Legend of the Shadow Wolf

Chapter Twelve

Layla

I wake up early the next morning, fully energized and ready for today’s events. Competition day, the day I have been waiting for since I was 10 when Alpha Ransley first told me about it. I overheard him talking to a few people that were competing that year and I asked him about it. Since then, I’ve been training hard every day so that I could be strong enough to compete and win. I get up and take a quick shower, throwing on a pair of black leggings and a black sports bra then throwing on my favorite muscle tank. If you haven’t noticed by now, muscle tanks are my thing, why should only men wear them? I put my worn out converse in, throw my hair up into a quick ponytail then head out to the warm up area.

I do my warm ups and light training before I catch Ember walking up to me out of the corner of my eye. “Hey girl, how long have you been out here?” She asks, handing me a water bottle and a granola bar. “About 5am, couldn’t sleep anymore so I thought I’d get out here before anyone else showed up.” I shrugged, taking a drink of the water and took a couple bites of the granola bar. “Oof girl, I could not. Haha I love my sleep, I’m lucky to even be alive right now. I’d still be in bed if it were up to me.” She says laughing. “Well technically you could, but quitters never prosper. Come on, you can come warm up with me.” I laughed and set the water bottle and rest of my granola bar on the floor as we started with some stretches and warm ups.

We did the warm ups for another half hour before some people started trickling in. Of course, Garret is one of the first to come in and makes his way over to where Ember and I were sitting. He glared at me then smirks, making me roll my eyes. “Ready to have your a** handed to you today, mutt?” He asks, trying to taunt me. I stand up feeling annoyed but I keep an emotionless face as I smirk back at him. “Oh I’m always ready for anything and I cannot wait to stomp that pretty little face of your into the ground. Question is, are you ready for the beat down of a life time, pretty boy?”

He takes a step towards me, anger, lust and unrequited determination dance in his hazel eyes as he takes my body with his gaze. “Bring it on, mutt. Just remember, when I win, that pretty little ass of yours is mine,” he says with a growl. “Mm not sure if you’d be able to satisfy me with such a tiny d**k. Too much brain and not enough brain to get that blood flowin’ down there.” I taunted, bumping his shoulder hard as I walked past him making him snarl and lose some balance. Ember follows close behind me, laughing.

“Sh*t girl, you may be short but you are feisty as f**k! No one stands up to Garret and walks away. He is so pissed but his dumb a** deserved it. Damn, I wish I caught that on video,” she says, still dying of laughter. “I don’t bow down to ignorant a**holes like him, he deserves a good punch in the throat,” I replied back, shaking my head. “Come on, it’ll be starting soon so let’s get to the arena,” she says, pulling my arm and dragging me with her.

We all gather at the arena as people from all over the kingdom started taking their seats to watch. As soon as I entered the lower part where the competitors wait, the wind blew softly and I caught that intoxicating smell again. I looked around nonchalantly to find the source but there was nothing to indicate what it was and where it was coming from.

Do you smell that? Kali asks, pacing around in my head.

Yeah, it’s the same scent from the night of the ball. What could it be? I asked her curiously.

I might have an idea but I’m not completely sure she responds back.

What do you think it might be? I ask, curious to what her theory could be.

It could be our mate’s scent but I’m not for certain, I don’t feel the pull to anyone here she responds back meekly, confused and uncertain.

Ok well, let’s put a pin in it for now until after the competition. When it’s over, we can investigate further and figure it out later.

I can feel her nod in agreement but I know she wants to find out if she’s right. Our wolves are different from their human counterparts, the main thing they want is to find their mates, their other have, the one destined to us by the moon goddess and I know it hurts her not to go look for him. I make a silent promise that after this, we will do more to look until we’ve found him and hope he will accept us. We know we are worthy of acceptance, we are an alpha’s daughter but people now a days have no issues with rejecting the one made just for them.

Many people either don’t want to wait for their mates and choose their own or give up hope of finding one and take a chosen mate instead so rejection is very common although the use to not be. I push the thought aside and focus on lining up with the rest and await for the king’s speech. He sits in the royal spectators balcony that sits above everyone with the Queen and another person that has their back turned around so we can’t see their face. “Thank you all, for joining us today to witness the newest batch of competitors. We are all excited and anxious to see your skills and find out who has what it takes to make it to the top. You all know what is at stake so I expect you all to do your best.” The king bellows out for all to hear.

