Ariadne: Almost an Alpha | ✓

Chapter 40 - Round Three: One Bad Apple

Chapter 40 - Round Three: One Bad Apple

James leaves for his pack, and Vincent drives Dylan, Mateus and I to the arena. I follow what's become a sort of routine: go underground, wait for the announcements, wait some more for the match.

    For round three, the remaining 14 will be split into two groups of seven. The groups fight each other, and when someone submits, the person is eliminated from the match. Regardless of elimination, however, the team with the last contestant/contestants in wins and all competitors on the team advance to the next round. It's designed to reward contestants who can work with others, like a true alpha should, while also favoring those with massive strength.

    Considering I had the roughest competitor my second round, with all of the practice I did with Mateus, I'm not as worried about this round than I was for round two. I just need to keep my energy up and be cautious with my side.

    They announce the teams, and I look around for the people in my group, vaguely remembering which names go with which contestants.The groups separate out, and we decide to go into rooms in the back to discuss strategy.

For a while, a few of the players make suggestions favoring their massive egos. I hear a lot of "I can take these three down" and "I can beat all of them by myself while you guys take so and so."

I quietly wait for them to finish their ego battle, so we can talk real strategy. I notice another contestant hasn't said anything either. He looks on, amused, with beautiful dark skin and short, twisted hair. He's not as large as some of the other guys, but I can tell there's a strength in him. I remember watching his first round fight. He fought well and could be easily boasting about his own prowess.

"I'm Fritz," he says, smiling when he catches me staring and extending his hand out to me.

I shake it, "Ariadne."

"You think they're going to realize this is getting them nowhere?"

I chuckle, liking the guy already. "Hopefully soon. You got any ideas?"

We discuss strategy between ourselves for a few minutes, and with 10 minutes left before the match, get the attention of the rest of the men.

"Alright you guys, we're going to group up to take on the other team," Fritz states, taking authority of the room.

I let him do all the talking since he's in the tournament for this pack, and I just need to make it through this round.

"Craig, Lincoln, and Alvaro, you guys have strengths that will compliment each other." He looks at the two remaining men, "You'll be with me, and you'll be with Ariadne. If we protect more than ourselves, our team has a larger chance of making it to the end. With the pairings, it won't matter who's on the other side."

The one paired with me looks irritated. "I don't see why we should let you call all the shots , Fritz." He looks around, settling on the group of three, "I can take them all by myself, one of you can pair with the bitch."

I resist rolling my eyes. There's always got to be one bad apple in the bunch.

One of the three, Alvaro, says, "I don't mind pairing with her."

The other two nod, and one says. "Whichever of us would work best."

The rotten apple leaves the room, going off by himself.

Fritz doesn't miss a beat, and looking at his original partner, says, "You go with Alvaro. He's strong and you're agile. Ariadne and I will fight together."

He turns to me, "if that's okay with you."

"Works with me," I agree.

We discuss the rest of our strategy, and Fritz mentions some of the opposing players. When it's time for the match, I leave to let the men strip and change. I pull my shirt up to look at my side and pray the wound won't open too much when I shift. I decide not to shift until we're going out on the field just in case, and spend my time finding where they keep their spare clothing.

Everyone else lines up on the ramp in wolf form.

We wait for the announcement, and when we're ushered to the arena, I shift. I feel the skin on my side stretch, but the healing holds for now. I give Fritz a wolfy smile in relief. No blood shed yet.

We make our way out, stand opposite the other team, acknowledge the alphas, and wait for the bell. I pick out Dylan, Vincent, and Mateus in the section. I really hope Dylan is being cordial.

The bell rings, and Fritz and I stay close to each other while the opponents attack. It doesn't take me long for my first attacker to submit. He's big, but slow, and I dart around him easily. I'm able to pounce onto his back and grab his neck from behind. He submits in seconds, and unlike Bram, actually leaves the fight for the sides.

Fritz also beats his opponent, but our other team members haven't had as much luck. Lincoln's on the side now, and Craig is limping and up against two wolves. Fritz and I are begin to move towards them, but Craig submits before we can reach him.

The two wolves turn on Alvaro and his partner, who have managed to eliminate one wolf but are struggling with another particularly powerful one. Alvaro tries to get hits in while his partner tries to tire the wolf out, but the wolf is too fast, dodging both of them.

Somewhere in the distance, the apple is still fighting his opponent.

Alvaro has to turn to fight the new wolves, but Fritz and I catch the one he was originally fighting by surprise, allowing Alvaro's partner to help him against the new two. Fritz is able to knock him down from the side while I distract him my biting at his front. As Fritz pushes the wolf into the ground, a wolf barrels into me, shoving me into the dirt as well. Looks like our rotten apple lost his fight.

I push him off of me before he can manage to pin me. We both jump up at the same time, but I kick my front legs out in a way that twists him to the ground. I quickly end it, grabbing his throat between my teeth and pulling away when he submits.

The other three from my group are still busy, so I go back to helping Fritz. The other wolf is back up but has a nasty bite near his arm. I charge at him to distract him for Fritz again, but he quickly dodges, and not taking the bate a second time, twists away from me to defend Fritz's attack.

A wolf cries out, and I turn to see Alvaro's partner with a rip in his side so large that his blood is gushing onto the ground. He submits, all the fight out of him.

Fritz briefly looks at me and nods his head over to Alvaro. Knowing Fritz will be okay for another minute, I rush to take out Alvaro's opponent while he's still distracted with the submission. Alvaro finishes his fight at the same time, and we both attack the wolf. He predicts Alvaro's first move, quickly knocking my teammate to the ground and biting into the soft part of his underbelly.

Alvaro gives up, leaving me and Fritz still on the field, but this gives me another chance to attack this wolf while he's distracted. I ram into him, knocking him over and trying to force a submission, but he knows his team is losing and doesn't give up easily. He rolls me off of him as I try to bite into his neck and instead bites into my side, reopening my wound. I attack back with more strength, knowing he's tired and I can't risk myself losing energy by letting the wound bleed for too long. I force a submission from the wolf as Fritz finally eliminates the other team's best fighter.

We both turn to each other in triumph before facing the middle section. Dylan is full on yelling and cheering while Vincent whistles. My eyes connect with Mateus's, and he smiles.

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