Chapter 34: The Challenge
Larkin
I felt the pounding of my heart, as I tried to push all the noise out. I took a deep breath as I watched someone from Harvest Moon pass out clothes for everyone, they were smart to think of that. I took another deep breath and watched as everyone circled up around me. My father stood there, not a hair out of place, with an unreadable expression, but I knew he wasn’t nervous. No part of him thought he would lose, and I knew that would be his downfall.
Another breath, and I watched as my father made eye contact with someone to his left. I followed his line of sight and watched as a shirtless Griffin walked up to him. He was covered in blood, which didn’t surprise me as he relished in his brutality. I hated to think about whose blood he was wearing.
My father threw a rag his way and had him wipe off the blood. He then spoke hushed words to Griffin, and a beat later Griffin was making his way towards me.
“Alpha wants to know who your second is, I’ll be serving as his.” I looked behind me and made eye contact with James who gave me a slight nod and stepped up beside me.
“Anderson?” Griffin scoffed, "What a joke.” He made his way back to the other side, laughing at us as he walked backward to continue taunting us.
‘That bastard, he’s in for a big surprise,’ Flint was ready, and I felt him just on the surface, prepared to give me all of his strength for this fight.
My father unbuttoned his dress shirt and handed it to Griffin. Even at 50 years old, he was a fit man, and while he didn’t fight much nowadays, he had always been known as a formidable warrior. I didn’t fear him though, what I feared was letting him continue to leave destruction in his wake.
My father raised his hand to silence the crowd, “Larkin Novak has decided to challenge me for my position as Alpha. The fight will last until only one is left standing, whether by death or through forfeit. Our seconds, Beta Griffin and James Anderson are here to serve as our official witnesses. Let’s Begin.” He trained his cold eyes on me, and I could feel the hatred radiating off of him.
I glanced once more at Nora, and she gave me a nod while placing her right hand over her heart. She believed in me, and that was all that Flint and I needed.
‘Start slow, let him think he has the upper hand.’
I slipped off my shirt, handing it to James, and brushed my hair back as I walked to the center of the circle where my father waited. He got into a fighting stance and gave me a come-at-me motion as he chuckled.
I quickly lunged at him before I changed my mind, and he blocked my attack. I turned around rushing at him again. This time, I got a hit on his shoulder, but he quickly retaliated and swung at my face, knocking me down. I tasted blood and wiped at my mouth, staying down longer than necessary.
He laughed and got into his stance again. “I always knew you were weak, now everyone can see just how pathetic you really are.”
’Good, let him keep thinking you’re weak.” I stood up and got back into my fighting stance, this time I hoped he came at me first, and he didn’t disappoint. He swung at my stomach, a cheap shot that doubled me over and left me winded. He kicked me while I was down, which I should have expected. As I coughed on the floor, my father lifted his hands making a turn for his audience, hoping for their accolades, but none came. The crowd silently watched with bated breath, everyone seemed too nervous to make a sound.
I stood once more, and my father gave me another smirk, still seeming to think there was something funny about this fight.
‘Flint?’
‘Not yet, let him get one more hit in…’
Again, I moved toward my Father, but I managed to give him a weak punch. He laughed louder this time. “Is that all you’ve got!” He taunted, “I’ve seen toddlers hit harder than that.” I swung out again, and we threw a series of punches, with both of us missing as the other dodged the blows.
‘Keep going, he’s getting tired.’
We continued our dance with neither one really getting any hits in, but after a while, my father reared back and threw an unexpected kick at my face. I flew landing hard on my back, and I heard a gasp ring out through the crowd. My ears were ringing at the shock of landing so hard, but I knew this wasn’t my end.
‘Now, Larkin, it’s time.’
With those words, Flint took over, and I finally, after all of these years, let my full aura out. The crowd once more gasped as they struggled to keep their heads up, needing to bow before their Alpha.
The man before me, why bother calling him my father any longer, narrowed his eyes at me, his wolf was raging inside of him. It was my turn to smirk, and this time, when I lunged at him, I didn’t hold back. My fist landed square on his jaw, pushing him back a step, and I didn’t miss a beat when I swung out my other first, following up with a blow to his chin. He stumbled back dazed, and I followed him, continuing to pummel his face. I let out my rage on the man who was supposed to love me but held only hatred in his heart.
He growled out his fury and pushed me back with his last remaining ounce of strength. We rolled around, each trying to get the other to submit, but neither of us was willing to stop. I managed to get one more hit on his back, but before I could do more, he shifted into his tan wolf and rammed into me, leaving me breathless once more.
That hit was harder than the last one, and I felt every ache as my muscles screamed out for me to stop.
'Not yet, Larkin. We can do this, give me control, I can end this for us.” Flint came to the forefront as my limbs bent and shifted. Flint stood just slightly taller than Champion. The wolves circled each other twice before Champion launched himself our way. Instead of holding back, Flint ran towards him, and the two crashed into a tangle of claws and snapping jaws. Champion pushed at Flint and swiped his claws into our side. It stung, but not enough to really matter.
Champion came at us from the other side, and Flint snapped at his hind leg, managing to grab it between his teeth. A snap sounded out as Champion whined in pain. I thought the injury would slow him down, but it only served to anger him more. He bit down on my shoulder, letting out a loud growl as he clamped down with all of his might. Pain surged through me, but it wasn’t enough to keep me down. I shook him off and pushed him back, landing in a heap on top of him. He whined once more as his leg bent wrong, and we started up again in a tangle of limbs. We got too close to the crowd, and they scooted back to give us more room.
