Big Bad Bite Read online

  She couldn’t help but be a little surprised at all of the security just to get into a place that Gage had simply referred to as, The Arena. Once again, they moved as a group through the door, but this time it wasn’t into a small space with stale air. Dozens of new scents immediately assaulted Jenna’s nose and she wrinkled it against the repugnant onset. Smoke from cigarettes or cigars wafted over underlying tones of perfumes, colognes, sweat, alcohol, and the muskiness of lust. The smells weren’t surprising. What was shocking, was the enormous club that she would have never guessed to be there.

  On the outside, it had looked like a large brick two story strip mall. It had approximately six store fronts with various businesses such as a Laundromat, a small Mom & Pop’s Steakhouse, a clothing store, a Sushi restaurant, and a spa salon where, according to their sign, you apparently could get the ‘total package’ in just a few short hours and feel like a brand new woman. Seeing as though she’d never been much of a salon kind of girl, Jenna had no clue what the hell a ‘total package’ could be. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know either. It seemed like an odd collection of businesses put together in a strip mall, but she shrugged it off as no big deal. Now she could catch the occasional whiff of steak or sushi, and it dawned on her. They probably owned the whole strip mall, where they could easily hide the dimensions of this extensive club behind and below it, and they’d put in businesses that could be used by their customers in or out of the club. It was a smart combo.

  The door they entered through brought them out by a bar that curved along with the wall it branched off of. Right off, she could tell it was a unique set up unlike anything else she’d ever seen or heard of. It was like a roman gladiator arena meets sci-fi futuristic techno. The entire club had a general oval shape of a Roman Coliseum. The floors and walls that connected to the step, or level below it, were all made of stone that looked as if could have been transplanted from the ancient Rome itself. Looking up she could see a couple of stone staircases with metal hand railings placed on either end of the oval that led up to a top floor. That floor seemed to be lined with numerous rooms all the way around, which could only be made out in the sexy red lighting that shined from the outer rims of the ceiling by the black painted doors covered in metal cage bars, and large mirrored windows that dotted the outside of the deep beige faux stone painted walls.

  Looking ahead and down, Jenna saw that there were two levels lower than the one she stood on, making the club a total of four levels. Unlike the top fourth level, the bottom three levels had no rooms or walls. The only thing that kept patrons from falling from one level to another was a glass-like half wall railing with a thick metal bar on top that ran the entire circumference of the floor. The third level that she stood on was lighted a brilliant blue that peeked through small holes in the level’s walls, shining like stars in the night sky. It had a ridiculously long bar featuring bright neon lights on the front face of the black wood and a stainless steel encased bar that ran along the length side of the oval building. Mirrors were used as decorations in between the shelves along the walls behind the bar for storage of liquor bottles. The rest of the third floor was dotted with numerous gambling tables. Several card games were in progress, as well as a craps, roulette, and black jack. A few slot machines were littered here or there, along with a couple of machines that looked like they might be video poker. She didn’t need to take that trip to Vegas after all, seeing that they had their own ‘Vegas Strip’ right here.

  Men and women carrying trays or working the gambling tables moved through the crowds dressed in apparel that looked reminiscent to what slaves of the time had probably worn. With bare, shiny, oiled chests, the handsome male employees wore nothing except for teeny tiny loin cloths, in a fabric that was practically see through because of its luminescent quality. Jenna had never seen fabric glow quite like these did. She felt her cheeks heat when she realized that she could easily make out the outline of what she guessed were extremely well endowed men as they moved through the club doing their jobs.

  The female employees’ uniforms were just as revealing. Their slave girl tunics barely covered their ample breasts and bottoms, made of the same sheer looking luminescent fabric as the men’s loincloths. The fabric threw shadows of their nipples and their… well she didn’t even want to think about what else was showing or not showing. Advertising your goods was one thing, but this wasn’t advertising! No, this was the definition of a walking peep show, and she hoped like hell every single one of these employees was getting paid damn good money for flashing their X-rated goodies! No wonder pheromones of lust permeated the air. It would be easy betting to say that there was a hell of a lot more going on in this club than booze, gambling, and fighting.

  On the second level of the club, there were tables and booths of all sizes packed with customers watching, what was probably the most notable feature of the building, below them. The modern black wood and stainless steel tables were elegantly meshed with booths containing seats resembling carved stone, but lushly decorated with fluffy cushion pillows in a variety of bright jewel tones. An enchanting shade of green lighting was sporadically placed along the baseboards of the wall to provide intimate illumination for those seated.

  However, if the second level was considered cozy, then the first level could have been dubbed a virtual spotlight of action. Bright yellow and white lighting turned the bottom level into a sunspot where two men were currently beating each other to death. Or at least that’s what it looked. Jenna was going to pretend it was not actually to death because she would hate for her guilty cop conscious to kick in now. That would be rather inconvenient timing on her part.

  Both of the opponents were hulking, half-shifted men who appeared to be doing their damnedest to tear each other to pieces. The smaller of the two men looked to be a few inches short of six feet tall, had a lean boxer’s build, brown hair buzz cut, and his fingertips, teeth and tips of his ears were shifted to their gray, wolf form.

