Now what? No bell sounded. No announcement to begin. Just the sound of ice clinking in glasses, orange glows in the darkness whenever someone pulled smoke from their cigarette, and the sensation of my heart climbing out of my throat.

Wheeler walked along the perimeter of the cage. The fingers on his right hand touched the bars, tapping against each one as he approached me. When he inched near, he gripped the bars on either side of my head and leaned in so close that no one could hear anything but us.

“Shift.”

“No,” I whispered back, still trembling.

“Shift or else they’ll make us both shift.”

“My panther will kill you.”

His mouth grazed my ear. “That’s the point.”

My heart leapt to my throat. “I’m not going to do it. You shift.”

His face appeared in front of mine, hard as a stone. Shadows carved along his cheekbones, and I saw years of torment flickering in the depths of his eyes.

“My wolf will lunge at your throat before you can scream.”

“I can’t, Wheeler. I’m scared.”

“Do you trust me?” He brushed my cheek with the back of his knuckles in a predatory manner. “Trust me, Naya.”

Had he said that to all his previous victims? Wheeler’s eyes were devoid of fear, and his voice never wavered.

“Strobe lights are scheduled to begin in two minutes if the fight is prolonged,” Delgado announced.

A nervous flutter tickled my belly.

I cupped Wheeler’s face and whispered against his cheek, “I trust you.”

Every muscle flexed as my skin erupted, contorted, and I transformed into a black panther. I heard light gasps from the crowd as she circled the cage. She opened her mouth, smelling the spike in their adrenaline. Confused by her surroundings, she growled and paced anxiously. I waited apprehensively for Wheeler to make a move. I wondered how he’d killed panthers with his bare hands. He must have put them in a viselike grip, or maybe gouged their eyes out before gnashing at their throats with his teeth.

Wheeler knelt down in front of my panther and gripped both sides of her face. She trusted him—she lapped his chin with her rough tongue.

Wheeler suddenly raised his hand and slapped her in the face. He did it again, and then punched her in the mouth before sitting back with his arms spread wide and his eyes looking upward, accepting his fate.

Nooo! I mentally screamed.

She growled ferociously, and before I lost consciousness, I forced myself to shift, falling over him. “No, no. Don’t you dare do this to me!”

The murmurs in the crowd became loud and argumentative.

“Goddammit, Naya! Shift back!”

“Not if it means this. You can’t choose me over you!”

He softly touched my hair with his hands. “Who else can I choose? There is only you and me, and I will always choose you.”

“Turn on the strobe!” someone shouted. “I paid good money for a fight.”

“Listen to me, Naya. There’s no way out of this. I’m going to make this easy for both of us.”