The King's Queen

♔ Eustacia (P.O.V)

Without warning, the sound of chains rattling vibrates through the air. My opponent's chain thuds as it drops to the dusty dirt ground. Her loud howling ripples through the vicinity, as she crashes violently through the open gate. Dashing towards me like the speed of light, with her teeth bared.

Scurrying forward, I run out of the cell that I still haven't left. Several swift steps onward and my neck is snapped backward, the silver teeth from the collar drill deeply into my neck. Panic swiftly takes over my body as I flail forward, my back paws digging into the dirt under me. Helplessly, I watch as the red she-wolf bolts towards me, her silver chain bouncing freely behind her.

Why can't I move?

I look behind my left shoulder towards Ruston, and instantly it's clear why I can't move. Ruston is frantically beating against a single loop of my chain that has lodged itself vertically between the cell bars. Glancing toward the she-wolf's direction, she's nearly halfway at my cell. Soon she'll be here, and I'll have no means to fight. I'm a sitting duck unless that loop breaks free.

"It's not looking good! Cocoa is rushing toward Storm, who seems to be caught in her cell! This may be the quickest end game we've seen yet!" The announcer woman howls.

Shoving my muzzle through the silver bars, I begin to push against the trapped chain loop. My muzzle that already had a few sore spots from earlier burns even more. Even with both of us trying to get it to release, it refuses to yield. It stays there, lodged snuggly in its place, as the she-wolf barrels closer and closer to my position.

Panic swells in my chest at the thought of her reaching me. Trashing my muzzle against the loop harder, I start using my right front paw too. Bashing against the chain with my muzzle, paw, and help from Ruston, it slowly begins to budge.

Not fast enough.

Cocoa, or whatever her real name is, is now almost a wolf length away snarling and making herself known. If my guess is correct, she's about five seconds away. Howling I brace my hind legs briskly and prepare to retaliate. One. Two. Three. Releasing the tension in my hind legs, I vault over her causing the loop to break free from the stress placed on it.

Freedom!

I briskly shoot out of the holding cell, the chain following behind me as it bounces against the solid ground. Skidding to a stop, I turn quickly around to face the area my attacker had been.

Her ass end was pointed upward at me, and her face had collided into the cell bars. She's stuck.

A loud pained scream shoots through the air as Ruston shoves her face back through the silver bars, effectively getting her back into the game. One. Two. Three. The heartbeat in my chest begins to pound harder as the she-wolf starts to spin around to face me. Her red eyes glow a violent red as a mad howl leaves her wolf body.

I will not lose.

♔ Tristen (P.O.V)

The wolf called Storm joins in with the other howling, almost as if she isn't a 'savage' like they claim. The wolf is beautiful, with her elegant glossy black coat that shines every way she turns. Although her eyes shine a blood red, she seems to hold compassion in them or at least the few glimpses I've seen. Although it's small and highly unnoticeable, there's a small white heart shape on the back of her neck, directly under the edge of the collar.

The other wolf seems savage in every way. How she constantly howls and goes after her opponent. The way she blindly charged at the other when she was caught. Even the coldness in her eyes screams that she has no conscience.

"Ladies and gents! The tides have turned for a better. Storm, our underdog, has successfully escaped what would've been the end for her!" The woman shouts to the crowd. I recognize her as Raoul's mate, if she's hosting this with Flynn, then their pack must be connected with whatever this is.

Six of us sit carefully on the top row of the seats. Gedeon, Flynn's beta sits furthest right. Followed by Emma, Flynn's mate. She's been marked, but for some reason, Flynn doesn't have a mark yet. Odd, but I won't question it. Flynn, the alpha of this pack. Felix sits beside Flynn, right next to me. To my left, Luka sits contently in his spot.

" My money is on the aggressive one," Felix leans over and whispers into my ear.

"Great, great, just bet on wolves fighting," I scowl. I don't have any bad opinions on this after all savage wolves are a threat to our society.

"Stop being a buzzkill, there is nothing in the books against this. Just relax and have some fun, Tree," he nudges me with his elbow and continues, " what do you even have against this?"

