"He was a silent fury who no torment could tame." - Jack London
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Screams echo through the still forest, shaking the air as a writhing body is dragged over jagged rocks and fallen leaves. Handless wrists smear warm blood across Valen's forearm, desperate to remove his dagger-like claws from the disfigured face. Crimson glimmers underneath warm sunlight peaking through the canopies, decorating the sword strapped across the General's back in a paint of demise. The scent of fear is pungent, wafting off of the bleeding male in suffocating waves.
Valen throws him into a small clearing spanning a few metres in length. It's spacious enough to allow the General to do as he pleases, and it will be used to its full extent.
A wail bubbles out of the male's chest, petrified and pleading. He tries to crawl away from the clearing, elbows and knees digging into dry soil. Blazing, golden eyes land on the male's back, aura narrowing onto his pathetic body before a sickening crack erupts from his spine.
A cold, haunting whisper leaves Valen's lips whilst the male shrieks in agony. "You wish to escape me?"
Valen's body tries to stifle a powerful tremor, black fur sprouting through patches of scarred skin. A crazed glimmer appears within his glacial, wide eyes, canines lengthening. Veins spread underneath his gaze. "After you tried to mark her?"
"Please!" the male cries, head turning back to face the volatile General. "I don't—" His words fall short, one working eye widening as his breath becomes lodged in his throat.
Growing in height, Valen's bones snap and shift underneath his skin whilst black fur covers his entire shifting form. A dangerous, clawed hand grabs onto a tree, head transforming into one resembling a large wolf. Deep, powerful breaths heave out of his chest whilst large muscles wrap around his torso and limbs. Tree bark crumbles underneath his crushing grip, clothes tearing and falling to the forest floor in a scattered pile of black remains. A feral, rumbling sound forms within his chest, resembling snarled words. Canines shine with every curl of his animalistic mouth, lethal eyes meeting horrified blue ones.
"She's. Mine."
The male's scream travels into the mainland, stunning wide-eyed wolves to a halt. The ground cracks when Valen swoops down and slices through the male's abdomen, hand gouging out organs that splatter onto nearby trees. Blood sprays out of the gaping cavity, fragments of bone swimming amongst severed flesh. Arms are torn off of sockets, thrown against reddened trees whilst claws continue to tear the wolf's flesh apart.
Mine.
Fingers wrap around ribs to lift his convulsing body off of soaked soil. Silent gasps shake the male's drooping head whilst remnants of intestines dangle beside paralysed thighs, lower legs removed. Blood pours at Valen's feet, mind revelling at the metallic scent.
Only mine.
Life begins to slip out of the male's half-blinded gaze, and Valen's jaws snap around the male's skull before his soul reaches Death's gates. The resounding crunch shakes his teeth before he tears the head off of the male's shoulders. Brain matter gushes out of his mouth, flowing down his jaw and spilling onto the floor. Blood covers his fur, hands and neck fully coated in the warm, sticky liquid.
One single word repeats itself in his mind whilst he chews on the flesh between his teeth: prey.
Round 57
After Valen dragged Alia's opponent out of the training hall, she cried and cried whilst guilt tormented her soul.
Some spectators were on edge, wanting to escape from the building after witnessing the General's anger for the first time. Never before had the Pack seen anything other than calm grace the male's features, and seeing such ferocity within the span of a few seconds was enough to terrify them to their feet. Some wolves wanted to follow the pair and harm the bleeding male for angering the General in the first place, whilst others wanted to fall to their knees and submit to prevent his wrath from reaching them.
Most didn't notice what happened during Alia's fight, but when Gamma approached the girl, their attention didn't stray. Her claws dug into flesh whilst she covered the skin bearing Valen's mark with the same hand. The scent of that male on her skin was revolting, and just having it on her felt like a nightmare. She could feel the fresh wounds where his canines scratched her skin, and it made her want to gouge out the flesh just so she could be rid of it.
It was a dreadful feeling, bearing the markings of another man. She felt horrible for not preventing it in time, and the guilt was gnawing away at her as her soul twisted in anguish. She didn't want to see the look in her mate's eyes when he saw his mark tainted. She didn't want to see his eyes flicker with disappointment at her inability to protect his mark.
She didn't want him to doubt her need for him.
He was all she could think about, and only when water was poured onto her skin was she able to be pulled out from her destructive bout of self-hatred. Gamma crouched down next to her with a half-empty water bottle in hand. Water flowed down her chest and back whilst her reddened eyes found his.
"Washing the scent off will help," he said.
Alia removed her hand, and the rest of the bottle was emptied over her tarnished skin. Only then did wolves begin to realise what had happened to her, and it sparked vengeful outcries from across the amphitheatre. They imagined their Chosen and Fated mates being forced to bear a mark against their will, and it angered them to the point of almost shifting into their primal forms.
Now she sits in the waiting ring, back against a wall with her knees to her chest. She hasn't spoken a word to anyone, silently watching the screens that display wolves sitting patiently on their assigned mats. It's been an hour since the end of the second set of matches, and Gamma refused to continue to the third set as he required Valen's assistance. For what, nobody knew, but just knowing that she'd have to see her mate's disapproval so soon was enough to make her reclusive. If she speaks to anyone, she'll probably end up crying again, and she doesn't want to seem weaker than she's already perceived.
