Katja was surprised to be led into the back of the mansion, through a room filled with lockers, various garments thrown on benches against the wall.
"Shower is through here," Tate indicated the door to his left. "I'll get you the right clothing for when you're ready."
Katja nodded and Tate left.
She stepped into the shower room, marveling in the beauty of the space. Black marble coated the entire room, making it difficult to tell where the floor met the walls.
It smelled even better, soap and citrus and soft powder tickled her nose.
The shower was intimidatingly large.
Katja considered it, she could wipe her eyes and brush her hair quickly, maintaining her scent-covering body mixture. Or, she could have a real shower, which she hadn't had in months. What would it matter if they learned her scent? If she won they'd let her go free and they wouldn't need to track her. If she lost, well... a scent is useless to a dead wolf.
A proper shower, it is.
Katja grinned as she stepped under the warm jets of water. She scrubbed her scalp raw with shampoo that smelled like freshly squeezed oranges, groaning as the water streamed across her sore shoulders.
She watched months of accumulated dirt rinse off her arms and legs.
For at least ten minutes she just sat on the floor of the shower, the water beating down over her head. She held her breath as long as she was able, before sticking her head out of the stream to gulp air.
If this was her last moment of tranquility, she'd milk it for all it was worth.
She washed her body and face until it was practically sparkling.
There was a sharp knock at the door and Kat sighed as she turned the water off, stepping out of the shower and wrapping her hair in a towel on top of her head.
She studied her naked form, taking in any new scars and bruises.
Kat had always been slim, but she was too slim now. In her eyes, she had always felt more powerful with a bit of meat on her bones.
It surprised her to find that her previous bruises had gone completely, her few scars faded so much, they were barely visible.
One scar, however, would never fade. Katja traced the large crescent moon engraved in her hip with her fingers. She stroked the spaces in between each tooth-mark. She remembered how it had felt, she could never forget it. He had bitten straight through her hip. It had taken her so long to heal from that one.
She looked down at the surface in front of the mirror. A toothbrush, still in its packaging, awaited her.
She almost squealed with joy, the memory of the scar instantly pushed to the back of her mind.
She brushed her teeth with vigour, so hungry she considered eating the toothpaste.
"Kat?" Tate's voice sounded on the other side of the door. "I'll leave your clothes here, get dressed and I'll meet you outside."
She heard his footsteps disappear out of the room.
Katja focussed on her mouth, concentrating so that her wolf canines descended, and she brushed those, too.
She patted her body dry and then let her hair down, frowning as it fell to her waist in dark silver curls.
It always annoyed her when it did that. It never stayed curly, not when it dried.
She picked the hairdryer up with a grumble, the novelty of blow drying her hair would always outweigh her want for curls.
After she had finished, she assessed herself.
She didn't see what Tia had that she didn't.
Okay, her hair was silver, not particularly normal. But she pulled it off, her mother said so.
In contrast, she had thick black eyelashes that framed light grey eyes. The area around her pupils was tinted a warm apricot. Her father had always said her eyes looked like the sun shining on a stormy sea.
She closed her stormy eyes to the memory.
Giving her poker straight hair a final tug with a comb, Katja left the room.
The clothes that had been left for her were ridiculous.
Thick black tights with soft brown leather high-waisted shorts and a matching leather top that left most of her midriff on display, barely covering her chest.
There were no shoes. Katja didn't mind, but she couldn't fight in tights. She fought best barefoot. That would mean she would be wearing even less.
Throwing the tights on the bench in a heap, she pulled the shorts and top on. Her modesty would have to take a beating for now, better that than lose her life because she didn't want to show her legs.
She stalked out into the warm sunlight with a scowl on her face.
Tate's mouth dropped open when he saw her.
"Close your mouth, before you catch flies." Kat wasn't in the mood for him.
"So, you do have a scent." Tate exclaimed, closing his eyes and breathing her in.
When he opened his eyes again, they were cloudy. She could smell the lust on him.
"Come on, Tate, lead me to my demise."
That snapped him out of it. He pouted like a child as Katja grinned.
As they marched away from the house, she stole a look back at the window she'd seen him in earlier.
He wasn't there.
Must be at the murder party already, Kat thought.
If she wasn't the one fighting for her life, the pit would have been impressive to Kat. But she was, so it wasn't.
The pit was deeper than she could have imagined, seats carved into the earth, one seat higher than all others.
Wait, one seat? Where would Tia sit? Doesn't the Alpha's mate become the Luna? Kat was confused for a moment, before deciding she didn't care.
Tate led her down a path into the pit where she was lined up next to her competitors. She could see that some of them had refused the shower. The rogue that chased her into this territory had cleaned up quite nicely. She scowled at Katja from the end of the line.
Kat sized up her opponents. There were a couple of beefy males that might be an issue to her. If this was like the pits in the past though, they would all be thrown in together and the two huge males could kill each other before she had to worry about them.
The seats had filled up quickly, and a howl quietened the crowd. Katja looked up to see hundreds of pairs of eyes watching her expectantly.
Still, the Alpha had not arrived.
Tate hovered by the seat, clearly on edge.
They're awaiting his arrival, Kat realised.
The minutes seemed to stretch on forever as she waited. She took the time to tune herself into the others, they all had frantic hearts. One nil to me, Kat thought. They were scared. Kat had learned to welcome death when it came. The Moon had Her plan, if Katja was meant to die today then so be it, but she would do everything in her power not to.