“The first round is fighting in your human form only. You will be split between male and female that will be split into 12 groups. The winner of the first match will continue to fight the rest of their group, they will either win or submit till only one is left standing. At the end, only 24 of you will move on to the second round.” He instructs before separating us into our groups and starts the first round. We were all mixed up so there were lycans mixed with each group on both sides. Each competitor steps forward and gets into position, the horn sounding the start of the first match.

I silently observe each fighter, watching their moves carefully and calculating each hit, kick and grab carefully as I wait for my turn. I look around a little and see Taylor on one side of me and Scarlett on the other along with ember in the next group. Once it’s my turn, I step into the fighting square and meet my opponent. She’s a little taller than I am and looks to be almost mostly muscle. You know what they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall but luckily I have my speed and strength from constant training to help even my odds. I take my position and get ready for the horn, clearing my mind and watching her carefully.

You ready for this Kali? I asked.

Hunny, I was born ready she replied back, determined and confident.

The horn sounded and I instantly got into defense mode as the other girl ran towards me. I quickly dodged left as she swung her arm to hit me on my right, landing a blow of my own on her right side. She swings her leg out for a kick to my face and I ducked down, aiming a blow straight to her abdomen and causing her to go off balance. I continue to dodge her hits and kicks while also landing a couple of my own, making sure to tire her out as much as possible before I strike. Seeing my opening as she stops for a second too long, I use extra speed to run straight towards her and land a blow straight into her abdomen, hearing a loud crack as she flies backwards a few feet away from our station. I looked at my hands, not knowing where that extra strength came from and worry crept into my mind.

The horn sounds for the end of round one, I race towards my opponent to check on her. Guilt finds its way into my heart as I check her breathing and pulse, letting out a breath of relief I didn’t realize I was holding when she took deep, ragged breaths. “s**t, I am so sorry! I don’t know what happened but we will get you taken care of. This is going to hurt but I’ll try to be as gentle as possible.” I said to her frantically as I picked her unconscious body up as gently as I could and carried her over to the first aid area. This girl is a bit bigger than me height wise and weight wise but I carried her like she weighed nothing.

I’m ruthless when it comes to enemies but not when it comes to friendly competition. I set her down on one of the beds and told the doctor about the crack and possible broken rib. “She will be just fine, but I will let you know how she is doing after if you would like?” He said to me with a kind smile. “Yes please, thank you doctor. I don’t even know her name,” I said somberly, feeling bad for what I did. I took off back to the group and waited for the results. The king stood up and congratulated us all on our efforts and named off the winners of this round. Women were announced first, amongst the 12, I was happy to hear that both Ember and Scarlett made it along with myself and several others I didn’t know. Then the 12 men including Taylor were names off and of course, no surprise when Garrets name was announced as the winners as well.

Next round was stamina, both groups were to run from one end of the arena to the other. First 6 of each group gets to move on to the last round. Women were first to start, we all lined up at the back end of the field facing the royalty box. We got into positions and as soon as the horn sounded, we were off. Running was always effortless for me but after my injury and pushing myself so hard, it was basically a breeze. I was the first to reach the end with Ember hot on my trail and scarlett two girls behind. Accepting a bottle of water from the drinks table, the wind blew and that scent was back only it was stronger this time. Kali was pacing frantically in my head, whimpering slightly.

Mate is close, I knew I was right she yips excitedly.

Are you sure? It’s not just someone’s perfume of cologne? I asked her nervously. We are so close, I can’t afford to get distracted now.

Yes! I want to go find him! She exclaims.

I know but I promise you, after this last round, we will look for him. Can you hold out for one last round Kali? I ask her, feeling bad for asking her to wait.

Only if you promise that we will look right after.

I promise Kali, right after.

She nods in agreement and we go and line up with the rest as the men finish with their race, standing next to Scar and Ember. Now that there are twelve of us left standing, we get ready for the last round: stealth and tracking. This is the round I have been preparing extra for since I was young, this is the round that matters most in becoming an elite assassin. We gather around the end of the arena that connects to the forest line and wait for the king’s instruction.

