"Axel has been a better show to watch than the actual fight. His reactions to everything have been priceless. He is flipping shit in the bleachers right now because he is so worried that Emile is going to do something to Ivy." I laughed to Copper over the phone. Even though the kid was so much younger than me, he was cool. I almost felt like he was a younger brother to me.
"Well he can't be too mad because Emile would never do anything to hurt her while he is under the watchful eyes of everyone." Copper mumbled. He really wished that he could be here cheering them on, but I reassured him that they were doing fine without him here. This really wasn't any of his business when we got down to it. He isn't even officially a part of our pack because he hasn't proven that his wolf transformation was successful by shifting yet.
"Alright Copper, I'll call you in a little while with another update on what's going on." I responded, hanging up the phone before he started protesting.
I plopped into the seat next to Axel again, making him jump. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, but he refused to fully look away from the huge screen that showed us what was happening.
"Were you filling in Copper again?" He asked without looking at me.
"Yup, he was like begging me to come get him and bring him here so that he could watch, but I told him that I would miss too much action if I did." I chuckled and elbowed Axel in the ribs.
"This isn't funny Emmett! They could get really hurt doing this!" Luna screamed from the other side of Axel. She crossed her little arms and glared at me while Axel growled warningly.
I smirked. "You're lucky that we didn't send your sorry ass in there Luna."
"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!" Axel shouted and took his eyes off the screen for long enough to glare at me.
I could tell just how on edge he was about this whole thing just from his posture. He was all hunched forward with his elbows on his knees and his right knee hadn't been still sense they had started. He refuses to eat anything and he hasn't moved from his seat for a couple hours. He must have to pee by now?
"Y'all are no fun." I mumbled and leaned back in my chair. These challenges were nothing new to me. I already came to the realization that Bender and Shay are probably going to die in there. It's just what happens. Circle of life. Either way, Axel would make a better Alpha than Shay anyway. I had hope that Emile would spare Aubrey's life if he killed Shay. I would totally claim her hot piece of ass as my mate.
Bender stopped by the tree and they made camp. It was getting dark and it sure seemed like Bender knew what he was doing. He helped Aubrey onto his branch and he caught her against his chest. I sucked in a sharp breath as they looked at each other. I couldn't help it when my eyes narrowed slightly. Aubrey slid onto Bender's lap, straddled him, and leaned her head on his shoulder. I started grinding my teeth and when Bender whispered in her ear, making her laugh, I ran his hands over my face.
"What does he think he's doing?" I exclaimed, angrily.
"He thinks he is surviving another night. Would you rather he make her sleep unbalanced on a branch and freeze through the night or keep her warm and safe on the same branch as him? It was her idea. Not so fun to watch anymore now is it?" Axel smirked at me as I watched the screen intently.
Luna slept through the night, but Axel and I didn't take our eyes off that screen for a second. I received a hard punch in the gut to wake me up, after I drifted off. Ivy started to climb down from the tree that she had slept in while Emile was on the ground. She tried her best to be silent, so she wouldn't wake him up, but her weight was too much for one of the smaller branches. It broke and landed right on Emile's head while she tried her best to not fall on him too.
"Come on down, cupcake." Emile growled seductively and I saw Ivy's grip tighten on the branch.
"Why did you pick me?" Ivy choked out through tears. I could see her physically shaking as the camera zoomed in on her and I could tell that she hadn't slept at all last night either.
"Why? I have a special job for you my dear." Emile smiled as he stood slowly and stroked Ivy's ankle slowly. She tried to kick him away, but he grabbed her foot and yanked her hard enough to make her lose her grip on the branch. She slipped down and only barely managed to stop herself before falling straight through all of the branches and to the cold unforgiving ground below her.
I glanced at Axel to see him shaking in anger as he watched his dream mate be abused by Emile's grimy hands. A low and protective growl slipped out of Axel's chest and I saw his eyes start to change to a deeper black, indicating that he was close to shifting.
"Luna you need to take him out of here before he does something stupid." I ordered. Axel's head whipped around to glare at me.
"You think that I'm going to take my eyes off her for a second?" Axel growled and I could see his Alpha traits start to show. His voice was more powerful, he sat up straighter, and the low growl slipped steadily out.