A howl announced the beginning of the fight and Kat glanced up to see that Cal had taken his seat and was talking angrily to Tate.
They'd waited for him to come and he wasn't even paying attention. Kat was angry.
Suddenly, she was on the floor. He had distracted her and the rogue that got her into this mess had tackled her.
Katja kicked her away easily, jumping up onto her feet ready for the next attack. The rogue ran at her, teeth bared, but still in human form.
That was fine with Kat, she had learned how to fight and kill in all forms.
A gasp went through the crowd as one of the other wolves had his head smashed to pieces against the wall. One down, six to go.
Katja grabbed the rogue by her shoulders, pulling her off balance. She yanked her forwards and lifted her knee to meet the she-wolf's nose. The loud crack left Katja feeling satisfied. The rogue stumbled backwards, clutching her face and leaning her head back, exposing her throat.
Kat lunged, partially shifting so that only her head became her wolf. She opened her jaw and clamped down on the rogue's neck, canines slicing through the flesh like butter. Kat pushed the rogue's body away from her, separating the flesh from the rest of her.
The rogue fell to the ground, instantly dead, and the crowd cheered.
Too easy, Katja thought. She spat on the floor, shifting her head back to its human form.
The crowd stamped their feet, but Katja didn't have a chance to see why, as she was lifted from behind by a brute of a man.
He stuck his face into her neck, inhaling deeply.
"Don't you smell mouth-watering?" the beast grunted, his tongue extending, getting closer to licking Kat's face.
She growled angrily, bending forward sharply and throwing the huge man over her.
He landed on his back, his face contorted in shock and pain. Kat didn't give him time to register as she kneeled either side of his head, grabbing his fat skull in her arms.
She twisted quickly, his spine snapping as she ripped his head from his body.
More cheers erupted. Three down, three to go.
Kat had barely broken a sweat. She turned to wait for her next opening, finding herself face-to-face with a tall, lithe man. He punched her square in the face and her head snapped back.
Damn, that'll bruise.
She countered with a kick to his stomach, winding him. He hit her again, across the face, dragging his nails into her cheek.
She cried out in pain. A growl that did not belong to her rumbled in the distance.
The man kicked her legs out from under her. She shifted her mouth, extending impossibly long canines as she bit through his thigh.
He yelped, falling backwards. She launched herself on top of him, finding his neck and biting down hard. Blood gurgled into his throat, drowning him.
The crowd screamed and cheered. Kat looked up to find that she was left with one more competitor, a wolf that had just crushed his opponents head with his bare hands.
Katja sprang to her feet as the man came towards her, shifting as he approached. He was a magnificent wolf, long auburn hair and huge teeth. Kat shifted into her wolf in the blink of an eye, her leather clothing falling to the blood soaked floor with a thud.
She saw the wolf falter in surprise as the crowd oohed and aahed.
The wolf shook it off and lunged at Kat, biting down hard on her front leg. She yelped, finding his shoulder and sinking her teeth into him.
He raked his claws across her stomach and she growled in pain, biting at his jaw.
He was on top of her now, she had no escape. She clawed helplessly at his eyes and throat.
He put one large paw on her chest, crushing her lungs as the other paw pushed her head back, exposing her throat.
The crowd screamed, probably excited to watch her murder.
Kat had a choice, she could show her true power or she could die.
The screaming didn't stop, it suddenly got louder, more frantic. The wolf on top of her looked up into the crowd, distracted. Kat saw an opening, but before she could take it, the wolf was hit by a massive flying object.
Kat sat up in shock, as Tate ran over to her holding out a robe. She shifted and threw the robe over herself, looking at Tate questioningly.
He was pale, sickly white, looking behind her.
She spun around on her heel and her eyes scanned the bloodbath.
A magnificent deep red wolf had torn her attacker to shreds. But the wolf wouldn't stop, it was crazed, possessed with fury. Katja felt its murderous anger crashing over her in waves, making her feel sick. The crowd had fallen to their knees in submission, bowing their heads to the mighty beast that radiated power.
It was the biggest wolf she'd ever seen, and though it's anger made her sick, it's power gave her strength.
Before she could stop herself, she marched over to the rampaging wolf.
Tate let out a strangled yell.
The wolf turned its head and looked at Katja, bright green eyes surrounded by blood red fur. His fur made his eyes shine all the more.
"Cal." Katja breathed, in awe of the beast, and the man.
The wolf twisted its head to the side, moving towards Kat.
It stopped just in front of her. Kat raised her chin, offering her throat as a sign of respect to a more powerful wolf.
The wolf leaned in, inhaling her scent. Kat closed her eyes as her heart fluttered.
"Katja." Cal's voice echoed in the silence.
She opened her eyes. Tate was pulling a robe over Cal's impressive shoulders. The Alpha looked extremely confused.
Kat couldn't work him out, she could smell his anger fading and his confusion growing. But something else, too. Something she couldn't place.
"We have our winner!" Tate shouted to the crowd and the hundreds of wolves howled in excitement.
"Am I free to leave now?" Kat asked, looking at Tate.
Cal turned to look at Tate, frowning.
"No, now you come with me." Cal stated, looking at her inquisitively.
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A/N: HELLO! ME AGAIN!
Sooooo did you think this was intense? I feel this was intense.
I loooooved writing this chapter you guys! I ate so much cake and drank so much gingerbread latte just to keep it flowinggg!
Love&Light!
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