Outliers

Twenty Nine

"She's a dangerous woman, the kind that plays with fire and with such wildness in her heart.

So many men who try to tame her always fail, for they never understood that the forest in her was sown from the start.

In the moonlight alone her secrecy is revealed, she has the spirit of a wolf that belongs only to herself, to the earth and to the dark."

Nikita Gill

"Jack," I breathed, my voice cracking under the pressure of my amounting fear.

He didn't acknowledge my words. The young Alpha Male continued to face off against the approaching beast with no hesitation. He stepped forward once, twice - slow measured steps that closed the distance between him and the wolf.

I looked past him, my eyes fixed on the wolf that did not slow his approach, watching every single movement like one would with an oncoming predator.

Thane bared his teeth at Jack, those sharp fangs bigger than I knew to be on usual wolves. He was larger than I had seen in any Alpha before. His claws longer, paws larger, fur thicker; and I recalled what he had told me some days ago, that he was not like other wolves. There was no question of that now.

My breath caught in my throat at the magnificence of him.

Male shouts cut through the mounting tension. Beta Kyle ran towards us, stopping at my side so abruptly he stumbled over his own feet. He was panting and red faced, as if he had sprinted miles to get here. How he knew of what was about to occur I couldn't be sure.

"What the hell is happening?" He shouted, wide eyes on his Alpha. He made a move to step towards the two Alpha's squaring up but I was quick to tug him back, my hand fisting tightly in his shirt. Like hell was he about to walk in between two furious Alpha's. They would tear him to pieces in seconds.

The Beta male was quick to growl at me and I had no problem offering him a snarl of my own, one just a vicious. I was in no mood to be challenged right now. I shoved him away from me roughly, just as I saw Beta Maria and Eli appear behind him. Neither wolves stepped closer, both tense as they eyed me and the Alpha males with horror.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" I hissed at Beta Kyle. He scowled and bared his teeth at me, looking all too ready to fight me on it until we were interrupted.

"Your young Alpha has issued a challenge," the female enforcer called out from behind me, her voice strong and unwavering, drawing his attention away from me. "It is within our Alpha's rights to accept. No one is to interfere."

Beta Kyle faltered.

He looked towards me, as if looking for confirmation. I nodded once, grimacing. His shoulders slumped.

When he turned back towards the Alpha's, horror twisted his features. "Fuck," he swore.

Jack had shifted. The change quick and almost instantaneous, the male leaping towards Thane with recklessness.

Jack looked so small in comparison. Thanes wolf towered over him.

"He'll be killed..." Beta Maria gasped.

He would.

I could do nothing but watch on in terror, my body completely frozen. I couldn't look away.

Jack attacked first, jaw swinging towards Thane's side with a furious snap of his teeth. But Thane lunged away from the attack, and swiped back at him. Sharp claws cut through Jack's flesh and I heard a collective wince at the sight of first blood spraying across the dirt.