In the Alpha's Possession

Chapter Eight- A Duel Between Wolves

“In both light and darkness danger looms while waiting for it’s prey, while some of us are unaware we are no longer the hunter”

With the full moon at its height in the sky, both wolves set forth to duel made their way onto the battlefield comprised of an empty lot and a set of onlookers brought present as witnesses. Among these souls had been Astrid and Lavender, who looked on in support of Drew, while his opponent had two women on his side as well. Drew’s opponent held the same arrogance as the alpha, only given without the title to back him. But it was clear that the gaze that the two men shared had been one of years in the making-not done just once for fun or for sport. Kayden stood with thick blonde hair that curled just over his eyes with dark green eyes that pierced through the darkness and to his rival. A wicked smile marked by nearly blinding teeth, perfectly eerie with two fangs set in the front, looked onward to the man who he had asked to fight against. He stood the same height as Drew, and near his same build, but was not present with the tattoos that Drew had upon his torso. A detail that Lavender knew all too well. 

“The rules are simple…” An intermediate party spoke upon holding a stopwatch within his grasp. “You are to transition, make your way to face each other, and are given one hour to bring the other to death-” Both Astrid and Lavender became uptight at this as they were worried that Drew didn’t hold the emotional capabilities to take a previous ally’s life-even if Lavender was without the full understanding of just what it was that had made Kayden so threatening to him. “A beta from each side is to come forward now…” The man spoke as Astrid was the one from Drew’s side and an unnamed female of strikingly dark features came forward from Kayden’s side. “You are to watch for death on the opponent of your alpha...you cannot intervene...and it will commence…” The man prepared himself for the ordeal that was about to take place. Although Lavender wasn’t fond of Drew in their first meeting, she began to admire the fact that he had been so kind as of late. He was selfless and growing in this attribute with each passing day-even as he tried to hide it. So the thought of him standing up to his potential death was something unwelcome in her mind-but something she was forced to watch as it was customary. 

Astrid looked back to Lavender for a single second before focusing on Kayden, as the other woman on Kayden’s side had done the same, but to Drew. Lavender remained in the line of the trees to be out of the vicinity of the battle-but still close enough to see and hear everything exchanged. Her heart began to pound in anticipation to hearing the referee-for lack of a better label, begin the match. 

“Now!” The man spoke as Drew’s fingers pulled his shirt off over his shoulders and onto the ground before him. He removed his belt and remained in only his boxers before falling onto all fours. Kayden’s transformation had been similar-although, he had begun with his pants and ended with his top. Both men had altered their appearances from human to lycans in a matter of moments, resulting in the beginning of their battle to be set from the minute all four paws made contact to the ground. In this form, it was clear as to who the alpha had been due to the size of the beast himself, but the determination in his rival was enough to easily counter how big this dog’s bite had been. 

The fight began with the wolves circling each other, waiting for the other one to make the move, before the sudden launch of Kayden set Drew in a downward positioning. Kayden moved direction for the jugular, his teeth shining against the reflection of the moonlight as he dug his jaw into Drew’s skin, enough to make him yelp. The moment only lasted for a second, however, as Drew gained the upper hand rather quickly and set his attention on his foe’s paws. Knowing it would be difficult to remain upright, he took Kayden’s paw within his jaw and bit down until the wailing howl of an injury could be heard by Kayden. But just as the scene began to grow intense and Lavender was at the end of her proverbial seat, a sudden hand made its way across her mouth and pulled her into the back of the woods. 

She was unable to do anything but be taken by what appeared to be the forest itself, until she came to the realization that a figure was pulling her by himself. The figure had stood at six and a half feet tall with muscles easily capable of lifting a car-let alone her. He held her in such a way that she could not transition or even call for her-she was just left to be the victim to her captor. The figure that kept her against him had done so in swift motions, unaware that the sound of his steps could be heard by Drew. 

Abandoning the duel that he had been winning as of this moment, Drew focused on his potential mate, following her scent, and leading himself into the woods to chase after her. The man was a few hundred steps ahead, enough to make Drew have to struggle to keep up with them. As he saw the fear in Lavender’s eyes, he knew he had to focus on freeing her from the clutches of her captor as this had dug into his heart unlike any other pain he had experienced before this. Just as the man was about to load her into a truck waiting at a darkened interstate rarely used by the public, he took hold of the man’s leg with his teeth-biting down hard to make him release Lavender. This worked, but only for her to fall into the hands of the driver of the car and her body be forced into the back seat which had a cage like a police car to keep her from escaping. Drew found himself three to one, with a third man making his way from the car. Drew did not want to draw blood unless it was necessary, but with Lavender having been forced away at any moment if someone were to reach the car before he could get to them-and so he saw strictly red. 

In a matter of moments, his vicious rapid-like motions had attracted the fear of the men-unaware of the capability of this creature. It was clear by their scent that they were not fellow lycans-but instead hunters who would certainly kill anyone holding a shapeshifting ability. Because of this, he knew the only way to stop them from continuously coming back to hunt them would be if he could end their lives then and there-but there would be repercussions. But in this specific moment, Drew didn’t care of anything except protecting Lavender, and so he led his attention to the man closest to the car, biting everything in sight, before moving on to the next person-doing so until they no longer held motion in any of their appendages. As he made his way to release Lavender from the car, he stepped over the lifeless bodies of his victims-each one having been left to bleed out by a wound caused by Drew. Lavender saw this as the door opened via Drew’s nose pushing it upward, and his focus remaining upon Lavender. He seemed timid, as if having been caught chewing on a piece of furniture-and stayed at a safe distance away from her as she saw the scene before her. 

As her feet connected to the ground, she focused her attention onto the bloodbath upon the floor, taken aback by the fact that Drew had taken lives for her-to protect her. It still showed in the way he was sheepish with her, fearful she would grow angry with him. Wanting to thank him, she moved to her knees, just off the road to where the bodies laid, and began to pet him. He let out a soft whimper before moving his head into her, showing his gratitude for her response to him having to protect her. 

The moment ended as he began to stretch in changing back to his human form. Not wanting to frighten her with his nude appearance, she turned her focus from him as he moved behind a tree to keep himself concealed from her. Luckily, a blanket in the back of the car that tried to kidnap her, was able to cover him to where he could then bring her back to the safety of his home. They walked until morning to reach his home, finding Astrid livid upon seeing them both walk in. 

“I get you two have this incredibly emotional bond and whatever, but you have put us all in the s**t!” Astrid spoke, speaking expletives beneath her breath while pacing back and forth. 

“Lavender, you should get some rest…” He spoke while motioning for her to leave as she did as requested, not wanting to anger him or have him regret saving her. But as he thought she had ascended the stairs to obey him, she lingered at the wall to continue listening in on the conversation. 

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

“What was I supposed to do? Let them kill her?”

“Is it worth all the wrath and bullshit that is going to come down on us because of it?” He didn’t respond, only moved towards the lower basement and attempted to ignore her. “What is it about that girl that has you losing all sense of reason?!”

“Astrid, do I need to remind you to tread carefully?”

“I have a right to know.”

“No. You have no right to anything-You are here because of my mercy, not because of my personal feelings. In regards to Lavender, you and I have nothing to discuss on the matter. Let me be.” He spoke while making his way into his own chambers to expel the events of the day. Although death would be the answer to ‘a life for a life’ in regards to hunters against lycans, he saw it as a problem for another day-whereas Lavender couldn’t sleep because of it.