His Virgin Mate(18)

The tension between the two males was obvious. I didn’t like the guy and it was obvious Von didn’t either. I was actually glad they weren’t friends because that would be awkward. Who wanted to be with a guy who had a creepy best friend?

“You have met Alexis Lopez?” Cosmo asked.

Cosmo knew my name? I hadn’t spoken a word to him. Why did he know my name?

Von turned and faced his adversary. “I have met my mate, yes.”

“Your mate?” Cosmo countered. Anger turned his eyes cold. “Officiate Treva will confirm that I have already made first claim.”

I saw Von’s fists tighten, felt the anger come off him in waves. “She is mine. I challenge your claim.”

What? This Cosmo guy made a claim on me? Was there a sign-up sheet somewhere I didn’t know about? He hadn’t spoken a single word to me. Shouldn’t he have at least asked me first? While I didn’t want to get too close to the guy, he could have come to me. Maybe he’d tried? I had to admit, if he’d been trying, I hadn’t made it easy for him. Every time the three of us saw him approaching the last two days, we would spin around and walk the other way. Maybe I should have sucked it up and talked to him, let him try, because I could have shut this shit down pretty fast with a big fat no.

“She is mine.” Cosmo’s voice seemed to lower an octave and the sound of his dark declaration made me shiver, and not with desire, if that was his goal.

“You cannot refuse my challenge. She’s my marked mate,” Von growled.

“What?” Cosmo was livid, his face turning a mottled shade of red. Wow, he really wanted me. I’d always wanted to be sexy and desirable enough that two guys might fight over me, but I realized that was not a good fantasy. These two men were powerful warriors, and they looked like they were ready to rip each other to pieces with me standing between them.

“We have dream shared, our marks match,” Von added, looking at Treva now. Obviously this clarified everything, to everyone but me.

“Is this true?” Treva asked me, her gaze steady but emotionless. It seemed she was the impartial judge in this face-off.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Major Cosmo, as you are well aware, the law states that the female will choose which warrior will receive first rights, and thirty days to officially mate,” she said, sounding as if she was reciting from some legal rule book. She probably was.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Katie’s shoulders relax. Clearly she had been worried I’d have to go off with creepy guy, too.

“I demand a combat challenge,” Major Cosmo barked. He turned to me. “You must accept the winner of the challenge as your first.”

“No.” The word whispered over my lips like a soft sigh. No way. And what was Cosmo’s problem? Was he not backing down because he really wanted me or because he didn’t want Von to have me? There appeared to be no love lost between the two of them and I didn’t want to get caught in the middle of their fight.

Von growled, his body crowding me. His hand came to rest on the small of my back, but instead of feeling intimidated, like Cosmo made me feel, I felt protected by Von’s aggressive posture, his touch. His strength. An odd sense of comfort washed over me and I swayed toward Von, wanting more of his heat, his nearness.

Cosmo watched me move and his eyes narrowed. I shivered as Von gently pulled me to stand behind him where Cosmo could no longer see me.

“You have no choice, Cosmo. You must accept Von’s challenge,” Officiate Treva ordered.

Von turned to look at me for a moment and I forgot to breathe. I saw so much hunger in his gaze, such awe. His gaze fell from mine and I knew he was staring at my right breast.

I didn’t want to watch some stupid fight where Von and Cosmo would beat each other to death. That was crazy. I peeked around Von and spoke to the Officiate. “Treva, I would like to see proof of Von’s mark before I choose him.”

“Doesn’t she understand how this works?” Cosmo asked. “Von, show her your damn palm.”

Von glanced at me. “My mark is elsewhere.”

Treva’s eyes widened and Cosmo appeared to have been hit in the head with a bat. “Elsewhere?” he asked.

“I was not born with the mark on my palm,” Von replied, although I knew that. I knew it because my own mark tingled on my chest. Did his as well?

“This is quite unusual,” Treva replied. “You must both reveal your marks then to confirm the match.”

“Here?” I squeaked, thinking about having to expose my breast to the entire room.

“Is there a problem? You made the request,” she replied.