Page 14 of Blood Pearl
AURORA
I sense Gerry has left. Aztec is alert, also studying who is around us and what we can do about our situation.
My pack sees me walking into the center of the camp and quickly fights to stand beside me. The rogue Alpha is standing, looking more amused than upset at an interloper invading his camp.
“Now, who do we have here?” The Alpha asks as he stands with his legs apart, folding his arms over his chest. “I don’t usually have to ask twice!”
“As I told you before, I’m your worst nightmare. I am here to haunt your steps. Bring down your disgusting pack of rogues. You’ve had enough freeloading from others. It’s time you paid the price.” I snarl, with Aztec giving me some of her voice to show it is a threat.
Before anyone can say anything more, a she-wolf steps forward, giving the Alpha a look that tells me this has to have been his Luna, the one he just rejected for Wynona. She has the stink of rogue and looks like she needs to be groomed.
“I know who you are. You are the Alpha from the Blood Pearl Pack. Alpha Aurora.”
“And you are?” I ask, giving her a lifted eyebrow and a scrunched-up nose, showing she stinks and is insignificant to me.
“I’m Fragina Stonewalker and was a pack member of Wolfsfoot.”
“Well, it’s not good crowing about it because now you are a rogue. You know, a filthy, low-life, and a coward to boot.” I goad her as I heard about the incident she caused, and I know she’s a nobody when it comes down to it.
“I challenge you to the death, bitch,” Fragina snarls.
I can see she is looking at the Alpha from the corner of her eye. I also see he’s not giving a care that she has issued a death challenge. That has to hurt!
“I accept!”
Fragina’s face loses all color, and she looks at her Alpha fully. Not seeing what she’d hoped to see, I’m sure, as he gave a nod before walking to a chair that looks more like a throne with the high back and broad arms.
My pack spreads out around the fighting circle the rogues are forming. I can see the gleam in the rogues’ eyes at the thought of a fight to the death. Sickening is what it is, and they are all going to be put down like rabid dogs if I get the opportunity.
Shaking my arms, with more of a demonstrative show about it than a real warm up. I know I can take this bitch down in two moves, and I intend to do just that because why waste energy on something that will always be trash.
The male pack members are no longer here. They were taken back to their cells, but they’ve seen me and know something is afoot. I received looks of joy from them as they were led away. I won’t let them down. I'll do whatever I have to do to get them out of this place.
The Alpha shouts, “Fight!”
My eyes never leave Fragina, who is circling me, but I stand calmly in the center of this fighting circle and wait. She’ll make her move and then I’ll take her down.
Fragina makes the move I expected. She circles behind me and in what she thinks is my blind spot, she lunges. Unknown to her, Wynona is looking at me and her right hand along her thigh flicks, which is a signal a threat is attacking from behind.
I drop into a crouch, flick onto my side before rolling out of the way of Fragina, who has gone over the top of me, not able to stop her forward momentum.
Springing, I grab her around the neck, slamming her back into the dirt and tightening my hold. She claws at my arms, trying to get me to let go of her, but I put my strength into my arms and she quickly starts to lose consciousness.
Grinning up at the Alpha, I lift a hand and tweak Fragina’s nose, making a honking sound as I do. My she-wolves laugh loudly, but I can see they are alert to what is happening around me.
A she-wolf runs into the center and flies toward me, not giving me much time to react, but Wynona doesn’t have that issue, and flies across to step in front of the woman. It isn’t until the woman speaks and I look up that I see it is Izzy, a she-wolf I removed from my pack.
Snarling Izzy moves forward and everyone can see she’s on the verge of shifting, but the Alpha shouts, “No shifting, not yet anyway.”
I still have a tight hold of Fragina when Izzy makes her move, but Wynona throws a punch to her face, then takes a fighting stance, remaining between myself and Izzy.
Wynona is a great fighter and I know she can hold her own against Izzy, and so does Izzy, which is why I don’t understand about all this. She also knows she couldn’t win in a fight against me. None of this makes sense!
Wynona ducks a punch, whirls around and throws her leg out and up, using her heel to hit Izzy in her face. We all hear the crunching sound as Izzy’s nose breaks.
I put a little more into the strangle hold I have on Fragina and she becomes unconscious. Lying her down on the ground, I slowly stand and watch Wynona make her last move and Izzy drops to the ground. Another of this rogue Alpha’s she-wolves is unconscious and useless.
Turning, I place my back against Wynona’s, giving each other cover in case of an attack by the rogues. My pack quickly breaks from the circle and stands with their back to the center. We all quickly form a fighting circle, and the stance tells everyone here that we are not weak, and we are not worried about fighting or dying.