The Gamma's Birthright - Book 2

Both wolves are facing each other, panting heavily, coats stained with blood, it’s hard to tell the original colouring of either wolf.

Their fight had been intense and almost two hours long.

They stand fifteen feet (5 meters) apart, both knowing that the end is close, the fight had taken a heavy toll on both Toni and Alpha Joseph physically,

Tyra and Toni had given it their best, but they’d gone into this fight emotionally broken, and far from their physical best.

But it was the emotional pain that had been like an anchor that pulled at them, dragging them down, draining them.

She knew she didn’t have much more she could give before she’d break without Alpha Joseph’s help, her body felt close to collapse.

Gaping wounds litter the bodies of both wolves, skin torn leaving jagged edges that tell the story of the brutality of the fight, the ground stained from their blood, and chunks of flesh and fur strewn across their makeshift arena.

Beta Oliver and James have stood by, watching on, in increasingly shocked silence at the violence of the fight.

But as James looks on, even he, an untrained warrior, knows that Alpha Joseph is looking slightly stronger of the two combatants at this point, but both are close to exhaustion.

‘Goddess, I submit myself to your judgement, I’m ready to accept my fate’ Toni sends a silent message to the heavens.

Toni had unwittingly allowed herself to be backed into a corner, crumbling walls behind her, putting herself at a disadvantage, not able to afford the freedom of movement to avoid the next attack.

She needed him to commit to his attack so she could try to move into a better space, knowing if she moved now, he’d just harry her back and she was not sure she had the reserves left to make the sustained attack needed to fight through him into space, so she waits, conserving as much energy as possible, one last act to play out.

Alpha Joseph had never felt such weariness, even in training, the fights were never this brutal, tiring or intense, two solid hours without a break, this wolf before him had held her own in a way no other had, something he had to admire.

His desire to kill her had been quenched over the twenty-four days he’d had to wait to meet her in combat, in reality, the way she’d handled herself at the Royal pack had left him doubting his motivation, now, all he knew was that he would fight to gain her submission, then decide what was next.

Wilder, his wolf, still has fight left in him, but not for much longer, no longer fresh and bursting with energy, but then he doubts any wolf would be after the battle they had fought, on his last attack he’d managed to drive her into this area, trapping her, easier to dominate her here, it was a mistake she would rue.

He moves slightly to the right as he launches himself at her, aiming to finish this fight, hoping she will submit and not push him to commit the final step he no longer wants to take.

Tyra watches as the muscles in her opponent tense, signalling he’s committing to the attack, she readies herself to dart around him.

Beta Oliver and James stood close as Alpha Joseph made his move, sensing the end was near, they watched the final moments of this fight play out with very different feelings.

Beta Oliver was relieved that the fight would be done, that his Alpha would get his closure for whatever had been driving him into the dark place he’d been in.

He thanked the Goddess that it would soon be over.

James was concerned for his friend, he’d known that Alpha Joseph wanted a fight to the death and while before this moment he’d been worried but not concerned, now, he could see the weariness in her moves, he couldn’t bear to see his friend lose her life.

He sent a prayer to the goddess that she would be spared death.

Alpha Joseph launches himself just as an eerie howl of pain fills the area, causing him to falter briefly, his target disappears in front of him, the wolf he aimed at, now a human curled in pain on the floor, his movement was already committed, he slams into the wall which crumbles onto him.

Feeling bones break he howls in pain, all remaining fight leaving his body as he focuses on the pain of his shattered front leg.

Just as she sees Alpha Joseph leap, Toni feels the pain of the mate bond tearing, shattering, as it flares into her, ripping itself away from her, the excruciating feeling of loss overwhelms her.

No longer thinking about the fight, Tyra lets out a howl of pain and loss, before she drops away, deep into Toni’s mind, forcing a shift into human form.

All the pain she’d suffered.

All the anger she’d felt

All the people that had abandoned and turned away from her

The loss she felt from the breaking of the mate bond now that Andy had accepted her rejection, the bond broken irrevocably.

The Betrayal and pain she felt from hearing what happened to her parents.

Every bad feeling she’d locked away, every pain she’d faced in this world have come together to form a ball inside her seeking an escape.

In the heat of the moment, all her senses have turned inward, as her wolf howls in pain in the depths of her mind, she hears not one, but two extra heartbeats, her pups, shocking her into action.

No matter what, she knows she has to survive, to protect them, her wolf sinking lower to give them all the protection she can.

She’s only partially aware of her surroundings, the fight forgotten momentarily as she accepts her newfound desire to win and live for her pups and unleashes what she can only describe as feeling like a beast inside her that is demanding justice.

It’s as if Tyra is taking over, bones feel like they are breaking and reforming, but as she calls out Tyra is hidden deep in her mind, not ready to re-appear.

A surge of power seems to fill the empty spaces in her soul that held all her suppressed emotions, all her broken dreams and lost hope.

