The Wolves and the Vipers

Chapter 58 - Win or Lose

Jace and Bradley tumbled over in a mess of red fur and flashing teeth. Their snarls filled the air, because the fighters were stood in complete silence, simply watching. I, for my part, struggled to control my breathing because even the slightest gasp would be audible. One moment Bradley was on top, the next it was Jace, and on and on they went. They were landing a frightening number of bites.

A few drops of blood splattered onto my shoes. I stared down at them, the four pinpricks of red on the white fabric. As I did, I felt someone knock against my shoulder. I didn't start or flinch, because I knew that Ashley and Alek wouldn't let someone within five feet of me if they were not a friend. A slender hand took hold of mine, and Kara's scent reached me. She was close enough that no one would actually see us holding hands, so I squeezed it tightly, letting her take away all the fear.

The two wolves broke apart. Bradley retreated a few steps to put some distance between them. Both of them were panting, and both of them were bleeding heavily. I could hear the pitter-patter of blood dripping on the soil. Jace had a tear in his foreleg which had painted his paw crimson. Bradley had a series of gouges across his side where the muscles underneath were showing. Both of them were littered with dozens more bite wounds which would bleed and sting but do very little to affect the outcome of the fight.

Jace closed the distance again, now aiming for Bradley's neck and shoulders. This time, they were quiet. Neither of them had any breath to waste on growls and snarls. He succeeded in getting a mouthful of Bradley's pelt, but he was repaid with claws raking across his stomach and teeth sinking into his ear. Frustrated, they disengaged, only to collide again within a heartbeat.

They seemed to be evenly matched. The stalemate dragged on for several minutes with neither of them getting close to the other's throat, and I began to think it might come down to who tired quicker. They were darting in and out at breakneck pace, testing each other's defences. Several times, the fighters had to scramble out of their way, but they never came near me.

Bradley was the one who ended the stalemate. He barrelled into Jace, knocking him clean over, and then he made a lunge at his neck. My heart stopped in my chest as his teeth closed a hair's breadth from Jace's throat. The lunge had unbalanced Bradley - in his impatience, he had overextended himself. He slipped, one foreleg disappearing under him.

And Jace was quick to take advantage. He bit down on Bradley's exposed hindleg, hard enough that I heard the crunch ten metres away. But instead of letting go, he used that leg to drag Bradley even further off balance so he was lying prone on the ground, belly up.

Bradley's neck twisted towards his chest. He was trying to protect his throat from Jace, since there was no time to get up. But it wasn't the target. Instead, Jace closed his jaws around the loose skin over Bradley's ribs.

Jace was standing too close - Bradley's jaws darted for the injured foreleg, doubtless hoping to break it. He needed to even the odds now that he was on three legs. But as Bradley's neck finally extended, Jace moved his grip at lightning speed.

He had set a trap and baited it, and now his jaws closed around Bradley's throat. I couldn't help my flinch. Jace bit down, and it would have been over in a few seconds had Bradley not let out a strangled yelp. It must have been involuntary, but it sounded like the beginnings of a submission. Jace went still, his teeth not moving any deeper.

And that gave Bradley enough time to make the decision properly. He pinned his ears back and licked his lips and beat his tail against the floor. For a long, long moment, Jace remained where he was. He kept his jaws closed around Bradley's throat. He had already bitten deep enough to puncture something important, because a veritable pool of blood was forming beneath them.