Thatcher's Mate (Gay Werewolf Romance)

Chapter 3

Lorenzo

The next day, I found myself in the stands, watching Thatcher loosen up.

Xander, the man he was paired up with, was joking around with a couple of his buddies on the sidelines, seemingly not taking anything too seriously.

But something in the steadiness of his eyes even as he threw his head back and laughed...

I had a feeling it was a subtle tactic, a way to get his opponent's guard down.

I looked over at Thatcher's hard face.

Good luck to Xander with that.

No way was Thatcher letting his guard down.

Xander finally left his hangers on, idly stepping into the ring, rotating his wrist, a short sword held loosely in his grip.

Thatcher wasn't carrying a weapon, but I hadn't pegged him as the type to.

He was however wearing a couple of plain, well-made wrist guards. His t-shirt and pants were closely fitted to minimize easy grabbing,but flexible enough to allow him to move easily.

The fact that they showcased his ripped body was a nice side benefit.

One I was trying not to admire too much with minimum success.

He stepped into the ring as well, loosening up his shoulders as he watched Xander.

The announcer keyed up the crowd, getting them excited before finally officially starting the bout.

"Fight!"

Xander and Thatcher both stepped forward, neither the type to wait apparently.

Xander started in with a testing swing that Thatcher easily deflected, sweeping his foot out to try to catch the other man's legs.

Xander easily evaded the leg sweep, moving back to circle Thatcher,his eyes focused even as he smiled like he didn't have a care in the world, his brown hair almost but not quite flopping into his eyes.

Looked like he worked hard at portraying the unaffected image.

He began swinging his sword in a complicated pattern that caught the sun light, designed to trick the eye.

Thatcher's eyes stayed focused elsewhere, not taking the bait.

Xander lunged forward, but instead of moving back like he could have,Thatcher stepped forward into the attack, taking a glancing blow to the hip from the sword.

He didn't react as he grabbed his opponent's loose shirt, picked him up, and tossed him out of the ring.

The crowd was silent as Xander landed with a thump and a curse.

I didn't think anyone was expecting such a quick and simple ending to the fight.

"Thatcher takes it!"

The crowd got on board with a roar, as if the verbalized ending to the fight allowed them to.

It was pretty ironic how sheep-like a bunch of wolves could be.

I pushed through them, moving down the stands to intercept Thatcher as he left the ring.

"How's your hip?" I asked immediately.

He grunted.

"Could be better."

As we walked away, I moved to his other side to get a better look.