Next was Cliff’s turn.
* * * * *
The obstacle course was over two miles long, doubling back on itself several times so the audience wouldn’t lose sight of the contenders. It was constructed from sturdy timber, and tested speed, strength and agility. It was clear why the others had finished the course in such a filthy state – there was a section of the course that could only be completed by swimming underwater, with nowhere for Cliff to surface for air if he got into trouble, and other sections where he’d have to crawl on his belly underneath vicious razor wire. He’d already scaled sheer walls and climbed an intricate structure that required leaps over massive gaps hundreds of feet above the ground. Any one of those falls would be enough to kill a human outright, and the lurching sensation in Taylor’s stomach each time Cliff’s muscles bunched and he launched himself into the air told her that even a werewolf, Dominus or not, could crack his skull or break his back. Could he heal from something like that? She didn’t know.
Now he was at the rope portion, in which he’d have to swing Tarzan-like from rope to rope through the treetops until he got to the next section of the obstacle course.
He grabbed the last rope and launched himself from a tree limb. As he swung, he realized the rope was giving way.
The rope snapped, and he plummeted towards the ground. He twisted and clawed, and just barely managed to catch himself on a tree limb as he fell.
He hung there, heart pounding. That rope had been sabotaged. He needed to make it to the end and tell the Trials Monitors immediately so they could stop Austin from going after him.
But who knew what other traps had been laid ahead of him? Should he skip the rest of the obstacle course? Under pack charter, that might disqualify him.
Cursing, he climbed to the ground and raced through the forest to the next obstacle – a teetering rickety bridge, with a rope hanging overhead to steady himself, dangling eighty feet in the air over a river. He glanced at the rope. If someone wanted to sabotage the bridge, they’d probably also have messed with the rope, knowing he’d grab at it if the bridge gave way.
He couldn’t rely on the rope. He shifted into wolf form so he’d have a lower center of gravity and hurried forward. As he did, the bridge began to sway.
As he reached the end of the bridge, he heard a tearing sound, then the bridge dropped from under his paws. With a mighty leap, he landed on the rocky outcrop on the other side, shifting into human form in midair. He caught a rocky outcropping, and painstakingly hauled himself up. The jagged rocks viciously scraped his arms, and blood poured from his wounds as he flopped onto solid ground.
No time to waste. He raced full speed to the finish line and quickly warned the Monitors. Unfortunately, Austin had started on the course the second Grant had finished.
Then he went to speak to the Elders. The Monitors took a helicopter up and stopped Austin partway through the obstacle course.
The games were temporarily halted while the Monitors swarmed over every inch of the rest of the course, testing for more sabotage.
When the ropes were examined, it was clear they’d been cut by a knife – sawed partway through. The most likely culprit was either Grant or Jerrold, since they’d gone first, but there was always the possibility that somebody had snuck onto the obstacle course and sabotaged it.
All four competitors were called before the Elders, in a tent on the sidelines. The accusations flew thick and fast.
“Grant went first, and everybody knows how desperate he is to win,” Jerrold snarled.
“You made it through the obstacle course just fine, so how could I have done it?” Grant growled back. “You went right before Cliff. Obviously it was you.” He looked at Herbert. “This is a unique circumstance, not covered in the pack charter. In a case like this, the Elders’ vote decides the matter. We need a truth challenge. We need to interview all the competitors. I’m happy to go first.”
“He’s only saying that because he knows it’s strictly forbidden by the charter.” Jerrold’s lip curled in scorn.
“No challenges of any kind to any competitor,” Phineas said in a fussy, self-righteous tone. “That’s the law.”
“Maybe Cliff did it, to throw suspicion on the rest of us,” Jerrold continued. “Or because he was losing.”
“Me?” Cliff scoffed. “My time was excellent; I was being tracked throughout the entire course, so you know I was ahead of both you and Grant. As for me doing it, I came seconds from death, twice. I nearly fell a hundred feet to the ground.”
“Well, we only have your word for that last bit, don’t we?” Jerrold said. He glared at Grant. “My money’s still on Grant, though. Possibly conspiring with his other brothers,” he said to Minnie.
Grant snorted. “Everyone knows that when I win, I do it fair and square.”
“Everyone knows that you claim that.” Jerrold glared at him.
“Leave us,” Oswald said to them. “We will summon you when we make a decision.”
Half an hour later, they called the four men back in.
They would not do a truth challenge. It would violate the pack charter.
It was going to take the rest of the day to check over the entire obstacle course to ensure that it was safe for Austin. Austin had offered to go anyway, because he was a reckless ass, but the Elders had refused. He could go in the early evening once the course had been checked, and this time they’d station Pack Guardians along the entire length of the course to ensure that it wasn’t sabotaged again.
Chapter Twenty
