Of Gods and Wolves (3 page)

“
Where can I get me some of those?” I looked up and saw one of the most beautiful men I’d ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen some heartbreakers recently, but this guy… whooee, he could make you faint with desire just by looking at you. I was half surprised he didn’t have a bunch of groupies gathered around him.

“
Maybe if you’re a real good boy, Santa will bring you a pair for Christmas,” I yelled up at him.

The crowd, as they say, went wild. Everyone laughed and howled, including Mr. Drop Dead Gorgeous. He leaned on the edge of the wall with golden arms of steel and smiled luscious lips at me before he winked a deep amethyst eye. His dirty blonde hair fell around him, begging to be touched.

“But when I’m bad, I’m better,” he called down.

“
If you know what’s good for you,” I saw Thor saunter closer. “You’ll stay away from my woman, Loki.”

Oh shit, that was Loki? The trickster god was hot! That probably worked out well for him. I had to tear my gaze away though because I heard the pounding of feet coming down the tunnel across from me. From the sound of it, I’d be facing a full wolf. I was glad. Full wolves seemed to be easier for me than when the Froekn took werewolf form. I just had to get over the injuring an animal part. I started a mantra in my head:
It's not a real wolf. It's not a real wolf.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just any wolf that came running out into the pit of despair. It was a really, really big wolf… two reallys. It was also really fast. Only one really though, so I was able to duck and roll out of the way before it hit me. I could’ve pulled my sword but I knew the claws impressed the wolves. It was like I was fighting on their terms, and I didn’t want to actually kill anyone. So I swung to my feet and fell into a fighting stance.

Some part of my magic rose with my adrenaline and started to thrum in delight. My body felt energized, my blood surged with power, and my eyes saw every nuance of muscles under the thick black coat of the wolf I fought. Aphrodite’s war magic had awoken. Along with it came the small part of Trevor that he'd given me in the Binding, like the magic had woke up the beast.
Come out and play, little wolf
.

Without thought, I sank lower to the ground and let out a vicious sounding growl that quieted the crowd to an unnatural stillness. Surprisingly, the sound hadn't come from the little part of Trevor inside of me, it had come from my Nahual, my animal twin who basically was my magic embodied. I'd been meditating with her for awhile, developing my powers to fight Blue, but she'd never come out unbidden before.

I saw her clearly in my head, a gleaming white jaguar with golden-brown markings and dark eyes. She wasn't about to let me have all the fun, especially not with wolves. Another growl rose out of my throat, a very un-wolf-like sound, a sort of rumbling vibration that rose to a sharp snarling peak. It was a bit frightening, even to my ears. To the Froekn, who had no idea a human could hold animal magic, it must have been terrifying.

Sure enough, my jaguar sensed the fear on the air and delighted in it. Her joy was of course my own. It lifted me up and I laughed low in my throat. A few whimpers crept through the otherwise silent crowd, wolves drawing back a little. A quick glance at my friends showed me they were a little shocked as well. I laughed again, that was going to be an interesting conversation.

The wolf across from me twisted his head back and forth, peering at me uncertainly. I just waited and watched. I wanted an opportunity to disable this wolf with the least amount of bloodshed. Finally, TryggufR just decided to leap at me and give it the old college try. I flattened myself to the ground at the last second and he flew right into the wall behind me.

I rolled up and swiped at the middle of his hind legs, to try and disable him. He howled and twisted around to face me again, this time with a heavy limp. My gaze zipped over him, noting all possible weaknesses and points of attack. The war magic was incredible, giving me a strategic edge I hadn't counted on. The victory magic was tingling through my veins too, making me feel a little lightheaded. I thought I heard the roar of the crowd but it was just the rush of blood through my ears, they were actually watching in complete silence. In fact, it began to get a little eerie.

I backed up a space and crouched again. TryggulfR took another leap at my neck but his leg threw him off balance and he fell toward my shoulder instead. I punched his mouth away, hot blood spraying across my face. I swiped quickly at it with my palms to try and clear my vision but TryggulfR was a seasoned killer and he knew an opportunity when he saw one. He came at me fast and I had to rely on my hearing alone.

