The Fighter

Chapter 73

My claws slice clean through his throat, causing him to gurgle as he drops to the ground at my feet before I move swiftly over his still twitching body to help another fighter with a wolf. She is lying on her back, holding the wolf above her with her arms, trying to avoid his snapping jaws so I jump into the wolf's side, causing him to stumble away and I stand over my warrior. The wolf doesn't waste any time in launching himself at me but three other females group around the pair of us until there are five of us fighting him. He can't turn quick enough to get one of us. 

You really were listening in training. I laugh when they bring him down with a snapped neck, working as one body to bring him down swiftly and they laugh at me before jumping together to attack another wolf. The females are working in groups and pairs against an opponent while the males tend to stick to solo fighting. Of course, after a while they soon adopt the same tactic and numbers fall easily after that- and they aren't from our side; wolves drop to the ground as our warriors begin to show better fighting skills. We've been fighting since just before noon and it's been about four hours now but we aren't the only ones beginning to tire as Red Blood clearly didn't give their warriors enough time to rest. 

I come face to face with a large white wolf, blood and mud caked within his fur but I recognise the power of an Alpha meaning he is Alpha Hunter and growl at him, preparing to Shift with Rita. He only watches me, eyes moving over my body but his defensive posture drops as he actually begins to step back away from me, looking hesitant to attack me. My bare collar bones seem to take him by surprise as his growling falters slightly, ears lifting up in confusion before a short bark makes his pack members stop and bunch up behind him before they all turn and disappear.

The Red Blood wolves seem stuck for a second, unbelieving their allies have abandoned the fight and soon they all retreat, leaving us slightly confused. "What was that about?" Luke asks, standing up to me. He's like me when it comes to fighting: we save our wolves for the last minute, turning the tables when we really need it. Some would say we adopt this tactic from Dad because he does exactly the same thing- must be another Turner quirk.

"Hunter saw my bare throat and left so Isaac and his father might have some explaining to do," I explain to him before looking around the forest we've been fighting in, just beyond the borders of Black Shadow; they almost managed to get through. "Can you get Danton and Michael to come over?"

"They're already on their way," Luke confirms and we help our warriors in picking up our wounded and dead fighters, carrying them to the pack house. Once they're all taken care of, my skin is covered in blood and mud so I'm given a damp cloth by Amy to begin scrubbing away the blood on my arms. Danton and Michael are standing in the entrance of the pack house when I exit the kitchen and they smile at me when I jolt in shock. "Told you," Luke brags and I shake my head with a small smile.

"How many did we lose?" I ask, leading them through the halls to the study.

"Ten in total," Ryan tells me confidently and despite not being as big as I had feared, I still feel a hole in my chest. Ten lives ended earlier than they should have.

"Alright. There's an empty bedroom down the hall. Put bodies in there- carefully." I turn to Max and he nods obediently before going to do that with five warriors behind his back and I pass the slightly pink cloth to Ryan as he cleans his hands.

"What about you two?" I ask the two Alphas walking behind me, already clean of blood.

"We lost eight today and fifteen yesterday," Danton answers me and I sigh heavily at the loss.

"Twelve and six," Michael responds afterwards and I feel Rita whine in complaint.

"How many wounded around the whole three territories?" I ask, reaching the hallway by the office doors.