Berrr's Vow (25 page)

Voices interrupted as Ssshal and about fifteen other men crowded into the kitchen. Shanna turned her head to see more Zorn men, some of them
Vartas
she’d met with Berrr, letting her know that all of his guests had come back to Berrr’s house. One of them, the oldest Zorn she’d ever seen, the one who had arrived with Vinlotti and Ssshal, stepped away from the group to frown at Berrr as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“What is happening here in your home, Hyvin Berrr?”

Taking a deep breath, Berrr held the gaze of the older man. “My human house helper has issued a challenge to Bratha Alluwn that I have accepted to fight my bound. We are going to go before a judge right now to get permission and find witnesses for them to fight,
Vartas
Yatgo.”

The old man’s gaze jerked to Shanna. “Do you understand this law and the rules of a challenge? You are a weaker species and you will have a very difficult time surviving a fight with a Zorn woman.”

“I understand,” Shanna said softly, staring back at the old man.

Vartas
Yatgo stared hard at Shanna, studying her for long seconds before his attention returned to Berrr. “You know I am a judge in the East Forest. I give permission for the challenge and the witnesses are here.” The old man waved his hand at all the other Zorn men in the kitchen. “There are over ten of them to witness the fairness of the challenge and verify the winner for the people of Zorn.” He paused. “You have a nice garden in the back of your home with bright lighting so let the fight be held there.”

Berrr growled, looking anything but pleased.
“Now?
Here at my home?”

The older man gave a sharp nod, his eyes narrowing as he glared at Alluwn. “It is long past time that someone challenged your bound for that honor.” His gaze turned to Shanna. “I hope you know what you are doing, woman from Earth, for I do not wish to see you die today.”

Alluwn snarled. “You can’t possibly be serious,
Vartas
Yatgo. She’s a human and I am Bratha Alluwn, bound to Hyvin Berrr. I will not be insulted this way by being challenged.”

The older man snarled, showing teeth, glaring at Alluwn. “I am a judge and I have spoken. If you wish to forfeit your place speak so now to avoid fighting the Earth woman and I will decree her winner.”

“Never,” Alluwn yelled, her angry dark glare going to Shanna.
“To the death, human.
I am going to kill you and I will enjoy Berrr grieving over your broken body.”

Shanna swallowed hard, knowing the woman really wanted her dead. “You can try,” she got out.

Alluwn snorted as she spun, storming for another door across the kitchen. “I am hungry,” she almost growled the words. “Let us do this now so it ends quickly and I can enjoy my meal while I watch the great Hyvin suffer the loss of one he holds close to him.”

The hand gripping Shanna’s hip tightened, making her look up to gaze into Berrr’s beautiful eyes. He looked worried, angry and sad. Shanna patted his chest. “Let’s go and get this over with.”

The men were already following Alluwn and a few of the house helpers must have overheard because Shanna saw some of them rushing after the men from other parts of the house. Berrr stared down at Shanna and then cupped her face with his free hand, staring deeply into her eyes as he almost went nose to nose with her.

“Do not die, my Shanna.
Fight hard and expect her to go for your face and eyes.” He paused. “She will be fast so you must be faster. She tends to hit with her right arm, swinging out with it as if it were a club. I taught her to fight when I first bound to her.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Terrified but knowing there was no other
choice,
Shanna stepped back, forcing Berrr to release her. “Let’s go.”

Berrr snarled and spun away, giving her his back when he started to walk, leaving Shanna to follow closely behind him. She experienced a little terror and dread with every step through his big house toward the backyard. She was going to fight the big, mean Zorn woman who had offered Shanna up to a bunch of men as if she were a whore. That thought pissed her right off and as she kept walking so did her resolve to kick the shit out of the bitch who took such pleasure at the idea of hurting Berrr by using Shanna to do it. Berrr was Shanna’s man and the idea of another woman hurting him fueled her from anger to flat-out rage.

The garden was beautiful with an assortment of purple and red flowers. There was a large grassy area that the witnesses encircled, letting Shanna know exactly where the fight would take place. The entire area was well-lit by streetlight-sized poles in the backyard. It was bright enough to almost be daylight so she wouldn’t have a problem seeing her opponent. She took deep breaths, mentally trying to prepare herself as if it were just a typical kickboxing match just as she’d done many times over the years while training and keeping in shape. Most of her instructors had been men much larger than she. She purposely trained with men because they were tougher opponents.

