My Most Precious Human

Alphas Duel

The world around me was spinning, and I could hardly walk by myself. I might have been more

exhausted mentally than physically. The pain in my chest was dredged up by the guilt of my first kill. I

knew I could rationalize what I did, and I knew that Derek deserved to die, but that didn't change how I

felt about it deep in my heart. I kept staring at my hands, dirty with blood, and at the knife, which I held

tightly.

Ian wrapped my arm around his shoulder and walked with me, supporting me at each step. I noticed

that the majority of my wounds had mostly regenerated already, but the deep cuts on Ian's neck and

chest were still far from healed. Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

"Are you ok?" I asked softly.

"I've been through worse." He gave me a wry grin. "It's you that I'm worried about. You look like a

bloody mess. You won't die on me, will you?"

"It's not my blood, mostly," I sighed, then my lips curved into a faint grimace. "My body is going to be

fine. It is my mind that is missing a piece…"

"You'd better fix that quickly. Our groups might have taken control of the area, but that doesn't mean we

are safe," he advised, scanning my face.

"I'll get there," I promised, forcing myself to smile. "Speaking of getting there… Where are we going?" I

looked around and saw that we were past the audience hall, heading to the stairs.

"The duel is going to take place outside on the grounds behind the mansion," he explained.

"That went fast…" I muttered under my breath.

I started wondering how long I had been occupied with Derek, for everyone else to secure the place,

and move from the audience hall outside. My guilt began to shift towards not helping my group in the

fight and taking care of my private clash instead. I hadn't been exactly given a choice, but still…

"I should have been there with the rest of the group…" I said with a heavy sigh. "I should have-"

"Bull shit, Lilith!" Ian snapped. "I met this red-haired fucker before you fought. First of all, you did the

world a favor by killing him. Second, I'm not sure if anyone from our group could have taken him down

the way you did. Believe me, the rest had it easier without him joining the fight."

I smiled feebly, thankful for what he said. I felt better thinking that maybe I had contributed to taking

over the place after all. With the new wave of air in my lungs, I began to recover emotionally and

realized how weak and naïve I had been choosing to participate in this war. My idealistic thinking

produced a perfect image where no one dies, and defeated ones could get up the next day and choose

to live differently. Oh, my dearest stupidity… The freezing cold shower I had just received, put a new

filter on the world I lived in; a dirty-grey one.

As soon as Ian and I reached the stairs leading towards the main exit of the mansion, I saw many of

our warriors nodding and smiling at me, as if I had achieved something big. I didn't think that I had

done anything to be especially proud of. I quickly found out that news about me killing Derek had

traveled across our groups at the speed of light.

"Well done, Lilith!" One of the warriors chuckled, "We haven't even attacked the Southern Woods yet,

but you have already killed one of their best fighters!"

I held an awkward smile on my face, nonetheless, coping with the killing part slightly better. As we got

out of the building, I saw close to a hundred Scarlet Valley warriors tied up and guarded by the Moon

Hill Pack members. All six groups had completed their missions and were gathering at the grounds to

witness the last resort the Scarlet Valley Pack had: the alphas duel.

It was an old werewolf's law. An alpha could always protect the pack by fighting against another pack's

leader. A pack with a strong leader could always be safe, but without a powerful alpha, the pack could

only count on its own strength. Once the alpha lost, the pack was entirely defeated, and at that

moment, all the Scarlet Valley Pack's hope was in Alpha Marcus, a vicious, bloodthirsty tyrant.

When we walked outside the mansion, I let go of Ian's support. My feet became more stable, and my

wounds disappeared underneath the ripped black once-fitted T-shirt and pants leg. Still, I was sticky

from the blood, Derek's and mine, and couldn't wait to get it off of me. Not only did it smell awful, but it

made me look like I got lost at the back of the butcher shop.

As we entered the grounds at the back of the mansion, I saw a huge crowd standing in a circle,

creating an arena for the alphas fight. I thought of standing somewhere at the back, mostly because

others didn't seem to have a single strand of their hair dirty while I personalized Bloody Mary, a literal

version of her. However, Ian had another plan, and, before I knew it, he was holding my hand and

squeezing us through the crowd. Surprisingly, people started making way for us to get to the front. As

we walked to the inner rim of the arena, Draven was there to block my way, gently grabbing me by the

shoulders.