"Do you think that you can do anything to help her here? She is in there and we are out here! We are doomed to be spectators right now and no matter how angry you get and how much you growl, nothing is going to change that. Watching her like this isn't helping you at all. We have almost Emile's entire fan group sitting right behind us while we only have five including your two men. Emile's friends are bloodthirsty, they are rebellious, and they are itching for a fight so if you give them a reason, they are going to take it. Now get up, step out for a second, and get some air. I'll fill you in on everything that happened when you come back and are completely calm." I said with firmness in my voice. Standing up to an Alpha like that wasn't the best choice, but right now I wasn't speaking to him as a Beta but as a friend.
Axel stood in a huff, but relaxed slightly when Luna slipped her hand into his. She led him out of the arena.
I sighed at all of the stress and received a tap on the shoulder once they were completely out of sight. I turned to see one of Axel's best fighters sitting right behind me. I knew he was there along with the tiniest member of Axel's pack, but I just never pay attention to them.
Samuel was the one who had tapped on my shoulder and I raised my eyebrows at him. "That was really brave to calm Axel down like that. Thanks." He said. My eyebrows shot up in shock, but I nodded at his thank you.
"Axel isn't my Alpha, Shay is. Just because he isn't my Alpha doesn't mean that he shouldn't be treated like he is. He is a close friend to me and I can tell when he is getting overworked or stressed. Even Alphas need a time out sometimes." I mumbled and I saw Samuel nod approvingly.
I looked back at the screen to see Emile and Ivy just getting down to the bottom of the tree.
"I guess I didn't miss anything." I thought to myself with an eye roll. This was like a scary movie that someone put all of your closest friends into.
"I'm not going to do whatever it is you want me to do." Ivy said with a voice that she tried to make sound strong but it came out weak and fragile.
"I think you will." Emile hummed as he ran his finger down Ivy's face and along her jaw line. She turned her head away from him, but he grabbed her jaw and firmly held it in place. He leaned in like he was going to kiss her, but instead blew a little bit of air on her neck, making her shiver. She bit her lip as tears rolled quickly down her face.
"I won't." Ivy practically hissed and Emile reeled back in surprise at her sudden confidence, but the surprise was quickly replaced with amusement.
"I know that you don't care about Aubrey at all. The only reason you put up with her is so that you can be around Shay right? Well if Aubrey was gone, then you could have Shay all to yourself." Emile whispered so low that I had to strain to hear it.
"What is he getting at?" I mumbled as my right leg started to shake.
"So what?" Ivy hissed and slapped his hand away as he tried to stroke her cheek again.
"So kill her."
Ivy snorted. "Or what?" A small smile spread across her face as she crossed her arms across her chest.
"Or I'll kill you." Emile smirked at her and pulled her through the forest in the direction of the posts.
"I have nothing to live for anyway." I barely heard Ivy mumble and I was so happy that Axel wasn't here for that.
"Oh really?" Emile chuckled. "Luna sure does."
Ivy's eyes widened and she yanked her wrist from his grasp. "You leave her out of this! You promised me that you wouldn't hurt her if I did what you wanted!" Ivy screeched.
"But you aren't doing what I want. Kill Aubrey and Luna's life will be spared." Emile growled.
Emile shifted and ran off. Ivy backed up so that her back hit the tree. She was choking back sobs and I felt my chest tighten at the sight of her like that. She was so strong. She has to pull it together and figure something out. She was shaking and hysterical as she gasped loudly for air.
"Did Emile say that Luna was going to be hurt?" I barely heard Samuel ask behind me.
"Oh fuck!" I screamed and bolted towards where Axel and Luna had disappeared to. I turned back around and grabbed Samuel by his shoulders when I realized that he was following me.
"You need to stay here and keep tabs on everyone in that Hell hole." I said sternly and he nodded slightly after a second.
"Keep them safe." Samuel mumbled and I gave him thumbs up over my shoulder as I sprinted away.
I heard growling as I sprinted past a group of males who were near the entrance.
"Where are you going pretty boy?" A man with an Irish accent asked me. He had brown feathery hair and huge forearms that had black tattoos down them. His nose was slightly bent like mine, which showed his history of fights.
"I better tread lightly with this guy. No need to be overly aggressive and instigate anything. I just have to act calm and respectful." I thought to myself.
"None of your fucking business, asshat." I spat and tried to shove my way past him but he was like a brick wall.
"Sorry, you're about to miss the best part." The Irish man tried to shove me into the seat, but I growled and bared my teeth at him.
"You just made a huge mistake." The Irish man growled and threw a punch at me.
I ducked instinctively and pulled the pistol out from the back of my pants. I smirked at him as he shrank back in shock. His brown eyes narrowed as they turned darker and darker until they were completely black, indicating that he was about to shift. We now had the attention of everyone sitting around us which I knew wasn't a good thing.