Her attention focused on Alluwn stretching out her large frame on the grass, obviously preparing for the fight, and Shanna swallowed hard. Nope, that woman was bigger than the men Shanna used to spar with. This fight wasn’t a game, an exercise or a training session. This was going to be brutal and the Zorn woman had stated she wanted to kill Shanna. She shifted her gaze to Berrr who stood apart from the men about ten feet from her. He looked back at her and she saw his hands fisted tightly at his sides. He looked furious again and worried. So was she but she wasn’t going to admit it. She forced a smile at him.

This was insanity but she wasn’t on Earth anymore and she wasn’t about to be whored out to Berrr’s company. The only way to stop that from happening was to kick Alluwn’s ass and win the right to be bound to Berrr. As she stared at him she let her love for him flood her thoughts. He was worth fighting for to stay at his side so she didn’t have to be given to Vinlotti. A new possibility opened up in her mind. As Berrr’s bound she could have children. Biting her lip, she let that concept fill her with mental images. She’d always wanted kids, she knew perfectly well that Berrr wanted at least one more baby, and then her focus turned to Alluwn.
There’s the bitch
who
is standing in the way of my happiness.

Shanna sucked in air and blew it out, doing a little stretching to limber up in preparation for the fight. She glared at Alluwn, the woman who wanted her dead, who had given her to nine men to
rape,
fourteen if she counted the guards the bitch had tossed an invitation to over her shoulder as she’d left the room. Shanna knew one thing for sure.

“Bitch, you’re going down,” she whispered, hoping that saying it out loud would help.

Vartas Yatgo moved into the center of the grass, regarding each woman for long seconds, and then put his hands together. “As judge there are no rules but weapons aren’t allowed. This is to the death unless the winner shows mercy.” The man gave his full attention to Shanna. “You are from Earth so let me explain a few things to you that you might not know. If the loser is spared they will be immediately removed from Hyvin Berrr’s home forever, the winner to decide where the loser goes, and there is no debate on where you are sent.”

Shanna caught that he said “you” while staring at her. The guy didn’t think she could win either. It made her just a little hotter under the collar. These Zorn guys really thought humans were pathetic.

“If you were to win then you would go before Hyvin immediately after the fight to ask his permission to be bound to him. At that time he will accept you or deny you. If he denies the request then you will remain his house helper. Are the rules clear enough for you to understand?”

Shanna nodded. “I understand.” Her gaze flew to Berrr to see that he was watching her back, still looking angry and worried. She shifted her gaze back to the older Zorn man. “Thank you.”

Vartas Yatgo gave a nod. “Let it begin. The fight continues until one remains down or takes their last breath.” He turned then, letting his hands drop to his sides as he moved off the lawn area to the side of it with the other onlookers.

Game on
, Shanna thought, moving toward the center of the grass as a furious-looking Alluwn mirrored her from the other side. Shanna forced herself to remain calm, knowing that if she panicked she couldn’t think or react quickly. She needed all her focus on the advancing woman. Putting her arms up so she could block her face faster, Shanna kept her attention glued to Alluwn’s slightest movement.

The woman lunged forward suddenly, barreling right at Shanna, a mix between a growl and scream coming from her throat. Shanna reacted instantly, ducking under one of the arms that barely missed her head, bringing her knee up hard as she gripped Alluwn’s side, fisting her shirt to keep hold of the moving target. Pain shot up Shanna’s leg and knee as she made brutal contact with the woman’s middle.

Alluwn grunted, doubling over, and Shanna didn’t hesitate to release her with one arm, lifting it, and slammed her elbow down hard on the back of the other woman’s head. She spun then, totally releasing Alluwn, and got behind her. She didn’t think, just let her training take over, only without the rules of good sportsmanship this time, and kicked the bitch in the ass hard while she was still bent over. Alluwn went crashing face first into the grass. Shanna froze, staring at the downed Zorn woman. She hoped Alluwn wouldn’t get up.

“Finish it,” Berrr snarled. “Don’t let her recover.”