"Lilith…" he breathed anxiously, his gaze examining every inch of my body.

"I'm fine." I managed a faint smile.

"She killed Derek," Ian explained, standing next to Draven.

I was surprised that he knew that name. Was Derek that "famous" among the wolves? Draven's eyes

darkened.

"I should have killed him, back in the Palace," he hissed. "I guess he didn't understand the warning I

gave him."

"It doesn't matter now. He is gone, and I am all right." It was an obvious lie, but I didn't want to give

Draven my burden to carry, not when he had a crucial fight coming up.

Draven stared at me worryingly. His fingers roamed down from my shoulders, gently stroking my

freshly healed arm, my shoulder, my stomach.

"Seriously, Draven. I'm fi-"

He hugged me tightly, pressing me against his chest, then he placed a kiss on top of my head.

"Stay here and watch me win." His soft but commanding voice sent a pleasant chill across my body.

A shy smile popped on my face as he let me go and stepped to the center of the grounds without taking

his eyes off of me. I observed his domineering posture while he took a stroll around the created arena,

eyeing the opposite side of the circle where the Scarlet Valley's representatives stood. Soon, Alpha

Marcus appeared, surrounded by his pack's loud fighting chants.

The Alpha of the Scarlet Valley Pack was a tall, bulky, dark-brown-haired man with blue eyes, which

shimmered coldly against his tanned complexion. I scanned his shape, evaluating his strength, and

quickly registered that his broader than Draven's shoulders and overgrown muscles could make him a

dangerous opponent. When I saw someone from Marcus's pack waving his hand to start the fight, I

took a deep breath.

Draven turned into his black wolf in less than two seconds. Surprisingly, Marcus's grey-brown beast

didn't seem half as frightening as Draven's. Both wolves roared, making the ground beneath

everyone's feet shake. I gasped, stumbling on my feet. I didn't fall only thanks to Ian, who grabbed my

hand.

"Be careful," he snorted, "and relax… It won't take long."

I glanced at Ian suspiciously. I wished I could be as calm and confident as he was, but I guessed he

knew his Alpha and his abilities way better than I did. I exhaled, trying to slow down my insane heart

rate, but I couldn't help that I had already overdosed on adrenaline while fighting Derek; watching

Draven and being nervous for him, was a little too much to take in one day.

Draven lurched forward, throwing his front legs and cutting Marcus's neck with his insanely sharp

claws. The brown-grey beast howled while heavily bleeding. The brown wolf's jaws were desperately

snapping the air, trying to sink its teeth into Draven's wolf's flesh, but the black beast was faster,

stronger, and more agile. After a minute of swinging its black claws around, Marcus's brown-grey fur

became the reddest of red. With severe blood loss, Marcus's rage increased, but his beast's attacks

were far less than precise. The black wolf played with him, prolonging the torment while his pack

became silent. Finally, Draven's wolf pushed up onto its back legs and sank his teeth into the nape of

the brown-grey wolf's neck. Marcus's wolf let out a painful, horrifying moan, a sign of his surrender.

The black wolf pulled out his teeth and stepped back from the weakly breathing Marcus's wolf. Draven

won, and killing Marcus wasn't necessary. Life-long imprisonment could serve as a good punishment

for him as well. Someone ran to Draven's wolf and threw a piece of cloth for Draven to cover, but he

just shifted back into his human form in front of everyone. Well, I guess being an exhibitionist was deep

in his nature, although I doubt that any of the female observers around him minded. Fortunately, it

didn't take long before he decided to hide his impressive nudity, which pretty much allowed me to

breathe again.

All the warriors from the Moon Hill Pack chanted and screamed in pride of Alpha Draven. I could see

more than clearly that he deserved to become king. The way he walked made everyone bow, even

though he was shirtless and barefoot. The drops of sweat delightfully wandered down his chest and

perfect abdominals, making every she-wolf ready to spread their legs at quarter to three. He surely was

a specimen worth admiring.

I clapped my hands, grinning, relieved that it was all over when Draven's eyes found mine. His intense

stare made my mouth dry in an instant. With a wicked smirk on his face, he sped up his steps towards

me. I swallowed, then opened my mouth to say something, to congratulate him, but he didn't let me…

He blocked my lips with a madly passionate kiss.