A Rebellious Moon

Chapter Forty

No one slept in the next morning. By 7 AM, everyone found themselves in the dining room chowing down on breakfast. Finn had somehow whipped up a feast of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and French toast. A mixed fruit bowl appeared as well. If the atmosphere hadn't been so somber, it would have felt like a party. Silence emanated through the room as the pack filled their bellies. Like robots, when they finished eating, they rose and took their dishes into the kitchen and placed them in the dishwasher. The dining room and kitchen were cleaned spotless.

Once breakfast had been cleared and the cleaning finished, Nina herded everyone back to the table. Chase waited in his chair at the head of the table. Once everyone settled back into their seat, Chase began to speak.

"Okay everyone, I understand that this duel today is a little emotional for each of us for a variety of reasons. All I ask is that you respect me and the tradition of dueling. My plan is to make Devon submit before either of us become seriously injured. That being said, if he is stubborn, I don't want anyone intervening. Especially you, Amanda." He turned to look directly at her.

"I know that this is technically your fight, but Devon doesn't seem like he'll recognize or respect that. We know you can fight your own battles, so I hope you can let me take care of this one time for you."

Amanda nodded, not trusting herself to say anything.

Chase clapped his hands together. "Alright then. We have about three hours at this point. I know that nothing productive will get done, so why don't we set up some chairs and some boundaries out in the garden."

Nina stood up from her seat first. "Why don't we have a picnic out there, too? The boys can do the set up and the ladies will get the picnic stuff together."

The rest of the pack grumbled their assent, then rose from their seats and moved towards their assigned tasks. Amanda followed Jade and Brooke into the kitchen and started grabbing place settings.

The rest of the morning went by in a flash. A few folding chairs were put out in the garden and duct tape was used on the grass to mark out a border for the fight. No one really expected either man to pay any attention to the tape, but it made everything feel more official, like a sporting event.

Farah showed up midmorning and although she hadn't been expecting a cheery mood, she was a bit nonplussed by how dreary the atmosphere was. When she looked to Amanda, the only response she got was: "Everyone's got their own thing, you know?"

Farah knew that as an outsider, she normally wouldn't have been privy to two werewolves dueling, but she appreciated that the pack understood Amanda needed support.

Devon sauntered down the driveway a little after 11. His swagger may have been cool on a high school boy, but instead it made him look silly and juvenile. Nina and Tristan greeted him at the door, then led him through the house to the garden.

He kept his head held high and his eyes on Chase as he exited the house. Amanda was both hurt and relieved that he didn't deign to acknowledge her presence. She did feel assured of her choice to reject him though.

"Are you ready to lose, Chase?" Devon called out with a sneer.

The pack glared daggers at him for daring to call Chase by his name rather than his title. Tristan cracked his knuckles while Jade put a hand on Zac's shoulder.

"I am ready for our duel, yes, Devon," Chase replied calmly. "It's not quite noon. We can wait or we can start now."

"I'm fine with starting now," said Devon.

"Excellent. I don't see a reason to delay either. Final question: would you like to start in human form or wolf form? I will let you choose since I have the home team advantage." Chase let the corner of his lip twitch up.

Devon hesitated. "Let's do human form," he sputtered out, his bluster fading a little.

Chase nodded and took a seat in a nearby chair. Meticulously loosening his laces, he removed his shoes. Then he stood and removed his shirt leaving him in a pair of athletic shorts. Without looking at Devon, he walked to the ring and stood on the tape boundary, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Devon, in turn, kicked off his own shoes and ripped off his shirt. He strode over to the ring and stood across from Chase.

"We'll have Tristan count down from three. Standard sparring rules should apply," Chase said.

"Agreed," Devon spat out.

Tristan moved to the center of the ring. "On my mark then. Three, two, one..." He rushed to get out of the way.

Devon immediately began to transition to his wolf form, but Chase anticipated this and flung himself into his wolf form. Despite his head start, Devon finished his transition at about the same time as Chase. The two wolves leapt at each other and collided in midair.

Amanda grimaced as the fight began. Beside her, Farah stared with interest.

"But I thought Devon said human form," Farah whispered into Amanda's ear.

"Yes, but usually the two fighters will transition to their wolf form pretty early in the fight. Some males do this on purpose to show how fast they can transition, like turning it into a race," Amanda explained.

Amanda gripped Farah's arm tightly as they watched the two wolves' clash. They bit and slashed at each other with a fury trying to get the upper hand. Devon's russet fur turned pink with blood when Chase managed to lunge successfully at his neck. Still, the fight did not end.

Amanda was surprised that the two managed to stay relatively within the boundary lines. The garden was large for a private home in the city, but tiny for animals used to open spaces. Over time, the pack members had slowly backed away pulling chairs, blankets, and other picnic accoutrements with them. Amanda had already placed herself away from the ring and didn't see a reason to tell Farah that the lines were just for show.

If not for the fear of the outcome and the concern for Chase's safety, Amanda may have enjoyed the duel. The two were fairly well-matched in strength and technique. Devon was proving quite agile and able to slip out anytime Chase tried to pin him. His own maw ripped into Chase's shoulder, spewing red blood across the grass. Chase stumbled away leaving an opening for Devon to pounce.

As Devon drew up for the attack, Chase feinted to the right and then swooped under, flipping Devon onto his back. He placed his open jaw on Devon's throat asking him to concede. Devon squirmed, refusing to allow his opponent to win. Chase closed his jaw lightly and held. Devon used his forepaw to smack him in the face. Then, Chase clamped down, restricting his air flow. Devon attempted once more to free himself, clearly struggling at this point.

As the pack leaned in, anticipating the ending to the duel they heard a loud bang behind them. Immediately, they all swiveled to find the source of the noise.

"FIRE!" Jade screamed.

Chase's office on the second floor had burst into flames.

Author's Notes:

So the duel happened! Did it go down like you expected?

I think Devon is going to feel embarrassed about losing, but I also don't think Amanda's going to care. ;)

What do you think about the fire interrupting the ending?

Are you excited to see where that leads?

Thank you for reading. Please remember to vote and comment!!