"I dunno Felix. Although, it has something to do with that wolf, Storm. I don't think she's a savage. We've seen plenty on our borders, and she just doesn't seem... right."

"You're overthinking it bruv, just relax, but if it bothers you that bad have Luka snoop around."

He has a good point, that's the entire reason I brought Luka along anyway. I don't think it's the right time to do that though.

Maybe, I do need to relax. Groaning, I reluctantly go back to watching the show.

Both wolves have stopped howling, Cocoa bares her teeth and rushes towards Storm. Cocoa outweighs her and has an advantage if she gets a hold of the other wolf. Storm seems to be completely on the defensive, which leads me to believe that she's inexperienced or she's smart. Either option supports my hunch about her not being a savage. Normally they should be out there attacking and going for kill shot after kill shot, with no remorse or thought behind it.

Storm seems to relax her muscles and go limp, as the other wolf tunnels toward her. With an amazingly quick reaction time, she drops to the ground and catches Cocoa's back leg in her mouth. A loud thud vibrates as Cocoa hits the floor, a high pitch wail breaches the air as Storm crunches into her leg. Climbing on top of her, Storm digs her claws into Cocoa's front legs as she sinks her teeth deep into the flank of her neck, right under the collar.

Cocoa howls in pain, trying to break free she trashes around violently. With cat-like reflexes, Storm picks up the silver chain connected to Cocoa's collar and tightly wraps it around her neck. Stepping on the chain to make sure that it stays around her neck, she rolls her over and begins to tear into her stomach with her hind legs. Blood flies everywhere, clumping into the dirt. Howls of agony leave Cocoa's body, which is abruptly cut short as Storm sinks her teeth directly into her windpipe, effectively shutting her up.

"We have a winner! Storm has achieved her first of many winnings!" Raoul's mate yells with excitement.

"Damnit!" Felix moans with disappointment.

"You bet on the other one?" I question.

"Yea, I did and she clearly sucked," he frowns, "who'd you vote for?"

"Neither," I state, as I look back at the wolf who just won.

She howls with victory, blood staining her muzzle. The blood also clumped and matted her fur, which causes her to look skinnier than they said she weighed. With her howl finished she looks directly at Flynn and scans across the few of us sitting beside him. Gedeon, Emma, Felix, then me.

Our eyes make contact, and my heart drops. My body begins to tingle as butterflies surge in my stomach. The outside noise of cheering and talking becomes nothing but white noise. My wolf begins to stir, frolicking around with an immense amount of happiness.

"Tristen! Tristen! Go! Run!" Remus wails desperately.

My body moves on its own. Within a few seconds, I clear the four rows of bleachers and land in the pit. I grab the small fragile she-wolf and hold her close, not letting go. She melts and begins to shake violently in my arms. I begin shushing and rubbing my hand through her fur, trying to calm her down. The collar keeps getting in my way.

The collar.

Irritation, anger, and sadness rush through my body, I realize the horror and pain she's probably been through. Placing my hands on the collar I break it off, I knew she wasn't a savage. If only I knew what she was I wouldn't have watched. I wouldn't have faced the fact she could've died.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't get here sooner," I whisper to her, hoping she understands me.

"Tristen?" Someone approaches behind me, placing their hand on my shoulder.

"Go away!" Growling at them I shove their hand away violently. No one is allowed to come near her. No one can hurt her anymore.

"Tree, it's me, what in goddess name are you doing?" Felix approaches me again, I didn't need to look up to know he was concerned. I could hear the hesitation in his footsteps.

"Don't touch her," I plead.

"Why? Tree, you have me concerned."

"She's her, Felix. She's my mate, and I didn't know it. What if she died? She's hurting so much Felix, and I wasn't here to protect her."

My heart breaks as I feel the pain both mental and physical start to rush through the mate bond. It's only half of what she feels, without the entire completed bond it's limited. Regret pulses through my heart, chipping away at my composure. I've failed her.

"I'm sorry," I whisper again into her ear. Still holding her tight, I rub my fingers through her fur continuously. "I'll get you out of here, I promise."