of the same face. Hard, handsome features. Stress lines near their eyes. Straight jaws and perfect noses. Rock had dimples. Ryland had slightly almond-shaped, tilted eyes that made him look extra cunning.

  But they all had the same storm cloud-grey eyes, striking on their naturally tanned skin.

  She leaned back with folded arms. “Why doesn’t he just shift?” she asked. “If you’re that powerful in human form, you should be a beast in shifted form. Why not finish the fight a lot faster?”

  All the brothers looked at her with hard, guarded expressions, and she realized she’d stumbled on something forbidden.

  But what?

  When Ryland had come to her, he’d stated he only wanted to learn to fight unshifted, and she’d assumed it was because he wanted to fight a human or something. Or improve his ground game to show off. She’d never assumed he would want to only fight in human form for something like the Brawl.

  “I just can’t,” Ryland said, looking away from her. “Not an option.”

  “He has a monster inside him,” Rock said, earning a glare from both brothers.

  She raised an eyebrow at that. “A dire form?”

  Rock sat up a little straighter. “What’s that?”

  She shifted in her seat slightly. “A throwback mutation,” she said. “Rare in the shifter world. Is his animal super large, out of control, and slightly different looking?” Dire mutations were even larger than shifted forms, which were already larger than typical animals.

  Rock nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Dire form. I guess dire bear in your case.”

  Riker shifted in his seat, looking genuinely caught off guard. “Why don’t we know about this?”

  “It’s rare. But it’s happened occasionally in the wolf community. Not something we advertise since we usually have to put them down if we discover them.”

  “Put them down?” Riker asked, looking angry as he sat up rigidly. “Like they’re broken?”

  “Only when they’re too far gone. Some feel that a dire form is only birthed when the host can’t shift properly due to trauma, and what pushes through in the genes is something much earlier, much more vicious and primitive.” She eyed Ryland. “What was your trauma?”

  “We don’t even know if I have a dire bear,” he said, a flat look in his gray eyes. His rich-brown hair was still damp with sweat and sticking up in all directions.

  “I mean, if you do, I can totally see why you can’t shift. I’ve never heard of someone being able to control a dire form.”

  “I control him by not letting him out.”

  “And you can do that for certain?” she asked, resting her chin on her hand, hoping to stay nonchalant even as tension swirled inside her.

  Ryland Brolin, a dire bear? The thought held so many unexpected implications.

  Somehow it changed everything. Both how useful she would be in her father’s plan and how much she could say the Brolins truly deserved it.

  Because if Ryland Brolin held a dire bear, then his childhood had been much different than she had always imagined.

  Fancy that.

  “Anyway, I’m not going to shift, so you don’t have to worry about it,” Ryland said, threading his hands together. “Now, if we’re done talking about this, can I go back to my place to shower and recover? I did just fight a grizzly with my bare hands.”

  “Pretty impressive,” she commented, keeping her face impassive.

  He brightened slightly. “Thank you. At least someone supports me.”

  “We support you,” Riker said. “We just wish you hadn’t put yourself in a totally unnecessarily dangerous position for yourself and others. For no reason.”

  “I have my reasons,” Ryland said drily.

  “But you won’t share them with us,” Rock asked.