- Beonnie -

The next day, I woke up early. We had one fight left, and if we won today, it would mean we had won the group and had climbed from the bottom to the top of the lowest-ranked group of packs in the Tournament and subsequently in the Prospect. This would allow us to challenge the lowest teams in the group above us, hopefully gaining the rank we needed to get the territory we wanted with no questions asked.

Being out for a day after the first fight, I completely missed our pack's rise to popularity. Vidar was the subject of every she-wolf's lips, and I had turned into some sort of boy favourite. The attention was uncomfortable, to say the least. Getting flowers sent to your tent at a fight tournament is ridiculous. Vidar got underwear, though, which was worse. However, he didn't seem to mind the attention, basking in the longing looks as we walked towards the arena for our third fight.

The Gathering was crowded now as all the packs had arrived in full, as we were closing in on the dates when the higher-ranked packs would fight. Alpha Neron Johnson swept by, and Vile pointed out the Alpha of the Dark Mountain Pack to me as we passed their camp. A muscular, tall, dark-haired man I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. He looked up when we walked by, eyes falling on Vidar and then on me. The usual protocol was otherwise people noticing Vidar, glancing at me and then back at the perfect physique of Vidar. This time, the eyes of Alpha Moss Rivers never left me, burning holes in my back as I walked away. Their training grounds were just inside their fence, but their camp was behind a wooden plank, and it seemed they were still building their camp as I could hear the rustling of metal from behind the planks. The warriors on the training ground looked fierce, and I was glad we wouldn't face them at all.

"You still decided to go without the berserk today?" Vidar shot me a worried glance as we continued our walk down the walkway to the locker room. "It will hurt."

Vile and Trevor were going to hang out at the marketplace today, and there was going to be a bonfire at the beach tonight, and I wanted to go too. Therefore, I decided to avoid going berserk for as long as possible during the fight, a decision that no one in my team liked. At all. None of them had used this ability in any of the fights; not even Vile and I had conflicting thoughts about being the only one doing it. However, Hild had also used the berserk yesterday, I had been told, obviously not being able to talk to her by myself. She was in our apartment and would probably wake up right about when I walked onto the pitch.

On the one hand, it gave me strength and numbed the pain. On the other hand, I felt like I cheated. On the other hand, I was a girl. On the other hand, I believed girls could fight, too, so why didn't I do it in a normal state? On the other hand, the berserk was part of me, so why did I try to convince myself to do something else? But I wanted to go to the bonfire and maybe meet other people my age who weren't Vile or Trevor... or others.

Therefore, I was in a clear state of mind when I walked out onto the pitch, but it quickly changed as I saw our opponents. They were second in rank in our group before the Tournament, but they felt like the biggest ones. Once again, they outnumbered us, and my clear state of mind evolved into dizziness and fear.

"You alright?" Vidar noticed me staggering even before the fight started.

I never got a chance to reply as the fight started, and their warriors charged at us. They had done their due diligence and figured out that knocking me out would leave Vidar to concentrate on only his opponents fully, but as long as I was up and about, he would be slightly distracted by my opponents, too. 

I circled my current enemy, a shorter man, younger than most warriors and perhaps new at this like me. We gauged each other, trying to find out the best way to move forward, and I had just decided on the gash move by Hild when someone punched me in the back. I fell forward on my knees at the sudden impact, only to be hit on the chin by the man in front of me. This made me fall backwards, and for a few fleeting seconds, I was disoriented. Long enough, though, to get another punch in the stomach, making me launch forward. I realised I had to get up and get away from this. A foot approached my face, but I managed to avoid it through some miracle. The man before me temporarily lost his balance, as the impact he had expected never came. I got into a kneeling position, with his one knee within reach. Staggering up, I kicked him on the side of his leg, knee-high, and the crackling sound made me want to throw up. One was down, but the one behind me didn't wait for me to find him, and I got another punch in the back, making me lose all the air in my lungs. He swung around me, and as I staggered forward from the back punch, I could enjoy the lovely feeling of a knee in my stomach and a fist on my cheek.

