Steel and Fangs

Chapter Four; Fighter

Her heart beat thudded in her ears. Blood pumped rapidly throughout her veins. Adrenaline began to peek. The thrill of knowing she would transform out weighed the pain she knew came with it.

Naked and alone in the locker room, Sophie closed her big brown eyes and envisioned the turn from human girl to strong wolf.

First her ears grew upwards and pointy, her hearing intensified, while her long curly red hair fell away and brown fur started growing in its place. The soft, pale human flesh underneath thickened. Pressure built up around her face and her vision became blurred. She cried out as she crashed into the lockers, but her cry quickly turned into a beastly growl. The cracking of her bones signified the anatomy change. Her face morphed into the sleek muzzle of her wolf. Back popping unnaturally, she fell to the floor and her body contorted and twisted until it no longer resembled the human shape. Her fists grew fur, turning into large paws. Last was her tail, painful as it grew out, but only for the moment. The transformation was complete. She was who she was meant to be.

When Sophie opened her eyes again, ember wolf eyes inspected the room. She could hear the people outside of the locker room, chanting and laughing, ready to see what she could do in a match. And her sensitive hearing picked up something else; the other wolf.

A knock at the door indicated it was time. Timothy Dolt opened the door, a cloud of cigar smoke surrounding him. His grin widened when he saw the over-sized wolf and he stepped to the side to let her out.

Eager, Sophie dashed out, her claws clicking against the concrete floor as she made her way to the metal dome.

The door swung open for her and then slammed closed with a loud clang.

Cheers went round the room as her opponent entered on the opposite side. A larger, black wolf glowered at her from across the ring. Right away she could tell that her opponent was older because they started to circle round the other wolf had a small, barely noticeable hitch between the shoulder blades, a sign of tired old bones. Sophie growled in greeting, acknowledging that they would be fighting for sport. The other dipped her head. The dance had begun.

Sophie was anxious, it had always been her downfall sparring at home with her pack, but despite her nerves being on edge she had her unbridled, bottled up energy. Now she just needed to decide, who attacked fi--

The black wolf lunged at her side, knocking her back into the fence of the dome. The metal clanked and bit into her side, but mostly the attack woke her up. This other wolf was not messing around. She shook her head as she righted herself. Her opponent paced across from her, ready to attack again. There was only a second to think before the wolf lunged again. Sophie was ready. She ducked and slid along the floor, turning to launch her own attack at the wolf's back side. They collided together and crashed into the dome wall. The crowd cheered. Sophie fought for dominance, growling as she searched for somewhere to sink her teeth.

All of sudden she was thrown into the air.

She landed on her feet, sliding back on the cement floor, but never took her eyes off of the black wolf. It struggled to shake off the attack, shaking its big head back and forth.

Sophie didn't wait. She launched off the ground for another tackle and this time found the perfect spot. Her teeth sunk into the back, just between the shoulder blades, and she held on tight. The other wolf snarled and began to thrash around, trying to pry Sophie off. But her jaw was locked, as well as her determination. She wanted to win. She wanted to show she was tough, that she was strong. She was strong enough to be on her own, to prove her Da wrong that she wasn't. That and she needed the prize money.

It felt like forever, but was only a few minutes of the wolf in her jowl thrashing around. The crowd cheered louder than ever. The black wolf's legs started to shake, its body soon followed, and the movements lessened. It was tiring down. Sophie never budged.

The wolf collapsed.

It wasn't until Mr. Dolt came into the cage and yanked Sophie by her scruff that she released the other wolf. She pulled back, away from him and the other wolf who lay motionless, panting. Her chest heaved hard in and out, in and out, her heart pounding along. She... won... she did it.

"There we have it, folks! Didn't I tell you the one girl was a firecracker?" Mr. Dolt yelled to the crowd. A few boo'd, having lost their bets. He grinned. "Come back next week to see if our little Steelfangs can do it again. I'll bet 5 grand on it."