I’m at home, in my pack. It’s the day of my Alpha ceremony. I turned 18 several months ago. My father wanted to give me time to find my mate, but after traveling to nearly every pack in the country, I haven’t found her.
He finally agreed to make me Alpha, knowing I would continue to be exposed to other packs and would have an opportunity to find my mate. So, here we are, standing on the stage in front of our pack, my mother and younger brother are standing proudly behind us as my father begins the ceremony. Hundreds of our pack members are in attendance. It’s not every day that a new Alpha is sworn in. Every pack member will swear their allegiance to me, their new Alpha.
As my father says the words, cutting my hand with the ceremonial blade, they come, the hunters. They shoot arrows laced with wolfsbane, and bullets made from silver. My father, our warriors and I all shift and begin fighting. They must have killed our patrols, otherwise the howl of alarm would have given us notice. But we had none. They planned this, perfectly.
Every available wolf in my pack is here at the ceremony. I begin tearing through the hunters. If we can get to them, they are no match for our strength and speed, but we have to get to them. The guns and arrows are making it difficult, and I see wolves falling all around me. Most are not dead, they are injured, unconscious and shifting back to their human forms.
At some point through the fighting, I realize that they are handcuffing the injured with silver, keeping them from healing. They think they can take my pack members for their experiments.
With furious energy, I begin ripping the hunters apart. I hear screams and wails all around me, but one in particular catches my attention. I whip my head around just in time to see my mother’s throat sliced by a hunter. My father is fighting several hunters, but at the moment that her life slips away, he falters, and the hunters take him down. I howl a wail of pain and grief. The pack joins in and begins fighting with renewed vigor.
From the corner of my eye, I see the hunters dragging injured and unconscious wolves away. I rush forward, intending to assist when an arrow punctures my ribs, going into my lungs. I fall to the ground, but get up, continuing to run toward the hunters dragging our pack mates away. Another arrow hits my flank and I yelp in pain, coughing up blood. Again, I get up but only take another couple of steps when a third arrow hits my shoulder and the wolfsbane in my system overwhelms me and my wolf.
I snap awake, the dream causing me to jump to my feet, snarling. I look around and realize I’m in my cage under the Arena. I come back to reality, remembering that I was captured nearly a year ago and I fought today. It was a warlock and I had severe burns all over my body. I wasn’t sure I was going to win. I’m actually surprised that I’m still alive.
I turn and see Tana sitting at the bars that separate our cells. Her hand is in my cell. I look down at my body. She healed me again. It’s not the first time. I don’t know how she does it, but she is a powerful she-wolf. The most powerful she-wolf I’ve ever met.
After I take inventory of my healing wounds, I look at her and see that she has deep claw marks going from her shoulder to her hip. She was scheduled to fight after me today and she looks like she also barely won her fight. I run to the bars, taking her hand.
“Tana. Tana, can you hear me?” She has dried blood caking her entire torso and most of the front of her leather leggings. I hear a clink and I see the supe on her other side trying to steal her food while she’s unconscious.
I snarl at him, but he just smirks at me. He doesn’t realize that no one steals from Tana, not while I’m awake to protect her food. I grab a rock and swing it with all my might, breaking the shifters hand as he reaches for her food. His howl of pain means nothing to me. He is new and won’t last long. Tana has been by my side this entire time.
I can’t be sure without my full strength, but I think she must be my mate. I feel a pull to her, even without it.
I reach my hand through the bars again, tapping her face lightly. “Tana, wake up.”
She moans softly, her head turning toward me before her eyes open slowly.
“There she is.” I say, smiling at her.
She gives me a weak smile.
“You healed me again, didn’t you?” I ask her.
“You looked pretty bad, even after my fight.”
“You need to stop draining yourself to heal me, Tana. I will heal, it just takes time.”
She turns her head back, her eyes falling closed, nodding slightly.
“What can I do to help you recover?” I always ask her this. It bothers me as an Alpha male that she helps me heal, but I can’t help her.
“Keep that shit-for-brains away from my food.”
I smile, it’s good that she’s being snarky. “Already done.”
