Heart of a Fighter (Rocky River Fighters 1)

Cammie laughed as she returned her attention to the ring. “Yeah, because you’d be the best at knowing what’s right and what’s isn’t, much less looking for new techniques.”

“I’m pretty good at being able to tell you the best way to get taken out by the punching bag.”

She snort laughed, barely resisting the urge to cover her mouth as heat crept up her cheeks. Gah, she didn’t need to know any more little tidbits about him. Knowing he had a sense of humor, one he could direct at himself, was just one more item piling up on her Like Alex, Don’t Like Alex scales. The scales were quickly tipping in his direction, and that was the last thing she needed.

Luckily, the fight started, and Cammie did her best to put him out of her mind as she focused on it. But it was an almost impossible endeavor. Alex watched the fight with intense focus, fascinated. He liked this. Liked the fights. Another thing she didn’t need to know. She had to find something else to add to the pathetic Don’t Like Alex side of the scale, try to get it more balanced out somehow.

Determined to ignore him, she turned her gaze to the fighters, her unease growing as she watched them. There was something so familiar about their fighting style, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. Then, stifling a gasp, she jerked upright, staring at them more intently.

They were shifters. She was sure of it.

Unknown shifters in Eagle Creek was bad. Very bad. She fought to control the panic eating at her insides. This could be totally innocent. There were a lot of shifters here, and more said to be thinking about returning to the old town. Maybe these two were just some of them. It didn’t mean they were dragons, come to snatch her away into a forced mating.

She breathed deeply, trying to be subtle about it. The last thing she wanted was for Alex to notice. She couldn’t answer any questions he threw her way about this. She calmed slightly at the thought of Alex. Even her dragon relaxed a tiny bit in her chest.

Feeling disturbed about her dragon relaxing at the thought of Alex, she nevertheless felt a little calmer and able to think more clearly. These weren’t dragons. Dragons wouldn’t lower themselves to fight it out in front of a human crowd. They had others do that for them. So even if these shifters were here for her, the dragons weren’t. She had time to search around, try to see what they were up to.

This fight was far more entertaining than the last, although they weren’t good enough to beat her boys. Still, while they were good, she couldn’t make herself focus on the fight itself. Her mind was still racing, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when Alex put a hand on her knee, squeezing tightly for a moment.

“Seriously, Cammie, are you okay?”

“I said I was fine,” she snapped.

He slowly lifted his hands. “Sorry. You just looked worried, and I wanted to see if anything was wrong.”

Inhaling deeply, she smoothed all expression from her face. “I’m sorry I snapped at you like that,” she said with genuine remorse. “I really am okay. My mind was just wondering for a moment. Everything is fine.”

Lie.

Alex frowned at the thought, full of certainty as it floated through his mind. Really weird. It was like something sounded off about her voice, but he wasn’t sure what. How could he know for sure she lied? But somehow, he was positive she had. He glanced at her, and saw she was wound up tight, and her face was pale. Something was wrong, obviously, but it was just as obvious she wasn’t going to tell him what it was.

Frustration coursed through his veins as he forced himself to look away from her and watch the fight again. He wanted to earn her trust in the worst way, but with a nonexistent past and no way of knowing why he was here with the fighters to begin with, it was a long shot. He didn’t think she trusted easily, and he could give her no reason to take a chance on him.

He cocked his head as he watched the fighters in the ring. They were clearly shifters. He’d bet money on it. They had the same fluid grace, the same powerful and effortless moves that the Rocky River fighters did. There was something, some instinct inside him, shouting that they were shifters.

Shooting a quick glance at Cammie, he saw her watching them with eyes that practically burned, and he had to wonder if this was what had her upset. Brow furrowing, he looked from her to the shifters again. If she was bothered by them being here, then it was clear no one had known about them. His hands clenched as he remembered his thought about her hiding from something. If that was true, and he felt like it was, and she was this concerned about unknown shifters showing up…

Eyes narrowed, he looked at the shifters again, and something inside him sensed something familiar in them. Something dangerous. A crushing need to protect her welled up inside him, and he frowned as he rubbed a hand over his chest. The thought of trying to protect her was a little absurd. She could take the fighters from Rocky River down, so he knew she could take care of herself. And even if she couldn’t, he had no fighting experience. That he was sure of. None of it felt familiar to him, and he sucked at throwing punches, even against inanimate objects.

But knowing all that didn’t stop this overwhelming need he had to protect and take care of her, and he had no idea how to tone it down. So he did his best to focus on the fighting in front of him, and nothing else. Maybe he could learn a thing or two before the night was over.

After a tension filled ride home in Ian’s truck, where hardly anyone spoke, Alex got out of the truck. He turned around, intending to help Cammie, but she was already out. She took off toward the woods, walking fast, and he frowned as he started to follow, but Jax stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“It’s best to give her some space when she’s riled up like this. Trust me on that.”

Alex grunted as the quiet man followed the others inside. Running a hand over his face, he opted to go on his own walk in the opposite direction, maybe try to clear his head a little. He felt on edge, like every instinct he possessed was on high alert. Hopefully, a walk would at least take the edge off.

Blanking his mind of thoughts took most of his willpower, but he managed it as he walked. By the time he neared the house again, he was feeling a little more in control of himself. He paused as he heard voices coming from the direction of the barn. He wanted to know what they were talking about, but the decent part of him said he should just walk away, go to the house. If they wanted him to be a part of the conversation, they’d ask.

But curiosity won out over common decency, and Alex found himself moving in the direction of the barn. He crept up and held himself still as he listened.

“Well, what were they? And how did we not know there were other shifters in the area?” Cammie spat.

“We don’t know the answer to either of those questions,” Jax answered low.

“How can you not know? You warm up in the same area as they do. You had to have smelled their animals.”

“They didn’t have a smell,” Ian replied reluctantly. “Now, don’t look like that, Cammie. We saw their eyes when they were done with the fight. They were clearly shifter eyes, but no elongated pupils. There has to be some other animal out there without scent markers. We just don’t know what it is.”