Gwen eased out of his arms, her body gliding away because of her skates, her gold eyes peering at him curiously. “What?”

“I said, go put your clothes back on and let me take you home. This is no place for you. You’re mine now and I want you safe and preferably unmarred.”

Her hands went on her waist, her red, white, and black nails tap-tap-tapping against her hips. “You don’t think I can do it.”

Lock shrugged. “Sweetie, she’s gonna kick your ass.”

“Did you just call me sweetie?”

“You rather I call you baby?”

Without another word, Gwen rolled past him and into the main hallway that led to the stadium.

“Good,” he said behind her as the Babes rolled out of the locker room, Blayne moving in front of them.

“I’ll take you home and we can forget all about this. I’ll always take care of you, Gwenie. You’ll never have to worry about anything.”

Blayne’s eyes grew wide and her gaze bounced back and forth between Gwen and Lock.

Slowly Gwen faced him. “I don’t need

anybody to take care of me. Especially freakishly sized bears with kumquat heads.” She held her hand out and one of the Babes slapped a helmet into her palm. “Now get the fuck out of my way.”

She rolled toward the stadium entrance, where they’d wait to make their grand entrance, and the team followed right behind her.

Reaching out, Lock snagged Blayne by the forearm and pulled her back. “When this is over, she still better love me.”

“Don’t worry about anything,” Blayne promised. She leaped up and kissed his cheek. “You’re the bestest bear ever.”

“Yeah, but I better not be the loneliest,” he called after her.

Typical. Absolutely typical. Show a man a moment of weakness and he figures he can turn you into a barefoot breeder making him honey-soaked meals all day.

“You all right, Gwenie?” Blayne asked.

When all Gwen could manage was a growl, Blayne didn’t say another word.

As they waited in the long hallway that led out to the stadium, the Furriers rolled in. Their uniforms were cute little plaid skirts and tiny pink and black tops to match. But it didn’t matter. McNelly still looked like a big bitch in a cute-girl’s outfit.

McNelly stopped in front of Gwen and stared down at her. What was happening between McNelly and Gwen was something that went back to their mothers’ time when the derby queens wore a lot less makeup but lived the life of the true derby girl.

Now all that past shit was coming down to this and Gwen wouldn’t back away. Yeah, her mother embarrassed the holy hell out of her, but she was still her mother and Gwen was still an O’Neill.

“See you out on the track,O’Neill.”

McNelly followed after her team and Blayne muttered, “I hate her.”

“Yeah…but I hate her

more.”

And that was why

if Gwen went down tonight, she’d go down fighting—and she’d make sure to take McNelly with her.

Lock stood at one of the entrances to the VIP seats, searching for his parents and Ric. His father had insisted on coming. “How could I miss something so interesting?” Of course, his mother was no better.

“Females in a battle of strength? Why would I miss that? Besides, it’s our Gwenie!” Iona, however, had simply stared at him when he mentioned it to her. But she did promise to have the emergency room on alert should any of the players need medical care.

After a few moments, Lock saw Ric with Brody and Alla sitting behind him, but when he saw who surrounded them, he started to back away until two sets of strong hands grabbed him from behind.

“Oh, no you don’t.”

The two lion brothers hauled him toward Ric.

“You didn’t really think we’d let you get out of this so easy, did you?” Brendon Shaw asked.

“You wanna be with my baby sister, then you’ll have to get the

full experience,” Mitch said.

They dragged him to the section that had been taken over by the O’Neill Pride, the Smith Pack, and the Kuznetsov Pack. Several of them had banners, air horns, and superbly made Tshirts with Gwen’s name on it.

“Lock!” they all cheered when he stood in front of them.

“I’m so sorry,” Ric mouthed. He glanced at the female who had her arm around him. Roxy O’Neill.

“Lock! You sit right here, baby-boy.” She nudged Ric. “Move handsome. I want this gorgeous grizzly to sit near me.” Once Ric had moved over, she patted the empty spot beside her.

Mitch and Brendon pushed Lock and he snarled, snapping at them both.

Roxy O’Neill laughed and clapped her hands together. “And cranky just like a bear should be! I love it!”

Remembering well how his mother warned him falling in love often had unpleasant side effects, Lock stepped past several rows of Gwen’s family and friends until he could drop down next to Gwen’s mother. He held his hand out. “Hi, Miss O’Neill.”

“Call me Roxy, Baby-boy. Everybody calls me Roxy.” She ignored his hand and pulled his head down so she could kiss him on the cheek. “I’ve just been chattin’ with your parents.”

“It’s been fascinating,” his mother said, but when he looked back at her, she crossed her eyes in exasperation.

“But you and I will talk after the bout,” Roxy threatened. “I want to know