Breaking Chains

Round One

Once I had shifted, The Duke started to circle me looking for any weakness that he could use to his advantage. " You are never going to beat me you little orphan bitch." I growled in response never taking my eyes off him. I was not about to let him get the jump on me. I had seen him fight many times over the years that I was held captive by him and his pack. This would be a fight he would never forget if I let him live after it was all over. We circled for another few minutes, neither of us was going to give the other an opening for a good clean hit. But unfortunately for him I knew his weaknesses. He has a limp on his left side from a challenge he had fought two years prior to this fight. The challenger had taken a stab at his leg with a silver blade and he never fully healed from it. I watch him carefully analyzing every step waiting for my chance to take out his left leg. He made the first move, going for my right hind leg. I quickly jumped over his back and took the oportunity to yank his back leg with my teeth. I gained sure footing while he ended up getting the wind knocked out of him when his chest hit the ground. I released his leg allowing him to catch his breath. When he tried to stand up again his left hind leg couldn't bare any weight on it. I had him and I knew it. I didn't waste any time as my uncle instructed me. I charged in again this time going for his shoulder. The Duke wanted to dodge out of the way but couldn't due to his reinjured leg. The pain made him a few seconds too slow. I managed to get his shoulder in my jaws and once I had him, I lifted him off the ground and over my head and back to fly into the fence behind me. His body landed with a solid thud. The Duke growled at me in disgust and bared his teeth in warning, but everyone knew the fight would be over soon. Everyone was expecting me to take his life. That is the way when you are a wolf. You do not leave your enemies alive to come back and make your life a living hell all over again and The Duke would certainly make my life a living hell if he could if he survived this battle. I was not going to lose and I was not going to go on living looking over my shoulder or waking up in the middle of the night in tears from memories of him and his awful pack. Today would be the last day this man would ever torment me again. I growled at him to stay down. I didn't want to kill him. I have never killed anyone or anything and did not intend to start today. The Duke stood as best he could still not willing to back down. Even with his own blood running down his leg and upper body from where I had bitten into his shoulder, he would not back down. I readied myself for another attempt at an attack but was surprised to see that instead of attacking he was bowing.

I stayed in my wolf form waiting for him to show some sign of treachery but all I saw was a broken wolf bowing before a former slave. I shifted and in the most threatening tone I could muster said," If I so much as catch the scent of you again on our lands I WILL kill you. Now shift and begone as soon as you have been to the infirmary." The Duke shifted and with a nasty glare in his eyes and obeyed my command. I watched him go and a sense of both pride and dread filled me. I had faced down the monster from my nightmares and yet something told me he would be back and that I would be forced to kill him when he did. As he past me in a hushed tone he said, " I will be back and when I come back I will have you begging at my feet like the pathetic b***h you are. Everything you see here will be mine. You will be lucky to be a slave again if you survive." " I don't think so, you see my cousin and I are the new Alpha's of this pack and we will do everything in our power to make sure you never make anyone a slave again. You are lucky that I didn't take the oportunity I had to kill you when I had your life in my hands. I chose to be merciful, cross me again and you will not be so fortunate. If I have to take your cruel and bloodthirsty pack apart member by memeber only sparing the children and raising them in our pack I will protect the ones I love. I will protect my home and my family. I am not weak or powerless anymore. The ass kicking you just got is nothing compared to what I had been picturing doing to you for what you have done." He looked me in the eyes and was disturbed by what he saw there. He was confident and snide before he looked into my eyes. Now all I see in his eyes is fear. I had never seen fear in his eyes before and there was a small part of me that enjoyed it. Once wew ere sure he was out of our territory I would need to have a conversation with my family about preparations for the time when the Duke would be back. Aaron came to stand at my side and gave me a small one armed hug. " He isn't going to stay gone. You know that don't you?", I asked with a tremble to my voice. " I know he will. When the time comes we will be ready. I watched you two fight. You know his weaknesses and that will be a great advantage. We will start training tomorrow." " Thank you Aaron. I want to talk to Uncle Matthew and Aunt Lana before we start making too many preparations. I would also like to see the rest of the town and the emergency shelters that we have and see what kind of condition they are in. If we need to make repairs I want to get them done as soon as possible." " Yes Alpha!", Aaron said half teasingly. He took off to find his father and mother to catch them up on what we had discussed. I looked around at the pack members that were still gathered and what I saw was admiration and hope. They all looked at me in a way that said, We trust you to keep us safe and we believe in you. I had never been looked at like that in my life. All I could do was smile and tell them that everything was going to be fine. As the group dispersed back to their homes or to the pack house I found myself wondering if my mother and father would be proud of me today. I know they would be. So am I. Aya reasured. With my confidence back up I made my way to the pack house to go see what we were having for dinner.