She opens her eyes, looking over at the other shifter. “Wow, you really are dumb. You tried to steal my food?”
He’s holding his broken hand in his other hand. “I’m hungry.” He whines.
“We’re all hungry, idiot. We only get fed two to three times a week in here. Haven’t you been here long enough to realize that?” Tana asks him.
She turns back to me. “Was it a warlock or a faery?” She asks me.
I cringe. For her to know it was one or the other, my burns must have been bad. “Warlock.” I tell her. ”What about you?”
She sighs and I can tell she’s trying to hold back tears. Neither of us enjoys what we do. This is survival, not for fun. We’re shifters and that may mean we kill others when needed, but this is different.
“Hey, none of that.” I say, reaching out to grab her hand. “We do what we have to do to survive in here.” She and I know that better than anyone else.
“I think I killed the last Kodiak bear shifter alive. I’m not sure if they screwed up or if they didn’t dose him enough, but he was able to partially shift.” She says, using her hand to showcase the claw marks down her torso.
“He shifted?” I ask.
“Partially.”
“And they let him continue?” I ask. This is new. Usually if they don’t dose us enough to keep us from shifting then they either kill you or they shoot you with whatever it is that keeps them weak.
“They did.”
I sit back. This isn’t good. It means that Tana is marked for death, they just need to find a shifter strong enough to do it.
“We need to get out of here.” I whisper.
She turns her head to look at me. “Yeah, did you come up with some new way to get us out of here, because we’ve been wracking our brains for months.”
I can’t let her die. I won’t. I’ve lost too many people that I care about and I refuse to lose her too.
I have no idea why Cedric is acting like suddenly there is a way for us to get out of here. We’ve tried everything we can possibly think of to escape. We’ve both tried to pull our bars apart, we’ve tried not eating the food in case it was poisoned, we’ve tried climbing the walls to get to windows or air vents. Cedric even tried shifting, but he was unable. I did too, just in case it would work, but it didn’t. Nothing has worked.The only way we’re getting out of here is if someone comes to our rescue. My family is gone, so I know no one is coming for me. Cedric felt very strongly that his pack would come to save him, but they never did. It’s not that I think they left him for dead. Based on what he’s told me, I think that they either were brought here and have died in battle, or they were taken for experimentation. In which case, they are probably dead.I know when I was captured, my family chose death over the possibility of being experimented on. We didn’t even know about the arena.
I’m pacing in my cell. They shouldn’t have taken Tana two days in a row. That has never happened in the time I’ve been here. We fight once a week, every week, but that’s it. Then we are given food and rest until the next fight.If they are taking her again, it can only mean they want her dead. She’s become a liability. I’m guessing too many high rollers have bet against her and lost too much money, putting pressure on the Commander. So now they will make sure she dies and they win.I hear the first two fights and know that it’s not the tiger or Tana. They both end too quickly. Their fights are like mine, they last at least 30 minutes, sometimes longer and we always go last. We are the big events since we are the strongest.When the fourth fight starts I hear a lot of growling and snarling. I know one is the tiger. I’ve gotten used to his sound, but I can’t quite place the other. It sounds similar but I’d be surprised if they put two tigers together. Better to have two winners in the b
I don’t know why Cedric is so damned hardheaded. I’ve been marked for death. Nothing that he does will keep me alive. If I was capable of shifting, I would have months ago and gotten everyone out of here.“Did you hear any more about that dragon shifter?” I ask him, wondering why, if they found another dragon, they weren’t in the pits today.“No, maybe it was a misunderstanding, and they were talking about the pride of lions or maybe they knocked the dragon out and they haven’t woken yet.”“Yes, but then, wouldn’t that be the fourth in our fight next weekend?” I ask.“I haven’t smelled a dragon.” Shere Khan says, looking at me meaningfully. Shit, does that mean he knows what I am?“You know what a dragon smells like?” Cedric asks him.“Yes, but unlike other shifters, they don’t share a similar scent based on their breed. It depends on their element.” He replies.“What do you mean, their element?” Cedric asks.“Do you not know anything about dragons?” He asks, looking at me again.Cedr