In the silence, it wasn’t too difficult to hear the clicking of claws on the stone floor and the rapid breathing of my opponent. I flung out an arm and caught his leg but it was a foreleg and he was able to twist down and latch onto my arm. When I screamed, there was an answering boom of thunder above me. Thor was about to lose it, which wouldn’t be at all helpful. I needed to end it fast before the fighting spread from the pit to the seats above.

I punched TryggulfR in the face again, the claws sinking in deep, and he let go with a shrill whimper. It gave me enough time to wipe the blood away, so I was able to watch as he limped back and circled the end of the pit like he wanted out. His face was a torn mess and his hind leg buckled every other step. He was beat. I just had to wait for him to admit it.

“
TryggulfR,” I called to him. “I don’t want your death. It was an honor to fight you. Heal yourself, I'll stand down.”

TryggulfR gave a sharp yip, then lay down and changed into a dark-haired man very similar in looks to Trevor, except his face was a little wider and his eyes were blue. He stood up and walked proudly forward with total disregard for his impressive nudity. I enjoyed the show, of course. I'm only human.

He stopped in front of me and smiled as he met my eyes. “Welcome, Sister,” his voice rang out and the wolves howled. Then he took my arms and leaned forward to lightly rub cheeks with me. “Good luck,” he whispered, then turned and left to loud applause.

I used the time to catch my breath and adjust my glove to cover part of my wound. It hurt, a deep aching pain, but I was able to ignore it with the help of my magic. It was a good thing too cause I didn’t have long before Fenrir appeared again. His face looked a little tense and his voice was definitely louder when he spoke to me.

“Huntress, you’ve just bested my third son,” he snarled at the clapping wolves and they quieted. “Now you meet my second. UnnúlfR!”

Oh, we were starting with the easy and working our way up. Well I guess that was normal. I shook out my shoulders and concentrated on the tunnel. I couldn’t look up and see Thor. If he gave me scared eyes, I’d get distracted.

“Beautiful job, Godhunter,” Loki called. “Beautiful. You’re not just winning the fight, you’re winning the Froekn.”

I ignored him. Mainly because I didn't have a comeback  but also because there was shuffling and scratching noises coming from the tunnel and I was betting the new guy wasn’t taking me on in full wolf form.

Sure enough, a huge werewolf came striding out of the dark, graceful for such a big guy. He had a pale yellow pelt and his eyes were oddly human, an icy blue, so light he almost looked blind. I was reminded of a husky I once saw, so strangely beautiful. This werewolf was just as striking but I had no desire to pet him as I had the dog.

I stilled as he approached. My arm had stopped bleeding and had begun to throb but I tried to concentrate instead on the sleek wolfman stalking me. He got within five feet and began to circle. Instead of following him, I closed my eyes and waited. I heard a few murmurs but, just as I expected, the crowd went silent again. They were probably wondering what the hell I was up to.

Very simply, an opponent circles you and you run the risk of losing your footing while you keep shuffling to keep him in sight. If you close your eyes, you’ll hear his feet and know exactly where he is… and you’ll be prepared for his attack from behind because where else is he going to attack you from, given the opportunity?

So I listened, waited, and sure enough, when he reached my back, he sprung. I twisted and spun downward, doing a spiraling slice while I leaned a leg out to steady me. Catching him across the thighs, I went deep and had to fling blood and bits of gore off the blades while he landed in a heap. There were a few gasps and a few howls but it quieted again quickly. This was not the entertainment they'd been expecting.

UnnúlfR sprang up but gave me a wary look. “Nice move, human.”

I bowed and he leapt at me, just like I figured he would. Turning the bow into a tumble, I kicked my legs out once I was beneath him. His high pitched whine told me I’d hit something tender. When I got to my feet, I looked back and saw that I’d actually torn stripes up his stomach with my boot hooks. He was mad about that. Snarling, frothing mad.

