“As it turns out you need to learn how to fight anyway and so, what better way to do that than to throw you into a challenge that you yourself gave.” Ares smiled down at William as he shoved the pup into the clearing. “Your challenger will be here soon.” Ares lifted his nose to the air and inhaled. “I will be studying how you move and what you are capable of, how much of your abilities you have mastered. Once the fight is over, I will call for a stop. From this lesson I will better understand your technique and where it needs to be strengthened. As Enforcers, we have to be the best fighters in our pack. We are the guardians of our alphas and the rest of our people.” Ares stopped and inhaled once more. “Prepare yourself, your opponent comes.”
William stood, alone and vulnerable, in the clearing. He couldn’t see very far into the trees. He saw Ares stand at the edge of the clearing and nothing else beyond that. He moved around in a circle getting a feel for the uneven terrain of the chewed-up dirt. Since he couldn’t see anything, he turned up his nose and inhaled trying to get the scent of whatever it was that was coming. At the same time that he caught the scent he saw three forms materialize out of the shadows and enter into the clearing.
Three grey werewolves entered the clearing, a fourth stayed on the outskirts of the trees. William looked toward Ares to see if this was some kind of a joke. I’m supposed to fight three werewolves at once, how is this fair?
Ares must have thought the same thing because no sooner had William thought that than his teacher spoke out. “What is this?”
The grey werewolf that stayed on the outskirts of the clearing spoke into the thick silence. “We are here to deal with your student, Ares.”
William saw fear etched on his teachers face, his voice was still rock steady though he couldn’t imagine how. “He hasn’t done anything, and I haven’t been given the chance to ascertain his true abilities yet. I need more time.”
The grey werewolf was completely unmoved by Ares’ words. “The Elders have decided, Ares. Your student has been found to be a danger to himself and to our city, he is to be put down.”
William couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Ares, I haven’t done…”
“SHUT UP!” The werewolf at the edge of the clearing yelled out and all sound seemed to be driven from the forest with his words. William felt a massive rock drop down into the pit of his stomach. With that feeling of hopelessness, he looked at the three werewolves that occupied the proving grounds with him. They were spacing themselves out around him, encircling him. William looked up at his teacher. William held his claws out to his sides and pleaded with his teacher to do something.
“Why have the Elders ruled this?” Ares asked the speaker for the newcomers.
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The leader of William’s death squad spoke again. “Your student has exhibited signs of uncontrollable rage and he has not progressed as fast as we had anticipated.” William listened with greater and greater disbelief. “Your student also has not demonstrated any control over his form. He can’t release himself from his werewolf body. The Elders believe that that is a sign of his unwillingness to let go of the strength and the evil that is inherent in our werewolf forms. This evidence suggests that he is rabid and must be put down.”
“So you’re going to kill me because I can’t change back into my human form? This is crazy! Ares? Do something.”
William looked at the edge of the clearing and Ares did nothing. He simply stood there, his shoulder blades drooped, and his head sagged. He lifted his eyes to meet William’s. William saw surrender in those eyes. Ares started to turn away from the clearing but as he did so, William caught the slightest hand motion that was hidden from the grey werewolf by his body and the trees. Ares held his claw away from his body and closed it into a fist. Then he turned away from William and disappeared back into the shadows of the forest.
“Take him.”
William became very much aware of his surrounding and the three grey werewolves that were encircling him. They started to rotate around him. William couldn’t be sure what was going to happen, the only werewolf he had fought had been Ares. But Ares hadn’t been trying to kill him. These werewolves held no compassion in their eyes and he knew that they wouldn’t stop till he was dead. William studied them as much as he could. He tried to lock onto muscle movements and anticipate which was going to attack first. But he couldn’t split his concentration three ways and there was always one directly behind him.
He felt a bone crushing force slam down onto his back. He stumbled forward and was caught by a swift kick to his abdomen. He tried to get out from in between the two werewolves as he dropped into a roll to the side. He was immediately propped back up and tossed back into the middle of the circle of attacking werewolves.
William shook his head and tried to work out the numbing pain that was throbbing along his spinal cord. The three werewolves were taking their time. They were circling William once again. If he could just pick out a prominent feature on any of the three, maybe he could concentrate on one and take them out one by one. But the werewolves were moving a little faster now and as far as he could tell they all looked exactly the same. They all stood at the same height, they all had the same shape ears, and they all had a very plain solid coat of grey fur.
He felt another attack from behind. This time it was a shove or a kick, he couldn’t be sure. But the force of the attack sent him towards one of the other werewolves. This one cocked his arm back and ripped his claws up William abdomen and into his chin and face. William felt the heat of the wound as the other werewolf’s claws ripped deep into his skin. William didn’t have time to think about the pain because he felt another pain explode as he felt something impact his exposed side. Punch or kick, it didn’t matter. The blow hurt and drove the air out of his body. William whipped around toward the latest attack, but the werewolves backed off and were circling him again.
William watched the werewolves circle him and he tried to see past the clearing. Just at the edge of the shadows of the forest was a ghostly visage of Ares. William felt a wave of relief at seeing his teacher. Ares golden eyes held a look of defiance. His upper lip curled back in a silent snarl, and he could almost feel what Ares was trying to tell him, ‘Fight back. Don’t let your life end like this’.