Alpha Jaxon POV
It's a bleak-looking morning. The sun has barely risen in the sky, the air is cold and the wind is soft as the pack members gather around me. I stand at the front, my hands up in the air, an arrogant expression on my face. It was time for my duel with Callum. I speak as the pack members begin to mutter amongst themselves.
"As Alpha, it is my responsibility to uphold the laws and the morals of our pack. Callum, the Beta of this pack, has betrayed my trust and been challenged to a duel as a result of that betrayal. I call upon him now, to fight me and I declare that this will be a fight to the death. There will be no mercy granted to the loser."
Eyes widen. "That's nonsense. Since when do you kill your pack members?" one shouts out loud "You've always just banished and made them rogues."
I glare "That changes today. I will not have those who go against me, go on living with a chance to come back and take me out in the future. I have been merciful before yes" I acknowledged while Amber stood beside me, her eyes glinting as the pack members began to look mutinous "but I now know how foolish that was."
"But..."
"But nothing" I roar, causing the pack members to step back, their faces awash with fear and anger "I am the Alpha of the pack and what I say goes. Anyone who does not like this new directive of mine is welcome to fight me as well and lose their lives if they want to step forward."
Glances amongst the crowds. Furious expressions. Looks of distaste and contempt but nobody dared to step forward and challenge me directly. I give a crooked grin, as Callum strides forward, a neutral expression on his face.
"So you would kill me?" he said heavily as Cody gripped his arm, desperately shaking his head "Your own friend?" his tone is mocking "I guess I know where I stand. Behind that bitch you call Luna" he sneered.
"How dare you" Amber begins incensed but I hold up a hand and silence her.
"Are you ready to begin?" I snarl as Callum glares at me defiantly "Only one of us gets to survive this fight" I growl.
Callum eyes me. He shakes off Cody's warning hand. "Cody," he says grimly as my other friend listens in disbelief "If he's willing to kill me, then it won't be long until you're next" he warns "You should think about leaving."
More mutters amongst the crowd. I begin to strip my clothes off as the pack members back away, preparing myself to do battle. Callum is slower, folding his clothing neatly and placing it in a pile. He's not rushing, the coward. Amber is shaking her head and rolling her eyes.
"She has you wrapped around her finger, doesn't she?" Callum asks as we face each other.
"I am my own man" I snap but he just eyes me with such disgust I almost recoil.
"You are going to look back with regret one day Jaxon and it will be too late," he said finally as I growled at him "You're going to lose everything because you've listened to her. I hope this is worth it" he added.
I shifted into my large black wolf, the pack members giving out cries of alarm while Callum did the same. His wolf was large, not unusual for a Beta, and was a large silver wolf. I bounded towards him, determined to gouge his side, but he moved first, sending me flying backward several paces.
"God how pathetic. Don't let him beat you" Amber shouts in exasperation.
I ignore her and tackle Callum, only for him to get the better of me, sideswiping my side and causing me to breathe heavily. Fuck. This was not going as I had anticipated. I give a ferocious growl and jump, landing atop him as he bucks and flings his head, before he deliberately smashes me against the trunk of a nearby tree causes me to wince in pain. I fall with a heavy thud. Callum turns and faces me, his eyes glinting. There's a look on his face. A look of hate. I almost flinch but then I gather myself and bound towards him. He kicks out and hits me mid-air, causing me to yelp and fall. Shit that hurt.
He wasn't even winded. How could this be? I am an Alpha wolf and he is merely a Beta. This should have been an easy fight. I should have had him on the floor in pieces by now. I let out a snarl, snapping my jaws together. I manage to get a hit in, causing him to howl as blood trickles from the wound in his side. Finally. I managed to score a hit but at the cost of injury myself. I gnash my teeth together. He lunges and then snaps his teeth around my leg, yanking hard and causing it to break as I howl out loud, falling to the ground in agony.
Son of a bitch, I roared in my mind. He stood there, his tail swishing back and forth in the breeze, studying me. There was a look I couldn't decipher on his face as he glanced down at me. My leg began to heal but then Callum did the unthinkable. I never would have anticipated him doing this in a million years. He did something that I never envisioned. He darted forward and slashed me across the eyes as I tried to stand. My eyes began to water as I growled and my vision dimmed slightly. Bastard. He'd half-blinded me. He grabbed his clothes in his mouth and as I staggered on one leg, he turned and began to run towards the safety of the forest.
Son of a bitch. He'd used a cheap trick to get me while I was down and now he had the nerve to make a run for it! Was he trying to get past the boundary line? I let out a roar while Amber began to shout at me "Get up. He's going to make it if you don't hurry up. Somebody stop Callum from making it to the boundary" she screeched.
Nobody moved. She looked like she was going to throttle anyone near her as I got to my feet, limping and running towards the forest. Callum had a good lead by now and my vision was compromised but I could still follow his scent.
I had forgotten how fast he could move. He was springing forward, his head occasionally turning to keep an eye on how close I was to closing the gap between us. It was difficult. He deliberately bounded over debris, knowing I would struggle to see, and took a route that was hard on my sore leg as it continued to heal. I was desperate to prevent him from reaching neutral territory but by the time we skidded to a stop, it was too late. He'd gone past the boundary and made it. I stopped, growling at the invisible barrier that separated my territory from neutral and him as he shifted back to human form.
I shifted, standing there in rage. "That was a cheap trick you played" I hissed, "otherwise you would be dead by now."
He barely glances at me "I guess I was lucky then fighting dirty" he quips, shaking his head at me "you should know me by now and that I will do everything in me to survive, even if it means going against you."
"You will never be able to step foot on this territory again" I snarled, punching the trunk of a nearby tree.
He chuckles "I have no interest in coming back here. You've lost your mind. You're weak Jaxon" he scoffs "and you've allowed Amber to warp your mind."
"Then where will you go?"
He stares "Do you really think I would tell you?"
He puts his shoes back on and gives me a wry smile "I can't believe you were going to kill me" he murmurs looking slightly devastated "I guess I was wrong about you. I Callum hereby reject the Blood Moon Pack as my pack and Alpha Jaxon as my Alpha from today and forevermore."
I felt something snap inside my mind, felt his mind-link with me break, and howled out loud in pain. Then I felt somebody else cross over the boundary line and scowled. Callum glanced to the side and I growled as Cody joined him, shaking his head.
"You" I spat "you would betray me with him?"
"Callum provided the perfect distraction. I took a different route while everybody was distracted and ran past the boundary to join him. I know he's right. If you're willing to kill him then you're willing to kill anyone. I'm not about to stay and wait until my time comes. I've seen the writing on the wall."
Cody's voice is hard. I take a step back, looking at them both in horror. I try to appease them, aware it's too late. I can't be without both a Beta and a Gamma.
"Cody, I would never have..."
"Save it Jaxon" Cody's voice is filled with disgust "I Cody reject the Blood Moon Pack as my pack and Alpha Jaxon as my Alpha."
Another snap in my mind, another sharp pain in my body as my knees begin to sink.
"You reap what you sow Jaxon" Cody said unsympathetically as he began to take Callum's arm and turn around, his head looking over his shoulder "I pray that you realize the extent of the mistakes you're making but I fear it's already too late. Goodbye."
He and Callum vanish. I sink to my knees on the ground, my eyes wide. Anger floods me "I will kill you" I scream into the emptiness of the forest, my voice filled with rage "when I see you again, I will kill the two of you."
Nothing but silence answers me.