Animal Instincts (Entangled Ignite) Read Online Free

Tough. Drug and weapons deals had always been a staple of dogfights. It wasn’t any different here, where the contestants were a bit more unusual than dogs. Just another perk.
    The crowds were getting bigger with each bout. And younger. More kids were here with their parents than ever before. He smiled. “Corrupt them young,” that was the Boss’s motto. The young were malleable. They could go in any direction. So he’d allowed kids to come for free and their parents had willingly brought them. Knowing he was sending these annoying little humans in a direction that could ruin them for the rest of their pitiful lives, he took his seat. Handlers led the combatants out to the arena surrounded by three-foot plywood walls.
    A small child screaming, “Doggie!” made him smirk. The doggie was a wild dog, another shape-shifter who would enjoy punishing Jez for him.
    “What is that?” someone behind him asked. “The other animal. It looks like something else. A big black cat.”
    The area was still dark except for occasional strikes of lightning, so it was hard to tell for certain unless you were up close. A murmur went up through the crowd as more than a few spectators saw enough to excite them.
    “This is what I been waiting to see,” Lieutenant Ryan Connelly, a burly man with sandy hair, told his pretty blond companion.
    The cop’s corruption warmed the fight controller’s insides, made him salivate with anticipation.
    “Won’t you get in trouble if your captain finds out you’re doing something illegal?” the blonde asked.
    Connelly grabbed the blonde by the arm and twisted so hard it made her squeal. “Can it, bitch!”
    “Final bets,” came over the loudspeaker. “Three minutes.”
    People frantically waved over the bookies. Money and betting slips quickly changed hands.
    Glancing over the crowd, the controller started when a lightning strike revealed another familiar face. Another cop. Detective Shade Cross, cell phone in hand. What the Hades was he doing here? He’d been taken care of at the casino days ago so that he’d turn a blind eye to anything illicit—hadn’t he?
    “One minute.”
    When Jez’s black pelt quivered, the taste of her fear slid deliciously through him.
    And then the bell clanged to cut off betting and portable lights aimed at the ring clicked on. Spectators gasped when they got a good look at Jez’s sleek black coat.
    The controller’s pulse raced, and his senses sharpened as they always did when a fight was about to begin. The money was good, but money didn’t motivate him.
    Another bell. Another bombshell-loud complaint from the clouds.
    The combatants being held back at the scratch lines were let loose and the animals charged each other. At the wild dog’s first bite, Jez screeched. Bleeding, she tried to run from her opponent.
    “Turn!” Jez’s handler yelled.
    The other handler grabbed the wild dog, and both shape-shifters were returned to the scratch line to start over.
    The controller had known Jez would try to back out and he’d told her handler to threaten her to make her fight. Whatever was necessary. The handler was doing it now, telling her that if she didn’t hold her own out there, he would take great pleasure in skinning her.
    Hatred focused him. He couldn’t wait to see Luc’s reaction. He’d been humiliated because of the bastard, and it was time for payback, and Jez’s death would be a start.
    The fight resumed, and this time, Jez tore into the wild dog as the dog’s teeth tore into her. The heavens rumbled as, within seconds, she lost the use of a hind leg. She might be a bit bigger than the wild dog, but she was inexperienced. He could feel her desperation as she lunged forward, swatting hard with sharp claws. Atmospheric electricity surrounded the combatants, illuminating streams of blood spurting from the wounded animals. Spectators screamed and a few even left. Jez did an impressive job of holding her own, but of course she hadn’t been