“Congratulations to the 12 of you that have made it to the final round. There are six flags hidden in the forest behind you, meaning only 6 of you will come out winners. They each have a unique scent and they are hidden uniquely so. You must each track down one of these flags and bring them to the center of the field. Remember, there will be no foul play, no cheating and anyone caught doing so will be disqualified and punished. Take your positions and good luck to all of you!” He says with a booming voice as the horn sounds for the last time.

We take off into the trees, Kali and i veering off to the right and take to the tree tops. Doing exactly as we practice, jumping quietly from branch to branch, jumping down to the lower branches to smell around for anything signifying a flag. We must’ve gone a little deep into the woods since there were no other sounds of the others around us and it’s not as bright. Seeing something red poking out from under a rock, I jumped down to the forest floor for a moment, grabbing it and noticed it was a flag before hearing the slightest of whispers, causing Kali’s ears to perk up.

Ccccooooommmmeee…

Do you hear that? I asked Kali.

Yes and I have a bad feeling she replies, on guard and nervous. We should turn around and head back, Layla.

Agreed.

I go to turn around and head back when a shadow of some sorts zips out of the trees, wrapping itself around me. I gasp as I feel pain on my arm and look down to see tinges of red mixed with black smoke like substance that’s wrapped around it. Just as I reach to try to pry it off, I feel more pain as more of the same shadowy tendrils wrap and slice more parts of my body, making me cry out and fall to my knees. Soon, my body is writing in pain and my vision becomes blurred, everything around me gets dark, but I’m still conscious.

Accept your destiny, little one.

That voice, I’ve heard it before, when I was unconscious on my birthday. The shadow like wolf with glowing red eyes appeared in front of me, inches away from my face. It’s eyes peering deep into my soul as it spoke inside my head.

Accept me or not, child, this is your destiny. For we are one.. your soul.. will be mine.

The wolf bared it’s teeth and jumped right at me, flinging my body backwards as it merged with my soul, ripping a new kind of pain through my body. I stood up, feeling foreign in my own body as I began to walk back towards the direction I came. Seeing everything through a new pair of eyes, feeling the wind pick up drastically, the forest getting darker with every step I took. The tendrils of shadowy smoke never leaving my body as more gathered around me. I’m trapped inside my own mind, not understanding anything as if someone else has control.

I can now hear the sounds of people through the crushing sound of the wind, whipping my hair around vigorously. My body starts to feel like there electricity coursing through my veins, the shadows begin to weave in and out of the trees surrounding me. I put my hands out at my waist, palms facing outwards, grasping the dark tendrils and whip them around the trees, breaking them in half, making a path of dark destruction as I walk by. Yells and screams can be heard along with the crushing of tree trucks and trees falling can be heard all around me as the wind picks up.

Finally reaching the forest line, dark clouds gathered in the sky as everyone runs away, gathering towards the other end of the arena. A few people run towards the forest entrance but staying a few feet away, fearing what’s going on. Thunder can be heard as dark wisps of the same smokey tendrils wrapped around my body emerges from the tree tops and envelops me completely, forming a whirlwind. A tall man with a semi large build of what looks like pure muscle, jet black hair and piercing ocean blue eyes, emerges from the crowd. He takes a few steps towards me but stops as a tendril whips out and wraps around his arm in warning. Seeing blood seep through his sleeve causes me to emerge from deep within my mind, pain coursing through me.

No, no let him go! I plead to the strange being that’s inhabiting my body.

Submit child, this is your destiny the voice says again as a few more tendrils race out and wraps around his other arm and around his throat as he takes another step forward.

NOOOO! I will not submit! You cannot control me! I scream out as I fight for control back. Immense pain courses through my entire body as I will the tendrils to release the man in front of me. A scream rips through me as the shadows let him go and rushes back into my body with such force,no feel like I’m getting split into a million pieces. I fall to my knees and make eye contact with the stranger in front of me. “Mate,” a whisper leaves my lips before falling face first into the ground, losing consciousness.