#2 Chapter 70

Book:Christmas With the Wolves Published:2024-5-1

The audience was silent. Everywhere was enveloped in an eerie semblance of decorum. No, there was one sound to be heard. A pounding sound that seemed to silence everyone else that watched.
>SPLAT< >BAM!< >CRACK< Sounds of bones breaking and flesh ripping permeated the uneasy environment as all the Werewolves around burned the sight into their eyes. Spraying blood and pounding flesh, all a result of Klaus' domination over Dax. It was only a few moments after Klaus decided to get serious, yet the match was already over. Dax was on the ground, having several fractured bones. Blood surged from his body and his mangled flesh twitched in pain as Klaus relentlessly kept pounding him. "Surrender, and this will be over!" The heartless man said with a wicked grin, clearly enjoying the state Dax was in. The new Alpha shuddered with each step Klaus took as he descended his leg to crush him, smashing his back in a powerful strike. "Gahhhh!!!" Dax screamed, gritting his teeth to endure it all. "Just give up, and this will all be over " Raising his leg, Klaus horizontally struck Dax on the cheek, giving him a slap with his foot. This sent him flying away and crashing on the hard ground with his already injured back. "Guaarkkk!" Dax spat out blood in recoil. Now that a distance had been formed between the two men, Klaus took his time to watch Dax's pathetic state while remaining transfixed in his spot. "There's no point to this. You can't win." Klaus grinned sadistically. "Huff… Huff… Urhh…" Dax let out strained breaths, struggling to remain conscious. His body trembled, yet he remained unshaken in his resolve. Rising from the ground with his bloodied body, Dax slowly regained his balance. His wobbly legs slowly became firmly rooted on the ground as he raised his fist once more. His undaunted eyes proved that his resolve was yet to be broken. "I won't… back out… now…" Dax huffed as he spoke. Tightly clenching his fist, he shot Klaus an angry look, making the latter to feel more annoyed by Dax's stubbornness. "You're not broken yet, eh? I have to give it to you… you're strong. Not just physically, but up here." Klaus said, using his index finger to tap his head, indicating that Dax had immense willpower. The wounds on Dax's body slowly healed since he was running out of energy. After being mercilessly beaten over and over again, the injuries he sustained were now taking longer to fully disappear and he could feel that he didn't have much time left to fight. 'I… have to end this fast!' Even though he knew this, Dax couldn't see any way he could win against Klaus. He wished he could move the way he wanted to, but Klaus' [Domination] made his body too stiff to avoid his assaults. Now that he had an injured body, it was even more difficult for him to do anything. "Shit, if I was in my top form, maybe…" He mumbled to himself. Still, there was no point deliberating such useless things. He was confronted with the reality of the situation, so he had to try overcoming it with what he had. Though from the looks of it… doing something like that was impossible. "You must have realized it by now. I'm just way stronger than you. This is the very height of foolishness. For whose sake do you fight? Even if you damage yourself till you tire and faint, it won't solve anything." Klaus said, interrupting his thoughts. Dax glared at the joyous werewolf who slowly approached him, obviously getting ready for another round of his beatdown. " I'll still win, and you'll be left with nothing but bruises and trauma. Think about everyone watching. Do you really want to humiliate yourself any further? You're the Alpha of your pack, you know? Why are you showing them this disgraceful aspect of yourself?" "Hey… you talk too much." Dax suddenly snapped back at him. His wounds were far from being completely recovered, and he felt himself ache all over, but Dax hadn't lost his mental fortitude. It seemed that Klaus was getting impatient and began resorting to words in order to break Dax's spirit. "Excuse me?" Klaus responded, looking a little confused. "Why are you talking so much? If you want to win, then win. There's no need to keep talking. I won't ever back down, so just secure your victory like you say." Dax responded. The sudden challenge thrown at Klaus made him crinkle his brows, while bending his lips in a grin, forbidden manner. "What are you implying? That I can't beat you whenever I want?" Klaus asked. Dax smiled a bit and shrugged. "You would have done it already if you could, don't you think? This was too much of an insult to Klaus, causing him to speed across the distance between them and lunge a claw attack at Dax in a flash. Dax's widened eyes caught Klaus' move and he quickly adapted to the situation, moving his sluggish body to barely escape that assault. As soon as he did this, Dax quickly coiled his body and gave Klaus a double claw attack, sending the previous Wolf King back with great force. >SPLURGEEE!!!