Caged

Chapter 39

I forgot to mention in the Author Note, I'm not sure what my update schedule will be, but it'll be happening. I'm being a lot more active in writing more and I'm finally in a place I think I can do so.

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**| Sang's POV |**

Mine!

My prey!

He was going to die!

I pushed harder, chasing after my prey. My teeth ached to feel his flesh in his mouth, the warmth of his blood, the feel of his bones breaking. His screaming.

My wolf agreed.

We wanted it all.

Prey.

Everything slipped away, all the humanity I desperately clung to melted until all that was left of me was my deep desire to destroy my prey. Make him beg. Make him scream.

Make him bleed.

The two of them ran hard. I ran harder. The roaring water from a nearby river briefly drew my attention. The two wolves changed direction sharply, going toward the water.

I growled, not willing to give them up. If they played it right, they could lose me there. I wasn't a strong tracker, that wasn't where my talents were. But that didn't matter the moment I felt them. Luke and Nathan flanked me. As the two fastest shifters, they didn't have a problem catching up to me. We rounded a massive rock.

Here, Luke sent and turned. We followed. Between Nathan and Luke, they guided me in the right path, helping me to find my prey.

We moved faster with their help and then the two prey were in sight, still trying to get away. Pathetic. My lips curled up in disgust. Truly pathetic. As soon as they knew they were on the losing end, they were so quick to make a run for it. Not true leaders.

Not true Alphas.

Alpha Blackbourne taught me what a real Alpha was like, what it entailed. Deras truly wasn't one, leaving his people behind to save himself. No Alpha would do that.

I wouldn't do that.

Using as much energy as I could, I picked up my speed.

Right there.

My prey was right there.

I salivated, excited to taste their deaths.

It was about time.

Sandra glanced back and stumbled when she realized we were practically on their heels. It was enough to distract Deras too. I charged in and slammed into him, the two of us rolling from the impact.

There was a yelp from Sandra, so I knew the other two were engaging her. She was a dirty fighter so she'd keep them busy.

Don't worry about us, Luke sent to me. Focus on taking him out.

Deras tried to claw at my stomach but I moved away from him. Then I went in for his back leg. I clamped my teeth around his leg and bit him hard. He yelped and turned to bite and claw at me. I let him go, the damage already done. Hot blood coated my mouth.

The taste of his blood sent me into a deeper rage. All I saw was him and all I wanted was to see him dead. I charged in again, digging my claws into his side as we rolled. He returned the favor. Deras may have sat back and watched the destruction that he caused, but he still had Alpha material in him and did know how to fight. That was how he was able to remain the leader among so many others.

So our fight grew brutal as we bit and clawed at each other, doing everything we could to make the other person hurt. My fury rose from deep down inside, in a place that I had never had the chance to face before. It slammed through the blocks I had put into place and filled me to the brim, driving me to be faster, meaner, deadlier.

Deras was going to die. That was the only acceptable ending here.

And I was desperate enough to ensure it.

I wanted him to hurt like I had, so when I got the opportunity, I made sure to sink my teeth deep into his shoulder, my thoughts thinking of one of my earlier fights, when he tossed a boy the same age as me into the arena. My shoulder still ached from that fight. It was time to make Deras' shoulder do the same.

Deras bucked me off with a growl, and tried to swipe at my face, but I turned so he hit my side instead.

He was weakening. My endurance was far better than his. I could already taste my victory.

Soon.

Soon our prey was going to be dead.

He came at me, his eyes wild, knowing the same thing I did. His end was approaching. I let him run into me and used that to do more damage, feeling his flesh part as I clawed at him. We tumbled with him on top of me.

I was in a vulnerable position, but that was what he thought as he tried to get a hold of my throat. I got my hind leg up and into his stomach and shoved hard, tearing at his stomach as I did so. He stumbled back and limped away from me, blood dripping down onto the ground. I almost gutted him.

We circled each other and then I went in for the kill. He ran out of the way and I gave chase.

Not an Alpha. An Alpha didn't fight like this. He was a coward when he faced death. The truth of his existence was absolutely disgusting and running was never a good idea when a predator was near.

Fool.

I smashed into him and we both hit a nearby tree. It kept him down, dazed. I placed my paws into his stomach and pressed until he whimpered.

Never had I felt so powerful before. That revenge had put me in a position above him. During all those matches in those pits, I had to look up at him. Not anymore though.

I pressed harder, enjoying his pain as he slowly accepted that this was his end. He was finally losing. I growled in his face, letting him see that he made a grave mistake in letting me grow so strong in those battles. That he looked into the eyes of Death and I was its embodiment.

A harsh yelp caught my attention just as I was about to finish it off. The sound was too familiar and sent something cold running through me as I looked over. At some point, Garland had caught up and joined the fight. Luke was down with the male wolf hovering over him, going in for the kill. Blood coated Luke's fur as he tried to get to his feet but falling back down, unable to hold himself.

Nathan was still fighting with Sandra further away. Sandra kept blocking Nathan to make sure he couldn't help Luke. It took half a second for me to take in that scene.

My world became red as fury and panic took over. I shoved off Deras. Then the next breath, I was smashing into Garland before he had a chance to do anything else to Luke. The air was filled with the scent of Luke's blood. It wafted off from Garland's bloodied snout. Luke was injured, badly injured. And Garland did it.

Nothing made sense for a long breathless beat. I only knew that he needed to die and I wanted nothing left of him when I was done.

My wolf responded to that need and surged forward, wanting to give back the pain that the male wolf had caused, not just to Luke, but to me too.

He wasn't just prey to us. He became our next deadly game.

A game he was already going to lose.