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I tried to ignore the flash of disappointment. Holden wasn’t what I needed to be worried about right now. Not when fifteen other women would be looking for their chance to take me out.
Before long, all the women were gathered, and Willow began speaking.
“Good morning, ladies. I hope you all got plenty of rest last night.”
Nope.
Willow glanced around at all of us. “If you haven’t gathered by the arena behind us, you will be competing in two teams for your first competition.”
A murmur sounded among the sixteen of us. So, it wasn’t every woman for herself. I wasn’t sure if that was a relief or if it would make this even harder.
“You’ll be playing the shifter version of capture the flag.” As Willow said it, a staff member approached each of us with a large golden ring. “These collars will be your flags.”
Collars again? It had been miserable when Holden’s enforcer put the enchanted band around my neck, preventing me from shifting.
“Unlike other enchanted collars,” Willow continued, “these won’t prevent you from shifting. In fact, they will shift with you. You may choose whichever form you prefer. They will also break away when pulled—the crux of the competition. You’re automatically disqualified if your collar comes off at any time during the competition.”
I glanced around as the staff member in front of me held out the breakaway collar. Everyone else was taking them and putting them around their necks as if it was no big deal. Perhaps none of them had ever been prevented from shifting.
I squared my shoulders and snapped the collar on, giving it a slight tug to test for resistance. It wouldn’t come off too easily. Good to know that I’d need to get in close and have a good grip when I ripped off my opponents’ collars.
Willow read off the rest of the rules. Each team would have a small base hidden somewhere within enemy territory. We were to hide a flag within the base, and two team members were to remain within the base at all times. The other six were to venture out into enemy territory in search of their flag. Opponents could be eliminated by ripping off their collars. Still, the competition would not end until one team captured the other’s flag and brought it back to their base without being eliminated.
“The flag must be hidden within the base, not in someone’s physical possession. Once you’ve left your home base, you may not return unless you are in possession of the enemy flag. Any questions?” Willow arched her brows as she looked around.
No one said a word.
“Okay then.” She clapped twice. “Here are the teams. Sydnee, Jessica, Abbigail, Brooklyn, Cora, Claudia, Riley, and Kayden. You’re on the blue team. The rest, you’re red.”
While I was glad Jessica and Brooklyn were there, and I knew I could trust them, I couldn’t believe my luck that Sydnee was on our team. But of course she was. She gave me a menacing smile as Willow directed us to gather with our teammates. Nope, definitely not trusting this one.
Recalling some of the finer points of politics and history that I’d taken notes on this week, I immediately took charge. If I wanted a chance at winning, I had to take action. We couldn’t rely on shoddy leadership.
“Jessica, Cora. You two stay in the home base and defend the flag,” I said, low enough that the other team couldn’t hear us. “Sydnee, you can hide the flag.”
“Who put you in charge?” she sneered, crossing her arms and jutting out her hip as she glared at me.
I stared back with ice in my eyes. “I did.”
She didn’t have time to argue as an assistant blared a horn, signaling the start of the competition without warning. With no time to strategize, I gestured for the other seven girls to follow me.
“Let’s get into the trees, then shift.” Just a few yards in, we all shifted into our wolf forms, some taking a bit longer than others. With adrenaline pumping through my veins, I shifted faster than I could remember, ready to get going. We ran together through the woods, watching closely for markings on the trees to designate where our base could be found. For a moment, it almost felt like we were a team, a little pack of our own working towards a common goal.
But then Sydnee came up beside me and rammed into my side with a growl, knocking me off balance. I didn’t lose my footing, but she took the lead. I huffed a breath and dug my claws into the earth, running to catch up with her, the rest of the wolves trailing behind.
Within minutes, we’d found our base and Sydnee shifted back to human form, where she immediately climbed a tree to hide the flag high up in the branches. As much as I hated to, I had to admit it was a good strategy. If our opponents found the flag, they’d still have to shift first before climbing the tree to collect it. In the meantime, they’d be exposed to our teammates remaining at the base.
Jessica and Cora were smart. They’d use that to our advantage. They took up positions to guard the base as Sydnee jumped out of the tree, landing gracefully, and walked toward where the rest of us stood waiting.
“Ready to capture the flag?” Her jaw was set, full of determination. Maybe having her on my team wasn’t bad after all, at least for this competition. She shifted, then took off into the woods.
I just stared after her. So much for teamwork. I huffed and stomped the ground to get the attention of Brooklyn, Claudia, and Riley. I walked in a circle, pointing to each of them with my nose at even junctures, trying to indicate that we create a perimeter, just like we’d learned two days ago in class.
That would be the most efficient way to clear the area through enemy territory, keeping as many of our teammates as possible from being eliminated. They seemed to get the picture, and we began working our way through the woods.
The scents of the sea and the forest were strong out here, especially in wolf form, and it reminded me of Holden. How his entire apartment held his scent.
A flash of movement to my left jolted me out of my thoughts. I berated myself for losing focus, then signaled to my teammates before padding silently through the underbrush to get a better look. Sure enough, it was the red team.
