UNDYING: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (Midwest Alphas) (Book 3) by Tabatha Kiss Page A

stare fires an electric bolt up my spine, tingling my cold fingers and toes.
    “Tobias…” Pike finally pulls himself up to the ring and climbs inside. “There will be plenty of time to make puppy eyes at girls later.”
    I sigh, sending a quick glance at Amy next to me. She looks back with concern, no doubt just as nervous as I am that one of them is about to get punched for real.
    “You know…” she says, throwing her voice. “Maybe we should take a little break…”
    “No,” Pike snaps. He stops in front of Tobias, looking down from the few short inches he has on him. “We’re not done yet.”
    I cringe. The last time they faced each other like this in the ring, Pike stabbed Tobias. My eyes fall to the scar on his left side, lingering just above the elastic of his black shorts.
    “Pike…” she warns.
    He ignores her and keeps his eyes locked on Tobias. “You angry?”
    “Getting there,” Tobias answers.
    “Good. Keep going. You’ll need it to fight Rick.”
    “I don’t need any fancy tricks to get myself angry at Rick. ”
    “Tobias, he already knows your fighting style—”
    “No thanks to you,” Tobias interrupts.
    Pike takes a deep breath. “He knows your fighting style and he knows, better than anyone here, your worst fear. If you’re going to beat him, you’ll have to focus on something other than Claire. For once.”
    “Pike!” I shout, feeling my own anger in my chest. I stand up from the bench and step closer to the ring as Amy does the same.
    “Leave her alone,” Tobias says.
    “Look, I get it,” Pike says, shaking his head. “You’re young, confident, cocky, and hell, you’ve earned it, but so has he. Sorry, kid, but the honeymoon period is over. You’re not winning this one because of a bout of the warm and fuzzies.”
    Tobias steps closer to him, their chests barely touching. “I said, leave her alone.”
    “I’m only looking at you , Tobias,” Pike says, his eyes unmoving. “You keep your hands up and your eyes forward at all times — it’s how you used to be, isn’t that right, Tobias the Untouchable ?” Tobias’ chest rises and falls as fury builds inside of him. “Think about that. Think about the fighter that joined the Alphas in the first place. I want that guy in this ring. He was focused and solid. He didn’t have some cute cheerleader moaning his name, distracting him from who he needed to be.”
    Tobias turns around. “I’m taking a break,” he mutters, stepping towards the ropes.
    Pike’s lips curl. “Would you like to know what your little sister’s last words were, Tobias?”
    “Pike!” Amy screams. “That is enough!”
    My jaw drops as Tobias’ hands roll back into fists. “Tobias—!” I shout, losing my voice mid-name.
    He spins back around and lunges at Pike, throwing the entirety of his weight against him. Pike falls backward into the corner, tossed by the extreme force of Tobias’ shoulders.
    Ryan attempts to step between them, but Tobias lashes out with a quick jab, connecting with Ryan’s cheek and shoving him out of the way.
    “Tobias!” I scream for him again, jumping into the ring.
    He pins Pike to the corner and attacks him with a hurricane of punches, far faster than I’ve ever seen him throw before. Each one hits so loud, I think my ears are popping as I push myself forward into harm’s way. I reach out to Tobias, but my fingers slip from his sweaty arm as it moves in front of me with a blur. “Stop!”
    Tobias grabs Pike by his shirt and pulls him from the corner. With a powerful charge, he flips Pike over his shoulder and slams his back against the mat. He stumbles on his feet, giving me barely a second to intervene.
    I throw myself in front of Tobias, blocking him from finishing Pike off. “Tobias, stop!” He grabs my arms; his grip sharp as nails against me. I look into his eyes and darkness stares back at me, ready to push me away. I can feel it in his fingers, that urge to toss me to the side, but something