HUNTER

 

One week later…

 

When the night of my first fight in Azure came, Saxon was contacted. It wasn’t long before I was escorted back to Valentine’s place with Saxon and York by my side.

I never failed to marvel at the extravagance that made up Azure. The buildings were tall and pristine, like they’d just been built a day ago. The mansions were sprawling and elegant. There were more cars on the streets than I was used to seeing.

I was led into a small room to prepare for the fight. There wasn’t much inside of the dimly-lit locker room outside of a few chairs and some storage to place my things.

I sat calmly in my chair with my eyes closed, trying to maintain my composure. Saxon stood next to me while he gave me his best motivational speech.

“Listen up,” he said. “Treat this guy just like every other Alpha you’ve ever fought. Just because we’re out of the slums doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a fight. Alphas have been fighting for generations. This isn’t any different. You go out there and show them what kind of wolf you got beating in your heart, you hear me?”

I didn’t have much time to collect my thoughts.

A knock on the door forced my eyes open. I turned and saw one of Valentine’s guards step into the room.

“It’s time,” he said.

I looked at Saxon and he gave me a confident smile with a thumbs up.

York wasn’t as confident as my Beta manager.

The Omega looked back at me, a slight frown on his face. He didn’t try hiding the worry in his blue eyes. It was nice knowing that he cared enough about me to be concerned.

I wanted to tell him that everything would be all right. I wanted to tell him that I would make it through this. But at this point, I knew there was nothing I could say.

Time was up.

Valentine’s guards escorted me down the hall. The sound of murmuring grew louder as I moved through the long hallway. When I got to the end of the hall, I saw where I would be fighting.

A sprawling, circular arena about 10 meters wide in every direction lay in front of me. The ground was a dark marble. Bright lights shined down from the ceiling high in the air, illuminating everything underneath it. There was a crowd of men and women that made up the audience around the arena.

They were nothing like I was used to seeing. The men wore expensive suits. The women wore fancy dresses. It was clear they were from Azure.

Even if they weren’t wearing those clothes, their demeanor was enough to tell me otherwise. Confident. Snooty. A bit of disdain. Their attitudes were clear even though I couldn’t hear the things they were saying.

It was like being inside of an exhibit. The audience looked at me as if I were some animal there for their amusement.

At one end of the arena, there were a set of steps. The steps led up one story to a spot where Valentine sat. He had a guard at each side of him. Valentine was above everybody else, so he was able to see everything in view.

I looked up at him for a second but the expression on his face didn’t change. He was calm and emotionless.

I was escorted to one side of the arena. In the distance, several yards away from me, I saw another hall that led into the arena. I stared forward and saw my opponent slowly come into view.

He didn’t look much different from the other men I’d fought in Pandora. He was tall, his muscles just as strong as any other Alpha. His head was shaved clean. There was a look of intensity in his eyes as he stared across the arena at me. In nothing but a pair of jeans, he paced back and forth with his eyes still locked on me.

“Piece of cake,” Saxon said as he patted me on the shoulder. “You got this.”

I wasn’t paying much attention to his words of encouragement. Instead, my focus was solely on York.

The young Omega was still worried. Seeing the frown on his face told me what I needed to do.

This is for him. This is for the shelter.

I gave him a nod to reassure him then turned back to my opponent. The guards surrounding me made Saxon and York move back. I looked up and watched as a giant cage lowered from the ceiling. It kept moving down until it trapped me inside. The only other man in the cage with me was my opponent.

I leaned back against the fencing to ready myself. My opponent kept pacing back and forth in front of me.

Valentine stood up from his seat and the murmuring behind the glass began to die down. Everybody in the arena turned toward him.

“Thank you all for coming,” he said as he held his hand up. “Tonight, we have a special treat for you. A new challenge from the streets of Pandora. Everybody, I give you the Alpha known as Hunter!”

I remained calm, my back against the cage as I closed my eyes.

“Does he have what it takes to compete here? We’ll find out soon enough when he takes on his challenger, the Alpha we call Arrow!”

A sudden growl from the man across from me made my eyes shoot open. He held his hands up in the air and soaked up the cheers from the crowd.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Valentine announced. “You all came here to see a fight. Two Alphas doing battle like our ancestors did generations ago. Let’s see whose heart beats the hardest!”

