The Love Triangle

The Beta

     I leave Alpha’s office while he does some last-minute stuff. All of the wolves look at me. I get so embarrassed walking out of his office. Eventually, they look elsewhere. I hear whispers as they look away and talk to each other. I fear what they are talking about. Please tell me that I am not going to become the victim of rumors. Soon, Alpha emerges. He takes my breath away again. I know I just saw him minutes ago, but the moonlight makes him look even more fantastic. He looks like he could be my knight with shining abs. It’s unimaginable that the Goddess could make such a beautiful wolf.

     He lifts his arms. The wolves all look at him. “Good evening! Tonight, our newest wolf, Samuel, will be facing his final test in the initiation into our pack. Samuel.” He smiles at me. My heart flutters. “Please make your way into the pit.” I nod. I wouldn’t be lying to say that I figured it would be some type of fight. I remove my shirt and jump into the pit. I raise my eyes back to Alpha. “Tonight, you will also be proving your strength. If you win, you will be awarded the title of Gamma in our pack. Your opponent will be Beta Lux.”

     What?!? I am fighting Beta Lux. That must’ve been why Beta was too busy to help Jace. I guess he didn’t like me as much I had hoped he did. Beta jumps into the pit. He looks way too excited for this fight. He looks like he really wants to hurt me. Actually, he looks like he really wants to kill me. This is about to be really intense. “The rules of Brwydro are the same. It is not finished until a wolf faints or gives up. The only other option is for the Alpha to call it off.” Beta howls. I howl back. “Let the Brwydro commence!”

     I turn away from Jace and see Beta already charging at me. His shoulder connects with my chest. My breath escapes my lungs. We both keep pushing each other, but he has more leverage and is pushing me back. I dig my left foot into the earth beneath us to give myself more force. Then, I thrust my right knee into his stomach. I don’t think it phases him at all since he doesn’t make a sound. He punches me in the stomach. I wince from the pain. Trying to find a new strategy, I wrap my arms around his waist and suplex him. The ground cracks beneath us on the impact. “Aah!” he screams and jolts his back up off the ground. I roll to get up, but he punches me in the chest. My heart palpitates and my vision gets blurry; I try to catch my breath as I hyperventilate. My heart erratically beats trying to get back in my rhythm, and I can’t get up or move.

     He stands over me as I lay on the rough, solid ground, unable to move. Once I finally get movement again, I try to crawl away, but he grabs my legs, pulls them over my back, and crushes my neck with a knee. “Unnngh!” He has me in one of the holds

     “Give up!” He yells. I reach for anything, but there is nothing to reach for around me. My vision tunnels as I lose more and more oxygen. Pain engulfs my entire body. I try to break free from his grasp, but he is too strong. “Give up!” he commands. As a final effort, I move all my strength to my legs and kick forward. Lux stumbles face forward into the wall of the pit. A tiny amount of joy comes from the crunch when his face collides with it.

     I get up on my feet as he stumbles back from the wall into me. I pick him up on my shoulders with his back sprawled across them. One arm wraps around his neck and the other wraps around his knees, pulling down. I squat down. He groans as I wring his back, listening to every vertebrate snap and crack from their overextension. Then, I throw Lux into the air. When he connects with the ground, his back convulses and he cries out in pain. I stand, waiting for him to get back up.

     He rises to his feet. “You are gonna pay for that, Samuel.” He runs at me again. At the last second, I slip under him, sticking out my leg to trip him. Lux trips and slides on the ground into the wall.

     “Really? Is that what payment looks like?” I play with him. Lux looks at me with daggers in his eyes. They shift green. Lux is a new level of pissed off as I outsmart him which isn’t too hard.

     He shifts into his wolf and charges at me. I back up as far as I can. I push my arms out to hold him back, but he breaks through and slashes at my chest. Blood drips and gushes from my wounds. He bites onto my arm, snapping the bone. I kick him off of me and slide to the ground. The pain is so strong. I can’t feel my arm. His eyes are now blood red, and his fur is soaked with my blood. I look at him with fear. Lux tried to kill me. Lux shifts back to his human form. He looks proud of himself. I can’t lift my arms or rise to my feet. He inches his face closer to me and whispers in my ear, “Do you give up?” I sneer at Lux. “What will Carson say when he learns just how weak you are.” Carson’s name in my adversary’s throat makes me snarl and grimace. My pain is astonishing, but I rise to my feet. Those words gave me newfound adrenaline. I stagger, trying to stand.

     “Absolutely not.” I proclaim.

      He shifts back into his wolf. ‘Try to catch me.’ He mind-links. Then he jumps out of the pit. I try to move, but I haven’t fully healed, so I stumble forward into the pillar to support me. I feel my body healing, but it isn’t happening fast enough. Jace looks at me. He can see the pain in my eyes, but I know he also sees the determination in them. He looks at me to see if he should stop the fight. I nod my head at him, and he nods back. I like the new language we have with each other.

     Fighting through the pain and healing, I shift into my wolf and chase after him. He has a head start, so I need to run as fast as I can through the woods to catch up to him. I find him sinisterly waiting in the woods for me. I run towards him with all my might, so he takes off and the chase begins. He tries to lose me ducking under fallen trees, jumping over logs, and running through bushes. When I jump at him, I run through a flower bush. The smell from the flowers overtakes my senses. Lux must have purposefully set me up. I whine. The smell is too strong, and I can’t tell what’s happening. I can’t figure out where Lux is. I back up into a tree trunk. My vision is blurred, and I can’t see. I try to listen, but sounds come from all around me from the breeze, the leaves, and more. After it’s too late, Lux jumps out behind me and bites down onto my back hip. My loud whimpers spread through the woods. His teeth pierce through my skin down into my bone. I cry out in pain. He rips and tears at my flesh. Blood spurts from my wound and he clenches his teeth farther into me. I kick my other leg back and hit him in the snout. He whimpers, and I have a few seconds to get away.

     I run as fast as I can in the direction in front of me. I don’t know where I am heading, but I know I need to get away from Lux as fast as I can. If I can heal, I might not have to give up just yet. I hear him behind me. He is catching up to me quickly since my back-left leg is so damaged that I can’t put weight on it. I push myself faster and faster, connecting to my wolf like on my first day of training. The distance between Lux and I is getting shorter and shorter.

     I see the pit in front of me. I can’t jump across it right now and I can’t outrun Lux anymore. I am done for. Lux is going to catch me and it’s quite possible that he is going to kill me. I think back and remember the first night I shifted into a wolf. I remember when I jumped off of the tree. I get an idea.

     I reach the edge of the pit. Lux is mere feet behind me, so the time is now. I jump for the center pillar in the middle of the pit. I push up off of it. Lux follows behind me, heading for the same pillar. I transform back to my human form and crush his neck in mid-air with my hands. I rotate us so I have him held under me. If he wants to try to kill me, I am going to make him pay. I know the rules: “until someone gives up or passes out”. I am going to finish this. We crash into the ground. Dust launches up in the air.

(Jace)

     I can’t believe my eyes. Samuel just transformed in mid-air and just grabbed Lux. I hear a gigantic ‘crunch’ sound when they crash, but I can’t tell what happens. There is a gigantic dust cloud, blocking our vision from the pit. I can’t tell what’s going on. I reach over to look down but see nothing. Did Samuel just kill Lux?!?