Lone Wolf's Attack (Wolf Point Academy Book 1) Page 7

  “Thank you.” What else was I supposed to say?

  He nodded once, then turned to the gawking men. “I believe I said to spar, not stare at me like a bunch of statues! If I catch you slacking again, you’ll owe me wind sprints tomorrow morning!”

  He turned back to me, brow furrowed in a grim frown, but his wolf had receded enough that I could actually see a hint of a smile in his eyes.

  He bent down and unzipped his bag. “You held back for most of the fight.”

  I shifted on my feet as I watched him dig around and pull out a water bottle. “Yeah?”

  “Why?”

  I rubbed the back of my neck and glanced around. I didn’t like being analyzed like this. I was used to fighting until one of us was on the ground. “I… Like to observe my opponent and their fighting style before I attack.”

  He took a long swig from his bottle before he spoke. “That’s smart. It also keeps your opponent from assessing your abilities right away. I’d like to see you go straight in, no pulling punches or holding back. I want to see you fight like you did yesterday.”

  I shivered at the memory. I never wanted a repeat of that horrible sense of horror and helplessness as I watched the man’s body crumple to the ground.. “I… I don’t want to maim someone in a spar or anything.”

  He stared me down for a minute, analyzing me again, and it made my skin crawl. “Miss Lopez, any time you fight, whether it be a spar or a fight like yesterday, you always fight like your life is on the line. How else will you learn to improve?”

  I bit my lip. What he said made sense, but seeing my opponent murdered yesterday because he lost to me made my insides churn.

  When I didn’t say anything, Dr. Aspen turned back to the men sparring. “Lykos! Front and center!”

  A man separated from his sparring partner and jogged toward us. Great. Asshat from the first day when I’d arrived at Wolf Point. Lykos.

  Shoulders back, he didn’t look Dr. Aspen in the eye. “Alpha.”

  “Spar with Miss Lopez.”

  I snapped my gaze to Dr. Aspen, wondering if he was serious. He didn’t add anything else. He just backed off to give us space.

  Lykos smirked and began to circle around me. “Surprised to see you still alive, mutt.”

  I shifted around to keep him in sight, hands ready to fly into action. “Careful there, Fido. We both know what I’m capable of.”

  He rolled his eyes, still gliding in a slow dance around me. Sweat dripped down his temples from his previous spar. “Maybe. But you don’t know what I’m capable of.”

  “I said spar, not flirt!” Dr. Aspen barked out.

  Lykos’ shoulders tensed, and he focused on my face, his eyes glowing. He lunged for me, aiming a fist for my face, but I blocked it and sidestepped. As he turned towards me, I caught his leg with my foot and sent him stumbling past me. Regaining his balance, he turned back to me with murder in his eyes.

  Fight to survive.

  I didn’t hesitate. I dodged in close and threw a sharp punch to his stomach to wind him. Another fast hit to the throat, blocking his airway.

  He shoved me away, but the damage had been done. Coughing and wheezing, he gasped for breath.

  Pushing down any hint of dread or hesitation, I kicked him in the ribs. He swung at me, but I ducked and swept out his feet. He hit the floor hard, wheezing, but he didn’t stay down. I threw my weight on top of him, pinning him beneath me. Locking his arm like I’d done Ethan’s yesterday, I applied pressure to his joint. More than ready to pull his arm out.

  “Freeze,” Dr. Aspen ordered.

  Lykos stopped thrashing under me. I’d learned my lesson about obeying orders, at least from the teachers, so I paused, too.

  “Lykos, what was your first mistake?”

  He coughed, his voice harsh, still winded by my attack. “I pulled my punches on Lopez.”

  “Why?” Dr. Aspen asked, patiently waiting to the side.

  Feet braced on Lykos’s shoulder, it’d only take me a second to tear his arm out of its socket.

  Averting his gaze, he finally admitted, “Because I was uncomfortable to hit a woman.”

  How peculiar. I wasn’t surprised by his hesitation though, especially after how all the men seemed to treat me here. They liked to talk big, but fighting me, actually hurting me, wasn’t as easy.

  “And yet this woman was able to pin you and was about to tear your arm from your socket. Hold back next time, and I won’t stop her.”

