TRISTAN

 

Hundreds had gathered. They circled the open field in Pandora. The anxiety on everybody’s faces was clear.

Donovan. His husband Lucas. Hunter. York. Oliver, Knight, and others from the other shelters had shown up.

There were thugs who roamed the streets of the slums watching with keen interest. There were rich Alphas from Azure who’d made their way out here. Residents from all over Dirge had come to make up the biggest crowd I’d ever seen before.

Julius spent the day resting and preparing for what was the biggest fight I’d ever heard of. Taking on a whole pack of wild hyenas who were trying to kill him was like something out of a bad dream.

Looking at him now though, my confidence in him had never been stronger.

He wore nothing but a pair of jeans and some boots. His hard muscles glistened underneath the moonlight. His eyes were closed and his breath was steady.

I sighed a deep breath into the night and felt how cold it was. I barely noticed it with how warm my blood was flowing through me.

The crowd murmured in anticipation. Some were eager to see Julius put down the Black Stone and get through to all of the thugs in Pandora who treated the slums like their playground. Others were anxious to see the mayor get ripped to shreds.

The answers were coming quickly.

The rumble of engines approached. They grew so loud that they silenced any conversation that might have been happening. Seth sat on his bike, leading what looked to be about 50 of his brethren right behind him. The thugs on their bikes had never looked so arrogant. Their disregard for the peace in Dirge was clear. Now it was up to Julius to make them realize that Dirge’s destiny was a peaceful one.

Seth stopped his bike to a grinding halt along with the others. He got off and stood a few meters away from Julius. The crowd circling the two combatants backed up to give them more space.

“I’ll give you one last chance,” Seth said as he held his arms out. “Back away, Mayor. Let us live our lives how we want to.”

“You have no right to rob other citizens of the peace they deserve,” Julius said. “Those who suffer will no longer live in fear.”

Julius turned to the crowd and addressed them.

“Let it be known!” he shouted. “This man and his pack have challenged me. After I’m through with him, there will be no more challenges. There will be no more pack mentality. There will be no free reign for Alphas to take advantages of Omegas. Peace for your fellow man. That is the doctrine that will guide us into the future.”

“Spare them your useless dogma,” Seth said. “When I rip you apart, Dirge will stay the same as it is. You can’t tame us. You deny us our own nature.”

“Our nature is not the violent one you claim it is. I will prove to you that love and peace is the way. The anger and selfish desire in your heart will only lead to your downfall.”

“We’ll see.”

Seth and his gang started removing their clothing. A few moments later, they all shifted into hyenas. Their coats black and gray, just a single one of them would have been menacing enough. But a whole pack of them, larger than any I’d seen in the city or the Timberlands, was something that would’ve struck fear into the heart of the bravest man.

They bared their teeth and growled at Julius.

“Julius…”

I said his name. He turned back to me.

I wanted him to say something. I wanted him to tell me it would be all right. Something. Anything to let me know that it would be okay.

But the silence between us was enough. Julius gave me only a focused concentration before turning back to Seth. He marched forward, his chest out proudly.

“What’s going on?” Saxon whispered to me. “He’s not going to shift.”

“No,” I said. “He’ll face them as a man. He has to make a point.”

“He’s a lion—”

“He’s a man. That’s the only way he can prove to Seth that civility is the way.”

“I hope he knows what he’s doing,” Saxon said.

I remained confident despite Saxon’s reservations.

Julius moved forward and all of the hyenas started to circle him. The lead hyena started cackling.

“This is futile,” Seth said. “I will spare you the embarrassment. Not all at once. Teach this man a lesson.”

A couple of the hyenas charged forward. They snarled as they leaped into the air and tried to pounce on Julius.

Julius raised his hands and grabbed one of them by the throat, slamming his head into the ground and knocking him out. The other one just managed to slash at Julius. But it wasn’t enough to stop Julius from grabbing him and giving him the same fate.

“Go!” Seth shouted.