Arrow didn’t waste a second and shifted before me. A wolf with black fur that looked as menacing as any Alpha you’d ever come across. I responded by shifting.

“Come on, Hunter! You got this!”

Saxon shouted his words of encouragement to me from behind the cage fencing. I could feel York’s eyes on me just the same even though he was silent.

I moved forward and started circling the cage. Arrow began to do the same, his eyes locked on me and his mouth open to show off his fangs.

The anticipation from the audience grew louder as they shouted and cheered.

None of that mattered to me. Arrow was standing in my way and I was going to do whatever it took to beat him.

I kept circling the cage. I waited for him to attack before I made my move. He was a wolf the same size as me, so I knew I would be able to move as quickly as him. But he refused to test me.

“Let’s go, Hunter!”

Saxon’s words spurred me. I snarled and rushed forward. My paws out, I reached out and tried to hit Arrow as hard as I could. My claws collided with his face, sending him tumbling back against the cage with a whimper.

“Yes! That’s it!”

Saxon continued to cheer. The crowd was even louder.

I pounced on top of Arrow and put my paws to his throat. I held him down, trying to get him to submit, but he wouldn’t be beaten so easily. He pushed me off and I rolled over onto the ground. He tried to return the favor but I moved away just as he tried to pounce on me.

Arrow became more aggressive. He snatched at me. He swiped. Every attack was accompanied by a violent growl. But I managed to stay out of the way from all his attacks, digging my claws into him whenever I had the chance.

I could smell the blood coming from his black fur. His mouth hung open as he breathed harder. He was getting tired. I knew my opportunity was here.

He lunged forward but he was too slow. I moved out of the way and pounced on top of him. With all of my strength, I swung at his head. My paw collided with a thud. I moved off of him. Arrow’s body remained on the floor, unconscious.

“Yes! Ha ha!”

I turned to see Saxon throwing his hands up in celebration. York wasn’t cheering but the look of concern was no longer on his face. The crowd observing the fight all stared at me with disdain in their eyes. It was clear that they had bet against me.

The cage slowly started to rise back to the ceiling. I shifted back into my human form as Arrow was assisted back to his feet. Saxon rushed up to me and greeted me with a hearty thud on my shoulder.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” he said. “I told you it would be easy.”

“It wasn’t easy,” I sighed.

“Easier than the last fight.”

I smirked at him, grateful that I hadn’t suffered any serious injuries.

I turned to York and he hugged me, pressing his head against my chest. He didn’t say anything. All he did was let out a deep sigh of relief.

My moment with York was interrupted by loud clapping. I looked up and saw Valentine had gotten out of his seat.

“Well done,” Valentine said for everybody to hear. “It appears the Alpha from Pandora is more than capable of competing in this arena.”

I moved away from York and toward Valentine.

“Give me the fight I want,” I said as I looked up at him.

“You’ll get your fight, Hunter,” Valentine replied. “Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to announce that next week, Hunter will take on the one and only, undefeated, champion of the arena, Golden!”

The crowd cheered at the announcement. I looked around in amazement at the near hundred people that were eager to see me fight again. Despite how violent the fights were, the bloodlust in their eyes was clear.

“We won,” Saxon said.

“What?” I said as I turned to him.

“I put a bet on you. You’re the new fighter, so nobody thought you would win. You won a lot of gold, you and me.”

“It must be nice,” York said. “Not having to do a thing and still making so much gold.”

“Hey, I did a lot,” Saxon said to him. “I’m the reason Hunter’s here in the first place.”

“You say that like it’s a good thing…”

York rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he looked away. Saxon blew him off and turned to me with a smile on his face.

“Never mind any of that,” he said. “The fight’s over. And you don’t have to deal with Golden for another week. I say we take the gold we won and we celebrate. What do you think, Hunter?”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“All right!” he said with a fist pump.

Two guards arrived to escort us back out of the arena. The crowd remained because there were still more fights left. I looked out into the crowd and took it all in before looking up at Valentine in his seat.

He stared back at me. Even though he was sitting so high up with a flight of stairs and the rest of the arena between us, I could still see the slight smirk on his lips.

“Come on,” York said.

York got my attention with a hand around my arm.

“Let’s just get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps.”

I gave York a nod. The three of us were escorted out of the arena.

I would only have to spend one more time in here before I never had to fight again. My last fight couldn’t come soon enough.