Hesitating turned out to be a mistake as Alluwn snarled, shoved her body up off the ground and whipped her head in Shanna’s direction. The hate-filled glare said it all. Shanna knew she should have followed Berrr’s advice as the larger woman got to her feet, spitting out grass as she spun around, and lunged at Shanna again.

Ducking avoided most of the blow as the woman threw a punch but part of her knuckles caught Shanna’s shoulder, sending her reeling back, stumbling. She recovered enough to grab the larger woman by the shirt as Alluwn threw her arms around her in a bear hug. As Alluwn jerked Shanna off her feet to probably crush her in the anything but loving embrace, Shanna managed to bring her knee up, slamming it hard into the vee of the woman’s leather pants.

A gasp came from the larger woman a second before she dropped Shanna, stumbling back to fall on her ass. Both of her hands went for her injured sex, cupping it, and Shanna winced. That hurt bad, she knew, because she’d been kneed there once. She reached up to her throbbing shoulder, feeling something wet on the curve of it, and tried to not flinch at the pain that was going from a dull throb to a burning ache. She glanced down and realized that not only had Alluwn punched her but she’d torn into her skin with her nails. Blood ran down her arm and over the back of her shoulder. She couldn’t tell how bad it was but her shirt was torn and there was a lot of blood.

“Finish her,” Berrr roared.

Shanna released her injured shoulder, rolling it to make sure it was still working, and felt grateful that although it hurt, she had full motion range still in that arm. Her attention went to the woman sitting on the grass still cupping her crotch and decided she didn’t want to be hit again. If the woman had punched her full on instead of clipping her, Shanna figured she’d be out of commission. Alluwn hit the way a prize boxer did, minus the protective gloves. Taking a deep breath, she realized what needed to be done. The old Zorn had said the fight was over once the person was done and stayed down. Shanna circled Alluwn, who was still in her own world of hazy pain, and got behind her.

Shanna struck fast, figuring the woman would recover in less than a minute. Shanna jumped on Alluwn’s back, wrapping one arm around the woman’s throat, her other arm going around her breasts. Shanna wrapped her legs tightly around the woman’s waist, riding her back. She took a deep breath as Alluwn tensed,
then
tightened her arm to cut off the other woman’s air supply. Alluwn’s arm lifted and Shanna was able to throw her face down against the bigger woman’s shoulder just in time to avoid the frantic punch that was sent her way. The larger woman panicked in seconds, Shanna could feel it in the way the woman started to freak out, her body jerking.

“I’m not going to kill you so stop fighting,” Shanna said in the woman’s ear. “This is a sleeper hold that will just knock you out.”

Alluwn didn’t listen. The woman clawed at Shanna’s arm, making her flinch as nails dug into her skin on her forearm. When Shanna didn’t release her, Alluwn threw her larger body sideways, taking Shanna down with her. Pain shot up Shanna’s leg that ended up under Alluwn’s hip but she didn’t let go. She kept the tight hold around the woman’s throat even as Alluwn rolled onto her back, nearly crushing Shanna under her. She couldn’t breathe but neither could Alluwn. She clung to her until the larger Zorn woman stopped struggling, her body going totally lax. Shanna waited long seconds more, her lungs burning for air, until she knew the Zorn wasn’t trying to fake her out.

Shanna released the other woman’s throat and
unwrapped
her legs from the woman’s body, using her legs against the ground to shove at the dead weight of the unconscious woman. As soon as she rolled the heavy body off her chest Shanna gasped in much needed air and untangled herself completely to rise to her feet. She bent down, watching the woman’s chest closely to make sure she was still breathing, which she was, before straightening up to stare at
Vartas
Yatgo.

“She’s down and she’s not moving. I won, right?”

The older man looked shocked. He gave a nod though. “You won but I never saw a fight like that before where one woman strangles another.”

“It’s a wrestling move and it was effective.”

Berrr started to walk to Shanna but
Vartas
Yatgo threw up his hand, halting Berrr with the movement without ever taking his attention from Shanna. She frowned as she stared back at the old Zorn man.

“You won the challenge in a strange way but you didn’t use weapons and Alluwn remains down. Now you may approach Hyvin Berrr and bow before him to ask if he will
bound
to you.”