Liam and Yaro sit a small distance away to her right, quietly conversing whilst sparing a few glances in her direction every now and then. Other wolves try to avoid her, sympathetic yet fearful of her mate appearing with a vengeance. For a while, she heard them discussing whether she was mated to a General or a wolf in another Pack, but every possible theory made them flighty with unease. Not once did they suspect Valen, but they were curious as to why her opponent's actions angered him so much. Some thought it was due to the blatant disregard of Gamma's rules, and others thought it was because of the nature of the male's disobedience.
The doors to the main floor were repaired after Valen's departure and her opponent's blood was washed away before the next round began.
Aside from their Gamma, everyone flinches when one of the doors is shoved open. Covered head-to-toe in blood, Valen wears a black short-sleeve t-shirt and black cargo trousers. His feet are bare whilst he walks further into the horrified main hall. Wolves shoot to a stand, stumbling back whilst they take in his gruesome appearance. Coating his hair, his face, and drenching his scarred arms and hands, Alia's opponent's scent and liquid remains have enveloped the General completely. Not an inch of his skin is bare, and it makes everyone wonder just how much blood is underneath his clothes.
His eyes are blank, focused on one of the doors to the waiting ring, and it makes Christian appear before him with urgency. Valen's expression doesn't change when he looks down at the authoritative male, but his eyes begin to sting and his hands fill with tension.
He doesn't take well to being kept from what's his.
Christian's eyes widen when he sees Valen's unnatural golden gaze, dangerous veins spreading underneath. The General straightens, presence ominous and suffocating, and it makes the Gamma feel as if he's shrinking back from the dominance he exudes. Valen's eyes carry an icy chill whilst the room swirls into a blur around them. One word, quiet yet threatening is spoken from his crimson mouth. "Move."
Christian averts his gaze for a quick moment, swallowing at the realisation of Valen harbouring no restraint in killing him if his mate is withheld from his grasp. "They will question her abilities if you touch her before the Trial's end."
Valen slowly tilts his head. Their conversation is inaudible to all around them. "They will question her regardless of when they know."
"They will fear fighting her," Christian persists. "It will ruin the integrity of every round she's in." Valen's jaw ticks, but the Gamma can see his words are getting through to the male. "Just keep some restraint until she's out of the competition, and then you can do as you please."
Hands balling into fists, Valen fights back the urge to yank out the male's tongue. Upper lip twitching, he looks away with a grimace. The veins underneath his eyes slowly disappear and his irises return to white when he looks at Christian again. "I need to see her."
"Then see her," Christian says. "But don't reveal what she is to you."
Valen briefly closes his tumultuous eyes and takes a deep breath. When he nods, Christian steps out of his path and returns to one of the benches.
Alia's eyes don't move from one of the screens, mouth parted whilst her mate walks out of view. The sword strapped to his back gleams underneath the white lights, the red lining the blade unmissable. The wall-mounted cameras don't follow him, instead, their focus is on the Gamma who returns to tapping the screen of his tablet. She wants to know what they talked about. She wants to know why Valen looked at her Gamma the way he did.
On the wall across from her, a door opens a short distance to her left. Wolves stiffen and push back against each other to avoid the path of the entering General. The suffocating scent of iron fills the entire waiting ring whilst the sight of his reddened skin causes everyone to watch him with wide eyes and frozen lungs. He towers over every prospect, muscles shifting with each stride.
Alia doesn't move from the floor when her eyes find his. Instead, tears begin to blur her vision when he crouches down in front of her. Most wolves think her tears are due to the proximity of the General but it's truly because of the heart-wrenching guilt she feels in her chest. When the first tears escape, Valen's expression hardens and his presence slips into her mind.
'Has someone upset you?' He flexes his fingers, forearms resting on his knees. 'Tell me and I'll kill them.'
She shakes her head, hand finding his mark. The apology is written in her reddening gaze. Valen's eyes follow her hand, narrowing slightly when she reveals the tainted mark underneath. She doesn't want to see his troubled expression, so she looks at the floor instead. But his voice continues to sound inside her head.
'Do you truly believe that weak piece of shit could disfigure the mark you bear?'
Alia's eyes snap back to his. The air stills inside her lungs whilst she awaits his next words. What?
'From the moment I marked you, not a single pair of canines will ever be large enough to displace my own. Your neck is a canvas for my mark, and my mark only. That wound will heal and his presence will be erased from your skin hours before I have you back in my bed. There is nothing to apologise for.'
Wiping at her eyes, Alia takes a shaky deep breath and sits up straighter. She has an attempt at a smile when his eyes soften, but then she finds herself focusing on his bloodied face.
Valen notices where her attention lies and says, 'Ask me what I did to him.'
Alia's chest tightens, hands balling into fists on her lap. The blood on his skin makes her heart warm, mind calming at the visibility of his vengeance. "What did you do?" she whispers.
A corner of his mouth lifts, eyes dark and fiercely possessive. The air around him freezes, the threat of violence evident by the way his muscles ripple with tension. 'I ate him.'
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Alexa play 'Dumb dick' by Level 🤭
(If you know the TikToks this song is from then you and I are one. WE ARE ONE.)