The Kill Order

Chapter 19

The final word was barely out of Griffin's mouth when Dante lunged for Mason. The two of them moved so quickly it was nearly impossible for my human eyesight to tell them apart. It wasn't like they were willing to pause occasionally for me to get a better look at who was winning.

One of the wolves -- Mason, if I had to guess -- dug his teeth into Dante's back with a disgusting ripping noise. Dante's response was to twist, leaving behind a bloody, hairy mess in Mason's mouth, and claw my former friend directly in the face. In a flash, the two were entangled again and I lost track of who I was supposed to be rooting for.

A particularly loud snarl broke through the noise of the crowd cheering, and I had to wonder if this was entertainment for them. I wanted to pretend I was better than that -- I could be ruthless, sure, but I would never see death as a sporting event. I killed to save the lives of those I loved.

That gave me the moral high ground, right?

One of the wolves ripped a chunk of flesh and fur off of the other with a snap of his jaws and a twist of his head. The beast hurled the hunk of meat out of the cage as the roar of the crowd reached a fever pitch. From my distance, I couldn't say for sure what color the fur was between the blood.

They really ought to have dyed one of the wolves pink for this, so I could tell them apart, I thought with some amusement. The mental strain of compartmentalizing Mason's betrayal (was it? He chose his own people over me. Shouldn't I do the same?) was overwhelming, and the thought of Dante dyed hot pink with a bow in his hair, but no less lethal, made me cackle with horrible laughter.

Montana stopped shouting encouragement for a moment to give me a look of vague alarm -- I must have sounded like I'd completely lost my marbles. The horrible noise coming out of my mouth even caught the attention of Griffin, who gave me what I think he intended to be a reassuring smile. His overly sharp teeth might have lessened the effect somewhat, which only made me laugh harder.

That was it. If Mason wanted us to be enemies, we were going to be enemies. No more playing nice. The laughter died in my throat as quickly as it had started, and I could practically feel the relief emanating from those around me. Folding my arms across my chest, I inched my hand towards the phone stored in my jacket pocket as surreptitiously as possible. Now, I just needed a distraction.

Fortunately, a werewolf cage match is good at providing exactly that. For a brief moment, the two wolves broke apart, and the height differential was enough to tell them apart. Both creatures were practically coated in blood, and Dante appeared to be dripping from several large wounds on his side. One in particular showed the pink of his muscle through the darkness of his fur. Mason, while breathing heavily, appeared to be in better shape. He had a few apparent claw marks on his chest and sides, as well as one down the side of his face, but none of them were gaping holes like the damage he had inflicted on Dante.

Mason was winning, and everyone there knew it. He was just giving Dante a chance to surrender now. Mason stretched to his full height and literally howled, and I briefly wondered if the janitor had the night off.

Focus, Shepard! I scolded myself, before hastily typing a message to the uninjured guys on my squad.

911 high school gym locked in with wolves do not enter set up perimeter bring the rain

I had just pressed send when Dante made his intentions clear -- he was losing, but he wouldn't back down. Not for Mason, not for anyone. The giant black wolf turned to glare at me, snapping his jaws. I cheekily waved back.

Mentally, I tried to calculate how fast my team could get here. If they happened to all be awake and packed, maybe twenty minutes? That was assuming they didn't obey the speed limit on the drive over. I cursed quietly -- I needed more time for my backup to arrive. I hoped Dante was up to the challenge.