Chapter 18 #2
“You’d rather lose eighteen strong werewolves than just choose two winners?” I challenge, even though fewer werewolves seem pretty appealing to me.
“If they can’t take down those of similar skill level, they don’t deserve to be in the position.” He turns to me with seriousness written all over his face. “It’s not a game in the real world. It’s life or death. If they can’t survive in here, they won’t survive out there.”
“Why do I get the feeling there’s more discourse between the vampires and werewolves than I’ve been led to believe?”
“There’s nothing easy about creating peace between two species who spent hundreds of years wanting nothing to do with one another.”
“Why not just split the world in two? Half for the vampires. Half for the werewolves.”
“Because,” Kole interjects. “Once you create division, it’s only a matter of time before each side decides they want more.”
I think on it for a moment before silently agreeing. No matter how much they’re given, these two species will continue to want and take. I suppose humans were the same way, though. Land, speech, businesses, human rights. It was never enough.
The three of us fall silent as the twenty werewolves scatter across the sandy pit.
Some of them shift into their wolf forms, while others choose to remain in their human skins.
A countdown flashes on the giant screens, and the crowd’s energy intensifies with each number.
Just as it reaches zero, a loud buzzer sounds, and chaos ensues.
Jaws snap and blood sprays as the competitors face off against one another.
I watch in horror as one wolf tears the head off a woman who chose to stick to her human skin.
A moment later, that same wolf is tackled into the wall of barbed wire.
The more it struggles to escape, the more entangled it gets as the man who did the tackling strides away with a cocky smirk and only a few scratches.
A yelp draws my attention to the other end where a grey wolf hangs lifeless against the barrier, impaled by several spikes now coated in blood.
Snarls and growls coming from below mix with the cheers from the stands as they continue to rip each other apart.
Within the first few minutes, a fourth of the sand has been painted red with blood.
If they were human, everyone would be dead with that amount of blood loss, but these are werewolves, and their healing abilities allow for them to hold off their deaths a little longer.
Some of the wolves have decided to team up, and I can only assume that they’re from the same pack. A new countdown appears on the screens, starting at two minutes.
“What’s with the countdown?” I ask to both Kole and Thane.
“Once the clock reaches zero, that’ll end the first round,” Kole answers. “They’ll clear the bodies and reposition them again. This will allow time for them to heal and rest before round two begins.”
“This is barbaric,” I mumble under my breath.
“You’re kidding, right?” Thane turns to me with irritation. “Humans invented this. Or did you forget about the Romans and their gladiators?”
“That was a long time ago!”
He lets out a sharp laugh. “If you think humans stopped back then, you’re a very na?ve little girl.
There used to be a whole underground market for fights just as brutal as these.
” The lines on his face harden, and he turns his attention back to the pit.
“Only instead of human slaves, they chose to use dogs.”
His words are laced with utter disgust, and I don’t blame him.
I’d never witnessed dog fighting for myself, but I knew such evils existed in the underground rings.
I can only hope that those who participated were met with the same brutal end themselves.
If I had to guess, I’d assume the werewolves made sure of it.
By the time the buzzer sounds again, there’s only eight wolves left.
They each shift back to their human form while the bodies of the fallen are removed from the pit.
As the minutes pass and their wounds heal, the remaining contenders seem to take on new life.
A couple of them bounce up and down, shaking out their arms, while one cracks their neck and another stretches.
They each seem to eye each other fiercely as they are placed into a wide circle.
A timer of ten seconds appears on the screens, and each of them shift into their wolf.
When the buzzer marks the end of the break, there’s not a second of hesitation as the beasts tear through the sand, colliding in the middle of the pit.
They seem to pair off, going head-to-head with one another.
By now, the weak links have been killed, making this round far more evenly matched.
Just when I think one wolf has the upper hand, the tides change.
It’s a constant back and forth between the four pairs as limbs are bitten and blood is drawn.
When the first wolf falls, the crowd erupts in celebration of their death, but Thane’s expression remains unreadable as he watches from beside me.
While the crowd is drawn to the entertainment of it all, Thane looks all business.
Kole, on the other hand, seems to be somewhere in the middle.
He doesn’t chant with the crowd, but occasionally, I catch him scooting to the edge of his seat with adrenaline.
I do my best to ignore the whimpering sounds and yelps of those nearing death.
Whether or not these contenders are beasts, the sound of someone dying is something I’ll never relish.
After a long second round, the last kill is made, and two victors remain.
Thane stands and grabs a mic from the man who has been instructing the contestants.
“Congratulations to our two winners.” His voice carries across the stadium, and the cheers quickly follow.
“Being a territory leader means making the hard decisions. It means acting fast and brutally when necessary. Only those who can rise to the challenge are worthy of such a position. So, with that being said… kill the other remaining victor.”
“What?” I shoot up out of my seat, looking at Thane. “But you need two leaders?”
The crowd that had gone silent seconds ago roars to life as the female victor lurches into her wolf form and rips the head off the werewolf who had been standing only feet away, still in his human skin.
“Well done, Sage. That is what it takes to be part of my leadership. Only the strongest and fiercest get that honor. Today, you have proven yourself worthy of such title. But…” Thane pauses and looks back at me with darkened eyes, making my throat go dry.
“I came here today to find two leaders, and I’ve only found one.
” He looks to the excited spectators as they hang on to his every word. “Should we play another game?”
The stadium erupts at his suggestion, and Thane motions for more werewolves to take to the dirt.
Five more make their way to the center of the pit, where they’re positioned in a large circle.
Thane leans down, whispering something to the man who had given him the mic, and he takes off down the field.
“The rules for this next round will be a little different.” Thane glances down at me with a sinister look.
“You see, I have a special guest joining us. Whereas before the goal was to be the last one standing, this round goes to whoever can manage to kill my special guest first. Now, I must warn you. She may be small, but don’t let her size fool you. She won’t go easy.”
My heartbeat thunders in my head as the werewolves’ eager faces fill the screens at the end of the stadium.
“What are you doing?” I demand, taking a step forward. His eyes flash to Kole, who tugs me backward and pushes me down into my seat while a hollow pit forms in my stomach as my intuition screams that something is terribly wrong.
All at once, the stadium of vampires and werewolves jump to their feet as someone is dragged out onto the sand by two men. The cameras zoom in on the werewolf, and it feels like all of my cells have frozen over.
He can’t do this.