Predator | 17

Please let me know if you think that some parts of this chapter are missing.

The pub was silent, after Evan uttered those few words. April was at a loss of words, as if her tongue knotted inside her mouth and restricted her from speaking.

Shawn didn't look surprised. He still looked very bored, leaning his stubbled chin on the palm of his hand.

Eric on the other hand, tensed visibly. He clearly didn't expect Evan to blurt out the well kept secret so freely without any thoughts.He remained silent, avoiding looking at his sister. The grip on the glass between his fingertips tightened and it was a surprise that it didn't break in his strong palm by the pressure it was under.

"Cage fight?" April repeated long moments later, once she found the words again. She sounded doubtfully, thinking that she misheard him.

"Yes," Evan replied. "It's going to be interesting. You haven't met Lorena yet, but she's a complete bítch, let me warn you. Always going on everybody's nerves. Can't wait to see Nikolaj beat her, though spanking her áss raw would be lovely for the audience, also."

Both of her eyebrows perked up in disbelieve. Nikolaj was truly fighting? And that against a woman?

"I can tell what you're thinking. Lorena's is just not anybody. She's the one and only female cage fighter and being alive between males in a cage means something. She's no ordinary woman. The strength she possesses puts many men into shame."

"I can't believe this," April muttered when she listened to that. "When exactly is the fight?" She asked and played with her lips nervously.

"In two hours," he replied when he looked at his watch. "You want to watch?" Evan asked. A slow smirk formed on his lips when April nodded slowly in response, even if it was a hesitant nod.

"How's that even allowed? Oh god, they are not fighting until someone dies, are they?" April got hysterical once she let the cage fight matter settle in.

"No, they are not." Evan rolled his eyes. "And why shouldn't it be allowed? Humans fight each other always in one of those dumb and fake boxing matches and no one complains," Evan reasoned.

"Besides, we are Lycan's. What damage can be done to us? It's all just fun to skip time." He sounded exited.

April wasn't so sure. She wanted to watch it, mainly because of Nikolaj, but she was also curious.

"So it's... safe?" She asked hesitantly. Her stomach twisted with the thought of Nikolaj being hurt badly.

"Yeah, it is. Don't worry," he reassured her and excused himself from the group, leaving.

April sighed heavily. She tugged Eric's arm to get his attention. He turned to her, slightly expecting what she was going to say.

"You knew about the fights?" She asked in a whispering tone.

Both of her eyebrows raised, she waited for him to answer and judging by the way she looked at him, he knew he should be very careful with the words he was going to say. Eric cleared his throat before thinking of an answer.

"Yeah, I knew and yes, I know I should have told you that and not let you find out like this. But before you start nagging like you always do, let me explain myself," Eric spoke.

"There are just some things, I can't easily tell you," he tried to explain slowly. The look on his face told April that he was trying to find the right words to say.

"He's a püssy, in other words," Shawn jumped in. "That's why he chose not to tell you, because he lacks of some guts," he continued and snickered mischievously.

Eric gave him a look of anger. April just shook her head and rubbed her temples softly. This was clearly too much to handle.

* * * * *

The pub was slowly filling with different people from Rosewood. Most of the faces around her were unfamiliar, a few, however, she recognized from the night she discovered the pub. And of course, all of them were men.

The silence around her was long gone as the time went by. The pub was now filled with light chattering amongst the men. Only when they headed to the hidden door in the back room, the pub fell into the silence from before again.

April was still sitting at the bar with Shawn and her brother. They were drinking from their glasses, before Shawn led her and Eric to the back room were all the men already disappeared to.

The door was unlocked when Shawn opened it. Shawn stepped into darkness, followed by April and Eric.

It was a narrow passageway with no light. From the dim light of the room shining into the passageway, she could see that the walls were made of bricks.

Along with the others, April went through the hidden door in the back room, which was leading to another hidden room, or rather a very large basement.

She noticed the rusty scent she smelled when she entered the pub getting stronger inside the basement, but she couldn't quite put a finger on what kind ofscent was.

