Running with Rogues

This chapter is dedicated to LittleLone抖阴社区rGirl, BenevolentMyths and PhoenixCrisin for being absolute fiends (and for providing some excellent motivation for me finish this chapter, even if their methods were somewhat ... unconventional) 😂.

The pack had been watching in eerie silence from the moment Micah had said 'shift.' Now they broke into a chorus of noise loud enough to make me wince. Most of it was murmuring. It was news to them, too, and they were a good deal more excited about it than Micah was.

Liam could have attacked him then. It would have been no small advantage to have Micah reeling from the enormity of it. But he stood where he was. I wondered if it was honour or misery keeping him there. One hand went to his belt buckle and loosened it - a polite reminder that he still intended to shift.

"Hey, Micah," Liam murmured. "It's been a while."

"Yes. Yes, it has," Micah agreed. "You should have stayed dead."

There was a strange peace in Micah now. He understood why he was being challenged and why this random fighter had a wolf strong enough to rival his. He too pulled his shirt over his head and discarded it, ready for the shift.

The figure beside the car had ventured closer since I'd last looked. Nia Llewellyn was leaning against the trunk of a huge beech tree. Her hood was up, her hands were in her pockets, and her eyes were fixed on me. She gave me a slow, lazy wink.

"Where we're standing right now ... it's where Mason killed Adrian. But you already know that, don't you?" Micah said. "It's only fitting, I suppose, that you die here too."

Liam shifted. Micah was almost as quick in following his example. The two silver-grey wolves came together head-on, snapping and snarling. It was as ruthless a fight as I'd ever seen. In the seconds it took them to break apart, both of their pelts were splattered with blood.

And if I'd thought fights in human form were quick, then this was another world altogether. When wolves fought, skill and strength were important, yes, but so was luck. Fights often ended in the first few seconds just because someone got lucky and found their opponent's throat.

The longer it went on, the more certain you could be that the fighters were evenly matched. The two wolves rolled head over heels, locked at the jaws, and I could barely tell which was Liam.

The flockies moved back to make space for them. At some point, Lin and the other girls had found their feet and crept backwards. My legs made the decision to join them of their own accord when the two massive wolves lurched a little too close.

Across the lawn, I saw Nia close her eyes. It wasn't going to be easy for her today. There was a lot of distance between them, and I was willing to bet Micah had his walls up. I would have no way of knowing if she was succeeding or not, but Goddess, I hoped she would.

Because the fight wasn't going all that well. Micah had pinned Liam down. His jaws were clamped around Liam's muzzle, holding him in place, and I could see him working up his nerve to let go and lunge for his throat instead. It was a risky thing to do. But Micah was probably dumb enough to try it.

I felt sick. Like, physically sick. And I was having to fight the urge to bend over and start retching, even though I knew it was just because I was terrified for Liam. All he could do right then was kick at Micah's belly with his hind legs and growl.

Micah used his weight to crush Liam further into the ground. And then he just lay there, panting heavily. If he was waiting for a submission, he was going to be waiting a very long time. He hadn't won. Not even close. And if he felt like he needed to snatch a break like this, then he couldn't have been too confident about the fight going his way. Looking at him now, I could see that his ear was torn, there was a chunk missing from his shoulder, and one of his eyes was closed tight and dripping blood.