The door suddenly whipped open and everyone jumped, a small squeak leaving Danny’s mouth until our eyes landed on a battered Whitney. Her nose was bleeding, she had small bruising scattered all over her, and deep tears ripped her bloodstained clothes nearly to shreds. It was a miracle that they stayed on.
Blaine growled loudly and was by her side in an instant, holding her in his arms where she squeezed onto him and cried.
Who the fuck did this to you ? He snarled, caressing her bruised cheek and inhaling her scent deeply, they’re fucking dead, baby, I’ll kill them. I’ll fucking kill them.
I’ve never seen him so angry…
Carly ! She wept, I’ve never seen her so enraged ! She shifted and attacked me because I wouldn’t tell her where Angelica was ! She just wouldn’t stop ! You need to watch her closely until Alpha Axel gets back. I don’t know where she got all that strength from, she sobbed, burying her face into his chest.
Another snarl filled the room and in walked a familiar wolf, snarling viciously and a white foam coated its bloodied lips. Gabbie stood in front of me protectively and Blaine moved Whitney behind him, glaring daggers.
If you want her, you’ll have to go through us, Gabbie stated firmly and the wolf snapped its head to look at her, her pupils constricting when they landed on me and she snapped her jaws.
Blaine handed Whitney off to Danny and they came over to us, peeling me away from Gabbie and slowly leading us out the door in the back of the room.
She’s challenging your power, Whitney sniffled, groaning in pain with each step, but Danny draped her arm around his neck to help her, I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop her. I know Gabbie and Blaine can, she grunted, pausing, they’re just below Axel when it comes to power. She can’t beat them, nobody but another Alpha can, she heaved, taking a seat against the side of the house with a loud groan.
I took a seat next to her and grabbed her hand, rubbing soothing designs over her skin with my thumb in hopes it’ll soothe her the way it does for me.
If someone challenges someone else’s power, it’s a fight to the death between those two, and whoever wins takes the position, Danny explained, however, there are loopholes. If the challenger can’t beat someone of equal power, they can’t fight the person they challenged by werewolf law. Unfortunately, the challenged one can only be fought for once and it has to be by a person or people with equal power, and if the challenger still wins, it is required for you to fight them.
What do you mean ? I frowned, totally lost hearing his explanation.
Gabbie and Blaine combined have just as much power as you. This whole situation is based on status. You’re equal to an Alpha, and those two fighting together equal Alpha status so they can fight for you. If they lose, you will be forced to fight her to the death. To simplify things, only people with the power of an Alpha or Luna can fight for you, whether it’s actual or if it’s lower statuses grouping together. No more and no less.
I went to reply, except a white wolf with black paws that resembled socks was thrown out the doorway and slammed into a tree, yelping loudly and interrupting our conversation.
No ! Danny panicked and jumped up, but Whitney snatched his arm and growled weakly.
You can’t intervene, she grunted, yanking him back and he fell on his butt next to her, if you join, you’ll exceed the power limit and she’ll have to fight. You forget, Gabbie is an Alpha’s sister. She can handle Carly, she always has, and with Blaine fighting next to her she will be fine. Carly’s just an average, remember that !
He calmed a bit and nodded reluctantly, glancing over at his mate who was now standing beside Blaine’s slightly larger wolf. They were snarling at the wolf I assume to be Carly. She is gray with black undertones and decently smaller than the other two.
They’ll be okay, she whispered, squeezing my hand as I watched the three wolves circle each other.
If Gabbie is Axel’s sister, why does she need help ? Isn’t she considered Alpha status ? I frowned, turning my attention onto the two werewolves next to me.
Close, but as female she is considered lesser. The werewolf council is fucking sexist and very strict about the Alpha ranking. No female has ever led a pack alone because of those cocksuckers, Danny scoffed and Whitney nodded, that’s when I noticed she wasn’t bruised or cut up anymore, the only reminder of what happened were the holes in her clothes and the dried blood.
I looked back at the three wolves and watched Gabbie charge at the same time as Blaine. Both wolves landed on her and she yelped, the three of them rolling around biting, clawing, and snarling.
I was baffled as to how Blaine and Gabbie knew exactly where to land their attacks due to how fast they were moving and their consistent position switching. I was waiting for one of them to accidentally bite into each other trying to get to her.
Carly managed to bite into Gabbie’s neck and slam her into the grass, making Blaine jump away and snarl at her. Gabbie was still, not risking any movement being in such a vulnerable position and I grimaced.
That’s impossible, Whitney choked. Danny jumped up and shifted mid-run, growling viciously but skidding to a halt after Carly made his mate yelp by applying more force onto her neck.
She’s winning, I whispered, feeling Whitney tighten her hand around mine, except an idea hit me and I yanked free.
Screw the werewolf law.
I don’t want to die.
I’ll follow the law of survival.
Whitney gasped behind me the second I took off running.
Angel ! Don’t run ! She’ll catch you !
Ignoring her, I pushed myself to run as fast as I could up to my last hope, entering the building I’ve quickly grown used to.
I ran down the once eerie hall and reached his cell, scrambling around the area for something to break the lock built inside.
What are you doing ?
I ignored him as well, finding a sharp blade-like object made out of one of the metal cell bars from a few doors down.
I might regret this.
I’m sorry, Axel.
Running back to his cell, I raised the weapon and jammed it into the lock repeatedly. After many attempts, the lock clicked, however, the tip of the metal broke off inside and the door wouldn’t budge.
What the hell is wrong with you ? I told you, it’s not opening ! I thought we were past this ! He snapped, yet I couldn’t see him in the darkness of the cell and threw the metal down in frustration.
She challenged me, I whimpered, turning without another word to find another out to this situation.
I know running will only get me so far, but I have to.
It’s how I lived.
I ran out of the building and slammed the door closed, frantically scanning the area for the angry wolf with tears of fear in my eyes.
What did I do to anger her ?
I just don’t understand.
A loud snarl filled my ears and I spotted her running toward me from the left, being chased by four others that I knew to be Danny, Gabbie, Blaine, and Whitney.
Her mouth was still covered in an unusual amount of foam and her pupils were smaller, no signs of humanity behind them.
I met her gaze and froze, knowing there’s nowhere else for me to run. She snapped her foam covered jaws, inching closer, and just as I expected to meet my end, a huge wolf stepped between us, snarling back at her with raised hackles.
The wolf kept a firm stance in front of me, its low swaying tail grazing my legs with its soft fur before they pounced at each other. That’s when I remembered where I knew that fur.
Calix !