Free Grayslake: Creed's Claim by Mina Carter Page A

stopped playing and began to stalk his opponent. The bear huffed and changed direction, watching his opponent warily.
    “I guess so.”
    Creed launched an attack, scooping up a handful of dirt to throw in the bear’s eyes before he stepped in and slammed blow after blow into the furred hide. Watching him fight was like watching a work of art in motion. His sleek, tanned skin moved smoothly over the heavy muscles underneath as they bunched before releasing explosive power. Everything about him was lethal. He danced around the bear, making it howl as he landed strike after strike, always staying out of reach of its claws.
    He didn’t taunt the bear. Didn’t say a word as, silently, he took the creature apart. The crowd winced with each blow, gasps whispering through their number as a heavy right hook to the jaw threw the bear’s head to the side, blood and a tooth striking the wood at the edge of the pit.
    No way could any man hit that hard. Her lover wasn’t human. The realization rolled through her, brought home by the evidence of her eyes. He was something out of myth and legend, a creature labelled a monster in modern film and literature. But she didn’t care.
    She didn’t care what Creed was, bear or human, or something in between. He was hers, all hers…just as she’d always wanted him to be. Warmth filled the center of her chest, tempered with panic. The man she loved could die, and there was nothing she could do about it.
    The tension and worry would kill her.
    Harrison staggered to the side, shaking his head. The last blow had obviously rattled him and his balance was off.
    “Go down, you fucking asshole,” Lilly urged with a mutter, her fists clenched. “Learn your fucking lesson and stay down.”
    It seemed the big bear heard her and obeyed. His back legs folded under him and he sat heavily, a surprised expression on his face. It was almost comical.
    Creed backed off, dancing lightly on his feet with his guard still up. He didn’t take his eyes off his opponent for a second. The crowd all looked around to Dean Sterling sitting on the other side of the pit from Lilly and Kait.
    Now she knew he was a bear, and the leader of the clan, Kait easily recognized the aura of command that lay over his shoulders like a mantle. If she hadn’t known about bears, she would have attributed it to his time in the army. But now she knew the source was something else. The creature inside him.
    Dean rose to his feet, his expression set in forbidding lines as he looked down into the pit. Harrison remained on his ass, swaying slightly from side to side with the confused expression on his face.
    “Since Harrison looks to be unable to continue the fight,” Dean announced, his deep voice easily reaching those who stood at the back. “I declare Creed the winner.”
    A cheer went up from most of the crowd, a few of Harrison’s supporters muttering and turning away in disgust. Relief exploded through Kait and she moved forward to the edge of the pit as Creed turned to walk toward her.
    Movement behind him caught her eye and she screamed a warning as cunning returned to Harrison’s eyes and he surged forward to swipe lethal looking claws over Creed’s unprotected back.
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    “ N o ! Creed, watch out!”
    Kait’s scream brought Creed’s head up a moment before fire exploded across his back in four thin lines. He roared, his bear given voice as agony enveloped him and he whirled around. But something was off, and he staggered to the side. Crap. Trying to right himself didn’t work. He simply staggered again as though he’d been out on a three-day bender.
    “What the fuck?”
    The evil glint in Harrison’s eyes gave it away and he realized the fight had never been about Kait. It had never been about the hierarchy in the clan, or claiming rights. It was about the fact he was a half-skin, and an enforcer. It was about Anderson and Harrison’s elitist agenda.
    “The bastard used Carve!” Lilly dropped into the pit next