  I was beginning to kind of like Dr. Aspen. I released Lykos’s arm and stood aside, watching silently as he struggled to his feet.

  “Miss Lopez.” I met Dr. Aspen’s gaze. “What was your first mistake?”

  Frowning, I thought I’d done pretty well. I’d pinned my opponent and hadn’t taken a single hit. “Not… attacking sooner?”

  Dr. Aspen sighed. “You’re still not fighting like your life is at stake. You give me no other choice.”

  I wasn’t sure what he meant, but it sure as hell didn’t sound good.

  “Men, take a seat in the arena.” Staring at me steadily, he waited while everyone around us stopped moving and silently followed his instructions. It was almost unnerving. “Lykos, I order you to kill her.”

  11

  Kill me?! Hadn’t we already gone through this? I’d already earned my place here, and now they were trying to kill me again? What did I do wrong?

  Lykos turned to face me, his wolf shining in his eyes like I was a tasty snack, even though I’d just kicked his ass. “Yes, Alpha.”

  Without hesitation, he lunged at me. He moved so much faster than before. Freakishly fast.

  Still reeling, I couldn’t react quickly enough to sidestep. The fight had barely even started, and he’d already slammed me to the ground.

  My head cracked off the ground. My ribs creaked. Lykos weighed a ton on top of me, but I was lithe enough to get my thigh up and knock him aside so I could flip him. Panting, I pinned him beneath me and immediately punched him under the chin, aiming for a quick knockout.

  His head hit the pavement as hard as mine had, but he didn’t seem phased. He thrashed beneath me, and the agonizingly-long morning started to catch up to me in a hurry. All my injuries added up. My exhaustion. He outweighed me, so it was a struggle to keep him down.

  He managed to throw me off balance and get out from under me, tossing me to the pavement. I scrambled to my feet, just in time for him to launch himself at me again. He grabbed me by my hair, yanking me offbalance, but I landed a harsh kick to his ribs. He wheezed, but he still held firm.

  As long as he had me by my hair, I was limited in what I could do. He was too strong and big to fight up close. I had to get myself free so that I could attack on my terms. I went for the cheap shot of kicking him in the groin.

  He hissed but didn’t jerk back. So I grabbed him by his nipple and wrenched with all my might. His mouth fell open with shock, his grip slacking. Gathering my strength, I slammed a solid hit to his temple. I had to make it a knockout. If I could render him unconscious, then I could try to reason with Dr. Aspen about his random death sentence.

  Lykos landed a blow to my already aching ribs, making my knees wobble. I staggered back but kept my balance. Breathing hurt. Everything hurt. I had to end this. Quickly.

  Or it’d be all over for me. And for Mom.

  Something slipped free inside me. A dark trap door unhinged and slammed open. All of my anger bubbled up out of me like a raging monster.

  Roaring, I tackled him. Before he could even make friends with the ground, I rained blows down on his face, battering him all the way down.

  He struggled and pushed at me, but the rage-beast inside me refused to relent. I didn’t fucking want to be here. These assholes didn’t take me seriously. I’d show them. I’d show them all.

  I really couldn’t see anything any more. I didn’t need to see. Thick, black rage filled me as I hammered away on this guy I hardly knew.

  He wrapped his hands around my throa
t to choke me out and get me off of him, but I wasn’t having it. I grabbed his head and dug my thumbs into his eyes. Screaming, he clawed at my hands, trying to stop me from blinding him. I gave one more good shove on his eyelids and went back to punching him.

  Feverish anger pulsed inside me like a massive second heartbeat. All these men treated me like I was small, like I was nothing.

  I’ll show them. No man will ever try to touch me or talk down to me again.

  They all thought they could mark me as territory, put me in my place, make me nothing more than a bitch they could use. It was time to give them the same treatment.

  I grabbed a fistful of his hair and lunged for his throat. I bit into him with nothing but my dull human teeth, but I didn’t hold back. I clamped down on him like I’d chew through his spine. He flailed at my head and face, but I just dug into his skin deeper until something miraculous happened.

  The golden-eyed beast inside him fucking whimpered. It submitted. To me.

  Pulling away, I spit his blood onto the bricks. Lykos swung at me, his fist glancing off my shoulder. Evidently his human side still wanted to fight, even if his wolf knew who was boss.

