Upside Down

five

It's first day of the competition. My heart is pounding hard as I sit in the car beside Madison. Since we've won all of the times, the 'rules' say that it must be held with them. As we near the territory my heart lurches. Their territory is littered with garbage, and there aren't many scouts. 'Tara we'll be fine!' My wolf barked at me. I hushed her and kept my head forward. Tears were clouding my vision and threatening to spill. I took a deep breath and wiped my eyes as we made it to the packhouse. There stood the shortest, yet most buff man I've ever seen. Beside him, a blonde, her shirt stopped above her waist and she had on short shorts. They both had a look of hatred on their faces.

I stood on the hard creaky floors of the packhouse as Alpha Andrew and Alpha Sean talked about the rules. Alpha Andrew was taller then Alpha Sean, he had short blond hair and almost black eyes, I could see a resemblance between the two step brothers. Sean had blond hair, like his daughter and light brown eyes. "So these," Alpha Andrew paused and looked at us in disgust, "kids are going to become your Alpha and Beta? Sean, what's gotten into you?" Sean shook his head at the other alpha, "what do you have? Poor excuses of wolves? Did you starve them long enough to make them crazy this time?" Alpha Andrew gritted his teeth and squinted. "If that's what you believe."

The two boys stood in front of us, I learned their names. The tall raven haired boy with a blue eye, yes he only had one eye, was named Eric. The other had blond hair with brown eyes his name is Preston. They were both on the skinny and tall side. "Is it true that they starved you to make you crazy?" They looked away, "we didn't want to die, might as well starve then be killed for not winning." I thought I'd feel bad for them but I didn't. 'Don't trust the enemy Tara.' my wolf whispered. I looked at them, "well when does this thing start?" They shrugged as both Alphas walked in. "Speak of the devil," I whispered and followed them to the course.

Turns out I'm fighting Raven, who makes sharp fast moves, he's fighting for beta. Madison is fighting Preston, he's fighting for Alpha. I watch the match between Madison and Preston, his slower more calculated moves being no match for Madison's fast power-packed hits. The match lasts a good ten minutes before Preston falls to the ground, signaling the end of that round for them.

The air is cool around me, unlike my body, which is burning with courage. Alpha Sean yells to start and Raven is already at me throwing punches. He reminds me of Camille, her fast punches and good footwork. I blank out and get hit in my stomach, hard. I shake my head out of it and start throwing the hardest punches I can. I take steps forward to get a better angle so I can get to his carved out jaw line. I can see the daze in his eyes, what's wrong with him?

'Finish him off Tara. What a filthy wolf.' I widen my eyes in surprise, and decide that the ending hit would be to his chest, knocking the breath out of him. I throw a punch there and in his poor attempts to block, I hit him. He then clenches his throat and gasps for air. He steps away from me and tried to regain his breath.

I stepped toward Madison. She looked shaken up and out of breath still. "Are you alright?" She nodded yes and Alpha Sean came over to us. "It went down like that for me too. They're too tired to run or climb now. They surrendered. The boys did." I nodded and looked over at them. Their shirts were off and they had red marks littering their skin. I couldn't keep my eyes off the poor kid's skin. I tore my eyes from the sight and walked back to the car.

Do you think they'll really be killed? 'Possibly.' I shook my head of the thought. "Why do they give up so easily?" Alpha shook his head and kept driving. Once we made it to our territory I ran straight to my room. I didn't want to see anyone. All I wanted to do was think. Think about the boys, about how I put them on their deathbeds. I flopped onto my bed and closed my eyes, falling asleep.

I woke up to the Moon River. I put my hands over my mouth as I realized this has only happened once before, Moon Goddess is going to speak to me. I look to the moon and see her. Her blue eyes are illuminated and her blonde hair is shimmering. She's perfect. She steps down from the moon and in front of me. "Tara. Your pack is in great danger. Please, warn them. I would not want such a special pack, going extinct." I nodded, not knowing what to say. She cupped my cheek, her hands felt as smooth and soft as silk. She smelled like sugar and roses.

"I will be with you," she said as she walked back toward the moon and resided in her place in the moon.