Owyn growled. He motioned with his muzzle for the Pack to move back, and they gathered in a wide ring around Zev and Kenlan.
The Beta circled, and Zev did the same, studying him. He had seen a few of Kenlan’s challenges before. He was a seasoned fighter. His thin and limber form made him fast. Like the Alpha, he didn’t lose fights, but Zev didn’t care. Kenlan threatened Dyna. He would not leave the glade alive.
They charged into each other in a clash of teeth. Vicious growls reverberated in the glade. Kenlan forced Zev down and aimed for his neck. He dodged but claws slashed through his shoulder. Whining, Zev twisted and swung at Kenlan’s face, tossing him away. Zev rolled back on his feet and pummeled through the Beta’s defense, pinning him in the mud. Kenlan kicked him off and bounded backward, putting space between them.
Zev snarled, crouching as they circled each other again. Pain smoldered from his wounds, hot blood oozing through his fur. Kenlan bared his teeth, exuding smug victory. That arrogance was to Zev’s advantage.
The Beta ran and leaped into the air for him, leaving his underbody exposed. Zev dove up and clamped his jaws on Kenlan’s neck in one swift move, bringing him down. The wolves quieted. Kenlan keened, his paws sloshing through mud, desperate to break free.
It was over.
Zev broke the Beta’s neck, crushing bone and tendon in his teeth. Hot blood seeped through his mouth and poured down his muzzle. The bitter taste of wolf blood churned his stomach, the sour scent stinging his nose. Kenlan’s last breath left him and Zev let go, dropping the body on the ground.
The werewolves howled in mourning, their long wail echoing in the forest. Owyn shuddered and shook out his flank at the loss of another wolf leaving the link of his pack. His fierce yellow eyes trained on Zev. The wolves quieted, shifting on their feet, their tails twitching. He smelled their unease.
They feared him.
He had killed the Beta in minutes and stood taller than the Alpha.
Owyn growled, low and deep. His fur expanded in a display of dominance. Whether intended or not, Zev was a risk to his position, and it couldn’t go unaddressed.
The Alpha amplified his power, but Zev’s own surged forth and shook off his grasp. A surprised rumble passed through the wolves.
“Are you to challenge me next?”
Zev flinched at the sound of Owyn’s harsh voice in his mind. It had been years since another wolf spoke to him through the link.“No. My place is not in Lykos Peak.”
“Other, there is no place for the likes of you.”
The wolves stalked forward, growling and snarling as they surrounded Zev. Clouds crept over the moon, darkening everything around him but the circle of iridescent eyes glowing in the night.
Zev bared his fangs.“I defeated Kenlan. By Pack law, I am pardoned.”
“Our laws don’t protect you anymore,”Owyn said, his sharp teeth glistening.“Nor your cousin. You’ve taken my family from me. I’ll make sure you never see yours again.”
The Pack attacked.
Zev bit, and clawed his way through the raging wolves. His ears filled with their growls and snarls. He tore out the jugular of one wolf and broke the neck of another. He struggled to fight the swarm striking from all directions. Blood sprayed in the air, but he didn’t know if it was his or theirs. He keened at the bite on his hind leg. It was all they needed to overpower him.
They took him down, their teeth tearing into his flesh, ripping him apart piece by piece. He fell to the ground as his blood poured out beneath him. The onslaught stopped and the wolves backed away. Owyn came into his view, superiority edging his unfeeling gaze. He would snap his neck, and that would be the end.
At last, Zev would see his father again and beg for forgiveness.
But wrath-fuelled desperation washed through him. His wolf demanded he get up. He couldn’t fall. Not yet. If they finished him, they would go after Dyna next.
Family. Must protect family.Those were his last thoughts before he sank so far within himself to think of anything else.
* * *
Zev found himself standing nude in the glade, breathing ragged with blood leaking from his many wounds. The Pack was gone. What happened? He had no recollection. No memory would surface from the dark fog of his mind. That only occurred when …
A terrible chill sank through him when he realized he held the severed head of a wolf. Its glass-like eyes stared up at him, muzzle cracked open. The head slipped through his fingers and splashed in the red pool at his feet.
The moon rose above the clouds and bathed the glade in moonlight. Dismembered wolves splayed on the ground like gruesome roses, eviscerated with their innards spilled out, saturating the mud with blood.
The Other had come out to play.
A whimper drew his sights to Owyn, lying a few paces ahead. Bloody stumps cut off at the Alpha’s knees replaced where his legs had once been. Zev approached, his slow steps squelching through the sea of the dead. The Alpha watched him come. He could do no more than shiver as he bled out.
