Page 29 of The Wolf’s Secret Baby

Kull

My heart was in my mouth as the dust settled. There was a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach as I stared at the sight before me. Vance stood tall, blood smeared along his jaws, raising his hands triumphantly. My brother was on the ground, a bloody mess, unmoving, with a chunk taken out of his flank, his body marked and torn with scars. Vance limped away from him. He was covered with wounds as well and I was proud of Typhon for dealing so much damage. It was the closest anyone had ever come to defeating Vance for some time, perhaps ever but it hadn’t been close enough. I would have to deal with my grief later. Right now, anger swelled inside me, as fervent as a writhing storm. The rage was so powerful it boiled my blood. This was my brother. Losing him was like losing a part of me.

Vance was the one who had taken him away.

All eyes turned towards me now, the other aberration. I wasn’t about to let them get the better of me. There was no point turning back to Ambrosia even though I wanted to, because these wolves would have hunted me down before I even left the vicinity of the stronghold. Anyway, vengeance gripped my heart and I wanted to make them pay for all they had done to us, and all they had done to Typhon.

“I challenge you, Vance!” I roared, the words echoing into the air. Perhaps I could succeed where Typhon had failed. Vance had been weakened after all. However, Vance spat out a glob of blood and shook his head as he changed back from a wolf to a man. He wagged his finger in the air.

“No, no that’s not going to happen. I already indulged one of your challenges today and that is the result. There is no question that I am the superior wolf, as though it was ever in doubt. You can be angry if you want but I am not going to give you the chance to be lucky. Your brother was fortunate enough to wound me. Take pride in this, because it is the last thing you will ever feel. It’s time for you to join him. I am tired of you tainting this pack with your presence. You have been nothing but trouble since the day you were created. I should have dealt with you a long time ago but I thought you might provide us with some amusement. I was wrong. You have no place in this pack. You have no place in this world. I ordered your creation and now I shall order your destruction as well.”

He signaled to a couple of wolves near me. They rushed to my side and grabbed my arms before I could do anything to react. I tried to wrest myself free from their grip but they had a firm hold of me and it was impossible to release myself. I felt a knee being pressed into my back and I was forced to the ground. A hand wrapped around my throat, making sure that my head was tilted back to look at Vance. He leaned down close. Blood was still trickling down his throat.

“You could have been so much better than this. Instead you have turned your back on me and the pack. You made this happen and now you have to suffer the consequences for it.”

He reared back and got ready to strike the killing blow. I breathed heavily, feeling hopeless. All of my dreams were about to be taken away from me. I had already lost my brother and now I was about to lose Ambrosia as well. I would never be able to have a family. So many things in this world had been denied to me but at least I would have a dignified death. I was not going to shy away from it. I was not going to be a coward.

Vance held out a hand and began to shift again. He was going to slit my throat with his claws and drag my bleeding body to lie beside my brother and the entire pack was going to rejoice at my demise.

“I’m not finished yet, Vance,” the defiant voice came from behind Vance, much to the surprise of everyone, including me. Vance twisted his body, moving aside as he did so, revealing Typhon. My brother was pushing himself back to his feet. I couldn’t believe it. His fatal wound was knitting itself together again before my eyes.

“No… no this is impossible,” Vance muttered.

“I think you gave us more gifts than you realized. I refuse to yield, Vance. You haven’t defeated me yet. My challenge is not over,” Typhon spoke, marching towards Vance. When he finished speaking he turned into a wolf again, his expression fixed in a mean look, every aspect of his being focused on one thing and one thing only, taking on Vance.

I roared with triumph as Typhon lunged towards Vance, this time becoming the aggressor. Vance braced himself but he was still in the process of shifting as Typhon charged. I hoped that this surprise might have allowed me the chance to escape but the grip was still tight on my wrists. I had to watch, cheering on my brother. He had a renewed vigor and drew on previously untapped reserves of strength. The momentum of the fight was with him and he wasn’t about to let Vance reclaim it. His claws were a blur as he swiped through the air. He left deep gashes in Vance’s broad body. Vance was clawing at the ground, trying to find a moment to gather himself but Typhon was unrelenting. Vance’s body was shredded and blood oozed out, forming a puddle in front of him. The other wolves were shocked. I don’t know if they didn’t help their Alpha because they were stunned, or because they respected the process of the duel but either way they were rooted to the spot.

Typhon snarled and growled and released all of his anger. I rooted him on. There was only one thing these wolves understood, and that was pure, unbridled violence. If we were going to give them a message then it had to be one of death. Vance had grown limp. His limbs were unmoving and his eyes were glazed over. There were wolves in the crowd who were shouting for Typhon to stop, especially Hana. I finally managed to wrest myself away and I charged into the arena to address them.

“You want mercy? When did you ever show us mercy? This is the world you want. This is the way you have always wanted to live. Do you only find it bitter to the taste now that your Alpha is suffering? You all made us what we are today and if you are unhappy then it is because you have held us under your heel. All our lives we have been told that we do not belong here, that we are not true wolves. Well, if that’s the case then your Alpha has been undone by something other than a wolf. It’s time to show you that we can be more than you ever thought,” I said, nodding towards Typhon. He clamped his jaw around Vance’s throat and then yanked his head back, tearing Vance’s throat out. A spray of blood shot into the air and Vance was left in a mess. There was no coming back for him.

“It’s over. This whole thing is over. Typhon has won the challenge and now you have a choice, if you want to respect everything you and Vance have ever stood for. You can accept him as your new Alpha and follow our orders, or you can allow us to leave without any hostile action and you will forget about all thoughts of war.”

As I was speaking, Hana rushed towards Vance and cradled his body, weeping fretfully. She called us monsters and I could tell that some of the other wolves felt the same. However, in others there was begrudging respect, such as with Siv. He wore a sullen look on his face as he approached us.

“I think it’s best if you leave. You’ve already done enough here,” he said. The pack was in shambles. It would take them a long time to recover from this shattering loss. I took one last, lingering look around before I shifted into a wolf and sprinted away with Typhon. We kept glancing back to ensure that none of them were going to retaliate for the Alpha, but for now it was over. We were free, we were alive, and we could both return to Ambrosia.