Page 16 of In Your Eyes
Not wasting any time, my father leaped forward. He landed on top of Dirk just as the man rolled over onto this back. They scuffled, and then Dirk shifted into his wolf form with only a few seconds to spare. Though he wouldn’t be disqualified, I was certain it was too late for him to win the challenge or stay alive because my father’s jaw was open and he closed it over Dirk’s throat.
They were on the side of the ring opposite me, so despite the moon shining down on us and my shifter vision, I couldn’t see what happened next. One second I was waiting to see blood gush from Dirk’s throat, and the next my father was tumbling to the ground. He climbed to his feet, but it was awkward at best. I leaned forward and squinted, trying to identify an injury I hadn’t seen being inflicted.
Still recovering from the beating my father had given him, Dirk was slow, but he managed to jump onto my father, claws and teeth bared. It was hard to follow anything after that as the two wolves rolled together without grace—growling, snapping, and clawing. The scent of blood was heavy in the air, and when I saw my father’s light brown fur darkening, I truly worried for the first time during the battle.
“What’s going on?” one of our pack members murmured. “Tom doesn’t fight like this.”
Though I hadn’t seen my father fight often, I understood what he meant. My father normally had more finesse and control. The wolf we were watching had neither. He seemed unable to get his bearings; his coordination was nonexistent, and whatever strategy I’d thought he was employing was gone. As the minutes ticked by, my father’s bites and swipes went from spasmodic to ill-timed, until to my horror, they stopped altogether.
“Tom!”
“Alpha!”
The shouts around me sounded like they were coming from far away as I tried to reconcile what my eyes were seeing with the only outcome I had thought possible.
“No!” my mother cried out.
Why wasn’t he moving? Why was the ground turning red underneath him?
Time stopped. Sounds stopped. Everything stopped while I watched the life leach from my father’s body.
Someone was talking. It took me a few moments to realize it was the council member, and even then I couldn’t make out his words. My father’s friends stepped into the ring and lifted his body from the ground. I looked around and saw my mother, tears streaming down her face as she watched her husband’s corpse being carried to her.
“Samuel Goodwin, you need to respond!”
My name being shouted finally got my attention. I blinked at the council member.
“What?” I croaked.
“Dirk Keller won the challenge,” Heath Farbis said, and I had the sense he was repeating words I had missed. “That means he retains his position in the Miancarem pack and he has a claim to the Yafenack pack. As the presumptive Alpha of the Yafenack pack, you have the right to fight for your position. What do you choose?”
I was trying to think my way through the fog in my brain to answer his question when Dirk suddenly yelled, “But I won! Both packs are mine.”
Why was he in human form? When had he shifted?
“Alpha, control yourself,” the council member snapped. “As I just explained to you, winning the challenge means you have aclaimto the Yafenack pack. If there is another with a claim present, which there is, he has the right to fight for control just as you do.”
Though his face was full of rage and he shook with barely contained fury, Dirk managed to nod. “Fine! I will call for a challenge when—”
“No.” The council member shook his head. “The rules are clear. The battle continues until all shifters with a claim to the Alpha position have relinquished their claims or lost the battle. You will have no other opportunity to challenge the Yafenack pack if you forfeit now.”
“What does that mean?” Dirk said as he turned to his pack members. “Did you know about this?”
The panicked mumbling, wide eyes, and shaking heads answered that question.
And so did the council member. “It means if you want to take over as Alpha of the Yafenack pack, you must defeat all those with a claim to the position.” He pointed at me. “Samuel Goodwin is twenty-three years old and the presumptive Alpha of the pack. He has a claim, which means he can step into the challenge where his father left off—with one minute left as a wolf. You will then both shift into your human forms for ten minutes and so on and so forth. You already heard the rules of battle, Alpha. I shouldn’t have to repeat them.” The man had clearly lost his patience.
I, on the other hand, was finally starting to regain my mind. My Alpha was dead. My father was dead.
“But I’ve already been battling and he hasn’t,” Dirk said, as if we hadn’t all been present for it. “That isn’t fair.”
I would have laughed at him for sounding like a whiney child if I had the ability, but I doubted I would ever laugh again.
“You called this challenge and insisted it happen at the earliest allowable time, Alpha.” The council member’s lips were thin white lines. “The council dropped everything to accommodate your demand. Perhaps you should have thought to learn more about the rules.” He waved his hand at the Miancarem witnesses. “For example, I understood your pack to have a presumptive Alpha as well, but I see he isn’t here.”
“I’m still the Alpha of my pack!” Dirk bellowed.
“For now, yes.” The council member smirked before turning to me, his gaze softening. “Samuel Goodwin, do you wish to meet the challenge of your claim to the Yafenack pack?”
