One Deadly Bite

Chapter 5

I imagined his wolf instincts overtaking his human ones, changing Callum into something harder and primal. Unless he actually Shifted, he’d keep his human appearance, but I knew better than anyone that smooth skin, sandy hair, and slightly upturned lips meant nothing. Wolves in sheepskin had nothing on werewolves masquerading as men; shape-shifters were dangerous when their beasts were loose on the inside but contained on the surface. As wolves, they were hunters. In human form, they could be deadly.

Come out, come out, wherever you are, little one. No sense hiding from the Big Bad Wolf. I’ll always find you in the end. …

I looked at Aly and she held my hand tightly and said,” This is your first fight, baby girl. I know that you think that you are more than capable enough to fight a werewolf but he has got advantages that you have not and those are visible advantages. So never ever think about ethics when you are fighting. Play right down and dirty and don’t recall any of the bad memories at all.”

The duel I had with Forgeir Dreamseeker was hard, but fast.

He bested me easily, tossing my axe out of my hands with a flick of his blade.

"Again," I whispered to him as he helped me up from the floor of the tunnel.

We were fighting in the common lands that all races used for their marketing and trading, and we were with friends in the great square-shaped tunnel that slanted out of the cliff face.

"We go again," I said, and he looked at me, surprised.

Forgeir was a barbarian from the north. He had hair the color of warm mud, and a thick tattooed line of blue that ran under both eyes. He stood probably four feet above me, and his thigh was as thick as my chest. But most striking about Forgeir was the deep scar that ran from his forehead, over his foggy right eye, down to his jawbone. I could only wonder at what beast had caused such a thick wound. Or had it been a man?

A woman?

"Alright," he said quietly, then he struck up a fighting stance.

I ran at him, but he dodged, a maneuver I myself still struggled to learn in training sessions. Forgeir was far ahead of me as a warrior, my superior in all things. I landed against the far wall with a thud, not having been able to stop my quick pace. And up behind me he came, his blade flat against my back, his weight pressing me into the warm stone.

"Do ye yield, darkling?"

I paused, then finally nodded. And Forgeir chuckled. And he turned his back to me, waving to our friends that he had won yet again.

I am human

Never turn your back on a human you think you have beaten.

My hands were about his neck quicker than he could think, and my legs were pulling his strong arms away from his chest, to tuck the elbows with my heels behind his back. He was powerless, gasping in my grasp. I was weak, but I had him effectively pinioned beneath my small agile body.

I put my dark lips to his helm, in the vicinity of his ear.

"Do ye yield, barbarian?"

The whisper was quick and fervent. I knew I had to give no quarter, allow him to time to rethink this. I had to work on surprise and doubt.

And it worked. He yielded. And I leapt down from his back, backing away, axe in hand and ready for his retaliation.

Forgeir looked at me, and laughed. And the laugh made his one good eye sparkle. His thick lips went up in a smile between his moustache and beard, and I stood straight, staring at him.

"You are a wily one, girl! You've so much to learn, but I hope you never forget to be so dominant and determined when it comes to real battle!"

And I recalled that. That had not been an easy fight but I had fought him and now it was time for this boy named Jack to learn his lesson.

“Thanks, Aly,” I said. My adoptive Mom Aly was three months pregnant and since she was a human like me but her pregnancy was progressing faster than human pregnancies she was kept almost under lock and key but she was also a wily one like me.

When I reached the clearing, the boys were already there, so was Macbeth and Shera. They came towards me and said,” Rose, I can fight for you. You can just name me as your champion. You know that it is allowed right?”

I smiled at Macbeth. I loved him just for this. He was always there when I needed him and even when I did not need him.

“I know Mac, but this is a fight that I need to win for myself. You can act as my second and don’t worry. He is going down against me in the first five minutes. A lot of money is riding on it,” I said and Shera said,” babe you are doing this for me, I cannot tell you how that makes me feel. I am feeling so ashamed you have no idea. And at the same time I am grateful as well.”

“Hey you there. b***h. Wanna do this or you will keep on sucking your thumbs like the baby you are..or you can say that you are too scared to fight and then we can all forget this whole thing and go away. No one gets hurt as well, what do you say to that?”

“I say that I will break three more bones of yours for this reason and then I can go back to finishing what I was doing.”

And with that Jack came forward as he was almost going to change when Callum said,” You cannot fight with her if you shift to a wolf. That makes Rossetta winner by default.”

And immediately Jack stopped. He had not even noticed that his alpha was standing there and immediately there was a shift in the air and he gulped down and looked at Rose who beckoned him. The first punch that he tried placing on me was misplaced and I punched him in the ribs so hard that I was certain that they heard that it might have cracked.