Series of cracks

The commotion in the crowd had died down. They wanted Hailey to face something cruel, but now that they had seen it, people were fogged with gruesome silence. There were some shrieks from the audience, but not from Hailey.

Hailey held her head, eyes frantically looking around. There was pain written on her face, but she looked up at me with blood-filled eyes. It took her some time to drink the pain and as she did, her eyes glanced at mine, so menacing it showed how she planned on doubling this injury on me. "What a fool. We could have had some more fun, but look at you on the brink of disqualification. I must say, it is good to have another monster in the pack"

I thought she would talk about how she was going to get back at me for that, but her words contrasted with the look on her face. She pitied not being able to fight me in her words, while her face said how much she wanted to drill me into the ground.

Channing approached Hailey along with Elaine. He looked at me and said, "don't forget the rules, Selene! This is your teammate"

I could hear the shock and disappointment in his voice. The act was cruel enough to make anyone think of keeping a distance from me. His eyes were threatening me at the moment. There was anger boiling in them. As much as he despised Hailey for what she did in the previous match, my breaking the rule somehow came as a hammer on his trust.

Hailey was smirking with Channing facing his back to her, while he was intimidating me with his eyes. Elaine was quick to sit down, placing her hand on Hailey's head.

Channing did not break his gaze as guilt washed over me for something that I could fix. "As a breach of rule 1," he turned to the crowd raising his voice, "Selene is disqualif..."

"Channing!" Elaine stopped him. She fiddled with Hailey's head and was utterly confused. The blood in Hailey's eyes was no more there. Her skull looked perfectly round, as if nothing ever happened.

"What?" He rushed concerned toward Hailey, who had a questioning look as she stared at me, waiting for answers. I offered her a kind smile when everyone's eyes were fixated on Hailey.

"She... I don't know how!" exclaimed Elaine, still double-checking Hailey's head, "T-there is no fracture, the blood clots in her eyes disappeared"

Hailey finally looked at me, a little disturbed by what just happened. She was certain the fracture was there a while back. The pain she had felt, the crack that had filled the air thick with dread, her vision that looked red as the blood had clogged inside her eyes; everything was gone in seconds.

"How is that possible?" said Channing, checking Hailey gently with his fingers, "I was sure to have heard her skull crack"

I casually tilted my head with a little mischief dancing in my eyes, and Hailey understood it was something of my doing. "It was just a little illusion," I telecommunicated in a low voice.

A deranged smile spread across Hailey's face as our eyes met, "You must have misunderstood Channing," She said playing along, "I believe it was Selene's ability" She narrowed her eyes for some time before they smiled with amusement, she was going to continue the fight! Does this girl not learn her lessons? If she were to continue the fight, I will take double the damage I had just given her.

Channing got up confused and he turned to give me a suspicious look, but since there was no injury to prove he decided to step out.

"Are you fine Hailey? Can you fight?", asked Channing to which she nodded yes getting up. I had caught Hailey off guard before, but now her guard was up like a castle wall. This was going to be a tough fight now.

Channing gave me a warning look and then said, "the fight continues since there are no serious injuries. I hope the opponents know that if any is detected, the consequences would be the prison"

The duel began again and Hailey did not bother to shift into her wolf while I was stuck in mine now. I couldn't change without anything to drape me. She looked happy for some reason, "are you an illusionist? To have tricked the entire crowd, what a powerful ability. Not just applying to one individual but a large group"

She hauntingly clapped as if impressed by me and suddenly came close to me. Her speed during a fight was remarkable. Her eyes carefully boring into mine, she whispered, "an Omega with such prowess, people might mistake you for an Alpha"

My eyes widened. What did she mean by that? Did she figure out that I was an Alpha? Blood Noesis was difficult to distinguish, had she?

I pushed her back with my paw, but she gracefully dodged it and swung from my neck and sat on my back. That was the toughest area to reach as a werewolf. If she was to double the damage I had inflicted on her, I was in big trouble.

Her arms were around my chest over my lower ribs and she got down from my back. Her strength was immense. Or this was perhaps her ability to deal double the damage that I had caused her during the skull fracture. This was not looking good, if she really doubles it, my ribs would shatter into pieces and she might even crumple my lungs.

With her strength right now, she picked up my wolf, and all I could do was wiggle to get out of her hold. Her fingers pressed hard on my ribs. It was tacky as a wolf to attack behind you, she was taking advantage of that very fact.

"Oops, look at my strength," said Hailey "I thought that fracture was fake, but it wasn't right? My abilities won't be this enhanced to lift a werewolf." She had confirmed her suspicions. She knew that what I had done was not an illusion. Her fingers dug into my chest, making me whine. "Looks like your illusion was probably some healing abilities. I hope you could use it on your own self or it would be a pity"

She pressed hard, and my ribs were failing to handle the pressure. A loud cry escaped from my wolf trying to set free of her hold, but she was ruthlessly strong.

"Halt the duel", Channing shouted but Hailey was in no mood to listen. Her mania had taken over.

"Now confirm my theories for me, darling", Saying this, Hailey pushed her hand harder against my ribs and the sound of a series of bones breaking filled the air. My ribs were in pieces and I could feel them inside me, piercing my organs.