From The Ashes.

Chapter 26

The moment John and Hana shook hands in the centre of the clearing, the crowd almost broke my eardrums. Zak was right, John was large and strong but he was slow and obviously used to people being intimidated by his size. By contrast, Hana was fast and agile, shifting from her small wolf form to human without missing a beat, targeting the large wolfs joints until his shoulders and elbows were pouring blood and he was struggling to stand. John got some good hits in as well so Hana had a gaping wound on her ribcage but it was obvious which one was starting to falter. John was panting heavily as Hana circled him in wolf form, her teeth bared in a smug smile. 

I'd been screaming myself hoarse, cheering everytime Hana landed a hit and had been so focused on the fight I'd even stopped noticing the noise of the crowd. So, when a wolf came into vision that was a little too close to Hana, it was jarring at most.

"Zak." I cried, turning to look at the man standing beside me whose eyes were already narrowed in concern.

"I see them." He replied, his voice tight. "He'd be completely stupid to try and interfere so blatantly in a fight with so many witnesses." I swallowed, my chest tight, as it became apparent that there were two wolves circling the fight, keeping their eyes on Hana who was starting to realise something was going wrong. A murmur was spreading through the crowd as others began to notice the two intruders strange behaviour and I could see Zak grow tense beside me.

"Can't you do something?" I asked him but he shook his head, gripping a handful of his hair.

"No. He's playing a chess game. If I send someone in to interfere he could claim we attacked first." Caerun stomped his foot in anger as he surveyed the problem.

"That bastard. He must have known that he didn't stand a chance." I looked between the two of them. Sure, I didn't completely understand their politics but surely they could do something? Even Johns attention had shifted to the intruders. It was evident he didn't appreciate the interference. In fact, he moved closer to Hana as though getting ready to protect her.

"What if Hana attacks them?" I'd barely finished the question before Zak and Caerun both shook their heads.

"It'll be considered an act of war." Caerun said, his voice gruff. I frowned.

"But not if they attack her?" Zak shook his head as Caerun scowled.

"They're not champions. They don't represent the pack." That was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard but I guess it made sense to them. I looked around and saw Brian standing on the other edge of the clearing, smirking at us like he had already won the fight. Caerun swore when he followed my line of sight.

"What about Llewellyn?" Surely he'd be able to interfere. Zak pointed to his father further into the crowd. He had his back turned to the fight and seemed to be attempting to calm a purple faced Travis. "Can't we tell him what's going on?" I asked. Zak frowned as though the thought didn't sit right with him.

"We could but... I'm supposed to be capable of looking after issues like this myself." We were all silent as the weight of that statement hit us. Brian really was playing a chess game. He was testing Zaks Alpha potential, trying to see how he'd react if put into a situation an Alpha was supposed to handle.

The wolves were getting far too close for comfort at this point and my heart pounded in my chest as I realised something needed to be done and fast. Looking at Caerun, I wondered why he was holding himself back until it occurred to me that if Hana, as the champion, could start a war by attacking than Caerun would be ten times worse. Obviously, Zak was out of the question. And it seemed the rest of the pack was unsure what to do as well. I sighed, my intestines clenching as a thought came to me. I wasn't a pack member. In fact, I wasn't a wolf at all. Surely, if I interfered, it couldn't be taken as an act of war? As soon as I realised that, I moved to make my way into the clearing when a heavy hand fell on my shoulder and stopped me in my tracks.