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moment as if he could also hear the voice in Leo s head.
While Leo tried to mentally reconnect with Zander, the large cat attacked. Red Claw
leapt up and slammed into Leo. The air pushed out of him as Red Claw smashed him into
the floor. He couldn t get a gasp of oxygen as the larger beast pressed him down. Leo
couldn t move.
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A loud buzzer sounded, then the body lifted off Leo.
He lay there a few minutes longer, waiting to see if there would be any other
consequences. Was this like Roman Earth where others got to decide if he was allowed to live
or die?
Stand.
Leo listened to the bossy Thresl and climbed to his feet. Overall, he didn t feel too
horrible. He went back to the corner of the ring where the referee was pointing, then came
out again when they rang the bell.
Two rounds later he couldn t say he felt well anymore. His ears had teeth marks, his
arm bled from numerous bites and his right leg had a slash from a particularly vicious attack
by Red Claw.
On the plus side, the large Thresl had a few marks of his own. The buzzer went off
again and the Thresl leapt. Leo let the big beast pin him. He was too fucking tired. If he d
wanted to kill him, Red Claw could ve already done that a hundred times over. Hell, at this
point he would have almost welcomed it. The only thing preventing his entire surrender was
the fact that he d heard Zander s voice. He couldn t vanish on his mate. Zander deserved
better than that.
As Red Claw stood on Leo s chest, a sly look crossed the Thresl s face, a secret
intelligence behind the burning gaze. It was a set-up. Leo looked away to find his gaze
locked with Red Claw s human.
Why do you seek us?
The words slithered through Leo s head like a whispered snake.
I thought to save Thresls from indenture. I was captured myself instead.
For the first time he felt foolish. This Thresl didn t need his help he was doing just fine
on his own. They were making money by getting foolish humans to bet on them. If that was
how they wanted to live, who was Leo to tell them they were in the wrong? Although he was
curious as to why the man would let his Thresl fight, he doubted they would offer the
answer.
Red Claw s mate motioned a guard over. After speaking in his ear, the man approached
Leo holding another one of those cattle prods.
Come with me.
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Leo paused for a moment, wondering if he was making a huge mistake. No, he had to
figure out what was going on. Maybe Red Claw and his partner could tell Zander more
about the Thresls who had passed through here and were never heard from again. He
needed to uncover what was going on and report back to Zander. He wouldn t be a
detriment to their relationship. He imagined Zander s expression of pride when Leo figured
out the entire smuggling ring. Leo wanted to make his mate proud of him.
The guard led him to an empty locker room, obviously there from a previous sporting
event since Thresls wouldn t need to change.
Wait here. The guard left without waiting to see if Leo might object.
Time dragged on. After what seemed like forever the door opened and Red Claw and
his mate entered. To Leo s astonishment, the Thresl shifted into a man. Red Claw was a red-
haired giant of a man with sparkling green eyes.
Leo also changed in response. The human grabbed some clothes from a locker and
handed them over. Here.
Dressing quickly, Leo opened his mouth and blurted out. You can change too?
Red Claw grinned. Yep. I needed to be both in order to make some money.
Why do you do this? The pair didn t seem particularly cruel, but nothing they had
done so far improved Leo s opinion of them. They weren t taking things easy on other
Thresls he had the claw marks to prove it.
The human spoke for both of them. I m Crine, by the way Red Claw s mate, but you
probably already figured that out. I found Red Claw when I was really young. We bonded
before we even knew what that meant. He d escaped from his kidnappers and he shifted into
a human, but a young boy to match my age. Over the years he s grown with me. We
established this fighting ring because we ve found it s the best way to find misplaced Thresls.
Owners who have bought Thresls illegally and need to get rid of them because they
refused to bond give them to us for a small fee. We keep them around to pretend-battle with
Billy here. He motioned to Red Claw. After we ve travelled for a bit, they tend to find their
mates and move on and we start all over again. The guy who brought you in isn t one of our
usual partners. He approached us about a Thresl he got cheap. He heard he could make
money in our ring. We turned him over to the police, but he doesn t seem to know anything.
He didn t know the name of the guy who sold you to him.
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Damn. Leo s hope for a lead disappeared. So the entire fight is a sham. It s only to
rescue Thresls and find them mates?
So far his job as an investigator hadn t gone well. Not only did he have no leads, but he
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