All of the blood thirsty wolves around us started to growl at the slightest hint of a fight. Normally I would like the attention before I beat the shit out of some guy, but if I even make a wrong move with these guys then my head would be gone.
The Irish man smirked.
"Don't bring a gun to a wolf fight." He whispered as he cracked his neck.
My hand started to shake slightly in fear, but the familiar feel of a gun in my hand was relaxing. I hated having to rely on my wolf fighting skills. I may be our second best fighter, but that didn't mean that I liked it. Being a wolf is a curse, it always will be. I will always prefer a gun to a wolf.
"You want a fight? You've got one." I growled and was chilled to the bone when the wolves around us growled in response.
"Gun down, Beta." A voice said to my left. I growled at the submission of being called a Beta in front of others. Only an Alpha may call me Beta!
I turned to see who dared call me by my position to see Axel standing there with a wicked glare on his face. Luna hugged his arms and hid slightly behind him as all of the older wolves sized them up.
"Excuse me?" I hissed and Axel stood taller. He looked, well, intimidating. The vein in the side of his head stuck out in anger and frustration. His eyes darkened and it was obvious that he wasn't quite in control of his wolf. His shadow was fidgeting slightly between wolf and human. I chewed on my inside lip slowly as I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Gun down Beta. Now," he demanded and I heard Luna whimper slightly.
I shook my head unbelievingly and spit to the side as I shoved the gun back into my pants.
"Sit down." Axel growled. "You need to be careful who you provoke next time." He growled at the Irish man then and I was surprised when the man sat and bared his neck. The Irish man was almost a foot taller than Axel and was obviously stronger, but he showed submission without a fight. "I'm the Alpha here right now and you need to be careful how you act around me, Omega." Axel spit out the last word with disgust as a whimper came from some of the wolves around us. He jerked my shoulder around and shoved me down the stairs. I plopped myself back down in the seat with a huff but couldn't keep the smirk from spreading across my face at the fact that the brute of a man was just an Omega.
"What the hell was that? Why do you have a gun?" Axel hissed at me as I squeezed the bridge of my nose tightly.
"I can't shift here and who knows what could happen with almost all of Emile's friends around us? These guys are blood thirsty and itching for a fight!" I exclaimed.
"They are about to get what they want." Samuel mumbled behind us, drawing our attention to the screen where Shay, Bender and Aubrey were walking slowly through a thinner section of trees where Emile was waiting obviously for them.
"Look, I know you have relied on guns in the past but you can't be bringing them around to places like this." Axel leaned over and whispered to me as we both watched the screen.
"Don't act like you know my past." I growled and ended the conversation.
"What the hell does Shay think he is doing?" I mumbled and stood to sit next to Luna when I heard her start to whimper. I sat her up onto my lap protectively where she wrapped her arms around my neck and refused to watch.
When I looked back up I saw Aubrey in a mad dash towards the two posts with Shay close behind her. Emile came out of nowhere and tackled Shay to the ground.
I blinked and all the sudden Ivy was holding a knife to Aubrey's neck?
"What the hell is she doing?" I exclaimed, jumping out of my seat. Axel yanked me down and I sat in the same desperate position as he was. Luna whimpered again on my lap as she watched in horror.
Ivy cut deeper and deeper into Aubrey's throat, making me cringe from thinking of the pain she must be in. Axel's lip was bleeding from where he bit through it and it looked like he was holding his breath.
I nudged his shoulder lightly. "Breathe," I mumbled.
He let out the breath he was holding and spit a mouthful of blood on the ground in front of him. "She wouldn't do it. Please tell me that she wouldn't do it!" Axel begged.
I looked closer at the trees around them and noticed someone standing there with a hostage. Who?
"Oh my god they have Luna!" I screamed. "Oh wait." I smiled sheepishly at Luna, who was still sitting on my lap.
"Bittzy!" She screamed and jumped off my lap and ran to the railing to try to get to her. She started to weave her way through the railing and was just about to jump down when Axel snatched her out of the air.
"Don't be stupid Luna." He growled and she shrunk away from him. She hugged her legs to her chest and stared blankly at the screen.
I bit my lip now in anticipation. I will admit this is something I've never seen before: a team turning on each other. This has to be a good show for everyone else.
Ivy started lowering the knife and I let out a breath.
"She's letting her go." I sighed in relief.
Ivy dropped the knife, but then a gunshot echoes through the whole arena and Aubrey dropped to the ground. Axel jumped out of his seat and with me and Luna right behind him.