59. Bloody Victory
Bloody Victory
Matilda had expected David to win against Gamma Soren, but she hadn’t expected him to make it look so easy.
Gamma Soren shifted the moment the official dropped his staff.
His bones cracked and rearranged beneath his skin as he fell forward, emerging as a massive gray wolf.
Confusion rippled through the crowd as David remained in his human form.
Soren charged and Matilda felt a moment of unease wash over her when David stood still, feet planted in the dirt ring.
“Move,” she muttered. She gripped Luka’s fingers when Soren lunged for David’s throat.
David sidestepped at the final moment, caught the wolf by the scruff, and used Soren’s own momentum to drive him face-first into the earth.
The crowd exhaled a gasp when David hauled the stunned wolf upward and slammed him down twice before a third time that left Soren motionless.
Silence fell over the grounds as David straightened and dusted his hands against his trousers.
“My word,” Ezra commented.
“I hadn’t expected the bout to end so quickly,” Luka murmured as the official rushed forward and crouched beside Soren. “Gamma Soren is unable to continue!” he announced.
Cheers erupted from scattered sections, drowning out the boos from Gamma Soren’s supporters.
“One down. Three remain,” Matilda said, clapping at David’s swift victory. She briefly observed men running down the risers to place bets on the next fight.
She rolled her eyes. “Can you believe them?” she asked her husband.
“They’re despicable,” he answered.
“Agreed.”
“They have no class.”
“Zero.”
“Where is the humanity?” he asked.
“Non-existent, my King.”
Ezra cleared his throat and smirked. “King Alesi?”
“Yes, Lord Gustafson?”
“Did you not place your own bet?” he asked, bringing Luka’s integrity into question.
Matilda gasped at the accusation.
“Ezra, your tongue wags harder than a dog’s tail,” Luka complained.
“I’m appalled. How much did you wager?” Matilda queried.
“Nothing significant, my love. Merely 500 silver coins.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re frivolous.”
He faced her with a grin. “I love you.”
“You love being a pain in my ass.”
“Always.”
The arena settled again when Delta Garrick approached the ring after Gamma Soren was carried away.
“Oof,” Matilda hissed when Garrick spat in David’s face.
“That was unnecessary,” Ezra commented.
“Disgusting. I would tear his entrails out and use them as reins for horses.”
Ezra and Matilda glanced at Luka with a look of pure disbelief.
“What? He should be put to death,” Luka insisted.
“You might just get your wish,” Ezra muttered as the official signal for the match to begin.
Garrick shifted but did not charge. The hulking brown wolf circled David, forcing him to turn continuously.
“Why will he not shift?” Ezra asked.
Matilda didn’t answer, beginning to wonder the same.
Garrick darted forward. David swung, but the wolf retreated before the blow landed. This senseless exchange went on for far too long. David’s frustration could be read from their seats.
“He’s going to make a mistake if he doesn’t calm himself,” Matilda whispered.
As if fate were listening, Garrick attacked and his jaws closed around David’s forearm.
Matilda tensed, prompting Luka to wrap an arm around her. “He is fine.”
David repeatedly drove his fist into Garrick’s head; however, the wolf would not budge.
Blood streamed down David’s arm when he was finally able to free himself.
He shook his arm, flinging blood into the dirt.
Garrick’s wolf smiled, licking the blood from his chops.
He lunged again, and that time David caught him.
One hand seized Garrick’s throat, while the other gripped his hind leg.
A roar ripped from David as he lifted the enormous wolf from the ground and hurled him.
Garrick struck the dirt several yards away.
David was upon him before he could regain his footing.
The spectators winced when David proceeded to break Garrick’s hind legs, leaving them lame and crooked.
A pained howl ripped out of Garrick as he shifted into his human form.
“P-please. I beg of you. Please stop,” Garrick pleaded, reaching for his leg that was nearly detached.
David stood over him with a foot hovering in the air. “Yield, or the audience will bear witness to the small brain in your head.”
“I yield!”
The official raised his staff. “Delta Garrick yields!”
Many members of the audience stood and gave David a standing ovation.
“That was quite impressive,” Luka commented.
“And from the looks of it, Prince Lykaon does not look pleased,” Matilda said.
Their party glanced at the prince who frowned from his dais.
Ten minutes later, Beta Loic entered the arena, planting himself before David.
“I always wondered what it would feel like to outrank you,” Loic said.
David smirked.
“Enjoy your final moments of it.”