Champion was struggling without the use of his back leg, and Flint used that to our advantage as he swiped a claw down his back, digging in as deeply as possible. He used the momentum to push Champion down and put the weight of his paw down on his neck.
‘Submit!’
Champion's laughter echoed through the mind link. ‘I knew you didn’t have it in you to kill me.'
Flint didn’t take the bait and kept his tone firm. ‘Submit.’ Speaking more softly than he did the first time.
‘Never, you’ll have to kill me.’
‘Then so be it.’ Without a second though, Flint swiped his claws over his throat, cutting just deep enough for him to bleed out but not die instantly. He didn’t deserve a swift death.
As the blood left his body, he shifted back to his human form, too weak to remain a wolf. I too shifted and saw as James rushed over to me and handed me the clothes he kept in his hands. My shoulder hurt but the adrenaline coursing through me sustained me.
The crowd was silent as they watched Griffin run over to their former Alpha. He bent down, likely checking for a pulse. His mouth filled with blood as he coughed weakly. I saw as he used his last bit of remaining strength to give one last command to Griffin before landing his eye on me. He gave me a grin and breathed his last, his hand falling limply at his side.
The crowd watched on in disbelief, but before long the Harvest Moon side erupted into a fit of cheers. James patted me on the shoulder and I was jolted back into reality by the tingles I felt as my mate ran into my arms.
“You did it, I knew you could, Larkin. We’re free…we’re free now, Larkin.”
Rory
He was dead. He was actually dead. I couldn’t help but stare down at the lifeless body of the man I once called father. I had never felt more relieved in my life. I felt like I was floating and free, and my peace knew no bounds.
Unfortunately, that peace was short-lived as I saw Beta Griffin rushing toward the pack house with a group of men. In the chaos of our celebration, we had forgotten about the Wildfire members who were loyal to my father, and they had somehow gotten torches and were lighting them up.
“Larkin! I yelled as loudly as I could, trying to reach my brother through the crowd.
My yell quieted the crowd enough for us to hear as Beta Griffin shouted out to us.
“Would you like to know your father’s last words!?” He lifted his torch high into the air, “Burn it all down. He used his final breath to tell me to burn it all down. Let’s see you be an Alpha with no pack.” Beta Griffin and the other warriors touched their torches to the pack house and ran toward the woods, lighting up everything in their path.
‘Phoenix! Mom and Sheila are still in her room. We have to save them.’ Without another thought, I rushed to the pack house. I couldn’t let my mom die like this.
Gema
I saw Rory rush into the pack house, and I knew I needed to go after her.
“Gema, no!” Noah called after me.
‘I’m sorry, I can’t let her rush in there by herself. I promise I’ll be safe.’
I easily caught up to Rory, and I followed her up the stairs. The fire hadn’t reached the top floors yet, but the bottom floor was quickly filling with smoke. We had to hurry.
“Gema, you shouldn’t be here.” Her eyes filled with guilt and she shook her head.
“Well, neither should you, but I couldn't let you rush into a burning building alone.”
“I know, it’s just that my mom is still here. We need to get her out.”
We continued up the stairs, quickly reaching the Alpha floor, and rushed into the room where Clarissa and Sheila waited.
“Rory, you're here. Did he win?”
“Yes, Mom, but there’s no time to talk. The house is on fire, we have to leave.” Sheila quickly moved into action, swiping some of the blankets from the couch and wrapping one around Clarissa’s shoulders. “Let’s go.”
We ran back down the stairs, and by the time we reached the second floor, the smoke had climbed up.
“Hurry! This way!”
‘Gem, what’s taking so long?’ Noah called out through our link.
‘We’re heading down, but the smoke is getting too thick.’
‘Fuck, Gema, I’m coming in.’
‘No, we have it under control.’ We reached the bottom floor. The heat felt overwhelming here, but we pushed forward. Right as we turned the corner, a beam fell in front of Clarissa, knocking her to the ground.
“Mom!”
She groaned from the pain, and another beam fell behind us. "We have to move, grab her, we’ll carry her together." Rory did as I said, and we pulled her mother along with us.
We were close to the entrance, and as we opened the door, Noah rushed our way.
“Gema, here, I’ll take her.” We moved far enough away from the fire and set Clarissa down. Sheila and Rory rushed over to her, and the medical crew was called over.
Noah pulled me away from them, “Don’t you ever do that to me again? Good Goddess, woman, you can’t just run into a burning building.”
“I know, I know. I’ll never do that again, I promise.”
“Gema!” Rory rushed up, hugging me, having left the medical team to help her mother. “Thank you! You saved my mom. I'm so glad you're here.”
“I'm glad, too, Rory.” It had been a long day, and we stayed in the hug just a moment longer as I sensed we both needed it. We were a sweaty, smoke-covered mess, but we didn't care.
“There’s Cristian," Noah pointed out, "I’m sure he’s on his way to tell you how stupid it was to run into a fire like that.” I groaned, knowing Noah was right.
“Gema, he’s my mate.” Rory stared out at my brother.
“What?” I looked back at Cristian, unsure of whether I understood Rory correctly.
He slowly walked our way, looking unsure of himself, almost nervous. Before he made it to us, a flash of blonde rushed up to him.
“Cristian, you’re okay!” Evie threw herself into my brother’s arms and planted a big kiss right on his lips. A loud cry of pain had me looking back towards Rory, who covered her face as the tears streamed down her face. Before I could say anything, she ran. I was left in shock as I looked back at my brother who had shoved Evie away from him...but it was too late. The damage had been done.