White Fire

Chapter Two: The Challenge

Naviira was the daughter of the pack’s Betas. The right hand couple of the Alpha and his bride. She was also the same age as Kasai, Born only a day after. There wasn't anything the two didn't do together or do for each other. Naviira had never betrayed Kasai or broke a promise to her. This time she knew something needed to be done and a secret couldn't be kept but she knew Kasai was right about Kane and Roan. There was only one person she could trust to do the right thing and help Kasai. Naviira ran as fast as she could to a lonely den that sat farthest from the rest on the outer edge of the pack lands. She reached the mouth of the dark and quiet den, nearly slamming into the wall as she turned the corner to enter the den.

“Hajime!” she called out with a shaky voice, “Hajime, Where are you? Kasai needs help!” The broad white male emerged from his hiding place in the back of the den and approached the petite female. “What’s wrong with Kasai, Naviira? What’s happened?” He moves in close to her, His voice deep and filled with concern. Naviira hesitates as she breathes heavily to catch her breath. “Out with it Naviira!” She swallows hard and tears begin to well up as she starts to explain the events of horror she witnessed only moments before in Kasai’s den.

Hajime turns and bashes his heavy balled up paw into the nearby wall, Furious at what he just heard. “I’ll kill him! I’ll rip him to shreds!” Hajime howls loudly. His rage filled voice resonates off the cave walls. He takes one more glance at Naviira and leans in to hug her. Turning and shooting out the opening like lightning shooting through a tree and sets off towards the Alpha’s den. Towards his fury’s target. Naviira races after him with the intention of returning to her injured friend.

At the base of the Athania Mountain, Hajime comes to a halt and begins passing back and forth. Howling as loud as he could, calling out for Kane to come out and face him. Snarling and growling, waiting for the male. Kane exits the Alpha’s den with Roan right behind him. Roan’s booming voice echoes as he calls down to Hajime. “What could you possibly be doing out here besides disturbing the peace with your obnoxious howling, Hajime?” Hajime stops pacing and snarls as he glares up at the two male wolves standing on the ledge that jets out from the mouth of the Alpha’s den. “I am here on behalf of someone I love to challenge that piece of dirt you call your soon to be son in law!” Roan glances to the side at Kane and then chuckles deeply at the notion. “You wish to challenge Kane, For what reason exactly?” Hajime scuffs and then returns with his response. “......To release Kasai from Kane’s claim so that she may be with who she chooses…. Instead of being abused!” Roan turns once more to glance at Kane, then turns back to Hajime. He nods to Hajime and motions to him with approval.

Kane lumbers down the rock pathway towards the clearing where the entire pack has gathered in hearing the commotion going on outside the Alpha’s den. Hajime makes his way to the clearing, preparing for his fight with Kane. Naviira joins her mother and father with her front legs wrapped around a beaten and broken hearted Kasai in a helping embrace. Up on the ledge at the opening to the Alpha’s den, Roan turns carelessly away and returns to the solitude of his den. The two immense males enter into the ring formed by the pack members. They begin to snarl and growl at each other. Hajime crouches low to the ground, locking his bright golden eyes on his opponent. His thick silky snow white pelt raises like a mohawk from the top of his neck down to the end of his spine. Kane and Hajime both dig their hind legs into the ground and with incredible power, force and speed, lunge at each other. The two males butt heads in an epic clash of brute force. Colliding in the middle, the two males stumble backwards on their hinds. As they regain their balance, they quickly dash back towards each other with bared fangs and extended claws. They begin to wrestle each other, trying to throw the other to the ground. Kane pulls back and slashes with his claw, connecting against the side of Hajime’s head. Hajime retaliates by quickly lunging back in with the attempt to bite down hard onto Kane’s neck, landing the hit, Hajime begins to sink his fangs deep into Kane and promptly tears away a chunk of flesh. Kane jumps back and lands on his back with Hajime quickly closing the gap between them, landing on top of Kane to go for his throat. Instinctively, Kane jerks his neck away just in time while bringing his hind legs up to Hajime’s chest and kicks Hajime over his head throwing him to the ground. Hajime quickly regains his composure before lands on all four, sliding to a stop and shaking the dust from his fur. He then charges back towards Kane. Hajime raises his claw, striking Kane swiftly in the face and tears deep into his flesh, making Kane stumble backwards from the strike.

