Free Beauty and the Werewolf (Entangled Covet) (San Francisco Wolf Pack) by Kristin Miller

their time and money?
    Her ears detected the sounds of clashing bodies and teeth tearing into flesh. The floor vibrated beneath her feet as sounds of fighting rumbled off the walls.
    Heart in her throat, she reached the bottom of the stairs. The entire basement opened up into a giant padded room. Fluorescent lights flickered overhead. Beams split the open space. Other than that, there wasn’t a single piece of furniture. Or maybe it was the grouping of large, shouting men blocking her view.
    There were too many bodies to count, huddled against one another, hollering toward the center of the room. The gagging mixture of sweat, bloody fur, testosterone, and pure anger created a fog that lingered on the air, choking her.
    “Disgusting,” she muttered, putting a hand to her nose to block the direct flow of the stench. “So gross.”
    A few men turned around, glaring, as if she’d been talking about them. They weren’t the type to mess with. Bald heads and bare chests. Covered in dark tats and scars.
    “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean you two.” She flushed hot. “Of course not. You’re not disgusting. I meant your smell. Well, not your smell, but the collective smell.”
    Shut up, shut up.
    They glowered, their eyes narrowing to slits.
    “I’m just going to”—she moved away, putting up her hands—“go find a spot to stand over here and look for my friend. My very large, mean biker friend.”
    Strangled with fear, it was the only thing she could think to say, but the second she was free from their heated gazes, she laughed. One of her nervous, scared laughs, but still.
    And no sign of Jack.
    The crowd booed, pumping their fists in the air over their heads.
    Standing on tiptoe, she tried to get a glimpse at the center of the room, but no way. Not from this angle against these burly men. And she couldn’t fit between them.
    As she moved through the raging mob, Isabelle realized every man in the place was bare-chested. Most were covered in scars and sweat. And every single one of them was so preoccupied by what was happening in the center of the room that they barely recognized her presence.
    When she reached the back wall, a place she felt safe so no one could steal behind her, she bumped against a wood crate. Perfect. Stepping up, she looked out into the room, eager to get a vantage point to better look for Jack.
    The quicker the better, so she could get the hell out of here.
    Two wolves tangled in the center of the room.
    She gasped, watching in horror as they reared up on their back haunches and crashed into each other with brutal force. They growled, baring their teeth as they clashed them together.
    The guy at the door had said this was a werewolf fight club, but with the men surrounding the room, she hadn’t actually expected the men to be fighting as wolves.
    Right in the middle of the city.
    Covering her mouth with her hand, Isabelle gawked, unable to detach her gaze from the horror of the fight.
    One of the wolves—the sleeker one with the raven-black hair—was covered in a mess of sweat and blood. His fur was matted down the back, wet and dark red. His face was bashed in on the right side , and the tip of his nose had been sliced open by a claw.
    The other wolf—the auburn-haired, much larger one—had claw marks streaking down his left side and was bleeding over one of his eyes. Other than that, he was fine.
    Colliding with cruelly intense force, the wolves bit and clawed. Jumped back. When one leaped, the other matched. Blood gushed over the floor as the auburn wolf sliced through the side of the darker.
    He howled in agony.
    The men in the crowd bellowed, a roll of thunder that vibrated the entire building. Isabelle’s heart drummed in her chest.
    Limping and bleeding, the darker wolf attacked. As their massive bodies slammed together, the darker wolf slipped in a pool of his own blood. Taking advantage, the auburn wolf leaped on top of the other and pinned him to the ground.
    Although the auburn