Chapter 16: I Need to Know More About Shifters

"Doc…" I whispered as he turned to me – eyes narrowed, looking deep into my soul – he stretched out a slight smirk before turning away to get assigned his next opponent.

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By the time Doc got up to the circle once again, his alpha opponent was trembling. He was the last of the three fights this round as one alpha pulled the longest stick and was safe until the semi-final round. Doc's opponent took one look into his eyes and nearly fell to his knees. Doc lunged forward and transformed into his true form, a fox, as he grabbed the alpha's neck in his mouth and started to squeeze. The alpha started pounding the ground to signal for Doc to release him as blood dripped from the four penetration marks that Doc's canine teeth made. Doc released the man's neck as he gasped for air and reached for his bleeding neck. If Doc would have waited even a second longer, that man would have been dead, and a town would have been left without an alpha.

The sky started to get a little darker as the last four fighters were being assigned their next opponents in the semi-finals. There was one beta, two alphas, and Doc left. The two alphas were assigned to each other and the beta to Doc. As the alphas fought, I noticed the beta that was supposed to fight Doc was starting to run towards the gate to escape the city. Nobody even attempted to stop him, and Doc was left without a partner.

The two alphas fought, but it wasn't amusing in the slightest. They were both extremely tired and could barely even move their arms high enough to hit each other. Finally, the alpha that was safe last round grabbed the other by the neck with his large hand and squeezed until the other alpha turned blue. He dropped him to the ground and knelt down above him, their faces inches from each other's. "Have you had enough?" he asks the gasping alpha beneath him. He nods his head between coughs and the winning alpha puts his hands up and howls.

One the alpha is finished howling, Damon speaks out "Since one of the next fighters has ran away, we will take our break now before the final round. We will come back when the sun reaches the top of the walls. The final fighters may do anything they want to prepare for the last fight." He turns around to take his mate's hand and leads her off of the stage. Doc walked to the middle of the circle and sat cross-legged, closing his eyes. Alfie and I go back to the house to meet Royce and start cooking up a prey Alfie had gotten early this morning.

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As we sat silently in our house waiting for the meat to finish cooking, I could hear Alfie's heartbeat racing as he stared at the fire. "Why is Doc participating in the Strength Tournament? I thought he didn't want a mate."

"He didn't want a mate."

"So what female is he trying to mate with?"

"…You…"

"ME! Why me?! I thought he was done messing with me! I thought he got the hint when I attacked him at the cave!"

"He probably thinks that if he proves that he is strong enough to protect you, that you will mate with him."

"But we already have enough protection with Delilah's mates. Why would he continue trying to get me?"

"Probably has something to do with the feeling we are having about going back to the village."

My stomach tightened as Alfie grabbed the deer from the fire and handed me a piece. I no longer felt like eating. Did Doc feel the same thing? Does he think it's Brian as well? I slowly grabbed the piece from Alfie and took a few small bites before feeling full.

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After we finished eating the deer, we ventured back to the city center to watch the final fight. Doc was in the exact same spot sitting with his eyes closed. He looked like he was meditating. As we were walking up the stage steps, the rest of the crowd started forming their circle once again and Damon stepped up to the front of the stage as well, "Since everybody has returned, we will start the final fight. This round will determine the winner of the Strength Tournament. The winner will be able to pick his chosen female and she will allow him the remaining days at the gathering to impress her enough to mate with him. So, let's finish this fight!" he let out one last howl and the alpha started approaching Doc from behind. Doc kept his eyes shut and I couldn't even tell if he was awake or not.

The alpha lunged for Doc's back and inches before he grabbed him, Doc flipped backwards and grabbed the alpha's neck. He lifted the alpha into the air backwards and over his head to smash him into the ground. Gasps filled the previously silent crowd.

Doc pinned the alpha with ease and without even waiting for a submission, Doc latched onto the alpha's neck with his teeth and twisted his head. There was a moment of complete silence before I started to hear cracking bones. I hid my face in Alfie's chest as I heard a loud 'RIIIP' sound with wet squelches. I knew Doc had beheaded the alpha, and I was glued in place. I was thankful Royce had gone to play with his friends again and hadn't had to witness it. The crowd started slowly clapping, gaining volume as more people joined in. Damon stood up and announced, "We have a winner! Doc of Crystalhill, who is the lucky female you have chosen to impress today?"

"The same one each and every male here has come to impress, Alyssa." Doc started slowly walking towards the stage as I heard his footsteps. Alfie let go of my slowly and gave me a nod that it was ok to look. I turned around and saw Doc at the edge of the stage staring up at me. I started to walk towards him but stopped when he held his hand out to help me down. I reached my hand behind me to grab Alfie's hand and we walked down the stairs. Doc met us at the bottom of the stairs and followed us back to our house silently.

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Once we reached the door to our house, Doc stopped just to the left of the front door and laid in a matted spot in the grass along the house. He fit perfectly in the spot as if it were made for him; or made by him. My blood started to boil as I realized he had been sleeping there each night since we arrived at the gathering. "Doc!" I kicked him in the back and he slowly uncurled and sat up. "Have you been sleeping there at night!? And don't you fucking lie to me!"

"I have." He replied calmly as he stood up and slowly walked until his face was just millimeters from mine.

I tried pushing his chest away from me, but he didn't even budge. "Why would you sleep outside of our house here, and why would you do it without us knowing!?"

"Alfie knew, and I haven't just slept outside your house here." I whipped my head to look at Alfie, slapping Doc with my hair as I turned.

"YOU KNEW!? And what do you mean not just here?!"

Alfie finally spoke up, "Doc slept outside our cave each night since you arrived here. That's how he knew to come to us when we went to fight the invaders. He stayed behind to look after Royce, but when he ran out after you, Doc followed as well." He seemed much too content with another male hovering over us at our own shelter.