  I wrapped my hands around his throat, digging my nails into the bite I had made. I snarled, “Submit or die.”

  I felt rabid. It was all I could do to string words together. The wolf was closer to the surface than she’d ever been. It terrified me--and exhilarated me too. So much wild fury and raw power at my fingertips.

  Lykos spluttered, “Bitch.”

  I throttled him and lifted up his head enough to smack his skull on the bricks. “Submit or die. Don’t fucking waste another second of my time.”

  His eyes were wild, looking for a way out, but I had him. I could see the cowered wolf in his eyes. His face was a bloody pulp, his eyes tender and bloodshot, and his neck streamed blood from my bite. He was at my mercy, even if he refused to admit it.

  “Fine.” My voice crackled with ice. “Have it your way.”

  I planted a palm on his forehead, forcing his head back as I dived in to rip at his throat with my teeth.

  Dr. Aspen shouted, “Stop!”

  Ignoring him, I clamped down harder on Lykos’ neck. I knew he was ordering me, but I didn’t care. No man here could tell me what to do. No man is my alpha.

  I ripped into Lykos’s neck, intending to kill him. He would have done the same to me. He was a threat. Every man here would kill me in a heartbeat. It was time that I eliminated him.

  12

  Hands pulled at me, jerking me away from my prey. They pinned me to the ground.

  My wolf ripped and thrashed inside me, much stronger and way more painful than ever before. She wanted out, and she wanted her kill. I struggled beneath the men pinning me as Dr. Aspen helped Lykos sit up. Two more men came and helped Lykos from the ground and slung him between them as he stumbled along into the building.

  The overwhelming rage started to dissipate like a fog. What had I done? Who was I?

  I’d lost my everloving mind. I’d tried to kill that man. I would have killed him. Gleefully. Even now, I felt a lingering regret that they’d stopped me before I could finish him off.

  What’s wrong with me?

  Somebody roared and doors slammed. In a few seconds, my number one fan stomped down onto the Brick’s level. Jorak demanded, “Where is she?” When he saw me pinned on the ground, he barked out, “Get her up.”

  They immediately complied, lifting me up by my arms, making me wince from the damaged ribs.

  “Aspen, what happened?” His tone was steady, but the wolf behind his eyes gave him away. He was livid.

  Dr. Aspen shrugged. “They were sparring.”

  Jorak leveled those glowing eyes on me. “Collins?”

  The guy on my right began to speak. “The bitch wouldn’t follow orders. She and Lykos sparred, but she still didn’t follow orders, so Dr. Aspen ordered him to kill her. When she had him pinned and was about to kill him, he ordered her to stop, but she disobeyed and struck to kill.”

  Total bullshit. “I fought for my life, exactly as Dr. Aspen told me to do!”

  Jorak’s eyes fell back on my face with an underlying smirk. “Do you know what we do to wolves that don’t follow orders?”

  “Headmaster Jorak, she’s still learning our customs—” Dr. Aspen began to speak up, but one scathing look from Jorak cut him off.

  “Rules are rules, Aspen. I’ll speak with you later. As for you, little girl, we whip wolves that don’t follow orders. Ten lashings for every order disobeyed. Collins, what’s the math?”

  My insides went cold. Whippings? Like what the fuck was this, the Middle Ages?

  Collins smirked down at me. “Forty, Alpha.”

  Dr. Aspen stepped forward between me and Jorak. “No, she won’t survive it! I told her to fight for her life.”

  “She broke the rules. That's the punishment,” Jorak replied coldly. “If she dies, she dies. She needs to learn her place. Must I remind you of yours?”

  A growl ripped from Dr. Aspen’s throat as he stared down Jorak. “Forty lashes is absurd. You’ve never whipped another wolf more than twenty for greater offenses.”

  “Hmm, you’re right. While we’re breaking records, let’s shoot for fifty. Get out of my way, Aspen, or I’ll whip her until she dies.” Jorak’s face distorted, his chin elongating. His voice a snarl. His skin rippled, and it finally dawned on me. Jorak was seconds away from shifting into his wolf.