One by one, the hyenas rushed at Julius. They slashed with their claws and snatched with their sharp fangs. They were able to draw blood but none of the cuts debilitated Julius enough to stop him.

Julius fought more valiantly than anybody I’d ever seen. His muscles seemed to bulge even larger than they already were. He grabbed every hyena by the throat and knocked them out. Violent slams. Thudding punches. One by one, the hyenas laid out.

But there were so many of them, there was still a formidable pack that stood before him.

Some in the crowd cheered at the scene. Others remained silent in awe. Those who wanted Seth to win watched in growing frustration.

“Enough of this!” Seth shouted. “Go!”

A dozen hyenas all rushed at Julius suddenly.

I felt a lump in my throat as they all pounced at once. Buried underneath a pile of snarling hyenas, Julius disappeared completely.

“I don’t like the looks of this—”

“Shut up, Saxon!” I said to him. “He’s all right.”

Despite my confidence, there was a growing nervousness in the pit of my stomach. Julius was capable of anything but getting buried underneath a pile of violent hyenas wasn’t something I wanted to see him go through.

Just before I could grow any more nervous, the pile suddenly burst.

The crowd cheered as Julius got back up to his feet.

The hyenas were caught off guard by Julius’s strength. It was the perfect opportunity for him to capitalize. He grabbed them by their throats, one by one, and slammed their heads into the ground to knock them out. Those who tried to pounce again were met with violent fists to the jaw that were just as hard as the ground.

Julius was bloodied. His body dripped with sweat. He was breathing harder than I’d ever seen. But he still remained on two feet, motioning for more challengers with his hand.

He’d downed more than half of Seth’s pack. The hyena stayed back and watched as his brethren were put to sleep. I knew there was a growing frustration just from the sound of his howling.

“Everybody!” Seth shouted. “Now!”

More than 20 hyenas charged at Julius. They converged on him to the point that no man would be able to move out of the way. They snatched their jaws at him and swiped to injure him even more.

Julius remained focused. Even from a distance, I could see the determination in his eyes.

He kept slamming them to the ground as he’d done before despite all of the other hyenas gnawing on his limbs.

“He’s in trouble,” Saxon said. “He can’t do this. There are too many of them—”

“He can do it. He’s doing it.”

“He’s hurting himself. He’s gonna get himself killed.”

Just one hyena was enough to draw blood. More than a dozen remained. Julius punched all of them off of him before his wounds could get any deeper.

Somehow, he fought off the last hyena. Julius stood in the center of the field with all of Seth’s brethren littered around him.

He’d done it. But not without a price.

Julius fell down to one knee. The slashes and bite wounds covered his arms and torso. His jeans were ripped with cuts underneath them. The blood dripped down his skin. His eyes were open but the fatigue was clear.

“He can’t keep this up,” Saxon said. “No man can.”

“He can do it.”

“Tristan!”

Saxon shouted over the cheering crowd, forcing me to turn my head and look at him.

“You have to do something!” Saxon said. “If you don’t, Julius is gonna die out there!”

I clenched my jaw and turned to Julius. His fists dug into the ground as he tried to keep himself steady.

I was torn.

I wanted to do something. But I knew Julius had to finish this fight. He had to so that nobody else would have to endure this kind of challenge again.

The sound of the crowd around us was deafening. They cheered Julius on, marveling at what he’d done.

Seth paced back and forth as the lone hyena standing. He eyeballed Julius like a predator eyeballing his prey.

“Tristan!” Saxon shouted.

He yelled loud enough to get through to me.

I rushed forward into the center of the field and took a knee on the ground next to Julius.

“It’s okay,” I said. “You can stop.”

Julius turned to me with a weariness in his eyes that broke my heart.

“It’s not over,” he said. “I have to make it clear to everybody. There’s no place for this kind of violence in Dirge.”

“You have made it clear. Look around. Everybody believes in you. You are the leader everybody thinks you are.”