"I also have followed behind you as you walked the city."

The anger in my body felt like I couldn't contain it much longer. My entire body started to shake, and my ears felt like there was smoke coming out of them. My eyes glowed bright diamond white, and claws started extending into my palm as I held a tight fist. I needed to leave, and soon, before I killed one of them. I shifted into my blue phoenix true form and flew to the top of the Alpha Tree. I didn't even care if I had gotten in trouble for being up here, I just needed to be alone for just a few moments.

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The moon was at it's peak by now when I finally heard someone climbing up to me. I was expecting Alfie to be coming to apologize for not informing me of our stalker, but I was surprised when I turned around. I saw golden eyes, but they had a familiar darkness behind them.

Damon.

"So, I see you haven't left yet to go home. What did my son do to you, hmm?"

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, I'll leave now."

"No need for you to leave. Let's have our meeting about your true form now." He held his cold hand out for me to grab, and without thinking I took it in mine. We climbed down to the trunk of the gigantic tree where there were lit hallways and rooms hollowed out of the wood. "In here, this is our dining room. I'm sure you are hungry with my grandchild growing inside you."

I sat down at a long dining table that could seat at least forty people. My seat was right next to the head of the table. Damon nodded his head at the chef and sat down at the head. "So, let's start with what you currently know about shifters."

"I know they are rare and the most powerful true form. I do have a question though before you start teaching me more about shifters, do they really have more than one true mate?"

Damon was taken back by my question. His eyes widened and he leaned back in his chair to rub his chin as he thought about his answer. "Who told you that?"

"I am not going to name names, just tell me. Do shifters really have multiple true mates?"

"I have never heard that before… What makes you believe what this 'unnamed' person is saying?"

"There are two people that can hear my thoughts and talk to me in their minds. They cannot hear each other, but they can hear me talking to the other in my head."

"Impossible… unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless one of them is from the ancient pack of intruders… but that would be impossible since we make sure none of them enter the city…"

"The ancient pack of intruders?"

"Yes… they unlocked the power to read other people's minds and talk to them in their mind. They used this power for a long time, and still do, to lure females to them with the hopes of finding their true mate. Now tell me, how do you feel when you are with this person?"

"I feel the same as I do with Alfie, except…"

"Except what? The feeling that something bad is going to happen?"

"Wait… how did you know that?" just as I spoke, the chef brought out a full pig on a platter and set it in front of us.

Once the chef was in the kitchen once again, Damon spoke again, "You need to tell me who this person is, NOW!"

"But I'm confused, why would she do this to me?"

"She? A female is the one doing it? Show me your mating mark." I pulled my top out of the way to reveal a small bunny near my heart. "Come with me." He stood up and told the chef to bring the pig with as he brought me to his doctor. We walked down many flights of stairs until we were in what smelt like the roots of the tree. I could smell the fertile soil just outside the walls. We walked into a room that was occupied by a small, attractive man with red eyes. He was extremely muscular, almost too much for his height, but he was still attractive. "Get this mark off of her." he pointed at the small bunny on my chest.

"What! I never said I wanted that!?"

"This is the mark of one of the ancient pack of intruders, the child of the alpha to be exact. If you don't remove it, they will be able to track you wherever you go and continue to hear your thoughts even if you are across the world from them."

I didn't know what to say… Was my second true mate really lying to me… did I even have a second true mate. "Wait… Alfie mated with her as well."

"My son mated with a second female… never mind that, call him here."

"Ok, but how do I tell him without them hearing me if they can hear my thoughts?"

"Were you taught nothing? You can tap your mating mark and he will feel you calling." I tapped my mating mark with the large black wolf, and it started to glow bright gold like his eyes. I could feel his heartbeat as he ran to the tree.

A few minutes Alfie was brought down to the root room that I was in. "Alyssa! Are you okay, what did he do to you?" he rushed towards me and shielded me from Damon's eyesight.

"Damon has done nothing but educate and feed me. We need to talk." He sat down next to me on the raised bed to listen to my every word, "Delilah has lied to us. She is the child of the alpha of the…"

"Ancient pack of intruders…" He finished my sentence and gritted his teeth.

Damon spoke up, "We need to remove your mating marks with her. I have this paste that you need to rub into her mating mark. It will burn, but to keep your mind off of the pain, I will tell you more about your true form." We both nodded our heads and Alfie took the bowl with the paste. He stuck his fingers in it and started rubbing it on my mating mark with Delilah. The pain was excruciating. I couldn't keep the screams in, and I nearly fell backwards on the table. My screams sounded more like bird screeches that were deafening to everybody else in the room. They held their hands to their heads and winced in pain. My eyes started glowing bright diamond white once again and I took a deep breath in as the pain disappeared. I looked down and saw my child kicking away in my stomach.

"Where is Royce?"

"He is with my mother until we are done here. He is safe. What about you, is it better now?"

"Yeah actually, it feels cold now." He started rubbing it on his ankle where Delilah's mark sat and winced him pain. He didn't scream or even grunt, but a slight wince and that was it.

I felt like a baby with the amount of pain I was in until, "It hurts worse the closer to your heart it is." Damon spoke up. "Now that it is removed, we can wipe of the paste." The doctor reached towards me with an animal skin towel in his hand, but Alfie growled. "Just give him the skin before he kills you." Damon stated bluntly and the doctor handed Alfie the towel slowly. As he wiped my chest, the 'ink' of the mating mark wiped away with the past and it was completely gone from my chest. Alfie wiped his away and it was the same.

"Now, tell me about shifters." I blurted out and glared at Damon.

"Come with me to the meeting room." We followed Damon to a large room with an even larger table in the middle. He shut the door quickly and stood next to me as he said quietly, "So, what element do you possess?"