I settled down into my crouch and snarled back at him. The war magic within me itched to pull my kodachi but the jaguar rejected the weapon, feeling more at home with my bladed gloves. The claws were my favorite weapon anyway and they seemed to be a crowd pleaser, I decided I'd go with them as long as I could.

“
Maybe I’ll lay you down and fuck you after I beat you, since my brother hasn’t had the balls to do it yet.”

“
After this is through, you'll answer to me for that, UnnúlfR,” Trevor shouted above the boom of rolling thunder that shook the hall.

“
Come and pull me off her, if you dare,” the pale wolf taunted back. He trailed a hand over his groin and there were a few howls of encouragement from the watching wolves.

Thor stood with his arms crossed, staring at the wolf like he was memorizing his face for future reference. He didn’t say anything but the thunder still shaking the walls and the lightning flashing in his eyes spoke volumes. There wasn't much more he could take.

“As soon as you can find your equipment in all that fur, let me know and I’ll think about being afraid. At the moment however, I’m still waiting to be impressed.” I settled further into my stance, watching him closely.

UnnúlfR launched himself at me, boy this wolf was predictable. He was an old wolf, an assassin, he should have learned restraint by now. It said a lot about his personality that he hadn't. I dropped down and gave him a roundhouse kick to the head. Bam, he went down and I would have leapt up immediately but he lashed out with an arm and slashed my brand new leather pants.

“Son of a bitch,” I swore and the crowd gasped. I guess that wasn’t the best choice of curses for this particular bunch. “These were brand new pants!” I shouted at the downed wolf and then my Nahual let out another long growl for good measure.

He started to get up and I kicked him in the head. I kicked him harder and he went slack. I didn't break his neck but he wouldn’t be getting up for awhile. I was a little peeved at the “fuck” comment but the torn pants really threw me over the edge. Don’t mess with my fashion.

All of a sudden, everyone started clapping, howling, and stamping. Two men came through the tunnel and carried the pale wolf away, eying me warily as they went. I got to my feet and realized the cuts on my lower leg were pretty deep. I was going to be at a distinct disadvantage for the next fight. My new power was keeping me going but with a wound like that, I’d be limping soon. At the very least, I'd be slow. Not good at all.

“
Enough,” Fenrir stood at the ledge again and everyone settled into silence. “You’ve bested my first three sons, my honor guard, as
Vѐ
ulfR has already admitted to being excelled by you. So now there’s only one left for you to fight.” He vaulted over the side and the wolves howled and clapped. Fenrir landed with a loud thump that vibrated through the stone floor, barely even bending to break his fall.

“
Father,” Trevor was at the wall, along with Thor and the whole God Squad. “You cannot fight her. She’s my mate. If you kill her, you’ll kill me!”

“
She’s no mate of yours, my boy,” he stared at me with glowing eyes. “You’ll find another better suited.”

“
She
is
mine!” Trevor shouted as he too jumped over the railing. He placed himself between me and Fenrir and snarled as he began to shift.

“
You have no right to interfere,” Fenrir growled. “Get out of my way, cub.”

“
All you seem to understand is blood and death,” Trevor's clothes ripped away as his body completed the change, leaving him in his hulking werewolf form. He still only just reached his father's height. “So I'm going to make this very clear for you. You'll have to kill me to get to her.”

There was shocked silence as they faced off. I don't know who was more amazed by Trevor's declaration, me or Fenrir, but I did know that Fenrir didn't have to kill Trevor to get to me. He could easily incapacitate his son and then I'd have to face an even angrier Fenrir. All Trevor was buying me was more time.

So I used it to think.

I couldn’t beat Fenrir when I was wounded. Fear was already seeping through my weakened limbs, just from looking at him, and my Nahual was even pulling away. I wasn’t too sure I could beat him even in optimum shape and she seemed to agree.

So what did that leave? I could try and drain him like I had Aphrodite or maybe one of my new powers could help. War and Victory were doing all they could just to keep me standing, so that left Love and Sex.