The ground beneath her feet was dirty and the walls weren't in a much better state.

It was hard to walk through the darkness and she had to be careful not to stumble over her own foot. April was taken by surprise when Shawn suddenly grabbed her hand, leading her through the passageway.

"Where are you leading us?" April asked after long moments. Her voice echoed through the passage.

"You'll see," was Shawn's reply and barely a minute later, bright light was shining directly in her face.

Her hand was still in Shawn's warm one and with her other hand, April shielded her eyes from the light.

They were in a basement, a very huge one with people surrounding a cage in the middle of it.

April let her eyes drift through the whole place. An uncomfortable feeling begun to rise in her and the palms of her hands were already sweaty.

Shawn noticed it and caressed her hand with his thumb. He watched her for a few seconds, before pulling her softly somewhere with a much better view to the cage.

April got a bad feeling when she saw Nikolaj in the metal cage. He wasn't wearing a shirt, only shorts and seemed to be rather bored than being afraid. But what did she expect?

He always had a very collected expression and barely let any emotions cross his features or his cold eyes.

With him in the cage was a woman. April guessed that she was Lorena, the woman Evan was talking about earlier.

She had her long and dark hair falling over her shoulders and April noticed a long scar running over the dark skin of her left cheek.

It looked like a scratch. April frowned. Did she get it from one of her previous fights?

In April's eyes, she was a beautiful woman and even the scar on her face couldn't change that.

A sly smirk was present on Lorena's face when the crowd begun to cheer loudly, encouraging them to begin already.

Lorena said something to him, but April failed to hear what it was. It was too loud around her to understand anything at all. She saw Nikolaj nodding in response.

She was the one who threw the first punch. Lorena barely missed him and only grazed him on his neck with her fist.

April highly doubted that the punch would even hurt Nikolaj if she didn't miss him. She was rather worried of that woman, Lorena. She looked very fit and strong, but still very fragile and vulnerable compared to Nikolaj.

Lorena's next move, however, changed Aprils mind very quick. She raised her leg and kicked him in the stomach- hard.

A low growl of pain erupted from him as he fell on his back followed by a loud thud. The crowd cheered loudly.

As quick as Nikolaj fell on his back, he jumped up on his feet again.

"They're just warming up," Shawn whispered into her ear. "The best part begins once they shift. That's when the real action begins." He grinned at her and averted his eyes to watch the fight again.

April gulped the lump in her throat away. "Are there.. you know, any rules?" She asked hesitantly. She doubted there were any. To her, it seemed to be a merciless fight without any rules. Only the strong ones survive.

"Yes, there are some, actually. The first and most obvious one is: no killing. The second one is, no shifting until someone bleeds or is brought to the knees. The latter one is not really a rule, but over the time the fighters just see this as one," he explained to her.

At least, no one was dying tonight, she thought. She wouldn't have watched the fight with the knowledge that someone would be dead at the end of the fight.

"So, who do you think is going to win?" She whispered to him without averting her eyes from Nikolaj.

Shawn smirked at the sudden interest April showed. "Good question. Lorena is a very strong woman and should not be underestimated only because of her gender. But winning against Nikolaj? It's impossible. He may not be showing it right now as they are still fooling around, but Nikolaj is much stronger than her. A few of the fighters even refuse to fight him, or even Lorena."

"So why didn't she refuse to fight him?" April asked confused. If it was impossible to beat him, why bother trying it?

He chuckled lightly. "It's not the first time that they fought against each other. And Lorena never chickens out of a fight. She had the opportunity of fighting him and she gladly accepted it. Lorena loves the challenge and the thrill that comes with each fight. So it shouldn't be a surprise that Nikolaj is her favorite opponent, even though she loses every time."

"I see," was all that she said. It didn't surprise her that she never won against him. She doubted that anyone could win against him. That thought made her ask the next question.

"Did Nikolaj ever lose a fight?"

