25 Chapter Twenty-Two

I pace back and forth on an imaginary line I've made as I wait anxiously for my name to be called to begin my hunt.

Many have already been called but like me, many more are still waiting there turn.

It only takes a few minutes before the next person is called, judging from those that have been already it seems to take ten minutes at most. Although the time is different every time.

My ears perk up as the horn is blown, seconds later the Alpha Kings voice comes through the speaker. "Two minutes and twenty-three seconds" he says, telling everyone the time of that wolves hunt. It's an impressive time, though I aim to beat it. I continue to pace.

Alpha King Alessio announces yet another name that is not mine, which causes me to slouch down again. I was honestly surprised at how involved the king was with his pack. I admired that he loved the pack so much and didn't let the crown go to his head.

Like before, a few minutes pass and the horn blows again. Another name is announced. "Ella Sterling" that causes my ears to perk up as my name is called again.

I stand still on all fours since we had shifted again when we arrived here and I made my way through the open door leading to the actual area. I had previously seen the stadium when I first arrived. It's a huge and circular building with no roof as it has a natural plot of forest in the centre growing.

This is where our hunting will take place.

There's a wolf on the other side of the door, however he's in human form. He walks beside me as I go forward, inspecting my small frame. I make myself look taller as I approach the start of the forest, knowing I'll start soon.

We had all been given a rundown before being guided to the waiting room of sorts. We were told that the clock starts as soon as this wolf hits the button, also being told to hunt down the random wolf that is hiding somewhere in the forest. That's my aim and to do it as fast as I can.

I stand behind the grass line leading straight to the small forest. The male wolf holds some sort of device in his hand which I'm assuming must start the clock. "Nod when you're ready and I'll start the timer. Then you can go"

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I nod and immediately sprint into the forest. My paw steps are quiet as I step over various rocks and twigs, despite them being hard to see due to the snow. I stand up tall and twitch my ears about, searching for something out of the ordinary.

My eyes are closed and my nose is pointed in the air, searching for a scent. The only things I smell is the forest and all of the wolves before me. I decide it's best not to scent track the wolf, knowing that all the wolves before had covered its scent.

My ear flicks to the right as a paw is placed, I crouch down and immediately head in the direction as silent as possible. The snow, though hindering my sense of smell gives me an advantage. Also giving the other wolf one too.

It makes everything soaked so that even if I happen to step on a twig, it will barely be audible. A newer wolf scent becomes stronger and I can't help but sense that it's familiar. I follow after it.

The slight steps of the wolf become stronger and my pace becomes faster. The wolf is near. I slow down and don't directly follow the scent of the wolf as to make myself less obvious to him or her. Though the scent gets stronger, it's still faint and I still don't realise why it's familiar.

I crouch behind a bush before pouncing out from behind it. I fall a foot away from a familiar steel grey body. The male had moved out of the way. I can now tell who it is and I'm definitely not impressed. Kaden, the wolf who said 'he'd make me his'

I jump after him as he prances away from my grip. He's fast, though I'm faster. We roll around until I land on him and then I hear the horn blare out, signifying the time. "One minute fifty-three seconds" Alpha King Alessio announces. I grin mentally knowing it's one of the fastest times on the board.

I step away from Kaden and begin to trot away from him to the closest exit. My ears twitch as Kaden's paws pound against the ground. 'He's not very light on his paws that's for sure', I tell Ally mentally, rolling my eyes.

His paw steps stop for a moment before I feel his weight on me. I fall to the ground, too weak to hold myself up from under him due to his size. I squirm away before he can do anything and my bare my teeth in a growl.

"What do you think you're doing?" I snarl through the wolf bond. The steel wolf just acts as if he didn't just pounce on me for no reason. His ears are pinned forward, his head angled downward as his lips bare his teeth in a wicked smile.

I manage to stand and stand tall as I take a step back out of caution as he takes one forward. "What do you think I'm doing?" Kaden asks, taking another step forward. My eyes trail over his body language. It's not only aggressive by the more hunched shoulders and bared teeth but suggestive by the way his muzzle is slightly tilted in the air and how his tail shifts upwards. I have to get out of here and fast.

I growl at him and prepare to run. He's going to go at me, I know it. My eyes narrow as they dilate to a small circle. I fully bare my canines at him as he steps forward once again. Before he can do it again, I run.

I swerve around trees and duck under various low fallen trees that Kaden will have to jump over. He crashes through the branches that are hanging as I run under a pine tree. The needles poke my back through my thick fur and I hear Kaden yelp in pain. I fight to hold back a snigger.

Yet again, a heavy weight knocks me off balance and we roll around a bit. I snarl at him and bite his inner leg as he claws into my chest. He whines in pain but continues to press all his weight on me. I wiggle around but he's far to heavy to move.

He may still be quite a small wolf but he is still much bigger than me and much heavier. He snarls in my face and I can tell he wants me to submit. Knowing that I'll never submit to him I just snarl back and snap at him unable to do anything else.