Blood.

Mine.

Someone cried the most chilling cry I had ever heard, temporarily pausing my opponent and everyone else on the pitch. Only for a microsecond, though, but enough for me to gain composure. Not the best composure, but I retracted to Hild's tactic, and when he lunged for me again, I ducked and gashed him over his eyes. At least, I hoped I did; one of my eyes was so swollen I could hardly see on my left side. He swooped my feet away and covered in blood; we wrestled as he tried to flip me over. I had never been handled like this outside a training situation, and images of Hild in that cottage disturbed me. 

Panic. 

Anger. 

I screamed. Perhaps it was because I felt my shoulder pop out of place and my arm break, but it could also be out of rage.

Siri or berserk. Both forces fought for attention, and I knew all would be lost if Siri was let out. There was no shifting on the pitch; we had bracelets to prevent that. He pressed my face into the sand, and it mixed with the blood in my mouth. I faked passing out, and the stupid brute relaxed and got off my back, making it possible for me to quickly stagger up on my feet and, with a painfully unusable, hanging arm, kick him in his back as he was walking away. He staggered forward, and my second punch hit the back of his knees, making him fall. I didn't care if it was a dirty trick; it gave me time to do something. I just didn't have the energy to do it. My entire body was now aching, and the one good eye was blurred by blood. I fell forward. The man got up, lunging at me. I could see his fist approaching but only felt the hit, not the aftermath, as everything went black and blank.

- Henry -

We sat in our usual places as the fight started. Trevor looked unusually nervous, and I glanced at the Ironwood opponents, the Western Wood Pack. They looked ripped but were not a cause for the level of concern that Trevor displayed. I nudged him in the side.

"I am sure Vile will be fine."

He looked at me as if it was the most stupid question ever.

"Jaja, of course, he will. It's not him I'm worried about," he glanced at Annie and Skylar, who sat down next to us with Tate in tow.

"I don't even know why you bother so much about Vile and Ironwood," she sneered. "It's not like they like matter or something. They are a lowly pack; you shouldn't bother with them, Trev. You have us. I don't even... like, what is so great about her anyway? Is she really that pretty?" Annie scoffed and pointed down at the pitch.

"She won't be pretty for long."

We turned our gaze towards the pitch where the girl had apparent problems with two warriors circling her, giving her punch after punch. She buckled, and her body jerked so vividly I could both see and almost feel her getting hit. Someone cried out, temporarily distracting her opponent, and I couldn't hide the sigh of relief as she got up on her feet. Moments later, she was swept off her feet again as her opponent wrestled her down.

I didn't know when I got up, but I was now standing next to a trembling Trevor, clenching my fists as she was pinned down by another man.. pressing her face to the ground. She screamed, or if it was me, when her shoulder disengaged, and her opponent broke her arm backwards. I felt Rune raging inside. Furious. At me primarily for not letting him out.

"But she is nothing to us."

"Not nothing."

Disagreeing with Rune. Well, that was new. Not.

He kept banging on about being let out, and I almost shook restraining him; sweat broke out, and I excused myself to my friends—Annie, long-faced and annoyed at me already.

I was already on my way down to the walkway when B received a final blow to her head, making her fall backward and out of consciousness. It was the second last thing of the fight as Vidar then whisked the man away, breaking both the man's legs on the way.

I heard the final whistle mix with a chilling cry when I shifted mid-jump into the forest behind the arena and began a furious run.

 - Beonnie -

"She is not collapsed. She is unconscious."

In my darkness, I could hear voices from a distance. Someone carried me. The warmth told me it was Vidar. Someone caressed my forehead. The slightly shaking fingers told me it was a very worried Jack.

"I told her to go berserk," the somewhat annoyed tone told me it was Vile.

"Take off her bracelet," the firm and decisive voice was Gammal's. "Let her shift."

"We can't take off her bracelet. It's.." Toke.

"Look at that girl's hands; she has already taken it off several times by herself. It is too big for her anyway."

Uj. I didn't think anyone had noticed that.

"Wait. Someone is coming."