I can’t believe Ishir has met a dragon. They are supposed to be good luck. And that’s about all I know of dragons. His knowledge far exceeds mine. I’m hoping one day that I’ll get to meet one. I’m sure they would make a powerful ally to my pack.I have every intention of getting out of here next weekend and I’m getting Tana out as well. If Ishir is right, I’ll know when we are in the arena if she’s my mate. Even if she’s not, we’re getting her out of here. We walk back to where we usually sleep, laying down and holding hands.“The smartest move would be to get the lion to come back and open the doors for the supes. The three of us have been in the arena and know the structure, where the Commander and the other ranked members are. We know the weak spots and the best places to start the battle.”“I can go after the Commander.” Tana says. “I’ll start the fire, but the lion will need to get back down here right away. The keepers will try to take him out, so either you or Ishir will need t
When they move me, they put me in a space that looks and smells like it is where the toilets are. There is no one here except for me and the smell is so terrible I can barely breathe. There is no air flow, so breathing becomes difficult. It’s not surprising that they only give me poisoned food, not that I could eat in this literal shithole even if it wasn’t poisoned. I realize starting on Thursday that the water they give me is also poisoned. So, basically, before my battle, I can’t breathe, I have no food and no water. If I were a regular shifter, like they think I am, the lack of water would be very problematic. But as a dragon, I can go long periods without water. It’s the tainted air that’s the problem for me. What water I might be able to draw from the air is contaminated. I can’t pull enough oxygen into my lungs because of the putrid scent in the air. On Saturday morning, the keeper comes in and shoots me with some sort of dart. I didn’t expect that it would affect me, but it m
My relief is palpable when Tana finally lifts her head. I’m not sure why the water was important until she says they had poisoned that too. It sounds like the Keepers were too stupid to realize that they might actually kill her before the battle. As the arena begins to fill with fanatics, I feel my strength returning. The fresh air and the extra food this week have made a difference. I look at my hand and attempt to shift, just one claw. I see that my finger shutters with the attempt to shift, but it doesn’t happen. I feel like Tana was able to make an impact on Zaiden and hopefully he’ll follow through with his part of the deal. I feel more confident when I hear that the first battle will be with one of his female lions. Even if she wins, he’ll realize that the battle to the death is a weekly thing, not a one and done as he seemed to think. Throughout the day, I’ve watched Tana sit in what looks like a lotus style, just breathing in the air. After her ordeal this week, I’m sure she
I don’t know what the little kestrel told Ishir, but whatever it was, it nearly cost her life. I’m not surprised by the boos I receive froom the crowd, although, if these guys were smart, they would have played me up so that their odds would have been better. There’s no way they are making money if I die tonight. However, as the four of us take our stance, ready to fight, I know that none of us are dying tonight. But every spectator in this stadium will burn today. All afternoon, I’ve been soaking up the sun. I’ve been breathing in the fresh air and feeling my fire returning and burning in my gut. Unlike the others, I didn’t try to partially shift. If I had, everyone would have realized what I am. I saw Ishir watching me several times today. He knows my strength has returned. I’m not sure I can totally shift, but I can definitely breathe fire and burn these assholes alive. When the doors open, I see Cedric head toward Zaiden as planned. Ishir heads straight toward me and I run at hi
I have no idea where we are. When I was captured, they sedated me and put me in an enclosed van with no windows. We drove for what felt like days. Now, all I can see is flat lands. I need to find a mountain range where we can hide until Cedric regains consciousness and I can figure out what happened to him. Because I can’t risk being seen, I fly as high as I dare, hoping that I’m not limiting Cedric’s oxygen supply at this high altitude. I stay above the clouds until it gets dark. In the distance, I see a mountain range where I can land and look for a cave or someplace to stay for the night. I land as gently as I can, making sure Cedric doesn’t roll off my back. I shift slowly, and when I’m done, he’s practically crushing me. Gently, I roll him off me. I sniff his body, smelling silver. I look around wondering if there is anything I can use to get the silver out, but I don’t see anything. I extend a claw and slowly, carefully, begin to dig out the multiple bullets he must have taken