Chapter Eleven #3
“I choose…” I paused for a second to let the Alpha’s name come to me. “Roy Ebenezer, Alpha of Tosohatchee Pack, to give the signal and ensure the fight runs to protocol.”
The Alpha stepped forward, shooting a glare at Edward that told me I’d made the right choice. Regardless of what Roy Ebenezer thought of me, he wasn’t one of Edward Cutler’s biggest fans. “I accept the role with honor, Anax.”
“All are assembled here,” I said. “Let’s begin.”
“On my signal, you will shift and await my word to begin the fight,” Roy said. “The fight will end when one of you lies dead at the teeth and claws of the other. The victor will hold the rank of Anax of the United States.” He paused. “You may shift.”
Edward and I, backs to each other, stripped off our clothes and tossed them to the side. Someone came forward and picked up the clothing; I was too involved in the beginnings of my shift to register who it was.
The pain of shifting took over, wiping coherent thoughts out of my brain, which was probably a good thing.
I lay on the ground, nude, and let my body take its wolf shape.
The shape in which I would fight, as I had too many times before.
In which I would kill, again something I’d done too many times, starting with the man who changed me.
For someone who didn’t kill lightly, I sure did it a lot.
When I completed my shift, I rose to my feet, ignoring the dull ache in my scarred leg.
I felt that scar regardless of form. Edward took longer to shift than I did, so I sat down to wait for him.
The fight couldn’t commence until we were both shifted and ready, and I wouldn’t be the one to start it when Roy gave the signal.
Since I intended to be the last one standing, I would let Edward make the first move.
Finally, he struggled to his brown-furred feet and stood facing me.
Roy cleared his throat. “The fight will be fair. No interference. It will end only when one of the combatants lies dead.” It was a repeat of what he’d already said, but I didn’t hold that against him.
Sometimes repeating the words helped focus the intention.
“When I give the signal, you will begin. When I signal that the fight has ended, the survivor will return to human form.” He paused, turning his head to see everyone in the circle, then looked at Edward and me again. “Begin.”
I stood but remained in my spot, waiting to see what my challenger would do.
He moved uneasily back and forth, not coming near me, whining so softly I wondered if he was even aware he was doing it.
He couldn’t understand why I wasn’t attacking.
He didn’t know I had no intention of doing so.
I could have explained, but speaking to him through our bond would constitute interference, even if all I was doing was telling him to go ahead and attack.
So I remained still and silent waiting for him to figure out what to do.
After far too long, he lunged toward me. I sidestepped easily, and he didn’t try to correct his trajectory. He wasn’t trying. He didn’t want this fight.
That made my job harder, but the challenge had been issued and answered, and the fight was underway. One of us had to die. I was damned if it would be me.
I spun to face him and again stilled. He couldn’t prolong this much more. It would show weakness, and he wouldn’t want that in front of the alphas of his region. One of us had to start the fight in earnest, and as much as I didn’t want it to be me, I wouldn’t let this drag on.
He came at me again, and this time he struck a blow with one paw, claws extended. I didn’t make a sound, even though the wound stung. It would heal. It was meaningless. The important thing was that now that he had drawn blood, I could fight back.
I growled to alert him that I was about to attack, and followed it instantly with a lunge that knocked him to the ground. He lay there, pinned on his back, as I stared down at him.
There was nothing in his eyes. No plea. No fear. No expression at all that I could name, and while as a wolf I didn’t have the vocabulary I did as a human, I was pretty sure the inability to name his expression was because there wasn’t one.
Those eyes were the eyes of a dead wolf, even though he was still alive. Still breathing. Whatever had convinced him to issue this challenge, it had also convinced him that his life was already at an end. That he was dead no matter what happened.
And so I obliged his clear wish and tore out his throat.
The coppery taste of blood filling my mouth pleased wolf-me.
It nearly always did. All aspects of me agreed that killing without reason was wrong, but the wolf still enjoyed killing when it was called for.
I kept my mouth on Edward’s throat and watched the faint light of life ebb from his eyes, waiting for the monitor to call an end to the fight.
It took Roy a moment to react, which didn’t really surprise me.
I’d killed quickly, with very little actual fighting, and he probably didn’t immediately register that Edward was dead.