  The man opposite of him in the arena could have been the spitting image of Gage in facial features and body build. Except, where Gage had black hair, this one had a white blond hue styled into a short, spiky mohawk. Where Gage had golden yellow eyes with that exotic ring of green around his pupil, this tiger had eyes such a pale ice blue color, with a navy blue ring around the pupil that was so haunting. She’d bet her brother, Logan, would lift her title of serial killer eyes to re-award it to Gage’s brother if he ever saw them. Another distinction would be the tattoos. Jenna had yet to see any on Gage, but his brother sported two full colorful sleeves that spilled out onto his pectorals as well. Nevertheless, that wasn’t his most intriguing feature as far as she was concerned. No, that distinction went to the stripes running up his partially shifted hands and arms. Instead of the stark black Jenna had seen on Vera’s animal form earlier, and what she was guessing the majority of tiger shifters sported, Gage’s brother, Alec, showcased stripes in a soft brown hue. She was fascinated to see the way his half-shifted arms blended with his human build and his tiger claws sprouting from still very human finger tips. Thin arctic white fur with chocolate colored stripes ran over his forearms, but you could still see the tattoos beneath. It was strangely beautiful to her.

  The two combatants circled each other warily around the dirt covered floor that was splattered with blood. Both fighters already had numerous blooming bruises from receiving blows in the fight. The wolf’s face had deep claw marks running from his temple down his neck, weeping small streams of blood down his chest. Gage’s brother had a set of claw marks running diagonally down his chest to the top of his stomach, which was also oozing its own small streams of blood that ran down his abdominals to stain the top of his jaggedly cut gray sweat shorts. However, Gage’s brother must have caught on to his opponent’s goal of maiming him in a critical spot because as the wolf lunged at Gage’s brother, trying to claw his midsection, the tiger moved just out of range before contact.

  It might be kind of poor timing, and a little
sick to admit, but seeing those claw marks on the men’s bodies, caused by the Other’s animal-like nails from their half shifted states, made her an ugly shade of green. Even the sight of their canines peeking out of their still human mouths made her insanely jealous. Due to her hybrid genetics she was unable to partially shift. There was no halfway for her. She was either a human, or a wolf, with no in-between. It was part of the con side of her pros and cons list she’d started after Uncle Owen had disappeared on her. The sad fact was that the con side was a hell of a lot longer than the pro side would probably ever be. She imagined there would be a shit load of convenience in being able to shift your nails or teeth into the animal’s stronger traits when you were in a tight situation and needed a little bit of help when you couldn’t shift to your animals form to get you out of it.

  The patrons’ loud cheers and taunts brought her back to reality and drowned out the other noise around her. She watched in fascination as the wolf’s attempts to punch, kick, or claw his opponent resembled jerky, robotic movements in comparison to the tiger’s fluid counter kicks, punches, or blocks. With a wide smile on his face and radiating a cocky attitude, Jenna realized with sudden clarity that the tiger was letting his opponent make occasional contact in a hit or kick to give the wolf a false bolster of confidence. She recognized this fight for what it was, a giant, brutal game of cat and mouse. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, tiger and wolf-like-mouse-toy, but it was a game to the tiger. She wondered if the wolf had any idea at all that he was royally screwed and about to have his ass handed to him.

  Gage walked over to stand at the glass half wall and let loose a shrill whistle. His brother looked up at him, saw Gage move his hand over his shoulder in a circular motion with his finger pointed towards the ceiling, in what Jenna guessed was a ‘wrap-it-up’ signal, and totally missed the fact that the wolf was taking advantage of his distraction. Lunging forward, the wolf surprised him with a four punch combo with the first two hits to the stomach, and the last two hits to his temple and cheek bone. Before the tiger had a chance to react, the punches were followed up by a stomp kick that sent Gage’s brother flying backwards to land several feet away on the sand floor. It all happened so fast there was no way a human’s eyes could have tracked the movements. Hell, she had barely been able to see the punches and kick launched and landed against the tiger’s body.

  The crowd went berserk, the entire second level on their feet roaring. As the wolf stalked boldly forward, thinking he had the upper hand on the tiger who was still lying on his back in the dirt, the wolf’s cockiness cost him the chance to catch the telling clues that the tiger was about to make his move. Jenna saw them though. There was the tiger’s subtle shift of hands, moving them so that they were no longer parallel with his body, but instead shifted so that his fingers were facing more outwards. She knew it was in preparation for the tiger to brace his body for an upcoming maneuver.

  The tiger’s legs had already been drawn up after he landed, so that his feet were still planted on the ground. Now the left leg was moving slowly downwards so that his leg was still cocked up slightly, but his right foot was no longer planted on the ground, and he let the leg lean a little to the side. Right before the wolf was within reach, she saw the tiger’s abdominals tighten, and then a flurry of movement exploded. Gage’s brother sat up in a graceful move, with his left hand planted on the ground, dropping his left leg so that it lay flat on its side against the floor, and pivoting the right side of his body in a powerful kick that landed against the wolf’s mid-thigh, knocking him violently sideways as the sound of bone breaking echoed throughout.

