The Alphas Prize

Chapter 26: To the death - Part 3/3

We had been running for just a few minutes now, but we weren't fast enough in human form, and I knew if we shifted, we could get back to the house more quickly, where she would be safe. So, I stopped and looked at her. "Do you think your wolf could keep up with mine if we were to shift?" I asked her.

She didn't hesitate to answer me. "Yes, she can. I think it's best if we shift too, we will make it back to the packhouse faster." I nodded in agreement with her, glad she wasn't arguing with me on this. We prepared ourselves for the shift but stopped before it could take effect as the sound of a snapping branch grabbed our attention.

I whipped my head in the direction of the sound, but there was nothing there but trees. My wolf and I were becoming anxious and tense at the idea of Freja being in danger because of us. Freja came to my side, and I could sense the small amount of fear she was experiencing. I gazed down at her affectionately, hoping to reassure her that things would be alright, but something in the distance caught my eye, a figure coming out from behind a tree, and that figure was my brother.

Calyx smiled. "Hello, brother." He said while taking another step towards us. Every muscle in my body tensed up, and I moved Freja behind me so she was out of harm's way.

My upper lip twitched as a snarl sounded from me. "Calyx." I said through painfully gritted teeth, "What are you doing here?" My tone was deep and growly.

Calyx grinned. "You know exactly what I'm doing here, don't you, brother?" His gaze focused on Freja. "So do you, Freja." His attention turned to Freja now. I followed his line of sight and glanced over my shoulder, looking down at her. She remained silent and just looked away from me, telling me that he was right and she had known about Calyx. Freja looked back into my eyes with a scolding expression, and I huffed, knowing I was just as much in the wrong here as she was. Neither of us was innocent, and both of us had hidden things from each other.

I raised a brow. "You are right. I know why you are here and what you are here to do, but I must ask, why are you doing this, Calyx?" I questioned my brother as anger coursed through me, and my wolf snarled.

Calyx's face held a furious expression now. "Because I am supposed to be Alpha, not you! I am the oldest, and the title of Alpha goes to the oldest." He bellowed out, shaking with rage.

I puffed out my chest and stood to my full height. "You know damn well know the reason why I am the Alpha, and you aren't," I growled out, my beast on the brink of bursting forward and ripping his throat out.

His posture tensed, and he stepped closer to us, grinning like a madman. "Yes, your right; I do know the reason why and it's because of you. From the day you were born, you have been in my way and taking what was rightfully mine. After I had gotten rid of dear old mom and dad, the plan was to get rid of you next, but you grew with power after their death, and things proved to be more challenging than I expected, then this bitch shows up." He said, pointing to my mate and my hands balled into fists as a growl rumbled from the depths of my soul. Calyx then pulled a knife out from behind him and gazed at it fondly. "This is the knife I used on mom and dad. Now, I'm going to kill you with it."

I shoved Freja back and lunged for Calyx, tackling him into a tree. The bark on the tree crumbled around our feet as his back collided with it. I threw punch after punch, my fists pounding into his face, and the back of his head bounced off the tree with each hit. Finally, Calyx reached up and swiped at my face with the knife, cutting into my cheek.

All I could see was red now, and my beast took over, forcing the shift. Calyx shifted as well, and now it was a battle between our wolves, a fight to the death, as neither would give up until the other was dead. My wolf stood tall and fierce, radiating with his Alpha power. Calyx's wolf was a dark, grey colour and smaller than mine, making him no match compared to my wolf. His wolf snapped its teeth at us in warning and pawed at the ground. My wolf just positioned himself for the attack, growling low and raising his hackles.

Calyx sprung at me, but I dodged his attack by moving to the right. He slid across the damp ground but quickly regained his footing and spun around, lunging for us once again. Before Calyx's wolf could reach us, my wolf lunged, striking him in the side and knocking him down. My wolf stood over him before placing a paw on Calyx wolf's chest, immobilizing him. Suddenly, I heard a yelp, distracting me from my task, allowing Calyx to get the upper hand on me, and he bit down on my paw, causing me to release him. Calyx then came at me again, sinking his canines deep into my shoulder. My wolf was becoming annoyed and enraged now, wanting to end this, wanting to finish him. Noticing a fallen tree to our left, we dashed toward the tree with Calyx still hanging onto my shoulder by his teeth. As we neared the tree, I noticed a sharp, broken branch sticking out, and we barreled towards it, plunging the branch into Calyx's chest, but also into my shoulder, and I roared out in pain as it sunk into my flesh. The pain had knocked me out briefly and caused me to shift back to human. Once I came too, I immediately looked to Calyx, wondering if he was still alive. However, I couldn't hear his heartbeat anymore, and his chest ceased to move, telling me he was dead. I placed my hands on the tree and lifted myself off of the branch.

As the branch came out, I groaned in pain and stumbled backwards a bit before leaning against another tree to support myself. I looked over at my brother's body, making sure he was dead, and the dullness in his eyes told me there was no sign of life left. I breathed deeply, thankful it was all over, and Freja was safe now, or so I thought. As I stood there, perched against the tree, I could suddenly hear growling coming from within the distance. The first thought that came to mind was that Calyx hadn't been alone and whoever was him, was now after Freja. I pushed myself off the tree and stood up straight, wobbling a little. I started making my way in the direction of the noises, my vision blurred slightly, and I looked down at my shoulder, noticing that it was healing but not fast enough, and I was losing blood. I picked up my discarded shirt and wrapped it around my shoulder, hoping that would help.

Things were silent now, andI couldn't tell which way to go. I stopped and listened to see if I could hearsomething. After a moment had passed, I could hear voices coming from the east,and I rushed towards them. As I got closer, the voices became louder, moreapparent. I rounded a large tree and finally found Freja, but she wasn'talone.