Loic shifted and attacked before the official had cleared the ring, and David had barely avoided losing his life when Loic’s claws tore across his chest, spraying blood across the dirt.
David stumbled and Loic struck again. His massive body collided with David and sent him rolling across the ground.
“Get up,” Matilda said frantically.
David pushed himself onto one knee, rolling aside when Loic charged again. Unfortunately, devastatingly sharp claws tore at his thigh. David shouted in pain.
“He’s losing too much blood,” Matilda commented.
“Have faith, my love,” Luka said. “He’s already healing.”
“Not quickly enough,” Ezra mentioned.
David climbed to his knees. Loic went in for the kill as David reached toward his belt. The wolf leapt and David dropped onto his back as the wolf sailed over him. David drove the dagger upward, and the blade disappeared into Loic’s belly—momentum handled the rest.
A terrible tearing sound cut through the roar of the crowd as the dagger ripped through the wolf’s underside.
Loic crashed into the dirt and his blood pooled beneath him. David remained on his back, chest heaving and limbs shaking from adrenaline.
The official stared at Loic for several seconds before raising his staff.
“Beta Loic is dead!”
Shocked cries erupted from the audience.
David slowly sat upright and held up three fingers before pointing one at Prince Lykaon.
“Congratulations, David,” Lykaon said, voice bellowing through the arena. The spectators immediately silenced, not wanting to miss a single word.
David stood in the center of the ring, chest heaving, battered and bloodied, as his final challenger addressed him.
David spat blood onto the dirt. “You should’ve made sure I was dead.”
Lykaon smiled devilishly. “I intend to correct that mistake.”
“I won’t give you the chance,” David responded confidently.
Lykaon threw back his head and laughed. “You are not in the condition to make such claims.”
“We shall see,” David answered.
“I’m curious, David. If you were to best me—you won’t—but if you did, what are your plans for Moonshire? Become allies with the vampires?”
“Do not mind my plans when you nearly brought about war to your people’s doorstep over a land dispute and pride.”
Lykaon clicked his tongue. “That’s funny. You were right there beside me…. until you weren’t. Your ten minutes are almost up. Any last words?”
“None that I wish to waste on you.”
The official stepped between them, and the chanting increased; the volume loud enough to reach the heavens.
“Final challenge. Prince Lykaon against former Beta David. The victor grants rule over Moonshire.”
The audience quieted. Now sitting on the edge of their seats and holding their breaths.
“Begin!”
Lykaon shifted instantly. The enormous white wolf barreled toward David. David caught him around the neck; however, the impact drove him backward and claws tore into his side. He screamed as Lykaon threw him aside.
Matilda stopped breathing when David hit the ground.
Something was wrong.
He doubled over, fingers digging into the earth just before his spine cracked.
A murmur swept through the crowd as David’s shoulders broadened, his arms lengthened, and dark fur erupted across his body.
But he didn’t fall onto four legs. Matilda slowly rose from her seat as David kept growing—seven feet, perhaps more—his legs bending strangely beneath him while enormous clawed feet dug into the ground.
His hands remained almost human with black claws, and his face pushed outward into something caught between man and wolf. His fangs descended—long and too sharp.
The arena fell silent when David stood above his former alpha.
Lykaon’s wolf backpedaled, and for the first time since David had known him, the alpha seemed afraid.
David didn’t give Lykaon a chance to recover before he attacked.
The two beasts collided in the center of the ring with enough force to send dirt spraying beneath them.
Lykaon twisted beneath David’s grasp and sank his teeth into his shoulder.
David roared and drove his claws into Lykaon’s ribs.
Blood sprayed across his chest. Lykaon released him with a howl and swiped across David’s face, splitting his flesh from his temple to his jaw.
Matilda lurched forward when David’s head snapped sideways.
He staggered clumsily, and her stomach dropped.
“It is not over yet,” Luka said softly.
“I-I have never seen this wolf,” she stammered.
“He is monstrous,” Ezra commented.
“He’s fatigued. I fear he won’t be able to maintain this form for long,” Matilda confessed.
“Have faith,” her husband reminded her, threading his fingers through hers and delivering a gentle squeeze.
Lykaon attacked again, and his massive body struck David squarely in the chest, sending them both crashing into the dirt. His jaws snapped inches from David’s throat. David caught Lykaon beneath the muzzle with one hand while the other buried itself in the thick fur at his neck.
Lykaon pushed downward, and David’s arm trembled under the immense pressure. Lykaon pushed inch by inch until his fangs pierced the flesh above David’s collarbone.