Surprisingly there wasn't much preparation work for a fight like this. They just cleared a bigger area than they had for the admittance ritual and stood there. I had read up on the rules for this kind of fighting and apparently the only rules were that no one interfered and no one used weapons. Of course, considering what we were, we already had our own weapons. Or at least that's what I was told.

  “You've never done this before.” Sheldon admonished me.

  “Hey, I can fight, that's no problem.” I said.

  “You know that's not what I meant. You've never... changed before.” Sheldon whispered.

  “It's okay. I can handle it. Just watch me and make sure I do it right.”

  Sheldon shook his head as he smiled and stepped to the side at an equal distance between me and Mark. Since he was the holder of the Book of Pack Law, he was also the judge for the fight.

  “Since it's not the night of the full moon for another two weeks, the participants have agreed that they are only going to partially transform and won't become full wolves. Hands mainly, but feet also if they can manage it.” Sheldon said to the crowd.

  They all milled around and speculated on the fight. They probably expected me to get myself beaten up pretty badly and then killed. I could only hope that they were wrong. Their focus shifted to Mark as he put out some energy and they could feel him trying to transform himself. I could feel him struggling with it, trying to push it around and command it to do what he wanted.

  I shook my head and watched as he grew a few inches taller and his bare feet got a bit bigger. Then his hands took on a different shape. They elongated and hair grew on the back of them. His fingernails grew out and formed claws that were almost as long as his fingers. I felt the energy dissipate and he stood there in all his glory and revelled in the pack's admiration of his half transformed state. I thought he looked kind of silly, actually. Everyone turned their attention to me, because now it was my turn.

  I closed my eyes and saw within myself that potential to be more. The desire to be stronger and faster and better was there; but, it was tempered with compassion and grace. I remembered that night of the accident and felt my anger at what had happened to me rise to the surface. It was so easy to lose myself in the rage and mindlessness of the beast within.

  I screamed as I opened my eyes and let the energy flow out and out from me and everyone felt it. I let my blood boil and it filled my veins with my hate and anger. I could feel everyone around me going along for the ride with me. I kicked off my shoes and let my feet expand as they were meant to and they tore my socks as if they were paper. I knelt down on the ground as my calves burned like they were on fire. I heard the snap of the bones in my legs but it didn't hurt like you'd think it would.

  There was pain, sure; but, not that kind of pain. It was more like... well, I don't know what it was like since I had never felt anything like it before. I let the fire build and flow down into my hands and watched them grow and become huge with dark claws and fur grew out and up to my elbows. I could feel the fire trying to burn over even more of me and I didn't want it to.

  I put my new hands on my head and rocked back and forth. The fire wanted more. I growled out loud and some people in the crowd echoed me. I shook my head and told myself over and over that I wasn't a monster. This was enough. I didn't need to change any more than this.

  “We are all monsters.” Mark said.

  “NO!” I snarled at him and stared at him with amber wolf eyes. “It's not what you are that makes you a monster. It's the choices you make. You choose to be a monster, and then you are.” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Then that's what we are. Monsters. Just look at yourself, sweetheart.” Mark said with a smirk.

  I growled at him and let the fire burn up through my face. I saw his look of shock as my face elongated and a muzzle appeared. My teeth extended and my fur grew to cover my new mouth. I growled at him and snapped my teeth together and he jumped, then I heard a few gasps.

  “Do you see this? I'm still me. I know what I must look like. I can see it in your eyes. You see a monster, but that's not who I am inside. This is only the beast. It's not what I am, it's just what I can become.” I said as normally as I could with a wolf's lips and mouth.

  I concentrated and calmed myself. Unlike Mark, I didn't command the fire or force it to do anything. It was a part of me. I pulled the fire back from my face and it reformed back into what it looked like normally. I heard more gasps from our audience and I ignored them because it didn't matter.

  I didn't know what they had expected; but, when I stood up I heard even more gasps as they saw what my legs looked like. I was almost a foot taller than I was before I had changed and I leaned back on my haunches. I had haunches like a wolf!

  I smiled as I looked at my new hands and I saw that they were in a slightly different shape than a moment before, as if they were made specifically for slashing, and my new feet were good for digging into the dirt and running to catch prey. I looked at Mark and saw his surprise.

  “The participants are ready.” Sheldon said and gave me a wink. “This fight is to the death or until one of the fighters concedes defeat.”

  There wasn't any disagreements with that arrangement and heads nodded all the way around, except for Mark's guards. They stood stolidly at his back and didn't nod. Cerberus barked at me and I turned to him. I reached out with one of my new hands and ruffled his fur. He licked my hand and then my face and I asked him to watch my back. He looked me in the eye and barked again. I nodded and stood.

  “Begin.” Sheldon said.

  I had been in fights before but I wasn't prepared for the sheer ferocity of Mark's attack. He used every bit of his strength and speed to their fullest advantage and caught me flatfooted. His first punch was to my face and the second was to my jaw. I knew he was aiming for my head so I let my own momentum carry me out of his range of attack.