“No more” she roars into the air

Beta Oliver and James fall to their knees neck bared in submission as they feel the power emanating in the area as the words rip through the arena.

As the words left her, Toni’s focus came back to the fight and her current predicament, she dragged herself upright and looked over to where Alpha Joseph had fallen, unable to right himself from the pain of his shattered leg.

Eyes glowing a cobalt blue, she drops to a crouch beside him and grabs him by the throat.

“Submit or die”

Her words though quietly spoken carry to all those watching.

Wilder whimpers and taps his tail three times in submission, cowering before the authority in front of him.

Toni falls back onto her heels, sinking onto the ground, all the power she felt dissipated, leaving her feeling drained, power no longer pulsing through her, staring at the damaged wolf in front of her, stunned and quiet.

“It is over, justice has been served, a new line created”

The voice of the vessel rings out over the arena, it sounds different from the one that read out the prayer at the start.

There’s silence for a few minutes before the woman, Nicky, speaks again

“What happened”

A confused element to her voice, but she sounds weak as if drained of energy.

“James, help her, then I need you all here”

Words leave her mouth without thought

“Yes Alpha”

The Beta replies immediately, shocking Toni to the core.

An unwelcome reminder that she’d won the right to be named Alpha of the Lowlands pack, something she’d need to address later

“Toni let me help you tend to your injuries”

James’ voice is filled with concern, her body, even in human form, is cut and bleeding from a multitude of injuries, looking red and raw.

“Grab my cloak, for now, will you, my injuries can wait, first we need to tend to the Alpha’s leg before it starts to heal with the bones misaligned.

Beta Oliver, the Alpha knows you best, grab his head, don’t let him bite me, or I'll be pissed.”

James and Beta Oliver look at each other briefly, before the Beta holds the head and neck of Alpha Joseph and James grabs the cloak, placing it over Toni’s naked, but injured form.

As she felt down Alpha Joseph’s leg, she heard his growls and whimpers, he had broken it in several places, but as long as they were aligned, they all should be repaired on a shift, broken in places that would naturally break during a shift.

At the moment, they are displaced and unless she can align them a shift will make the breaks worse

“James, I need you to hold him over his shoulder here, arm under his front leg”

Toni makes sure he’s holding tight.

“Nicky”

She calls, finally remembering the vessel’s name,

“I need you to lean across his flank, put your weight on his ass, and keep it on the floor”

She waits until all are in position before looking at the Alpha Wolf in the eye, he’s snarling at her, knowing she’s about to hurt him.

“This is for your own good Alpha and don’t you dare think about biting anyone”

Thankful for the medical knowledge her father had passed on, so she could self-treat most injuries, she never assumed it would be used to help her opponents.

Starting from the top of his leg, she moves down, keeping his leg under tension and aligning the bones as she works her way down.

Wilder turns into a snarling angry wolf, snapping at his Beta, trying to rake his claws at Toni, the pain intensifying, but it isn’t over yet.

The biggest person at risk is his Beta, who has the head end to deal with, something Toni can live with currently.

Finally happy with the placement, his leg still held under tension, and she issued her first command since the win.

“Alpha Joseph, you will do exactly as I am about to tell you, nothing more.

You will shift your left front paw into its human form and only that limb, it will hurt, but suck it up and deal with it.

Shift now”

He howls in pain as he does as he’s commanded, but with his leg under tension, she knows it will increase the pain he feels, bones not being able to move as they want to during the shift, but as Toni is forcing them to, but in reality, it’s forcing his body to use the shift to repair itself.

Checking his arm once it was in human form, she was satisfied with the repair.

The bones may be a little weaker for a while, but it was no longer shattered, but a partial shift like this, is painful as it's slower and the joints with the wolf form don't match.

“Shift fully” she commands

Fatigue overtakes Toni, and she feels like she has no energy to move, as she watches Alpha Joseph complete his shift into human form, like her, he has cuts and bruises all over his body and open wounds, but he’s still lying on the floor.

Beta Oliver looks between the two of them, his friend and Alpha lost the fight, so his loyalties now lie with Alpha Antonia, but he has a deep underlying friendship with Alpha Joseph, he is a man torn, his human wants to help his friend, his wolf is demanding he respects his new Alpha, indecision, clear in his eyes

Toni looks down at the defeated Alpha, he’s a broken man, whatever fire drove him into his fight is no longer there, he is a shell of a man, he doesn’t just look defeated, he looks devastated, cursing silently inside, all Toni wants to do is leave this place, but she cannot.

She needs to resolve this mess she created, on a technicality she’s the new Alpha of the Lowlands pack, so she has a responsibility here to Alpha Joseph until he renounces the pack, he’s one of her pack members.

Just how tangled and fucked up can she make her life; she laughs lightly to herself.

Goddess what she wouldn’t do to be able to sleep for days at this point, but she needs to step up, to protect her pups and protect the Lowlands pack.