The Alpha's Gamble - Chapter 116: Chapter 116

MADELINE
Music blasted from the speakers. It was heard over the entire pack, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it reached our neighboring towns. People ran, laughed, and cheered all the way to the Olympic-looking arena they’d built on the border of the Obsidian Pack.
Torches were lit despite it being bright and sunny, and everyone eagerly gave their tickets to the four massive men standing guard by the entrance. The entrance alone was bigger than the doors leading into the mansion. Noah and I walked hand in hand up the bleachers to see the arena from above before I headed in there. The arena housed up to one thousand spectators, each with assigned seats, and werewolves had gathered from around the country to see the spectacle. Men and women fighting to the death or, at the very least, an enjoyably close call. Nobody left unmutilated.
I’d read the rules and guides over and over at least fifty times to make sure I was familiar with how it went down, but standing there, seeing the arena for the first time, and feeling the energy sky-high around me put it into perspective.
They would sit up here and hope for my death, or my opponent’s. But no matter who they rooted for, they would cheer when the other went down. That’s how it worked. That was the game.
“Maddie, I’m begging you,” Noah said, and pulled me in by my waist. “Let me take you away. Fuck this, all of it. We’ll leave the pack and start over somewhere else.”
“You’ll lose all credibility, and the pack will be at war with Volokov and whoever he has chosen as a warrior. It’s not a choice, Noah. I got myself into this mess, and now it’s time I take responsibility for the fuck-ups I’ve made.” And there were a few of them.
He brushed the hair from my face and placed it behind my ear.
“I wish you wouldn’t,” he said under his breath. We were constantly being shoved and hit as people swarmed onto the bleachers to grab their seats. They pumped their fists in the air, growled and howled at the sky, and some even shifted outside and started fighting each other.
It was like some twisted form of adult Christmas. I’d never seen werewolves so happy.
“I should head down.”
“I’ll go with you,” he said, but I stopped him.
“Stay here and wait for—”
“I’m coming with you,” he said, leaving no room for argument.
The other fighters had gathered, all seeming eerily calm and collected. Thirsty for blood and glory. The winner of each fight got a cash prize. People volunteered as fighters, wanting to represent their packs and raise their rank in the eyes of their Alpha.
Others just wanted an outlet for their rage.
“I wonder who I’m fighting,” I said as I looked around. A few were shadow boxing, getting into the groove and kicking dirt up with their feet as they struck into the air.
“I’m guessing it’s another girl,” he said. There were a few, more than I’d thought for some reason. Was that sexist of me? I guess I just thought it was more of a testosterone-filled need to prove oneself through the act of violence, but I seemed to be gravely mistaken.
Behind Noah, I saw my father and Jack walking in, followed by Logan and… Freya.
"You make sure to kick her ass and don’t stop until she can’t get back up. You got it?” Logan said. He grabbed my shoulders and gave them a rough squeeze.
“Got it,” I grinned.
“We have to find our places, it’s almost time,” Jack said.
Freya shot me a look. It wandered for an eternity, but she eventually sighed and turned around. After that day, three nights ago, in Jack’s office, I made her promise not to relay the information she’d shared to anyone else. Especially Noah. If they knew that I didn’t have a wolf, they would do anything they could to stop this. The extent Noah would go to in order to derail the fight, or the entire event, was frightening. He wouldn’t care about the consequences; he would act without reason, without thinking, and it would only ever end in disaster. I knew exactly what he would do, how he would do it with no humanity and no regard to our pack or the families that lived there. I knew because I would do the same thing for him in a heartbeat.
She met up with Melania, who went to sit with the others, and the last to leave was Logan.
“Maddie,” Noah whispered.
I smiled and pressed down the tears because I’d be damned if I cried in here moments before the most important fight of my life.
“I know, I’ll see you later,” I said under my breath because if I spoke any louder, I would say the wrong things. Let’s go. Take me away. We’ll run and let everyone else fend for themselves.
“You better.” He cupped my cheek and pulled me in. Our lips collided in a bruising, passionate kiss and I made sure to savor every second of it.
“ALL WARRIORS PREPARE!” A voice boomed behind us and the bleachers erupted in cheers and foot stomping that sent layers of dirt down on our heads.
Noah stepped back. It was like he had to force his feet to move, to drag through the dirt and take him out.
Once he disappeared around the corner and merged with his family to take a seat, I whispered the words that had been on my tongue for three days now. Words he could never hear.
“I’m sorry.”
The warriors all lined up. I had to push down everything I felt, everything I wanted, and focus only on the now. One mistake and it would be over. I was still strong. I was still trained. And if there was the tiniest chance for me to walk out of here alive, I’d take it.
For the first time in my life, I had something to live for. Something that wasn’t a school that would take me away from here. For the first time, I wanted to stay. I had something to stay for.
Something to live for. And I needed to protect it. To protect his heart.
One by one, they were sent in, and after five warriors met their opponents, only three came back. Opponents never stood in the same preparation part of the arena. We were divided, and half of us were on the other side.
“Next up is Valerie McDaniels against Rhena Drive!”
I was up next. I looked at the girls fighting, trying to see if there was any correlation between their techniques, but it was all very unique to the fighter, depending on the pack, the region, and their strengths. They were good, but so was I. I got this.
The brownish dirt was splattered red with blood after each fight. Eventually, I could see the flesh and blood from those who came before me, evidence of the people who had died or been severely injured before being taken out. They weren't taken to a doctor, nobody tended to them after the fight, they were discarded outside and left alone until the event was over.
I wondered if I would see the outline of a body that someone had dragged off.
And that time was now.
One thing about the Ring. If you were thinking, are there no rules?
I read up on the tubes that Landon, Logan, and I dumped liquid wolfsbane into. Turned out, they contained propane and were attached to flame bars that were dug into the ground around the Ring. Using a pyro control system, they were turned on, and every now and then, upon ignition, they shot up flames, creating a literal wall of fire around the Ring.
When the flames came up, the fighters had to separate into their respective halves of the Ring. And once they were off, the fight was back on.
When the wall came up, the heat slammed against me, knocking me back a step. And the second it turned off, Valerie went down. But Rhena didn’t stop. She got on top of her and landed hit after hit, even when the body was as still as a corpse.
It continued for one minute and fifteen seconds. I counted. After which, she got up and punched the air, marveling at the admiration of the visitors.
A warrior came in, grabbed Valerie’s hands, and dragged her out of the arena like a sack of dirt.
“Next up is Madeline Torrance, and,” the announcer stopped for a beat.
Come on, who’s the girl?
It’d be great if I recognized her, because then I’d be able to tell which pack she was from, and in that answer lay a lot of clues to her technique that could help me stay alive.
“Madeline Torrance and Alpha Driton Versi!”