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The king was limping now, but he wasn’t done yet. In a move I didn’t see coming, he charged us, knocking my wolf to the ground. I gasped and let out a yelp as we landed, my head hitting the stone. My vision blurred, and I felt a little nauseous. That was a major blow and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get up right away.
We were in a tight spot, claws digging into our chest, flat against the ground. The king’s wolf growled, teeth bared. He leaned closer and I was terrified he was going to rip my wolf’s throat out.
My wolf seemed to growl internally. As if she was mad at me. Just as I was about to snap back at her in my head, I realized I’d slipped up. I was letting the human part take the lead. Usually if we were pinned, I could get us out, but right now, the human part of me was fuzzy and injured.
I relinquished control, letting my wolf take charge.Get us out of this.
With a movement that caused searing pain, my wolf twisted. The king’s claws tore through our skin, but with another movement, one of his paws was off and my wolf pushed on until we were back in control. The king’s wolf was under us and now our claws were digging into his chest.
I felt the tension ease from the wolf below us. He was tired and it was as if all the fight was suddenly gone. We could end this right now. All we had to do was bite his neck or some other equally horrifying thing.
This was what we signed up for. We wanted the power, we wanted to make the bad guy pay. The problem was, I didn’t want to become the thing I hated. I wanted to stand up for others and defend myself. I didn’t want to hurt others.
I growled, showing my teeth. It didn’t have to end this way. There was another way out. He could surrender. He could go into exile. Death wasn’t the only option.
Was he going to take the chance or was he going to make me do it?
My wolf was impatient. She was worried we were being too soft. Or that he was faking to earn sympathy.Just a little longer.
I had to figure this out. I wanted this. I wanted to win. But I didn’t want to be like him.
Suddenly, his body began to shudder, bones cracked, and he yelled in agony. I leaped off him just before the fur gave way to flesh.
A few minutes later, a broken, bloody, pathetic looking old man was hunched over on all fours, panting. He looked up at me and I could see the rage and embarrassment in his expression.
I was still in my wolf form, which meant, I had not yielded.
At least I listened enough in history class to understand how an alpha challenge worked. It was odd that while so many other things had seemed trivial, understanding this had seemed vital.
Maybe this was why.
Maybe I always wanted to defeat the alpha and reclaim the power that had been stripped from me.
I growled, taking a few steps toward my opponent. While he had shifted back into his weaker human form, he was still in play unless he formally yielded. I wasn’t going to be tricked into a draw. I had to be in wolf form until I either killed him or he surrendered.
The king rose to his knees. The deep slashes on his sides were already healing, but he was in for a long, painful night. He turned his gaze on me, still taking in deep breaths.
Killing him might have been more merciful. He didn’t deserve mercy and I didn’t deserve to have his death on my hands.
I growled again.Submit.
The king looked around at the spectators. I’d forgotten they were there. Risking a quick glance, I realized they were all silent. Nobody spoke. Nobody laughed. Nobody cheered.
They were witnessing the fall of a king.
When he turned to look at me again, I saw the defeat in his eyes. He lowered his head. “I submit.”
I growled, a warning. He needed to say it louder and he needed to make it clear. I took a step forward, letting my wolf tense and threaten him with everything I had left.
He flinched but he understood. “I submit. I surrender. Long live the queen.”
