The Fenrir Saga - Part I

Chapter 37

Henry

It only took a few seconds after the fight had started before it was clear who would win. The Rocky Cliff pack, who had yet to impress at anything, had sent their ten best warriors, and then what else they could scrape together. It was a friendly and joyful pack; not really into the whole ranking thing, but entering anyway because of the social events. Against the Ironwood Pack, though, they wouldn't stand a chance. Judging by Vidar's fighting style, he could probably take them out alone. Even Rune seemed content with Vidar's impressive fighting.

I felt a rare moment of ease. At this precise moment, I felt happy and I was convinced it was because I was in tune with my wolf for once. Or rather, he was not annoyed for some reason. I was enjoying hanging out with Trevor and the rest of my friends. We were at the Gathering, there would be parties tonight, and an at least moderately interesting fight was going on.

Usually, the lower pack fights were not that interesting to watch, but as we had a personal interest in this one, it was, for that reason alone, fun to watch. Another reason to watch it would be because Ironwood was a kickass pack. They didn't have the usual fighting clothes but sufficed with leather loincloths, and with their blonde look and ripped muscles, they immediately became the females' first choice of pack. Skylar sighed at the mere sight of them. 

Yet other reasons to enjoy watching them were... there was a girl on the team. Not that common either. The fight was, after all, much about pure strength, and even if werewolf females were much stronger than humans, they were usually not as strong as male werewolves. The closest we had in our pack was Diana, Trevor's sister, but she was in the 32nd place out of the 30 warriors we brought here, and not even she would fight here.

Still, one of the main reasons for enjoying the fight was the brute force of the Ironwoods, or the Vikings, as they quickly were dubbed. They were good warriors, and I doubted our own warriors could stand a chance if the numbers were equal. Vidar was impressive in his might, shielding his two teammates without straining himself. I was thoroughly impressed.

Our favorite was, of course, Vile, being Trevor's, and starting to be ours too, friend. He and the girl did an excellent job with Vidar's leftovers, and where the girl began to look tired, Vile just kept going.

As the fight died down and it was clear that the Vikings had won, I couldn't help but sigh of relief. I didn't know why, and it was utterly premature. B took a step back down at the pitch and would have fallen to the ground had it not been for Vile catching her.

I got up on my feet. To see better. Hoping that nothing was wrong with... Trevor's friend. Vile handed her over to Vidar, and I felt agitated; why couldn't Vile keep her? Why did everything have to go through that Vidar person, whom I had now forgotten I was impressed with. 

Vidar cradled the girl close to his chest, and I, again, felt the annoyance at the sighing sound from Skylar seeing it and the caring look on Vidar's face. He sure was a show-off, using that poor girl to get the female werewolves in the audience's attention.

We looked down at the walkway next to us, almost under us, when the Vikings walked out. The girl was completely out, and I couldn't help but remember when she had been like that, but in my arms and not in Vidar's. Suddenly, I remembered those days fondly. I knew it was because, in those three days when we chased her, found her, and cared for her, no one had any opinions about what I should do, what I should say, what I should think, or who I should like. I had, at that moment, been entirely free, and I had enjoyed it. Coming back to my father and the pack, it all had, of course, changed back to normal again.

My father had been almost annoyed to hear that the rogue was nothing but a young girl, hurt from falling down a cliff and not the possible ally he had hoped for. I explained that we had hunted and found her, and as she was just a young girl about to leave the territory, there was no reason to pursue the matter. And it had been entirely accurate, too. Well, until the whole Ironwood pack thing had surfaced, but as I understood it, even if the Vikings were our close neighbors, they were not interested in ranks and such things; they just wanted to run and be able to go down to the lake. My father was oblivious that the girl down on the pitch, whom he probably hadn't heard of yet, was the rogue we had chased.