One Bite

Chapter 2-5

The next morning, I was impressed for all the wrong reasons.

Leaning over, I whispered to Elena, "This isn't a competition. It's a show-off."

"It's still quite impressive." Her eyes were wide as she took in the scene in front of us. "I have no doubt that you would be well-protected in this pack."

Eight Northern male and four female werewolves battled in a free-for-all, one-on-one fighting competition. We were at a nearby open field, with three spaces for fights set up. Snarls, growls, and jaw snaps sounded as much as the thumps from paws and bodies hitting the dirt.

Surprisingly, not a lot of yelps of pain. But this is... more pinning, less biting.

The amount of control exercised in what otherwise looked like violent fighting, amazed me more than the physical feats.

One round into the competition, it was obvious that the entire thing was an opportunity for Lucus to show off. His towering wolf, with a broad chest wrapped with corded muscles, was by far the largest. With one opponent slammed down into the dirt after another, he easily pinned or tossed out the other competitors.

He stood out visually, with his fur as black his name Shadow implied and a growl that shook into my bones. All the other wolves were varying shades of gray, reminding me of streaks of ash.

"It's not that impressive," Cole scoffed, crossing his arms over his puffed up chest.

"Don't worry, I know someone who's better." As Elena's attention turned to Cole and her hand patted his arm, his frown dissolved into a smile. "Even if I can't feel all ten fingers and toes."

She shuddered, pulling her thermal, thick, fluffy coat around her and shuddering her shoulders. I found the bite of the dry, crisp air refreshing as it filtered through my lungs but she was dressed for a blizzard.

Cole slipped his arm around her, holding her close and rubbing his palms up her arms.

"Yeah, Cole." I nudged him with my elbow. "Let Sable try a round or two."

My teasing earned me a signature Cole grunt. "I'm in no position to try and impress you, Princess."

"Speaking of which... let's talk about your position...'" Turning my full attention, I glared at him. "Since we're now away from my father, I need to ask. Cole, why didn't he let you train me on how to defend myself as a wolf?"

"He wanted to minimize the amount of time that you were in wolf form." He frowned as we watched Lucus make his third pin in a row. "Something about you distracting pretty much every male wolf on that island, except me."

"That was unintentional," I mumbled, shifting my gaze across the area.

"Plus, you can only be marked when in human form, so he thought it best to start from there." Cole had a point, but he'd already shared this information with me. I wanted to know what he couldn't share while we were in my father's house.

"I do appreciate what you showed me," I mumbled, keeping the conversation between us. My eyes fixated on the flashing blurs of gray in front of us as the last third round competitors spared off. "But what's the real reason?"

"Fine... " Cole continued with hesitation in his voice, "Your wolf is going to be harder to control at first. It's hard for anyone but Lumi was suppressed for additional years. So she's going to be extra wild out the gate. Your father..."

"What?" I tried not to let the irritation balling my hands into fists at my sides escape through my lips.

Internally, Lumi bristled at this conversation. The hairs on the back of my neck rose up, tickled by the wind that blew from behind where we stood.