Gone (Book Two of the Dark Lycans Series)
Chapter Five: The Other Side

Blake's POV

Everything was silent, all I could hear was dripping water, and the steady rhythm of my heartbeat. Every now and then, I could hear metal on metal as my chains moved.

I was in a cell, deep underground, surrounded by ten guards at all times. The only light came from a torch near the stairs leading out of my prison.

The stench of blood and rogues made me wrinkle my nose in disgust. My chains rattled as I attempted to change my position.

I was sitting on cement, my wrists chained behind my back to the floor. I knew they were made of silver, but I don't think my captors knew of my tolerance to it.

Groaning, I stretched my muscles, stiff from being in the same position so long. My wolf was on edge, and wanted me to shift, but my surroundings prevented that. The rogues and wolves had found a way to incorporate wolfsbane into the silver of my shackles.

Wolfsbane could either heal, or hurt depending on how it was used. They managed to use it so I couldn't shift, and it made my wolf very aggravated. Not to mention the fact that my mate was far away from us.

Raven, god I missed her so much. I finally got her back, and now she is gone again. Through our bond I could detect her emotions, mostly anger.

I felt terrible because I knew her anger was because of our connection. I kept being forced to mate with other women which was obviously causing her pain.

But I couldn't figure out why she seemed to be getting stronger though. My connection to my pack seemed to be fading as she got more powerful.

I knew that my mate had to focus on the pack, so I tried to keep myself alive for as long as I could. I was waiting for the right time to try to escape, so for now I played along with these vile creatures "like a good little puppy" as they called me.

My wolf, Contumax, wouldn't stop growling, and the sound echoed off the concrete walls. He didn't like being stuck in small spaces, and being in here for a week has had him going mad. I'm pretty sure that eventually he was going to snap, and destroy everything in a ten mile radius of this place.

Max, quite growling before they make us fight again! I yelled at my wolf.

Exactly! Then we might be able to get out of here!! I sighed in defeat. There was no reasoning with my wolf, that's why his name fit him so well. It meant stubborn in Latin. Usually your wolf's name described both of you, and to pass the time, I kept trying to guess what Raven's wolf's name was.

It was hard, Raven was a complex puzzle of emotions I still couldn't solve. Shrugging, I decided I would ask her when I saw her again. I brought my attention back to the present, dreading every minute in this awful place.

Contumax started growling again, even louder this time. I cursed under my breath when the guards opened my cell door. They unhooked my chains from the floor, and forced me up the stairs leading out of my prison. I couldn't do much with a knife at my throat, so I just took deep breaths and tried to control my wolf.

Light flooded my vision, and I blinked a few times to get everything to focus. It wasn't much lighter here, the arena like structure was still underground, but had a large hole in the ceiling revealing the outside.

All around, there were iron gates leading off to other tunnels, were the other wolf prisoners were kept. I stood in front of my gate, and looked up to see our spectators. Rogues leaned over the hole in the ceiling to watch.

I felt as if I were suddenly in Rome where they had animals fight people. This place was cruel and disgusting, but I could handle it, I was an Alpha for a reason.

My chains were unlocked and the knife removed from my throat. I was pushed forward through the open gate. It closed behind me, and I heard the click of the lock.

All of the other gates opened at once, revealing the other prisoners, some were new, others I had seen many times. A bell rung out, and I lunged forward.

In here, it was kill or be killed.

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Raven's POV

I grabbed onto Shade's shoulders when she started to sway. Her hand gripped the balcony railing tightly.

"You okay?" I asked, my voice full of concern.

"I think so. Its just, that is crazy. What will happen to Blake? His mate is now the Alpha of his pack, how would that even work?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Well if he comes back, then there will be two alphas, and only one way to solve it," I sighed, and my eyes stung, tears threatening to spill. She gasped and covered her mouth.

Her eyes were wide in horror, "A fight to the death."

I bit my lip and nodded numbly. I was suddenly surrounded in warmth, and realized that Shade had hugged me.

I froze for a second, the only people that I have ever been hugged by were my mate, and Jinx. But I trusted Shade, she was almost family because of our mothers. I hugged her back, and felt relief sweep through my body.

I stepped back and smiled at her, "Thank you."

She just gave me an understanding smile and grabbed my hand. We headed downstairs where everyone was waiting.

"Food should be ready," I announced and waved to the dining room. My chefs had done an outstanding job. The table was barely visible under all of the dishes.

Everyone immediately sat down and started piling food on their plates. I laughed and we all ate like kings. I made sure I didn't eat too much, we did have fighting later, so I didn't want to be stuffed.

After we were finished, they all went back to their room to get changed. Everyone had uniforms based on their pack. The silver bloods pack was silver and dark red.

Girls had a sports bra and spandex shorts, guys had only basketball shorts. I put on my uniform, and pulled my hair into a high ponytail.

I have decided that I will be barefoot all the time, unless I went into a human inhabited area. I walked through the forest until I came to a huge clearing.

Today's events were set up, knife throwing, a hunting break, and the human form fighting. First, I would announce the beginning of the games, then we would start the events.

It was tradition for the Alphas to compete first. I would start, since my pack was hosting, then I would keep competing until either I won or someone beat me. The packs had slowly started filling in the area below the stage. I waited at the edge of it, until everyone was here.

I climbed onto the stage, and stood next to the unlit signal fire. The quiet murmurs immediately settled when I got onto the stage.

"We gather this week for what we call The Games. We have the Broken Pack, the Fallen Pack, the Shadow Moon Pack, the Green Mountain Pack, the Shattered Pack, and the Silver Bloods Pack," my voice rang out across the clearing. Each pack cheered when I mentioned them.

My pack cheered the loudest, obviously excited. I grabbed the flaming torch beside me.

"Today we have knife throwing, a small hunting break, and the fight in human form. Now, let The Games begin!" I yelled throwing the torch into the signal fire. It suddenly blazed up, and I heard cheering all around.

I jumped off the stage and headed over to the knife throwing set up. I stood at the line marking the distance from the target, my first opponent was the Alpha of the Broken Pack.

Beside me, there was a table with three daggers on it. I picked one up and spun it in my hand. The target was 30 feet away, and very small. One of my non-competing pack members played the referee.

He told us the rules, and let us go. I watched as the Alpha threw his dagger, narrowly missing the center by about an inch. I smirked and threw the knife without bothering to look at my target again.

I heard it hit the target, and saw it protruding from the very center. I threw twice more, and ended up shattering two of the knives.

I won out of the Alphas at the knife throwing, and smiled when Shade's Beta won for their category.

The other pack members started competing, but I couldn't focus on it for some reason. The next thing I knew, we were disbanding to go on our hunting break.

It was understood that only one small animal per wolf, and one large animal per pack. I stripped out of my clothes and hid them under a bush. I shifted, and ended up in the new form from when Akira took over.

Hey Akira, is this my true form? I asked her.

Almost, it is your strongest but not your true form, you will have to wait to see that, she replies.

Wait for what?

Until you are at your strongest.

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