They all silenced, and I could hear footsteps approaching.

"B?" that was Zac. "Oh, for f's sake.. "

I hoped that wasn't a reaction to my face.

"What happened?!"

A silence ensued.

"If Hild were here now, she would kill you all. You know that, right?" I had never heard Zac this angry before.

Murmurs.

"Someone is coming."

They all silenced down, and I could hear another pair of footsteps approaching.

"What is going on here? Where is the girl?" that was Ben Connors. His voice came closer; I gathered he was examining me. "Holy crap. No one tells Hild about this."

I could almost hear the confusion at his words. He continued.

"For your sake, of course," correctness in his voice. "I have heard she is quite protective over the girl."

"Alpha..." that was Vidar, being unusually submissive. "Do you think we can remove the warrior bracelet so she can shift and heal faster? I know it is not allowed, but..."

"Take it off," and then he continued. "Keep me updated."

I could hear how someone, Ben, I assumed, left again, and I could also hear a silent exhale in relief from the guys.

I tried to open my eyes as someone stripped my arm of the thin bracelet, preventing the fighters from shifting, but my eyes didn't work. A tiny sliver of light came through, and it was not enough for anything.

"Wait. We have to get the shoulder back first," said Jack. I could hear how they rummaged around, trying to get anyone to do the pulling, but no one wanted to. It sounded like no one wanted to do it because it would be painful, but finally, Gammal agreed.

"Fine, you cowards. But don't tell her it was me," I felt someone grab my arm and screamed internally as he pulled my broken arm to get the shoulder in place.

Everyone was flustered. Someone wanted to get water for me, and another wanted Vidar to lay me down. Should they get a blanket, did I need chocolate? How to make me shift? Like little old ladies.

"We need to get her to shift, and then we can fix the broken arm gone leg, let her rest for a couple of hours in wolf form, healing the break, and then she can run on it to regain strength."

Vidar hugged me tighter; I could feel his breath in my hair.

"B? Can you please shift now?" he murmured. "Please, B. Just shift now. It will all be better."

Shift? I couldn't even open my eyes. And shift with a broken arm? I could think of more pleasant things to do. Like, stay here in these arms.

"Why is this time different than the last time she fought?" Zac. "Why is she in pain now?"

"She wanted to go to the bonfire with us.." Vile sounded guilty. But he wasn't. "So, she didn't want to collapse afterwards."

I tried to open my eyes again, but it didn't work. I tried to move my hand, but the arm was broken; it only hurt. The other hand worked fine, though, but it was jammed against Vidar.

Everything hurt. I knew that shifting would be painful, but it would help the arm's healing.

"B?" Vidar was pleading again. "Please, can you shift?

Someone's phone rang.

"Crap, it's Hild. Everyone be quiet," that was Jack. He cleared his throat. "Oh hello Hild, how are.. what? Oh, we won. Yes. And how are you fe.. B? She's fine. Mhm. Yes, completely out. Not a scratch. Vidar? Yes. I love him too. Mhm. Yes. Of course, Hild. Not out of sight...Ok. Mhm. Great. Bye."

"Phew," that would be everyone.

"How is she?" Trevor had arrived. "Oh, ok. That's.. hmm."

I wanted to stay in these arms, the warmth functioning as a soothing presence, but apparently, I was in a terrible state—something needed to be done.

"Vidar," Toke spoke again. "Maybe you could carry her out to the forest? She may not want to shift in front of all of us.."

I was held tighter as Vidar left the room and ran out the back of the arena. I assumed.

He hugged me tighter, kissed my hair, and put me down on the grass.

"Come on now, B. It's just you and me here. And I have turned my back to you now."

With the last of my powers, I shifted. It was painful, but I immediately felt better when I reached my wolf form. Gammal came out with a strip of bandage, fixing my arm, now leg, in place so it wouldn't heal wrong.

"Now, off you go, girl. You can't be seen here. Find a place to rest for a few hours and then run on it."

I put my forehead against Vidar's and huffed, then I turned around, and with a bandaged leg, I walked into the forest.