New Mutiny

Chapter 13

A werewolf's life was all about changes: the cycles of the moon, shifting from human to wolf and back, switching how they moved through the human world to keep themselves and their pack safe. Seth was quiet by nature, which tended to take a lot of people by surprise, but somehow those monumental life changes had been relatively easy for him to adapt to. Maybe if he wrestled for a company that wasn't predominantly run by werewolves, it would have been an issue, but The Authority always made sure to schedule around full moons as best they could. When that wasn't possible, they enlisted the best witches to make the strongest amulets and enchantments to keep their werewolves safe.

Seth had been running with Hunter and The Authority for years now, but for some reason this run felt wrong. Perhaps it was because it wasn't on a full moon, but Seth attributed it to something else: Becky wasn't there. He had thought about asking if she could come along, but he didn't want to risk another ambush attempt by Charlotte. He'd only had a handful of runs with her—the two official full-moon runs and a couple mid-month ones, just for pleasure and to let off some steam—but not having her by his side already felt odd.

One of the benefits of being in wolf form was not having to talk, so Seth didn't mind the run taking most of the afternoon. Now that they were all cleaning up and cooling down in the lake, though, he knew the contract was going to come back up. He had managed to get his copy back to Roman's, but after the incident with Charlotte, he hadn't wanted to bother Becky with it. "Anything I sign can't be contingent on her, Hunter," Seth insisted. "That's not fair."

Hunter spread his arms wide in a shrug. "Vince wants what Vince wants. You know what that's like."

Roman took a deep breath, submerged himself, and popped back up with an impressive spray of water. "For curiosity's sake, then, what happens if Seth doesn't sign? He's got two months left on his contract, right? So you're not going to put him in a big-stakes feud, because you don't want to waste all that creative investment on someone who's leaving. But you don't want to make him job out either, because for someone of his stature, that'll get the dirt sheets talking. Once the other companies even get a sniff that Seth Rollins is going to be available, you know there's going to be interest."

Nothing Roman said was untrue, but Seth wasn't sure whose side he was trying to bolster. "90 day non-compete clause," he remarked, tone flat. It was one of those insider terms in the business that had almost become a joke, albeit a grim one.

"No bullshit." Roman gave him a sharp look. "You know there's at least three companies that would offer you the sun and the moon just to get your attention. The second you can legally look at other offers, you would be inundated."

Hunter huffed out a long breath. "Is this supposed to intimidate me? Is this supposed to be shocking in some way? Of course I know there would be other companies interested. There's no way to prevent that. But you two seem to forget that while I'm your boss, I still answer to my boss."

"So convince him. Or convince Charlotte. Give her another title reign. She keeps whining about a Queen of the Ring tournament, right?" Seth added. "Make one. Have her be the first winner. Another line for her resume. Becky shouldn't be a bargaining chip. No person should be."

"Worried that Lynch won't want to stay with you, Rollins?" Hunter's chuckle held an edge of cruelty. "Guess it's just sex after all. If she cared, she'd probably at least consider coming back—"

"Hunter." Roman stood to his full height, dark eyes gleaming in the jewel tones of the sunset. They hadn't planned to be out past supper, but negotiations weren't going well. "Don't."

Seth half-expected Hunter to berate Roman, but the two huge men locked gazes in silence for a long moment. "The point stands," Hunter said airily, but his wasn't a voice meant for breezy comments. "I'll see if I can get it downgraded to a part-timer contract or special appearances. She's only in some little local UK league, isn't she? She should be able to step away a few times a year. Hell, they'd probably be grateful because then she'll draw more people for them."