Shattered Rules

Part 3- Fight and Flight

                                                                          1 Week Later

I was finally allowed out of my room by Healer Gerard, and I was given permission to train in one of the more secluded training areas by Fang. Fang often came to continue my training, though we both had to deal with various wolves from the pack attempting to spy upon us. The Alpha let them, commenting that if they were caught by us, bored to tears, or late for assignments, they had brought any consequences upon their own heads. I mostly ignored the guards, and kept my visible training to routine work, saving my tricks for working with Fang indoors. In part to keep them secret, and in part just to show Fang that I too had secrets.

:Cricket, your holding back again:

:It's intentional. We have watchers, and I am not inclined to reveal all my tricks, even to you, my King:

:Impertinent Rascal, you are!:

:Always, Majesty, I learned from the best:

We had been sparring outside, and I had been using my prosthetic. As Fang battered at me with a series of blows, I released a hidden buckle, making it appear that he had broken the harness. His next blow sent the prosthetic flying across the arena. I faked a stumble and let him pin me.

This was an act that we had planned years ago, as a way of implying weakness and to deter watchers. We stilled resting and waiting for our spies to leave. In reality, I was positioned to do a fair amount of damage, and depending on how I was pinned, flip my opponent. When they left, Fang stepped to the side allowing me up. I retrieved the harness, and we went inside so I could practice without the harness unobserved by the majority of the pack.

This time I did not hold back. While we both still measured our blows, neither one of us was leaving unscathed.

"Better! Much better, watch your block there."

Fang attempted to pin me again, but this time I wasn't hiding. He thought that I was trapped flat on my back, but I twisted, unbalancing him, and tossed him across the room into a stack of mats. Before he could recover, I pinned him so that any movement on his part would cause a fair amount of pain. We paused panting, before I mocked a knockout blow and leapt away.

Instinctively, I crouched waiting for the next attack. Fang just shook his head, "You've learned the hard way, I see. Picked up some new tricks too, Cricket", he grinned, "been awhile since someone got me pinned." I relaxed my stance slightly, unwilling to completely drop my guard while my opponent remained near.

Behind me, someone began a slow clap. I whirled to face the unknown watcher. It was the Alpha, I had heard him enter, but had forgotten him during the commotion of the battle. He stepped forward, a wolfish grin on his face. I stepped back into the trap of Fang's hands, which locked around my ankle. I dropped, rolling to break the hold, then slinging him across the polished wood floor into the Alpha, causing the pair to become a sprawling entangled heap.

I fled the building, terrified because I had basically challenged both leaders. I shifted mid-leap as I jumped from the porch, running for my life.

Short, I know, but I am attempting to update at least twice a month.