Discovery Led To Bloodlust II.

"Are we really going to fight her?" Trudy asked indignant.

It could be said that she and Kristensen had a somewhat friendly relationship, right? She had already forgiven her for that scratch, but if they really fought, could they still be friendly?

Vince let out a chuckle and brushed the nonexistent dust on his clothes. "If not? Awn, don't tell me you're scared? Take it as a learning experience."

Trudy threw him a glare. She didn't get to retort as Kristensen lunged at her again.

So, fighting it was...

They tussled with each other while Vince stood on the sidelines and watched. It surprised him how Trudy was barely managing to dodge Kristensen's attacks, always on the defensive.

It made him wonder if they really were both young alphas?

"Dodge." He shouted when Kristensen's fangs scratched Trudy's forearm.

The shout helped Trudy a little, and the scratch barely drew blood.

The first shout helped, but the following commentary distracted her. Vince shouted continuously...

"Behind."

"Dogde."

"On the face."

"Behind."

They really distracted her, and Kristensen put her under enough pressure. Trudy realized she couldn't go on like that and threw Kristensen far off as she went to Vince's side.

Kristensen's bloodlust-fueled aggression made her a formidable opponent, and she fought fiercely while Trudy was holding back. Her eyes were ablaze with a primal fury and excitement.

"Will you stop?" she said, trying to catch her breath. Even though she was somewhat handicapped, a part of her was excited too, and blood was boiling.

Vince let out a careless smile, feeling  sheepish he patted her head. "I got caught up in the adrenaline."

"Oh." Trudy responded with a slight smile. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Kristensen lunge and threw Vince in the line of fire. "Your turn."

Vince cussed aloud as he flipped around, landing on Kristensen's back - caught off guard by the sudden propelling - he wrapped his hands around Kristensen's neck, trying to subdue her.

Trudy's eyes widened in shock at Vince's series of actions and clicked her tongue. The old were the old, after all...

He thought of something that bizarre!

Kristensen flailed without getting any result. The hold around her was too strong, added more to her fury, and made her toss around aggressively as she tried to throw Vince of her back.

In the chaos of the struggle, Trudy's caught sight of the plate unasumingly still emitting light that somehow seemed to coat Kristensen's fur. A sudden realization dawned on her, and she reached out to grab the plate, hoping it held the key to calming Kristensen down.

"What are you idling about? Some help?" Vince shouted, grappling with Kristensen. Her thrashing started to take effect, and the grip on her was loosening.

"Kristensen..!" roared Vince from her back.

Unfortunately, Kristensen didn't respond to her name being called but only seemed to egg her on more. Seriously... Vince was reaching his wit's end as he didn't want to accidentally hurt her and, at the same time, couldn't let go.

With a desperate glance at Trudy, he shouted for Casey, hoping he hadn't gone far.

Meanwhile, Trudy caught the plate. A strange thing happened as she closed her fist around it. The light ominously seeped through her fingers, and although she didn't feel anything, her skin had the same coat of light as Kristensen's fur.

A deep, loud roar that echoed through the hall chamber had Trudy look up in time to catch Kristensen finally throwing Vince off her back.

The gray wolf stood there, breathing heavily and its eyes no longer as nonchalant or excited as before. Kristensen was ticked off. If before she was attacking them merely because of the bloodlust, then then, at that moment, she wanted them to die not only because of the bloodlust.

Kristensen shook off her body, and the fur seemed to dance along with her moon, as though dusting off the leisure way and was standing to be serious.

It was then Casey's disheveled self barged in. He had been watching the mural in disbelief when he heard the shout and hurried back to the underground chamber.

Seeing the grey wolf and its aggressive stance, he cussed under his breath.

"You're really something." Casey threw at Vince. "Kristensen?"

"Oh, you're so smart. What gave her away?"replied Vince sarcastically.

Casey ignored his tone as he watched the wolf with keen interest and replied unpulsed. "Although your House of Ryder is extremely weak, I figured you wouldn't be so weak to get defeated by such a young alpha."

Trudy hurried to Vince's side and held his hand before he could reply to Casey. But the glare he threw at Casey conveyed all the profanities he wanted to haul at him.

Together, the three of the joined hands at taking the initiative to attack and try to subdue her. 

They worked frantically to restrain her, but it was as though Kristensen had read their minds. She became slippery for Vince and Casey, conce treated on only attacking Trudy.

"This isn't working." Casey said to Vince when the two again failed to grab hold of Kristensen.

Vince threw him a look, "I'm not blind." and he couldn't guarantee that Trudy wouldn't be suppressed if she too turned.

Annoying. Annoying. Annoying.

He was starting to doubt their strategy of not hurting Kristensen a little when he saw how bloodied Trudy was.

Trudy scrambled to her feet, blood training from her shoulder to her palm and lending on the plate. Her focus was solely on Kristensen and the pain she felt that she didn't notice the blood getting absorbed by the plate and the light it emitted brightening.

"I have to turn." Trudy murmured to herself, gritting her teeth.

No matter how patient she was, she could no longer avoid being the passive side.

"No!" Vince and Casey shook their head and responded at the same time.

The both of them had reached the same conclusion, if Trudy transformed, Kristensen would be able to supress her, and they wouldn't be able to guarantee her safety.

It was apparent to them that although the two were both young alphas, Kristensen was the better and stronger one of the two.

To fight a wolf of the same class but stronger with the ability to suppress other wolves that alphas had was simply suicide. She would die...