I didn’t move until he finally said, “The fight is over. Tobias Rogan has won. Tobias, Anax, please move away from Edward.”
I backed away slowly, still keeping my gaze on the dead wolf who had now begun to revert back to his human form, as all werewolves did upon death.
When I was responsible for a death, I always watched that reversion, because it reminded me of what I’d done and reinforced that it wasn’t an action to take without cause.
I hadn’t only killed a wolf. I had killed a man.
Roy gave me a moment, whether because he understood that I needed to watch Edward’s return to human or simply because he was waiting for the right words. “Anax, please shift back to human. I believe we would all agree that you have retained your rank.”
“We agree,” several voices said, though agreement wasn’t part of the usual protocol. I recognized Zane’s and Paul’s voices among the responses and was thankful for them.
I won, I thought to Kyle. It’s over.
Thank fuck! The thought was so loud and laden with relief that I almost laughed.
Stay in there. Please. Have to shift back and clean this up.
Come find me when you can.
I will. I lowered myself to the ground again so I could take my human shape.
This was the time I was most vulnerable.
If anyone had plans to take me out without issuing a challenge, now would be the time.
Between forms, I couldn’t defend myself and barely had any awareness of anyone or anything around me.
I’d had the gift of shifting quickly from the beginning, but I’d worked to hone it so I would be vulnerable for less time.
Two men came to stand in front of me. I sensed others behind me. In the middle of my shift, I couldn’t spare the brain power to recognize them, but I detected no true threat. Maybe they were there to harm me, but maybe they were just protecting me. I wouldn’t know until I was finished.
When I came back to my senses, in my human body, I saw that the two in front of me were Zane and Paul. My allies. That was a good sign. But then I looked over my shoulder.
Davis Gray stood behind me, Robert Greenlea by his side. Wearing a disgusted expression, Davis looked toward the dead body several feet away. “It’s my turn,” he said.
“You can’t do this.” Zane had no right to speak for me, but I didn’t protest. Right then, recovering from the shift, I was still regaining words. “Davis, think. He just fought. You can’t issue another challenge so soon.”
“Was there mention of a refractory period?” Davis sounded way too frigging smug. “I didn’t hear one.”
“You have no place here, Davis Gray.” My voice was hoarse and the words came slowly, but at least I was able to speak.
I started to get to my feet, ignoring the hands Zane and Paul held out to me.
There was no way in hell I would accept help right now.
Fresh off a shift or not, taking one of those hands would count against me.
“You and those who support you were ejected from this gathering. Why have you returned?
“To see this through.” He bared his teeth. “You had your chance. Tobias Rogan, Anax of the United States—”
“Davis, don’t do this,” Paul said.
“Stop, old friend.” I didn’t take my gaze off Davis. I didn’t trust him not to strike when my attention was diverted, even if he was still in human form. “If this is what the packless wolf before me believes he must do, so be it.”
“I am the Arkhon of the Pacific Region!” Davis’s face reddened, his expression twisted in rage. “I am no packless wolf.”
“All arkhons are packless by definition,” I said, my voice far calmer than my heart, which was beating so rapidly I felt lightheaded. “But you are no longer Arkhon, Davis, because due to the circumstances under which you left this gathering, there is no longer a Pacific Region.”
Strictly speaking, of course, that wasn’t true. No permanent decision had been made about whether that region still existed. But I wasn’t opposed to playing a little loose with the truth if it got a rise out of Davis.
Which it did. In the brief time I’d known him, since I became Arkhon of the Northeast Region, Davis had struck me as a quiet, subservient man who had basically kissed Hezekiah’s ass because Hezekiah’s territory sat smack in the middle of the Pacific Region.
Getting on that Anax’s bad side wouldn’t have ended well for Davis or the wolves under his rule.
He had only turned against Hezekiah when an attempt to solve a conflict with one of the Pacific alphas had resulted in a command to kill the Alpha.
Like me, Davis wasn’t a fan of killing unnecessarily.
He wasn’t quiet now, though. With a loud snarl, he began to shed his clothes. He hadn’t finished speaking his challenge, but it was clear that he intended to fight me nonetheless. Maybe he figured a formal challenge wouldn’t be necessary if he was packless.