  Gage’s brother leapt to his feet, calmly walking over to the wolf that was frantically dragging his body across the arena’s floor, desperately trying to escape the approaching danger. The wolf didn’t make it five feet before the tiger grabbed him by the foot of his healthy leg, jerking him backwards so that he lay on the ground at the tiger’s feet, and flipped the wolf’s body from his stomach to his back. The wolf threw desperate punches towards the hands and arms quickly descending towards his head, but they did no damage. Gage’s brother placed his large paws on either side of the wolf’s head and twisted viscously. The sound of the wolf’s neck breaking was the last thing anyone heard before the crowd went wild.

  Guess it was evident to everyone that the cat had grown tired of playing with his toy. The wolf’s seemingly lifeless body laid unmoving on the arena’s dirt covered ground before two bouncers, wearing black t-shirts and black BDU pants, picked him up by his arms and legs to move him out of sight where he could recover. The sight of the wolf’s body being carried away should have been beyond horrifying to Jenna. And if it had been a human, instead of a species of Other, it would have undoubtedly given her nightmares for months. The only thing that kept her from those nightmares was the knowledge that the wolf wasn’t actually dead. Others could heal from a broken spine. It was only when you ripped their heads off, or their hearts from their chests, that you killed the otherwise un-killable.

  The tiger sauntered out of the fighting area and made his way up to our group on the third level. He didn’t make it off the patch of dirt covered ground before someone handed him a water bottle and towel to clean off his injuries and the wolf’s blood from his body. He didn’t make it to the second level before patrons were clapping him on the back, praising him for a good fight. He made it halfway across the second level when the first woman stepped up to rub her body all over his in invitation while a second woman shoved her panties into the hand holding his towel. He flashed a smile at the two women before gently disengaging himself from the situation to continue his trek to us. Two feet more and women practically sexually assaulting him by running their hands first over his chest, then over his butt, before grabbing his package and rubbing him erotically. The man couldn’t take ten steps before the women were practically raping him in public.

  After disengaging himself from a woman, for what seemed like the thousandth time, he finally made it over to the tall table that she, Vera, and Gage were standing at waiting for him. He shot her an interested look before leaning over to kiss Vera on the cheek.

  “Privyet Babushka. Did my little brother bring you out to have a good time?”

  Gage slapped his brother on the back of the head after their grandmother was done hugging him. “Just because you’re ten minutes older than me doesn’t mean you’re a big brother.”

  Gage’s brother slugged him playfully in the arm. “That’s precisely what it means, little brother. Besides, that’s not the only way I’m bigger than you. For one, I’m taller than you by two inches, and for two, according to the last little morsel we played with together I’m also bigger where it counts.” The blond fighter shot her a lascivious look, “Is this our new morsel, brother?”

  Gage smirked. “She doesn’t seem to play well with others, so we better leave that one alone. No, this is Kent’s lovely new partner, Jenna. They’ve come to ask a few questions we might be able to answer. Jenna, this is my brother, Alec.”

  Jenna held her hand out to Alec to shake. Alec took her hand in his, but ignored the concept of shaking it. Instead, he brought the back of her hand up to his lips and kissed it.. When he let go, Jenna brought her hand back to the table in front of her before leaning across the space, closer to the randy tiger.

  “Charming. Really. But you can give up all your attempts to get into my undies now, because it’s not going to happen. I see you for what you are; a card carrying member of those determined to prove that it’s possible for men of the supernatural species to get STD’s. I’m just not sure who’s President of the club yet, you or Kent. Not to mention that I’ve discovered I’m basically allergic to you, and frankly, I don’t feel like taking an allergy pill just so I can see this big dick you claim to carry. It’s nice to meet you though. Really.”

  Alec’s mouth hung open in shock while Gage shook his head and Vera laughed her ass off at her grandson getting the verbal smack down. Gage finally patt
ed his brother on the back and murmured, “I tried to tell you that she didn’t play well with others. Besides, Kent mentioned something about that Alpha McPhee. Better luck next time though, bro.”

  Alec finally closed his mouth, and then shrugged his shoulders as he looked at Gage, “Oh well, can’t blame a guy for trying. She is hot.” The white tiger looked around them, “You said Kent’s here. Where is he?”

  Jenna pointed her thumb over her shoulder at where Kent had one of the waitresses in a corner, wandering hands roaming freely on both sides. “He’s over there providing a fabulous example of why he should be President of that club I mentioned.”

  The three tiger shifters peered over her shoulder to see Kent place his face in the waitress’ triple D bosom, with the waitress’ dainty hands entwined in his dark brown hair, just before he proceeded to shake his head from side to side while making a loud buzzing sound. The waitress giggled loudly before she used his hair to pull his face up and kiss him. The two started to go at it like a couple of sloppy, horny teenagers in the backseat of a borrowed car until Jenna could no longer look at the pair without rolling her eyes in disgust. Giving up on her hopeless partner, she looked back to her three companions. The amused looks on Gage’s and Alec’s face were expected. The confused look on Vera’s face, however, was unexpected.