As Kane hesitantly turns to retaliate, Hajime bites down on Kane’s ribs. Twisting his head violently to cause more damage, a loud cracking sound can be heard coming from Kane’s body as he was furiously tossed to the ground. As Kane struggled to his feet under him, battered and bruised, he let out a soft yet pain filled whimper as he glared and snarled at Hajime. Hajime returns the glare, looking deep into Kane’s eyes and watches as the wolf limps forward to continue the fight. “Hmph… Leave now and I’ll spare your life, which is more than you deserve after the way you treated your supposed intended. Otherwise forfeit your life here and now.” Hajime pauses for a moment and awaits a response from Kane. Kane breathing heavily as he seems to struggle to stay on his feet doesn't reply to Hajime’s words as he stares him down. Only taking a few seconds to think about his words before his gaze trails away from Hajime, glancing around the crown that bore witness to his humiliating defeat. Quickly shaking his head and without a second doubting thought, Kane recklessly charges in at Hajime with another attack, An uncontrollable blood lust drooling from his gaping mouth with bared fangs as he lunges forward. Hajime instinctively dodges to the side avoiding Kane’s attack, Only to get swiftly blindsided with a flailing head bash to his right side as he landed. Kane growls and snarls with rage as he yells out “She’s mine Hajime! I’ll be damned if I let you take her from me! She’s mine to do with as I see fit!” Roan, lifting his head from the comforts of his den overhearing the loud commotion outside, begins to feel complexed from what he just heard.

As the fight starts to reach its conclusion, Hajime rebuttals “She's not your plaything Kane! She's not your toy! She's her own being with her own wants and desires! The kind of things that shouldn't be overlooked just because you or anyone else thinks it's what's best for her!” Hajime snaps back with his fang in a counter attack, biting at Kane’s face. The two wolves begin to attempt to lock each other's face in a deathly grip lock, just narrowly missing the other by mere inches before Hajime smacks Kane away with his massive paw, pushing him away. Kane, getting even more distraught and angry, clenches his fangs tight before running and jumping into the air to close in on Hajime in an attempt to tear into his face. In that exact moment, Time seemingly slowed down for Hajime as he looked up at Kane about to crash down into him, a full rush of thoughts and emotions began to fill Hajime from everything leading up to this very moment. The mistreatment of Kasai, the Ignorance of her father, It all gave him a purpose for what was to come next. As time slowly began to shift back to its normal flow, Hajime saw an opening and didn't hesitate to take it. Crouching down low before pushing off the ground with all he had, jumping up with his jaws wide open, he lunges in and connects his fangs with Kane’s throat, Instantly clamping down hard. Hajime bites down with enough force to crush Kane’s windpipe, bringing Kane crashing down hard to the ground with a loud blood curdling, gushing sound that would almost echo throughout the area as Hajime twists his head with his jaws still tightly clamped down on Kane’s throat to completely sever his airway, ending the wolf’s life.

A silence washes over the pack lands as Hajime unfixes his fangs from the deceased Kane’s neck. Breathing heavily as he spits out the blood trickling from his muzzle, Hajime stands over Kane’s lifeless body “Just remember…. I gave you an out.”

As the crowd disperses, Naviira assists Kasai to her den with Hajime following a few feet behind. They enter the den and help each other bring Kasai to her bedding, laying her down gently. Hajime takes a careful hold of Kasai as Naviira rushes to get her some cool water to drink and to clean her wounds. Hajime holds Kasai close to him as Naviira cleans her up. When Naviira finishes with Kasai and assures that she is comfortable and resting, Naviira turns her attention to Hajime’s wounds. As she starts to clean his wounds for him while he still holds Kasai close, looking down caringly at her, Naviira whispers to him. “Haj, She and I have known you our entire lives. Out of all the things we’ve been through, this by far was the biggest and the most meaningful thing you could have ever done in her eyes.” He nods at her words without taking his eyes off of the female sleeping with her head resting against his chest. “What you did out there means more to her than you could ever imagine Haj. I hope you know that.”