  His kick hit me in the shoulder instead of my face when I fell away from him. He growled and tried to follow up on his combination; but, I was fast, too. I swept his legs out from underneath him and he hit the dirt on his back. I rolled away and ended the roll in a crouch. He hopped up to his feet like nothing had happened and tried to lunge for me again.

  I was ready this time and struck a solid blow to his solar plexus with the palm of my hand. He stumbled backwards and wheezed a few breaths before he resumed his attack. He feinted a left jab and sent his right hook across my forehead. If I hadn't seen it coming, he would have impacted my temple and I would probably be dead from the strength of the blow. As it was, it only made me a bit woozy and I stumbled a bit. He roundhouse kicked me in the chest and it was my turn to step away and try to catch my breath.

  Mark didn't give me the time I needed to recover like I gave him. He pounced on me and rode my body to the ground. He slammed my head into the ground as hard as he could. My vision swam as I tried to grapple his arms away; but, he kept pounding my head into the ground over and over. I stopped struggling and let my arms drop to my sides. He stopped when he saw I wasn't trying to stop him anymore

  He got up off of me and stood facing the crowd. He roared and pounded his chest, which was met with some applause. Most of the gathered throng just stood there in silence.

  I felt that fire within me try to grow and I let it. I welcomed it and embraced it with open arms and a willing mind. The feelings of pain and soreness vanished immediately and my vision cleared. I let the fire flow through me and it grew as I let it consume as much of me as it wanted. I wasn't any match for Mark in my current condition anyway, so that had to change. I had to change.

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  It seemed so simple now. My blood boiled and my skin burned and it didn't hurt like it did before. It was a part of me, just like I was a part of it, and I felt my body shift completely. I heard gasps and a couple of screams as I rolled over and got up on my knees. I felt fine. Better than fine, actually. I felt wonderful. I wasn't sure what had happened, and whatever it was, I liked it. I growled as I stood up and I didn't recognize my voice. That didn't matter right now, though.

  The beast was free.

  It revelled in its newfound freedom and rejoiced in its new world. My prey was in front of me. Mark turned around and he seemed a lot shorter than I remembered him being. His eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open in shock as he took in my appearance. Whatever he saw, he was really afraid of it.

  I smiled and revealed a huge set of canine teeth through my muzzle and I could feel them. I wasn't repulsed by the sensation, either. Mark's face went white as the blood drained from his head. I growled again and even more screams erupted from the crowd. I hauled my huge clawed hand back to my shoulder and smashed it into his face.

  Mark was catapulted into the crowd and landed on some members of his guard. He shook his head in disbelief and growled at me. I barked a laugh at him and taunted him. He jumped at me with what looked like all of his strength and it was like slow motion for me. I sidestepped him easily, even in my much larger form and punched him in the back. I heard a crunching sound and growled in pleasure.

  I had hurt my prey! I crouched and waited for him to stand again. He braced himself and stretched his back out. As he stood, I lunged at him and tackled him around the waist. I heard a few more bones snap and barked another laugh. He tried to punch and kick me when we hit the ground and I didn't feel anything that he did. It was amazing to me that he had so easily hurt me before, and now he couldn't even muster enough strength to do more than just scratch me.

  I laughed at him when he tried to gouge my eyes and I caught his hands effortlessly. Mark made fists and tried his best to break free, so I just sneered at him and squeezed my hands closed. He cried out as I crushed his hands. I heard voices screaming at me to stop, but I ignored them and let his crushed hands go and then punched him in the chest. He went down like a sack of potatoes.

  I think I cracked a few of his ribs with that last shot and I barked another laugh and stepped back. I turned towards the crowd and they moved away from me. I barked again and turned back to my prey. He was gone!

  “Where is he!” I bellowed in a deep raspy voice and no one answered. I thought about hurting them all until someone told me where he went, but then I remembered my claws. I looked down and there on my claws was his blood. I smiled. I put my nose down to my hands and took a big sniff. I got a scent from it, but it wasn't what I thought it was going to be.

  I thought that I would get my prey's scent and then be able to track him. What I got instead was a horrible wrenching pain in my gut. I dropped to my knees and curled myself into a fetal position to wait for the pain to stop, and it just got worse. I didn't know what was happening! If only the pain would stop I could think of what to do next! It started getting so bad that I could barely move.

  I fell to my side and a few flecks of blood from my hands dropped onto my face and muzzle. I reached up to wipe it off and then an electric buzz went through my body. The blood. It was the blood! I licked it off of my hands and the pain I was experiencing eased. I felt that tingling go through me and ease the pain. I wanted more. I needed more! Where was my prey? I froze as the feeling came to me. He was close by.

  I hopped up quick as a flash and a dozen screams pierced the clearing. I ran to the edge of the trees and jumped into the underbrush. His trail blazed in my eyes and I knew that I could follow him anywhere. My prey can't escape me!

  A few seconds later I saw them. His men had picked him up and taken him away from me. I lunged at them and growled as loudly as I could. No one else gets my prey! The men scattered as I got to them and they left my prey in the middle of the path. I stopped and howled at my good fortune. A few howls answered me. I reached down and grabbed my prey and took it back to the clearing. I couldn't eat it there in the woods.