In the background I can hear King Alessio's voice echo out, but I can't make out what he says due to our snarls at each other. My side is pressed into a rock and Kaden's claws dig into my chest and one of my hind legs.

I refuse to let him see my pain though and I snap at his throat. I manage to get a few teeth dug in before I'm pressed further into the ground. My tail shifts between my legs and my ears tilt back in pain.

"Get off of me" I snarl, wiggling around despite the pain. He just grins down at me, shoving his teeth into my muzzle.

"Now why would I do that?" He asks me, a nasty chuckle following it. I lift my free hind leg and claw him where it must hurt the most. Ouch. He whines in pain as he practically crumbles. Before he can fully fall onto me, I kick him off.

I immediately sprint off, taking the shortest route to the opening area. I hear him follow behind me. My route doesn't help and he easily catches up with me so I am forced to take a detour to escape him.

I see more light in the forest so I must be close to the open area beside the forest. There's about five to ten feet of grass before the forest line starts. I sprint ahead of Kaden and through the opening, immediately turning around and snarling at him.

He slips out of the forest, slightly limping from my kick and the bite to his foreleg. His neck is bleeding a bit from the small bite I managed to get in, though it's most likely drying by now. My ears flick around as I hear many voices.

I don't pay attention as I also limp, my leg stinging in pain from the claw mark. Despite it only being quite small and not too deep, it hinders me. My teeth are still fully bared, as I continue to snarl at Kaden with all my might.

His chest rumbles in a growl and my ears flicker around. There are numerous footsteps running toward us at the sight of our highly hostile display.

Kaden cuts the act as he hears footsteps too. It's too late though as I know they already saw him.

My nose twitches at the scent of fresh rain and the forest. Azaizal. "What is going on here?" A powerful voice booms out. I see Kaden flinch at the voice of King Alessio and he immediately bows in respect.

I also bow down to him and bare my throat. Only a second goes by before I'm stood to my full height again, though I'm slanted due to my burning chest and stinging leg. I pin my ears back and bare my teeth at Kaden.

"He tried to force himself onto me Alpha King" my voice is cold and harsh as I speak, yet still respectful, my eyes burning holes into Kaden's head. I feel Azaizal's emotions as he stands close to me. His hands are balled up and his legs have tremors in them.

Kaden shrinks down as all the wolves eyes turn to him. Alongside Alessio and Azaizal are Beta Lock, Gamma Xavier and three other wolves that are high ranks.

About half of the wolves are looking at Kaden in disappointment while the others are slightly baring their teeth in disgust. "Is this true?" Alessio asks calmly. I can tell by his eyes he's definitely not calm on the inside.

"Of course it is," Azaizal snarls, baring his teeth at the smaller wolf. I shrink down slightly at his tone, it's full of power and it shocks me that it's pretty much as powerful as Alessio's if not more. I've never heard him speak with such aggression and hostility.

He brushes his hand against my ears as he feels me shrink down. He then holds out his hand and receives a blanket from one of the other wolves. I didn't even realise one had that in their hand. Azaizal holds it out wide for me with both hands basically telling me to shift. I was grateful as I didn't have my clothes at this minute.

I step away and into the blanket and shift, wrapping the blanket as tightly as I can around me. I thank Azaizal before turning my eyes to point daggers at the steel wolf.

I lean against Azaizal as I stumble on my leg, the cut had grown larger and tore more as I shifted. His arm wraps around me as I go to step away again. Everyone spots my slight stumble. "You harmed her?" Beta lock demands, his voice full of malice.

Within a second, a slender male takes the place of the steel wolf. He's about five-foot-eight and has lean muscles on his frame. His hair is a dark blonde and his eyes a cool grey. He stands straight, covering himself.

He glares at me and growls. I snarl back but silently find pleasure in his limp and the tear in his throat. "She harmed me first." He snarls at me.

My lips curl slightly, "You knocked me down without provocation" my voice is like stone as I speak. I turn my head and look at King Alessio.

"I've heard enough" he growls. "Kaden follow me to my office, Azaizal take Ella to the infirmary to get her leg and chest checked out and retrieve her clothes. Then you are both done for the day." I wondered how he knew about my chest as well but looking down I noticed blood was seeping through the blanket.

Limping away I heard Kaden snarling in the distance as we made our way to the medical wing in the castle, it being closer than the small hospital.

"Are you ok Ella?" Azaizal asked concerned. He'd calmed down now but I was grateful that he still hadn't removed his arm. It was actually really comforting.

"I'm ok, thank you for helping me balance when I stumbled." He smiled and just held me slightly tighter.

"Anytime"

————————————————

I hope everyone had a good Halloween and if you're back in lockdown like me, I hope you're all staying safe.

Anyone else excited for Christmas? I am.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Next update is in 2 weeks

Comment/share/like 💖