Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 127461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
This time it wasn’t Gorya reacting. It was his security team and Timur. A wave of outright laughter swept through the rank. It was low, but it was sincere.
“Do you think I said something funny?” Krylov bristled.
He was used to others deferring to him.
“Who do you think killed both Raul and Derk on her own with no backup?” Timur all but growled it. “Who do you think destroyed your assassination teams when Gedeon and his security teams were surrounding Gorya during what was supposed to be a fair challenge for leadership? You really are a dumb fuck, Krylov.”
Braum hadn’t thought that through either. He hadn’t given a thought to Gorya’s new mate. Was she that blur that had come out of the shadows and disappeared again? He knew female leopards could fight, but he hadn’t heard they could take down two grown leopards in their prime. Not alone. Did he believe Timur? His voice rang with truth. More, the entire security crew had laughed when Krylov had made his ridiculous boast. Yeah, he believed him.
Braum figured Gorya’s leopard would want to teach Krylov a lesson. They would urge him to challenge first. Let his leopard tire Gorya out. The longer the pakhan spent tormenting his prey, the more time there would be to inflict even minor damage on him and perhaps wear down his stamina. With stupid comments like Krylov had just made, no doubt Gorya and his leopard wouldn’t be able to resist teaching him manners before slaying him.
“I’d rather go out fighting,” Braum said.
Vinn, Edik and Karol added their agreements to Braum’s.
Gorya gave the slightest of nods, nearly imperceptible. On silent feet, his security crew stepped up behind the remaining men seated at the oblong table. The shadows moved. Men slumped forward. That shadow plunged knives into two men simultaneously. Braum saw the results, but not the person behind the chair. Shots rang out and four men fell with the others. In the end, all were dead, leaving only the five challengers alive.
“Gentlemen, you will stand one by one and be searched for weapons,” Gedeon said. “Once you are free of them, your leopard will be returned to you, and you’ll be escorted to the place we’ve chosen for the match. The last assassination team was located and destroyed. To be on the safe side, we’ve chosen our own arena, so if we missed any further treachery on your part, they will have to find us.”
Braum couldn’t imagine Gedeon and this crew missing anything. They seemed to be very thorough.
“What do you mean return our leopards to us?” Braum inquired, trying to sound as casual as possible, not alarmed in the least. How was it they had the power to overtake one leopard, let alone every leopard in the room? He’d never heard of such a thing. He hadn’t known it was possible.
Krylov and the others took their shaken gazes from the dead men surrounding them and stared at Gedeon with shock. Braum realized it was the first time any of them had reached for their leopards. What was wrong with them? How had they not known? No one had been warned. Shifters were always told by their leopards if danger was close. When had they all grown so excessively reliant on the security force when they had their meetings?
No one answered him, but then, he hadn’t really expected an answer. One by one they stood up. Gedeon was very thorough, taking his time to ensure no weapon could possibly slip by. Braum was very aware that no packs were given to them so they could dress in their clothes on the off chance that one of them would defeat Gorya. They would have the clothes they took off at the site where the battle was going to take place, but often in their haste to get them off, trousers and shirts could be shredded.
Before it was Braum’s turn to be escorted from the room, a small, slender woman emerged from the shadows. She was tiny like a little pixie. Her hair was blond and her eyes big, a slate blue with long, sweeping lashes. He’d never seen a woman look so young and innocent as this one did. He wasn’t even certain at first that she was a woman until she glided gracefully across the floor to come up behind several of the dead men. Removing the blades from their bodies, she wiped them clean and shoved them out of sight. She did it so fast that at first, he wasn’t certain what he’d witnessed.
The woman turned her head and looked at Gorya. She looked like the sweet girl next door, totally incapable of killing anyone. For one moment, when she looked up at Gorya and took his outstretched hand, she smiled up at her mate, and her smile was absolutely beautiful. Right there, surrounded by death, she didn’t seem in the least fazed. Gorya pulled her close, uncaring that anyone saw the way he acted possessive of her, tucking her under his shoulder as he escorted her out to a waiting SUV.