  I came out of the woods and stepped into the clearing. Most of the crowd that had gathered were backed away into the trees that surrounded the clearing and hadn't moved away any more than that. They wanted to see me eat my prey. That was fine, as long as they didn't try and take it from me. Then they would be sorry.

  I sat down in the clearing and dragged my prey over my lap. I couldn't really remember what was going on; but, I had food I needed to eat, so nothing else mattered. I heard something walk over beside me and I turned and growled at it. A man who kinda looked familiar stood there with his hands out palms facing towards me. He didn't want any of my food, I think he said. I grunted and huffed.

  He took that as an invitation and sat down across from me. He made no move for my food, so he was okay for now. I kept my eye on him just in case. Other people came out of the trees and walked closer to me. I huddled my food closer to me so they would know I wasn't going to share. They stopped moving and I barked. They understood me. Good.

  I pulled one of the limbs of my prey to my mouth and then the man across from me spoke. I couldn't quite understand what he was saying so I put my food down before I took a bite from it and I leaned closer. He said something about not being an animal. I huffed and leaned away and he got louder. I ignored him and tried to pick up my prey and I heard a bark.

  I recognized it, I think. I looked around and there was this thing trying to get my attention. I tried to ignore it and it barked and stepped closer. I growled and it growled back. A dominance game, was it? Well, I can play that game easily. I got up and went over to the creature. It spread its feet out and growled harder. I dropped to my knees and put my muzzle next to it. I growled and it sounded like a car engine.

  I barked a laugh and the creature barked louder. I barked louder myself. It barked back. I got bored. I swung my paw to bat the creature away but before I could hit it, it squealed in pain and fell over. I stopped mid-swing and looked at the creature and I saw it... just like that night when this all started. Then everything hit me at once.

  I remembered everything.

  I had become a beast; but, that wasn't who I was! I wasn't a mindless creature! I closed my eyes and screamed at the top of my lungs. I kept screaming as the fire I had let lose receded from me and flowed back into wherever it came from. When I opened my tear-filled eyes a few moments later, I was myself again. Cerberus was snuggled in my lap and Sheldon stood nearby.

  People gathered around and were talking about what had happened. They knew just as much as I did about it. The crowd parted and a few of them dropped Mark into the little circle Sheldon, Cerberus and myself had made.

  “Mark was unconscious so he lost. He couldn't continue or submit.” Sheldon said.

  “Now what happens?” I asked in a low voice.

  “That depends on if you want your questions answered or not.” Sheldon explained.

  “I do, but no one has to tell me anything.” I said.

  “Do you really think no one will talk after seeing what you just did?” Sheldon laughed. “Do you even realize what you were? You were a wolf-man! A huge, over-sized wolf that stood up on two muscular legs. No one has ever seen anything like that before. It's never happened!”

  “Huh.” I said, kind of flattered and flabbergasted at the same time.

  Mark's guards were ushered into the clearing with us and everyone we asked said that if anyone knew what had gone on that night, it would be them. They are the ones who usually handle stuff for Mark. I asked my questions and they were reluctant at first; but, with the whole pack around them and threatening them, they soon came to the decision to tell me everything. It wasn't what I had thought I was going to hear.

  I had expected a story about a forgotten night full of excesses and mistakes or something, and that was really far from the truth. Mark was in the employ of a local business man who would hire him to take care of things. That meant he was their clean-up man. If they had a dirty job to be handled, they would get Mark to do it. Sometimes Mark would just take some pack members who would have to do what he said, or he would get some rogue werewolves that were passing through his territory and hire them.

  I tried to get them to tell me who the local businessman was and none of them knew. Only Mark knew who the guy was, so I would have to wait for him to regain consciousness before I could ask him. I asked why they could answer my questions now and couldn't before. They said that they were under orders not to say anything, then I had beaten Mark fair and square and now I was ranked higher than him, even though it was only a revenge fight and not one for dominance.

  Apparently, once you were beaten in a fight, you were a lower rank, no matter the circumstances. It wasn't long before Mark started to recover from the injuries I had given him during the fight. When he woke, he discovered that he was restrained and tried to struggle free. That wasn't going to happen. I asked him who it was that he worked for, and he said that he couldn't tell me or he would be killed.

  I leaned towards him and he leaned away. I asked him what he thought that I would do to him right now if he didn't answer. He blanched as the blood drained from his face again and he looked at the people gathered around him. None of them gave him an encouraging word and some even looked down on him. He sighed and told me who it was that had hired him.

  I was shocked and dismayed at his answer and I just sat there in stone cold silence for several minutes. It wasn't possible! Why would he do it? It must be a mistake.

  Mark said that he had been doing jobs off and on for the man for years. Now that I knew the identity of the man responsible for everything that happened to me, I turned to Mark and asked the question that was now burning in my mind.

  “When Mr. Soulson's assistant paid you to kill me, who did you get to help you?”

The end?