A dark expression crossed Shawn's face. He crossed his strong arms over his and was silent for long seconds. He looked like he was deep in thoughts whether he should tell her or not.

"He did lose a fight.. once," Shawn finally spoke, hesitantly.

"Against who?" April asked and glanced at him. Her voice was barely a whisper but he still heard her. She was very curious against who he lost.

Shawn shook his head, before he carefully answered her question. "Viktor."

Aprils eyes widened. She wasn't able to think further about it when loud cheers erupted from the crowds around her. She quickly spun around and watched the fight again.

Nikolaj had Lorena by her throat. April's heart sped up when she noticed his eyes. His usual eye color was replaced by a deep, glowing golden color, just as Lorena's were.

He was glaring down at her as he squeezed her throat tightly. Lorena's golden eyes were flashing with pain, a soft whimper falling from her lips.

The grip on her throat tightened as Nikolaj slowly brought her to her knees. Another cheer echoed through the walls when her knees finally touched the dirty ground beneath her.

He released her throat. Lorena fell on her hands and coughed heavily, trying to catch the air she needed desperately. Her hand flew up to her sore throat, rubbing it to ease the pain.

Nikolaj stepped back, his eyes were still glowing in the golden color. He lifted his eyes away from Lorena's scorching posture and breathed briefly, before his eyes found April in the crowd. She sucked in a breath when she noticed that he was looking directly at her.

He watched her, with an irritated look. Nikolaj was frowning. He didn't look expressionless with this small frown on his face, but it quickly vanished when Lorena raised from the ground and shifted into her other form.

It was the exact same process she saw when Shawn shifted, only that she did it quicker than him. She needed merely seconds until she was standing on four paws instead of her legs. It was the same with Nikolaj. He was already transformed when April's eyes searched for him.

"The true fight begins now," Shawn exclaimed. His eyes flashed with excitement. He really seemed to enjoy the fight.

April licked her dry lips and watched Lorena and Nikolaj in their wolf form. Their size was still something she should get used to. Or rather, the whole existence of Lycans was something she had to get used to.

It still seemed so surreal, so unreal even though she had the proof standing on four paws in front of her.

This time, it was Nikolaj who made the first move. He lunged directly at Lorena's furry throat, but she was quick to dodge his deadly canines.

April shuddered. Between all the people who were clearly enjoying every single moment of the fight, she seemed to be the only one to have mixed feelings about this. She just wasn't able to shake off the negative feelings that were bugging her during the whole fight.

It was hard to follow their every moves. Nikolaj and Lorena moved so damn fast that April's eyes were slowly becoming tired.

When Lorena sunk her teeth into Nikolaj's stomach, April flinched and closed her eyes. She could only hear the people around her shouting wildly and she heard a growl of pain, which she was sure was coming from Nikolaj.

April slowly opened her eyes again and peeked a look at Nikolaj. His stomach was bleeding, but what frightened her most was the amount of blood that was under him on the ground.

Shawn was right, Lorena was truly not a woman someone should underestimate.

Nikolaj was barely affected by the wound Lorena gave him. He was baring his canines at her, in a very threatening manner, before he lunged at her and scratched her with his long claws.

Blood splattered on the ground. His right front paw was dripping with Lorena's blood. She whimpered at the pain, but it didn't stop him to attack her again. He bit her neck, his canines disappearing deep into her flesh.

He released her when she was about to shift back to her human form. Lorena fell to the ground with a silent thumb, completely naked. Blood was dripping down her throat and her back was covered with blood, also.

Nikolaj's canines were still wet with the blood of hers. Once he shifted back, he tried to whip the blood away from his mouth, but only managed to smear it further up his face.

For the second time, his eyes found April's. They were staring at each other for long moments, completely ignoring the cheering crowd around them.

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I apologize for the long wait. To be honest, I was simply too unmotivated to write something, but it's better know. I will try and update the next chapter his week, but I still need a few more ideas, so it's not a promise.

Thanks for reading!