  Terror crawled through me, mixed with the kind of curiosity that makes bypassers look at horrible car wrecks. I’d never seen someone shift before. But I had a feeling if Jorak’s wolf came out of him, that I’d be his next meal.

  With one more glance over at me, Dr. Aspen relented and stepped back, but his eyes flashed. I didn’t know him well, but I could see the wolf twisting and pacing inside him. He was an alpha too, right? So why did he back down from Jorak? Why didn’t he fight him for command of the pack and this school?

  “Collins, fetch my whip.”

  “Yes, Alpha.” He released me and took off for the house.

  “Nyx, round up campus.”

  Nyx, who had been standing beside a few of the other men that had trickled down from the stands, nodded once, still staring at me. “Yes, Alpha.”

  “Terif, secure her.”

  The man on my right shifted behind me, locking both of my arms behind my back. “Yes, Alpha.”

  Pushing my arms up higher until I winced on my tiptoes, he pushed me toward the center of the Brick. Another man stepped onto the area carrying chains and handcuffs. He lifted a panel in the center of the patio that I hadn’t even noticed and secured the chains inside.

  “At least buy me dinner first, fellas.” My quip was met with a foot to the ribs, making me yelp. Wincing, I spat out blood. Not good. Had a rib punctured a lung? I couldn’t seem to get a deep breath, but maybe that was just rising panic.

  “Mind your place, bitch.” Terif snapped the cuffs around my wrists and shoved me down, while the other guy shortened the chains, forcing me to my knees.

  Jorak came over to inspect the chains. Then I felt the cold bite of a metal knife trace over my neck. A shiver ran down my spine. Fabric tore beneath the blade as he ran it down my spine. My shirt fell away, leaving me in nothing but my sports bra. The air on my back made me shiver again, and my ribs ached and throbbed.

  I could feel them all looking at me. Their eyes on the vulnerable skin of my back. My belly. At least my breasts were covered. But it was still humiliating.

  A few minutes passed. I heard footsteps as more men gathered to watch my punishment. My knees ached from the hard bricks. Collins came back with a monstrous-looking whip. The arena was ominously silent.

  Trailing the leather strap over the bricks, Jorak stood over me, waiting for the last few stragglers. He snapped the whip a bit harder on the ground, making me jump. Someone snickered. I wished I knew who it was. I’d fucking kill him.

  My stomach twisted and l
urched with dread. I’d never been whipped before, but what average person could say they had? Dr. Aspen thought this could kill me. Part of me wanted to hurry up and get it over with, but the smarter part of me was petrified of what was coming.

  Finally, Jorak cleared his throat. “I’ve gathered you here to witness the punishment of an insubordinate wolf. Melanie Lopez failed to comply with the orders of an alpha and is hereby sentenced to fifty lashes. Ten for each order she disobeyed, plus an additional ten for attempting to kill another wolf.”

  A murmur ran through the crowd, but Jorak’s scowl quieted the space down again. “Lopez, I order you to count, out loud, your lashings. Any lashing you do not number will not count towards your punishment. Am I clear?”

  I made myself tip my head up, too proud to cower despite my fear. My eyes fell on Dr. Aspen, standing opposite me at the edge of the area. His wolf seemed to calm the nervous beast pacing inside me. He gave me a soft, solemn nod of encouragement.

  Steeling myself, I answered, “Yes, Alpha.”

  Without warning, Jorak landed the first blow. Leather bit into my skin and I couldn’t hold back a yelp. Fire exploded on my back. It felt like he’d stripped off a narrow line of my skin, leaving the meat of muscle raw and exposed.

  Count. I had to count. “One.”

  My voice sounded broken and strained. Fuck. There was no way I’d survive fifty lashes. Only forty nine more. A half sob, half strangled laugh escaped my throat. Fuck.

  He brought the whip down again, wrecking me with more pain. “Two.”

  Whip. “Three.”

  Whip. “Four.”

  Whip. “Five.”

  I sobbed and didn’t fucking care who saw. Blood dripped down my back. My head throbbed with each lash. At fifteen, I felt lightheaded and black spots swam in my vision. If I passed out before he reached fifty, would he just whip me until I was dead?

  “Sixteen!” I yanked at the chains again, screaming in pain. Breathe. I couldn’t breathe.