Most importantly, if Kristensen took a life whilst under the bloodlust, when she woke up, she wouldn't be the same as before.

She'd be tainted. And the consequences of an alpha of Kristensen caliber getting tainted...

Vince and Casey vehemently voiced their objections. Trudy couldn't turn..!

But, it was too late. Perhaps because of pride or her unwillingness, Trudy's fighting spirit and her alpha-ism were truly provoked. She needed to prove herself to Vince and Casey and herself that she wasn't bad compared to Kristensen.

However, she had forgotten that Kristensen, although stronger than her, was currently boasted by the bloodlust and was relying on that to slimy avoid Vince and Casey. 

The two wolves faced one another, one grey with crimson silver eyes and the other brown with red eyes.

"Shit!" cussed Vince and took off running towards their direction.

Vince didn't manage to get close to them at all. The invisible wall was activated yet again. His patience was more than worn out then as he watched the two wolves facing each other.

He wanted to ask, just who had made that damnable place?!

What they didn't realize, when Trudy shifted, the plate she had been holding fell and floated up to the position the pseudo alpha's symbol was before.

Casey caught up to Vince, said unhurriedly, "Again, huh? This is different from before, though. It seems like the winner takes all match, do you think it's like that?"

Vince was too worried to spare Casey a response. Although the way Casey phrased it was appalling, what he said made sense.

The question then remained, what were they fighting for? What was the price at the end of the game?

He looked at the plate floating above, the light same as moonlight radiating from it and was quite puzzled.

When he saw it, he had thought it was the real alpha's symbol, but from the looks of it, it wasn't.

They'd stumbled upon a pseudo alpha's symbol, then a plate that had the appearance of an Alpha's symbol but wasn't, the ritual, and now, two alphas were locked together to fight perhaps to the death for some price at the end.

For what purpose?

What on earth was on the building that so many things occurred in it?

The two wolves facing each other were completely unaware they were locked in. While Trudy seemed to be on her right mind, there was a subtle change in her posture, and Kristensen wasn't as completely unaware of it as she had been before.

Trudy and Kristensen faced off, seemingly sizing each other, Vince and Casey watched with growing concern. The intensity of the situation wasn't lost on them, and they'd reached an unspoken truce.

Trudy, fueled by the subtle determination to prove herself and Kristensen, consumed by the bloodlust, circled each other, their eyes locked in a battle of wills.

With every passing moment, the tension in the air grew thicker, and Vince and Casey knew they had to act fast to prevent the worst-case scenario coming true. 

"Trudy, what the hell are you doing?" Vince shouted, his voice laced with urgency. "Don't act out now. She's not in her right mind..!"

But his words fell on deaf ears as Trudy remained locked in a fierce stare down with Kristensen. It was as though she was lost in a trance - the feeling was close to when she awakened as an alpha and looked at the people around her then.

They bowed to her willingly or not. The fear of her on them was instinctive, and she realized what it meant to be an alpha for the first time.

"Trudy!!!" Vince roared loudly, his voice vibrating with power.

It was the first time since arriving in The Camp that he used his power. In actuality, Vince hated the classes more than anyone else and never believed in using being an alpha to have his way.

Yet, in that moment, he went against his principles.

Casey couldn't sit still either realizing the direness of the situation. He took a different approach, with a swift move, he retrieved a small vial from his pocket and uncorked it, releasing a sweet scent into the air.

The potent scent cut through the tension like a knife.

For a moment, as Kristensen caught the familiar scent, she seemed to hesitate, her eyes flickering with uncertainty. The scent of the desert-rose penetrated through the haze of the bloodlust, bringing the memories closer to the surface.

But before Vince and Casey could breathe a sigh of relief, the standoff took a sudden turn. With a fierce growl, Kristensen lunged at Trudy, her claws extended and teeth bared in a ferocious snarl.

Trudy, caught off guard by the sudden attack, barely managed to avoid Kristensen's onslaught. With lightining-fast reflexes, she dogded to the side, narrowly avoiding the razor-sharp claws that swiped at her.

Vince and Casey sprang into action, forgetting about the obstacle in front of them and where bounced back. They could only watch helplessly as the two wolves two at each without sparing any effort.

The blood they split fell to the ground and disappeared without a trace.

All of them didn't notice.

As the battle raged on, Trudy and Kristensen danced around one another, their movements fluid and graceful yet tinged with the raw power of their wolf forms. Each swipe and dodge was executed with precision as though their lives were up for grabs.

Amidst the heart gripping tension both Vince and Casey went through, they saw a glimmer of hope they clutched on as Kristensen's movements became less erratic.

The potion Casey thrown into the air seemed to grow stronger, gradually chipping away at Kristensen's bloodlust-fueled aggression.

It was as though a veil had been lifted off from her mind, and she slowed her attacking to more defending.

Trudy, sensing the shift in Kristensen's demeanor, redoubled her efforts to subdue her. With renewed determination, she pressed forward, her movements precise and calculated.

And then, in a sudden moment of clarity, Kristensen stopped. Her eyes, once ablaze with killing intent, as she looked at Trudy with confusion.

Once her eyes cleared, it didn't take long for her to fall down as she turned back to her human form. She held her head as she stared at Trudy with confusion and worry.

"Trudy?" she murmured, her voice so low they all caught only thanks to their supreme hearing. 

Trudy hesitated for a moment before responding. "You... you're alright?"

Kristensen nodded slowly, the last remnants of the bloodlust fading away like the mist in the morning sun.

"I... what happened? Where am I? Why were we fighting?"