Oracle of Wolves

XII

Luke's POV

I sat down in my chair hard,  breathing hard and slightly sweating.

I've been torturing this girl for hours and nothing, absolutely nothing, has made her crack. Not even a little. At this rate I'll never get anything out of her.

Maybe I should just run her over with a steel plow and call it a day?

My wolf growled at my thought, but not before considering it. I could tell that he didn't like her either or the threat she lays out to Nova and Holly. Okay, fine-

Tyler too. I just don't like her, okay! Don't be getting all mushy on me.

I let out a frustrated sigh before glaring at my opposer. She gave me a friendly smile and half-waved her handcuffed hand at me. I scowled before looking away. How am I supposed to get the information out of her at this pace?

The door opened. Both Teresa and I turned to see who was interrupting our little "session", if you can even call it that at this point. A very frusterated looking Holly came in, hands behind her back and head slightly bowed.

"Mind if I take over?"

I shrugged at her request before standing up and walking over to her. I turned her so that we faced out the door and whispered in his ear.

"Hol, I've tried everything," I glanced back at her, she tilted her head and smiled. I growled a little in annoyance before returning to Holly," She won't fucking crack."

"Let me try," she grimaced a bit as if searching for the right words," I've got something I need to try. Plus, you've always been a bit rough around the edges."

I raised an eyebrow at her and she juts put up her hands in surrender. I shook my head and left.

If she want's to waste her time, let her.

Holly's POV

As soon as Luke left I reached into my pocket and pulled out the keys and went over to unlock her chains. I sighed as I started on her wrist.

"I just got back from sitting at my mates side," One cuff came undone so I moved onto the other one," He's stable, but I'm still pissed."

"So why the hell are you unlocking me?"

"Easy," I glanced back up at her from where I was unlocking her ankle," My conscience wouldn't allow me to kick the shit out of you with you still tied up."

She scoffed and I put my hand on my hip, staring at her.

"By pack law, I can challenge you to a battle. I win, you give me what I want. You win, you get what you want," I stopped for a second before adding," And you get my place in the pack."

"So why didn't your brother just do that? He's bigger, superior in size and strength."

"He didn't have grounds to challenge you, that and you're a girl. You harmed my mate, I have the right to challenge you."

"And you assume that I'll just accept?"

"I assume that you won't pass up the opportunity to get a spot in the pack. For some reason you want to be close to your brother so this would be a great opportunity."

I put out my hand for her to shake. She took it and gave it one single firm shake before pulling me in to talk to me lowly.

"You got yourself a challenger, Blondie."

____

Later that night I stood in my bedroom, staring at my own reflection in a busted mirror as I pulled my hair into a ponytail. I felt myself smile.

The mirror is a result from Kian and my fist night together as mates, a night that resulted in my mark. I couldn't bring myself to getting a rid of it after that. Too many memories.

Then that smile slipped.

I'm not stupid or anything. I know that Kian was thinking of her when I found him in the woods. He still thinks about her every so often, but normally not unless someone brings it up. She hurt him bad, gave him wounds so deep that not even I, his mate, could heal. It stings a little to think of it so I don't.

But now I find myself thinking of the events that followed my deafening scream in the woods. The sudden appearance of Teresa. The fatal wound delivered to Kian when he tried to defend me. Protect me. Give me a chance to run even though I clearly told him that it wouldn't happen in a million years on numerous occasions.

I stayed true to my word. When she hurt him I tried to get to his side immediately but she blocked my path. I was her next target and she had no intention of missing. Even when I was backed up against that tree, I couldn't help myself from glancing at his chest every few moments to see if it was moving. If he was breathing.

I swear to you that my heart stopped every time I did.

Now I look into the mirror and see a scorned girl. One who was about to take on a girl thrice her strength, but half her speed. A girl with brutal tactics and a murderous streak. A girl who was there for her brother and had no intention of leaving without him.

One could only hope that her love for Kian was greater than Teresa's need for Tyler.

It is, her wolf assured her.

I couldn't find it in myself to disagree with her, she's my wolf after all. An eternal part of me. She knows me better than I know me. The clock on my bedside table read 8 a.m., which meant that it was time to go out for the fight.

I glanced in the mirror once more and straightened the tank top I was wearing. They were my regular work out clothes; grey sweatpants and a purple tank top with black sneakers. I saw the flicker of fear in my own eyes but I determined then and there that it would be the only smidge of emotion that came across them until the end of the fight.

Win or lose, she would never get the satisfaction of knowing I was afraid at any point of this.

Leaving my room was the easy part. Getting myself to the middle of the field-meadow that we used for our fights was much harder simply because of the amount of people that had come to see them duel.

Alpha Jack came out to the center before she did. He stood there, proud and strong, in front of everyone and we all bowed our heads in respect. He raised his hands high in the air to tell us that we could raise our heads now.

"Wolves," he began," We have a battle tonight. As you know, our territory was infiltrated by a she-wolf named Teresa. She is sister to one of our more recent discoveries, a hybrid that has mated with one of our own named Tyler. In honor of her mate, who was critically injured by said wolf, Holly Prior has challenged Teresa to a battle. Winner stays and loser," he glanced at me with worry filled eyes for a moment," is never allowed on our territory again."

My head tilted downwards to stare at the earth for a while, thinking about the possible outcomes of this exchange. None of her ideas were too pleasing. She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she had almost not heard another person speak.

"I object to the challenge!"

Hey guys! Sorry I missed publishing the last eisode but I've been completely exhausted lately, which is odd becuase I go to sleep at a fairly reasonable time each night.

Aannnnyyy way. I just wanted to give you the heads up that I'm going to be typing up some extra chapters over Spring Break so that this doesn't happen again.

I think that technically this episode counts as Sunday's, so I'll get up Wednesday's ASAP. See you later and, for the love of god-

Sleep well.