Chapter Four: The fight
814 Words
There was one thing Jace Ryder was exceptionally good at.
Tracking.
A vampire could hide.
They could run.
They could blend into crowds.
None of that mattered.
Once Jace caught their scent, it was over.
Sooner or later, he'd find them.
And tonight, he had.
"Bro."
Mason shoved his hands into his pockets as they crouched on the roof of a nearby building.
"This feels wrong."
Jace rolled his eyes.
"You're kidding."
"I'm serious."
"She's a vampire."
"She's also a teenage girl walking to a convenience store."
Jace looked down at the street below.
Elara Vale walked casually beneath the streetlights.
A black jacket.
Jeans.
Sneakers.
No weapons.
No guards.
No reason to suspect she was being hunted.
The perfect opportunity.
"You're becoming soft."
Mason groaned.
"You say that every time."
"Because it's true."
"I'm not soft."
"Then stop whining."
"I'm not whining."
"You literally are."
Mason pointed at him.
"See? This is why nobody likes you."
"Plenty of people like me."
"Girls don't count."
"They absolutely count."
Mason sighed.
"I hate you."
"No you don't."
A few seconds passed.
Then Mason sighed again.
"Fine."
Jace smirked.
"That's what I thought."
Below them, Elara turned down a quieter street.
Perfect.
Jace's eyes flashed silver.
"Let's go."
They jumped.
Landing silently.
Predators.
Hunters.
The scent hit him immediately.
Stronger.
Closer.
His wolf stirred beneath his skin.
Finally.
The hunt.
Jace lunged first.
Fast.
Lethal.
Confident.
The moment his hand shot forward—
Elara disappeared.
"What the—"
Jace stumbled.
His attack hit nothing.
Empty air.
He spun around.
"Where the hell did she go?"
Even wolves couldn't move that fast.
A sudden blur appeared beside him.
Then—
CRACK.
Pain exploded across his face.
A powerful kick slammed into his jaw.
Jace flew sideways and crashed into the pavement.
The world spun.
For a second he simply stared upward.
"What the hell?"
Mason looked equally shocked.
"Did she just—"
"Shut up."
Jace jumped back to his feet.
Anger flooded his body.
His bones shifted instantly.
A growl ripped from his throat.
Dark fur erupted across his skin.
Within seconds, a massive wolf stood where Jace had been.
Mason cursed.
"Oh, we're doing this?"
His transformation followed.
A second wolf landed beside Jace.
Across from them, Elara stared.
Not afraid.
Not surprised.
Annoyed.
That annoyed Jace more than anything.
She should've been terrified.
Instead she looked like they were wasting her time.
The two wolves attacked together.
Elara moved.
Again.
Too fast.
She slipped between them.
A strike.
A dodge.
A counterattack.
Jace barely had time to react before another blow connected.
He hit the ground.
Hard.
Mason charged.
Elara sidestepped.
Mason crashed into a trash bin.
"Ow!"
Jace would've laughed if he wasn't busy getting kicked again.
The fight continued for several brutal minutes.
Neither wolf could land a clean hit.
Elara somehow anticipated everything.
Every attack.
Every movement.
Every strategy.
Finally, another kick sent Jace crashing into Mason.
The two wolves tumbled across the pavement.
The impact forced them back into their human forms.
Jace groaned.
Mason groaned louder.
"I think she broke something."
"You say that every fight."
"Because things keep getting broken."
Elara stood over them.
Not a scratch on her.
Her dark eyes burned with warning.
For the first time all night, she spoke.
"Stay out of my way."
Jace slowly looked up.
The confidence from earlier had vanished.
Replaced by disbelief.
Who was this girl?
Elara's gaze moved between them.
"If you two don't want to get killed..."
She took a step backward.
"...don't follow me again."
Then she was gone.
Not literally.
Just gone.
One second she was standing there.
The next she'd vanished into the darkness.
Silence settled over the street.
Mason looked at Jace.
Jace looked at Mason.
Mason spoke first.
"So."
Jace already hated where this was going.
"You got beat up by a girl."
Jace glared at him.
"A vampire."
"A girl vampire."
"Mason."
"A very small girl vampire."
"Mason."
"She folded us like laundry."
"Mason."
"I don't think I've ever seen somebody get kicked that hard."
Jace stood.
Slowly.
Painfully.
His jaw still hurt.
His pride hurt worse.
"Not a word."
"Oh, I'm telling everybody."
"Mason."
"The entire pack is hearing about this."
Jace started walking.
Mason followed.
Laughing the whole way home.
---
Meanwhile, Elara sat on the edge of her bed.
Her jacket hung over a chair.
The apartment was quiet.
Too quiet.
Her thoughts returned to the fight.
Two wolves.
Young.
Strong.
Reckless.
And unbelievably stupid.
She frowned.
One of their voices sounded familiar.
Very familiar.
Like she'd heard it earlier that day.
At school.
The thought made her pause.
No.
That couldn't be right.
Could it?
Elara stared out the window.
For the first time since arriving in Blackwood...
she wondered whether one of the wolves she came to hunt was already sitting beside her in class.
- Writer
