I hefted it and waited for an opening.
The stage smelled of blood. It was splattered on almost every surface as Bash and Viktor charged one another, taking bites then retreating to find better angles.
I watched, crouching low behind a chair that had been overturned, and waited until Viktor was close to me, then threw myself forward and swung the stake down.
He moved like lightning, too fast for me to get a good hit, but my makeshift weapon managed to scrape the length of him, drawing more blood and more rage. His lips curled back as he snarled at me and lunged.
Bash caught him before he could land on me and dragged him back by the tail. He twisted and pulled until he was in front of me, guarding me, and Viktor was facing us both.
I felt the change in the air before I felt an unbearable pressure pushing down on me, forcing me to the ground. Besides me, Bash whimpered and fell to his belly. I pushed back, trying to regain my feet, trying to look at Viktor, whose eyes, so otherworldly in a wolf, bore down on us both with an intensity I felt in my bones.
It was like earlier, when he’d commanded me to get up, I realized through the pressure in my head. This was his Alpha power, his wolf’s command voice. I’d read about it and how it affected those under it’s command.
But, I wasn’t under his command, I forced the thought through the pain. He wasn’t my Alpha. I didn’t need to listen.
My entire body shook violently as I fought back against the near overwhelming urge to prostrate myself before him. Some part of me wanted to give in, wanted to obey, but I screamed at that part of me to “shut the fuck up” and pushed off the floor with a growl that broke Viktor’s concentration and made him step back.
Another growl trembled through the air and I glanced down at Bash, expecting to see him by my side. His body quivered still, lain low by Viktor’s command. I looked up, confused, and felt my eyes widen as another wolf, a female with beautiful auburn fur, leapt onto the stage from below, teeth bared and ears laid flat in warning.
I didn’t recognize this wolf and wasn’t sure if her look of contempt and fury was aimed at me or Viktor. My question was answered a moment later, when she launched herself towards him with snapping teeth.
Bash climbed to his feet and tossed his head, as if trying to shake off the hold Viktor had had on him. I looked down at him and ran my hand through his thick fur. “Are you alright?” His gentle head butt against my injured leg showed he was more concerned for me than for himself. “It’s okay. I took the antidote. I’ll be fine but I can’t shift.” I looked longingly towards the battle going down on the stage again, then back down at Bash. “Go get him.”
He grinned at me with bared teeth and lolling tongue, then charged into the fray with a howl that echoed throughout the entire auditorium.
As if called by his howl, the doors to the auditorium burst open and bodies poured in. I gasped as I saw wolves and humans, guards and what looked like professors, locked in combat. The guards were fighting hand-to-hand or teeth-to-teeth, their weapons no longer at their sides.
“Elena!” I heard the shouted familiar voice and my heart leaped for joy to see Rory streak down the aisle, narrowing avoiding two snarling wolves, and climb the stairs to the stage. She was dirty, bloodied, and alive. I grabbed her when she reached me and squeezed.
“Olds Ones, I thought you were dead!” Her gaze travelled the length of me and widened when she saw the bullet hole in my leg. “Is that a bullet hole?”
“Yeah, but it’s alright. I took the antidote.” I shrugged off her expression of shock and looked over at Bash and the mystery wolf who were still battling Viktor. “We need to help them.” I opened my mouth to tell her who he was but stopped because it was too long a story to explain in the middle of a war. Besides, I thought, how did I tell someone I was responsible, however adjacently, for the horror of this attack?
I didn’t have time to wonder for long. The fight on the stage, two wolves against one very insane individual, was raging and my blood was beginning to boil from the need to jump in. My skin tingled, flushing with a primal urge to defend and fight. My wolf was there, right under the surface, snarling to be let free. I grinned, who was I to stop her?
I opened to her. It wasn’t even a call and response, she was just there, bursting free from inside the flesh that made me human, dislocating and relocating my damaged bones until they were whole and strong again. I stepped out of my fallen clothes, loosed a furious growl, and sprang at the man that was no family to me.
His head snapped up at the last second, ruining my ambush, but giving me the perfect glimpse of his eyes and the shock that widened them. My teeth sank into the side of his neck, spilling hot blood into my mouth.
He howled and spun around, trying to shake me free but I wouldn’t let go. I wasn’t sure I could let go even if I tried. Desperation was hot and heady in me, washing away all doubt and fear. It was just me and him and his blood on my lips. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rory standing next to Bash, her hands raised to her face in shock and terror.
My body slammed into a wall, hard enough to almost break my ribs, but still I hung on. The others stood back, watching, waiting, as Viktor charged around the stage, trying furiously to dislodge me from his neck. Time stood still and sped up, I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I wasn’t letting go.
His muscles quivered and his speed slowed down as blood gushed from my bites and those left by Bash and this other wolf. I smelled his fear, so pungent and sickening, and satisfying. Still, I wouldn’t let go. When his legs collapsed, I shook him once, twice, then, finally, let go.
Viktor lay on the stage in a heap of blood matted fur and glared at me with eyes huge with disbelief. I could almost read his thoughts although, in truth, I didn’t want to even enter his sick mind or let him near mine. His pride was destroyed, his strength diminished, and his hatred of me was absolute. I felt arms wrap around my neck and heard Rory’s shaky voice thanking the Old Ones I was alright. I sunk into her and let her hold me for a moment as my breathing returned to normal. When I raised my head, Bash was there. He bumped his head up against mine and nuzzled my neck.
I was safe and alive. We all were. Relief washed through me.
Rory let go of me and pushed to her feet, then looked down at her shirt, which was now covered in blood, and sighed. “I really liked this shirt.” She walked away muttering and picked up a cloth she found on the floor then started rubbing furiously at the stains.
Bash’s scent surrounded me. I turned and found him watching me, his emerald green eyes bright with something we’d yet to put into words. Intense emotion welled in my throat as I breathed him in, then moved closer and pressed my nose into his neck.
Old Ones, I thought, reveling in his warmth. I could stay like this forever. My paws itched to be fingers that could touch and hold. I nudged Bash back, wanting privacy for some reason. He stared at me for a long moment then turned and padded off, disappearing behind a prop wall.
The change came swiftly again, this time from wolf to human, leaving me shivering and naked on stage just a few feet from Viktor. The sight of him made me feel instantly feral, so I bared my teeth and growled, “Stay down,” even though he wasn’t getting up anytime soon, then turned to grab my clothes.
I was waiting for Bash to finish dressing and glaring at Viktor when Headmistress Donahue appeared in the auditorium below, her usually perfectly coiffed hair a mess of tangles and blood. I caught her gaze and sized her up as she did the same, and decided I’d never seen her look better. She climbed the stairs and came to stand next to me to purvey the aftermath of the fight. The place, I noticed, was destroyed, but the guards, or the ones in this room at least, were down and being tied up.