Julius turned toward the crowd. Everybody was smiling. They raised their hands in the air, urging Julius to stand up and continue.

“They believe in you,” I said. “You’re their leader. You don’t have to follow some ritual from the Timberlands. We’ve left those days behind.”

“We have,” he sighed. “There’s only one man left in Dirge who hasn’t.”

He turned toward Seth. The hyena was still pacing back and forth with that same bloodlust in his eyes.

“I have to do this,” Julius said. “Only then will there be no more bloodshed. One last act to end the violence. Nobody will challenge anybody ever again.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because peace guides me. And I will prove it to everybody.”

Julius stood back up to his feet. He dug his heels into the ground and stared forward at Seth.

I knew there was no stopping him now. I backed up and watched as Julius took a step forward.

“It’s already over,” Seth said. “I will spare your life if you submit to me. I am the Alpha that was destined to rule over Dirge. I represent the way of life our people were meant to live.”

“Nobody will rule over Dirge,” Julius said. “Dirge will be at peace when I’m through with you.”

Seth barked as he charged forward. He moved so fast that I could barely see him in the darkness.

I clenched my fists in nervous anticipation. The crowd was so loud that I couldn’t hear anything else.

Seth leaped into the air and pounced on Julius. Julius didn’t have the strength to defend himself. The fatigue had finally gotten to him.

Julius fell to his back with Seth on top of him. The hyena snatched his teeth, trying to bite at Julius’s face.

“Julius! Julius!”

I shouted his name over the roaring crowd. I kept shouting until I knew he’d heard me.

“Julius!”

Just as Seth looked like he was sinking his teeth into Julius’s throat, Julius screamed.

He raised both of his hands up and grabbed the hyena by the throat then rolled over on top of him. Julius stayed on top of him and began squeezing the life out of him.

The crowd shouted as the end of the fight neared. Seth started to grow weaker. Julius used all of his might to keep the hyena pinned down.

Just before it looked like the hyena had all of the life drained out of him, Seth was granted the mercy nobody expected.

Julius released him from his grip then pushed himself back up to his feet. The crowd fell silent as Julius raised his hands into the air.

“This man,” he said as he pointed at Seth. “This man represents our most carnal desires. The beasts inside of us are yearning to get out. In our hearts, we are violent. We are carnal. We are lustful. We are selfish. But our ancestors established Dirge to create a better way of life for all of us. We owe it to ourselves to live in peace. It’s what they would have wanted. It’s what future generations deserve.”

Everybody remained silent as Julius paused for a second to gather himself.

“Let it be known, there will be no more challenges,” he announced. “I was selected mayor of this city because you chose me to lead you into the future. I see the future. I see the future for all of us. It’s one of prosperity. It’s one of peace. It’s one living in harmony with nature. Let’s take control of our desires. No more violence. No more fear. Only… peace.”

The crowd stood silent. All eyes were locked on Julius. He looked back at the crowd and waited for them to respond.

I didn’t wait.

I walked up to him and put a hand on his arm. He looked down at me and somehow managed to work a smile onto his face.

“You did it,” I said. “You did it.”

The others who stood by me all started to walk up to Julius. Donovan. Lucas. Hunter. York. Saxon. Knight. Oliver. They all congratulated him. It was enough to let me know that it was all truly over.

The crowd slowly started to respond. They clapped until the noise grew so loud that all of Dirge could hear it.

“What will be done with him?” I asked as I looked at Seth.

The lead hyena remained on the ground, defeated.

“The police force will no longer be fearful of coming to Pandora,” Julius said. “He will be locked away with his brethren. He will be the last example that needs to be made. There will be no more violence in Dirge.”

“How can you be sure?” I said.

“Look around. They know that I’m right.”

People from all over Dirge were gathered in the slums. I’d never seen the kind of smiles I was looking at now.

I knew that the violence was finally over. Everybody wanted the peace that Julius had just fought for.

Dirge would never be the same again.