At the entrance of Kasai’s den, a figure emerges from around the corner, moving cautiously inside. Naviira and Hajime look up to see who it is, guarding Kasai. Roan enters the den with a shamed look on his face. As he looks past Naviira, seeing Kasai sleeping in Hajime’s lap, battered and bruised, he feels instant regret and emotional pain tearing at his heart. “Hajime, May I speak with you in private?” Hajime nods in agreement and looks to Naviira with the look of approval for her to go ahead and step out “I’ve got her now Naviira, you can step out and I will holler if I need your assistance.” She smiles and leans down to nuzzle Kasai gently so as not to wake her before turning and stepping out and returning to the den of her mother and father. After she leaves, Roan steps closer and sits down in front of Hajime and his daughter, feeling every ounce of remorse and regret for how things went with her. He reaches out to run his paw carefully over the top of Kasai’s head between her ears. “Hajime, I would like to extend my deepest apologies for how I treated you and my daughter. I had no idea Kane was hurting her like this.” He pauses for a moment to fight back the tears. “I would like to say that I thank you for stepping up and revealing his true nature to the entire pack, as well as myself. If Kasai wishes to take you as her mate and the future Alpha of this pack after I pass on to my next life, I would strongly approve of it.” With that, Roan stands and turns, leaving the den.

About an hour later, Hajime looks down at the sleeping female and smiles as he is filled with the sense of pride, accomplishment and the love for her. While he stares down at her, Kasai begins to wake from her short but helpful rest. She looks up at him and smiles. “You missed a visit from your father, Love” He speaks softly. She shifts slightly as she tries to speak. “What did he want?” He laughs “Not much. He apologized and thanked me. Then gave us his approval.” When he said that she jumped up in excitement to lick his face trying to fight through the pain, wincing as he moves. “Are you serious?” He takes hold of her before she collapses and brings her in close in a warm and loving but careful embrace, nodding his head to her. She lays her head on his chest, burying her face in the tuff of his chest. She begins to cry happy tears at the news she longed to hear for so long.

A few weeks later…..

Kasai and Hajime exit the den together, side by side, as the sun rises over the tree line into the morning sky. Hajime takes a deep breath, inhaling the fresh crisp morning air. Kasai giggles, nudging her shoulder into him playfully. “Are you ready?” She stretches as she inquires. He nods with a big, proud smile streaking across his face, almost showing his teeth. Kasai takes off down the path leading from the den and heads towards the Shadow Woods. Hajime howls loudly and he pushes off the ground with his enormous hind paws and darts after her. The two wolves race each other to the trees, Kasai playfully bounding with excitement. They were attempting to hunt for the first time after a long period of healing from the past events. Kasai and Hajime crash through the brush entering into the deep, dark forest. The warm sunlight trickled through the trees in random breaks in the branches, illuminating various parts of their surroundings like glitter. A gust of wind blows, flowing through the trees and rustles the thick leafy coverage overhead. As they go deeper into the wooded area, Hajime catches the scent of a buck nearby. Signaling to Kasai with a nod of his head, The two wolves crouch low to the ground using the surroundings to keep hidden. Undetected, the two get within mere meters of the intended prey, using the cover of the brush and low trees, wearing it like a cloak of invisibility. Hajime and Kasai inch closer and closer to the male deer.

Hajime was an expert in stealth, a keen hunter, and this very large, healthy buck was no match for him. The team stay hidden, carefully moving forward towards their prey, waiting to attack until they are within the striking zone, a perfect place to pounce. Positioning themselves so not to blow their cover, they steady themselves in a low to the ground stance. In a quiet stalk of the prey, Hajime winks with a sly grin streaking across his face. Kasai smiles and shakes her head. The buck continues to graze unaware of the two massive wolves prowling nearby. Hajime crouches lower to the ground with his eyes locked on the prey. With a short, instant burst of agility and speed, Hajime launches from the camouflaged veil of shrubbery and dives towards the deer. Narrowly evading the attack, the deer startles and turns to race to escape, Kasai charges from her hiding place and dashes to cut off the deers exit. Kasai lurches and snaps at the deer’s front legs as it attempts to run past. Hajime sprints up behind the deer as it shifts sharply to maneuver away from the danger of the wolves teeth. Kasai meets with Hajime in a joint chase of their prey. They race closer, closing in on the prey, Kasai continues to strike at the hind legs as Hajime prepares for his moment of attack. In a second attempt at taking down this large prey, Hajime surges forward and seizes the stag by the back of the neck. As his large paws hit the ground, he digs his claws into the turf and brakes, snatching the deer backwards causing the deer’s hooves to jolt off the ground bringing the stag violently to the grassy soil.

In the dense and complex world of the Shadow Woods that heavily skirt around the Athania Mountain chain, the screech of the buck can be heard echoing as it’s life fades. Kasai smiles at Hajime as he finishes off the deer's life by piercing the flesh of the prey's neck and crushing it within his teeth. Hajime drops the fresh carcass and smiles back, leaning over the body towards his hunting partner and mate, licking the deer blood from her muzzle.