KIARA’S POV:
The next thing I knew, hands had already grabbed me by both feet and…I was falling…!
I reacted fast, shifting and landing on my elbows against the ground, my free foot quickly ramming into the hand that gripped me. A groan sounded from behind me and as soon as I felt his hold loosen on my ankle, I used the chance to swing my leg up, slamming it into his jaw. A satisfying crack was heard and I quickly crept forward, flatting my palms then pushing myself up. I was seconds away from getting to my feet, but as if the pain didn’t register, he lunged for my ankles once again, this time both hands gripped me, nailing my legs to the ground.
Ah, this fucking shit! How…the fuck is he still moving so effortlessly?!
“Get… off!”
“Now, look at what you’ve done. How do you suppose I punish you?” He rolled his shoulders, the movement increased the flow of blood from his wound yet he did not wince. “I hope you don’t think your stupid mate will save you. By the time he’s even close, I’ll already be using your ass as a hostage. Why did you even bother running out here? Why didn’t you just stay in the shed like a good little newborn pup? Coming out was a big mistake, Kira. I must admit, you messed up that wolf a bit…but you’re nothing. A pure wolf that manifests at a time like this…is nothing, absolutely nothing. You… can never beat me, pup.” His words were condescending and his expression was one of complete mockery as he spoke. By the end of it, my blood boiling.
Livid, I sunk my nails into the ground and twisted my head, glaring at him. His eyes had gone golden and his grin was spread wide, the left side of his face twitching with veins forming at his forehead. Aside from his deranged expression, he looked completely smug, as if his chest wasn’t just pierced right through. Was he faking it? Pain?
No. This man…is definitely wounded. His wolf has risen too, and there could be no other reason for that. Yet he seems to be trying to prance around and pretend as if I had not touched a hair on his head. A coward’s ego should not be this high, should it?
Realizing that only heightened the urge to rip him to shreds and to paint my claws red with his blood. I must kill him. Now.
“I don’t need to hear shit from a coward like you.” I spat, channeling my strength to my legs and vigorously tugging my feet out of his hold. When he didn’t budge and my efforts to have him release me were to no avail, I picked up my elbow off the ground and straightened my arm, pushing my upper body upward.
His grin widened at that and his fingers tightened on my feet, bending them suddenly to a painful degree. I winced, but the pain did not stop me twisting my hip and swinging one hand behind me, hammering my fist into the side of his head. The force I used was enough to have sent a full grown wolf flying, but for some reason, this guy had the strength of an elephant and other than his head snapping to the left, he did not budge.
“That felt like a mere pinch, pup.” His cheek protruded as his tongue slithered around in his mouth, a trail of blood slipping down the side of his lips. “What even was that? Your best shot?” He cackled.
“Now then, it looks like your mate will finish off those wolves in a bit. Time is of the essence, darling. I must put you to sleep.” His fingers creeped across my ankles and up to my calf, claws slowly puncturing my flesh. “You seem both frustrated and surprised. Why? Are you impressed? Or does it hurt your pride that you can’t even land a good hit? Pups like you have no chance against a born Alpha. That’s basic knowledge, Kira.”
“So, you’re a born Alpha? And I am a pup?… I see.” Grinding my teeth, I didn’t think twice before focusing my strength in my arms, feeling the veins rise on the flesh as another wave of adrenaline pumped through my being, along with a sudden surge of heat.
The more he spoke, the more I was itching to kill him!
He visibly flinched the second his gaze drifted down to my arm, eyes widening slightly. It was clear that he was torn between taking the blow head on and evading, which was why I made sure not to give him the chance to do the latter.
My chest tightened and the hair on my arm rose as I released my arm in his direction once again, fist colliding with his face. This time, however… not only did his jaw crack, but the force from the blow sent him crashing to the ground.
My feet slid upward in an instant and I quickly pushed myself up with my hands then creeped forward, fingers running across the forest floor in search of the steel I had tossed not long ago. My hands grasped it just as I heard movement behind me, and I quickly staggered to my feet, swinging the steel across when he lunged and hammering him upside the head. Blood streamed over his eyes from the wound, and he inched back a few steps, glaring over at me as his tongue left his mouth to lick the side of his lips.
I twisted my feet at the ankle until the throbbing pain there lessened and my bones settled back in place. Grinning, I straightened up and stepped off, circling him with one slow step at a time. “You are telling lies, wolf.” I said, imitating the same mocking tone he had used with me, “Setting so many wolves against my mate is what only a coward would do. If you want him dead, challenge him. It’s simple. But you fight an unfair fight. You are no Alpha…that, I know. That is why you must die.”
Nate wiped the blood from his eyes and tightened his fists at his side, visibly seething. “And who will kill me? Kasan? You? Aren’t you getting too hyped over the few hits I let you have?”
“I didn’t hit you, that was only a ‘pinch’…but it doesn’t look like you’re unfazed to me.”
With that, he was basically trembling in spot with rage. “You’re nothing, I told you already!” He hissed, his shoulders slumping and the hair on his skin rising while his eyes got noticeably darker. His whole face then became feral as his features narrowed, and he began to circle me as well, moving like a predator watching it’s prey.
“The moment I shift, you will wish you just went down easily.” The sound of bones cracking followed his words and his dark black fur started to burst across his skin, muscles thickening.
I stepped back on instinct.
He’s shifting! Right here right now…! Does that mean he’s acknowledging that his human form is not enough?
A soft laugh rose up my throat. “Likewise.”
This wolf is quite pathetic but I can tell that he is not a weak opponent. And his eyes…they’ve become clouded with nothing but rage, as such, his attacks will definitely not be cautious like that of the first.
I should be wary, but I am not. Rather, this is…exciting! At least this one…will feel like a real fight.
I slipped my knotted strands behind my shoulders and slowly, I lowered myself, sinking my claws into the ground. A hot, burning sensation ran over my body, my teeth sharpening and my hair lengthening over my skin. My fingers were the first to thicken then crack, but it was then, in the midst of my transformation, that a loud blast suddenly drifted through the air.
A gun?!
Another sounded after the first, then another and another. I watched wide-eyed as Nate’s muscles slackened immediately and he fell to his knees, bullet holes puncturing through his flesh. Blood slipped from between his lips and his body ceased it’s shift, slowly beginning to revert back to human form. He looked just about as surprised as I was when he gripped his bleeding chest, eyes drifting over my shoulder and gazing behind me.
“Y…You bitch…” Was all that left his lips before another shot hit his chest, forcing him to fall to his back against the ground. Barely able to move, he crept one hand above his head and flipped over onto his stomach with a groan. Then, his split lips moved slightly, and despite not making out a single word he said, wolves whooshed forward in an instant, surrounding his battered figure.
“W-What?!” I held my breath, staring at the scene before me in sheer disbelief. In a matter of seconds, my opponent had been rendered useless and the perpetrator carries a gun which definitely uses silver bullets. Anyone with eyes could tell that we were about to fight, yet…to shoot him just like that…! Considering his ego, he will definitely not retreat, but we can’t fight at this rate!
Who…who the hell did it?!