< Blood gushed out of the wounds Dax made by sinking both claws into Klaus's chest. "This guy…" Klaus grunted. The wounds quickly healed, making the blood stop dripping after some time. Dax felt his body undergoing strain again and knelt as a result, wheezing desperately while feeling his strength fade. Klaus merely stood from where he was and eyed Dax warily. 'This guy, Dax… he's not ordinary.' Initially, Klaus had just attributed Dax's combat prowess to skill and talent, but as the fight progressed, he realized that there was more to him than just his power in combat Dax was extremely dexterous. His mental and physical fortitude made him a monster in his own right. 'No matter how many times I pound him and beat his ass up, he still doesn't give up! It's amazing that he can even fight well in such overwhelming conditions, but he refuses to give in and surrender.' Klaus thought. The most dangerous part of the situation was that Dax was slowly getting accustomed to Klaus' attack patterns the longer the battle dragged on. Since Klaus was one who relied on brute strength in fights, his fighting methods weren't very refined and his combat skills were merely a little above average. He made up for this with his immense speed and strength. Coupled with the invincible power of his dual Arts, Klaus was unbeatable by normal standards. Yet, Dax had managed to hold on for so long. On the long run, Klaus was guaranteed to win. However, at the back of his mind, Klaus didn't want to imagine what it would be like if Dax was given free rein of his movements from the get-go. 'Even if he has been analyzing my movements, he can't keep up because of my [Domination].' Klaus wasn't using his full strength, but this much was certainly enough to take care of multiple Alphas. He refused to go any further when confronted with such a greenhorn. "What's wrong? You won't attack anymore?" Dax asked, spitting out blood as he stood. "You're in no condition to fight, though." Klaus commented. "Oh, don't mind me. Just do what you have to do." He smiled, pretending he was fine. 'Any minute now… I'll lose consciousness. I don't… I don't even know why I'm still fighting. It's impossible to win…' With his blurry vision, Dax spotted Asher from the corner of his eyes. The confident smile of his friend had faded, and he now had the countenance of a guilty person. He looked grim and sad, most likely blaming himself for the tortuous experience Dax was going through. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to stop the match or intervene. Asher needed to fulfil his mission and capture the culprit of the whole incident. He wasn't confident in Dax's victory from the start, but he had hoped Dax would stand a chance. 'I'm sorry, Dax… but as it is now… you can't beat Klaus.' He gritted his teeth. He knew it from the start, yet why would he recommend such a battle in which Klaus would be the obvious winner. 'I… I had a dream… and in that dream… the voice told me to do this.' Asher's mind rang, remembering the experience he had in the previous night. He didn't know who the voice belonged to or why he was in such a plane of existence, but they instructed him to follow this path. He thought it meant Dax would win by some miracle, but there was no miracle and Dax was only experiencing suffering. 'Just one hit… and he'll be down!' Asher's mind rang as he saw Klaus steadily advance to Dax. Once Dax was down, Klaus would emerge victorious and seize the throne. Asher didn't want to doubt the leading of what appeared to be fate, but he was already getting disturbed by the current situation. Still, he could feel his inner wolf not bothered. In fact, his self within began to feel very excited for some reason. >THUMP< >THUMP< >THUMP< His heart beat faster. He was excited, as though looking forward to something. This feeling he had, it was very familiar. Asher's face softened, and his tension loosened up. Even though it appeared as though he was about to lose, it didn't feel that way. "This feeling… Roxanne…?" Asher whispered. >SHIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG< Suddenly, a bright white light shimmered everywhere, coupled with sparks of blue light. Amid the light was the figure of a woman, one a lot of people recognized. Rita's eyes bulged, Same with Melissa, Linda, Damien, Dax, Larry… and Asher! The figure emerging from the light… was Roxanne. "You should stop this pointless conflict… I am here now." Roxanne declared.