Battle of Fate 64

It was time for the fourth game and we all gathered at the stadium, I got a feeling of familiarity. We had done this before,
and we had done well. We sat in our usual seats and waited for the clock to turn nine. On the dot, the speaker switched
on.
“Welcome to the fourth game. Today’s game will be played by all the packs at the same time. It will focus on strength,
agility and tactical planning. Everyone will have a flag tied to your waist with a symbol for your pack on it. Your objective
is to keep your own flags and steal as many from the other packs as possible. Once you lose your flag, you can no longer
participate and have to join the onlookers. All the flags you have gathered will be given over if your flag is lost. Using
teeth or claws is forbidden. It is allowed to shift, but if you lose your flag while doing so, you will be out. The game will be
ongoing for two hours. We will now take you to the area in which it will take place. If you stray outside the designated
area, you will be disqualified. You have the time while we transport you to work out your tactics and ten minutes when
you get there to secure the flags. When the ten minutes are up, the game will begin.” We looked at each other.
‘This will be chaos,’ Sam mind linked us as we made our way to the waiting bus.
‘Any idea on how we will handle it?’ Finlay asked.
‘We can go on the offensive and try to catch a lot of flags, or we can go defensive and make sure no one gets ours,’ Jake
said.
‘I don’t think we can stay defensive, we won’t collect too many flags that way,’ I mused. ‘Ramses and I are quick and
stealthy. What if the three of you find a good place to stay defensive, keep an eye out for easy targets and make sure we
at least have your flags. Ramses and I will go on the defensive and collect flags. We can then pass them on to you so we
don’t risk losing them,’ I suggested.
‘I don’t know,’ Finlay linked.
‘It’s a brilliant plan,’ Jake said, oblivious to why Finlay was hesitant.
‘I agree with Jake,’ Sam said with a grin.
‘If we do, you can’t shift with the colour of your wolf,’ Ramses said.
‘That’s a good idea!’ I told him.
‘I know, red stands out like a sore thumb. They will spot you straight away,’ he agreed.
‘And that is what we want,’ I told him.
‘What?’ all the others linked as one.
‘I will shift and use my colour to put the focus on me. Ramses will sneak up and get their flags. Easy-peasy,’ I explained.
‘It sounds too easy,’ Ramses said.
‘Agreed,’ Finlay said.
‘They said we can’t use our teeth or claws, which means changing would be fairly useless. But for me it will be very
useful,’ I told them.
‘I think it’s worth a try,’ Sam decided. Everyone but Finlay nodded.
‘No unnecessary risks?’ he asked me in a private mindlink.
‘Promise,’ I told him.
‘Sounds like we have a plan,’ he told all of us. When we arrived in the area, once again marked out by scent, we received
our flags. We had a deep blue flag with a silhouette of a mountain in white printed on it. I stripped and shifted. Finlay
knelt by my side and tied the flag around my waist. As I was planning to stay shifted through the game, I didn’t need to worry about the rope fitting my human shape as well. We made sure it was a good fit for my wolf. I got quite a few stares
from the packs closest to us. My unusual fur drew attention.
‘This will work,’ Jake told us with confidence.
‘Remember, keep your eyes open, look out for your teammates and go for the easy targets first. Once we have a good
amount of flags, we will see if we will adapt to a more defensive play,’ Sam mindlinked us all. We nodded. I was excited,
this would be fun. The signal sounded and Ramses and I took off in one direction, the others three in another direction.
‘Five men pack to our left,’ Ramses said. I looked in the direction and my human part grinned. There was a pack of huge wolves, looking smug in their human form.
‘Let’s do it,’ I agreed.
‘Bring them to the patch of trees over there,’ Ramses said, looking to the right. I looked in the same direction.
‘I’ll meet you there,’ I told him. We split and I headed for the five men standing in a tight clump. I made sure I got their
attention by running in close to them, circling around them and then giving them some space.
“Hey!” one of them exclaimed.
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“Get it!” their Alpha called out. They all set off for me. I happily ran off. They weren’t fast or agile. Their huge size and all
their muscles slowed them down. I made sure to run at a speed that just kept me out of their reach. Not too fast so they would lose interest. I ran in between the trees. There was a soft thump. I would have missed it if I wasn’t listening for it. I
looked over my shoulder and saw Ramses. He had already snatched two flags and was doing quick work of the remaining
three. The five men hadn’t even realised their flags were gone when I stopped running. Ramses cleared his throat and as
they spun around he showed them the flags in his hand.
“How the fuck did you do that?” their Alpha asked.
“Beta Amie is an excellent distraction, and I move quietly,” Ramses said with a grin. “Thank you for the flags. Better luck
in the next game.” I joined him and we ran away together. He made a detour to hand the flags over to Finlay for
safekeeping while I scouted our next prey.
Ramses and I worked well together. We started with easy picks and could hand over several flags to Finlay in a short time.
After the first half hour, most of the easy picks had been picked off and things got harder. The participants who were left weren’t as easy to get to chase me. But I could be annoying when I wanted and as we progressed I increased my efforts. I
had spotted our next target and when I headed towards them, I ran past my brother in his human form. He looked
surprised for a second and then he laughed.
“You won’t fool me, little sister,” he shouted after me. My human part grinned. I knew my brother wouldn’t fall for our
trap, he wasn’t my target. Elder must have mindlinked the rest of his pack. James swirled around and looked in my
direction, I could see his jaw drop as he saw my wolf run past them. Wolfless and weak my ass, I thought as I focused on
my target.
The game was almost at its end. Finlay, Sam and Jake had done a good job at being the defensive unit. They had got
some flags as well, but more importantly, they had guarded the flags Ramses and I had gathered.
‘One last target and then we meet up with the others and hold our stance for the rest of the time,’ I told Ramses. He
nodded and we selected a mark. I set off towards the group of three who stood together, backs against each other. I ran
up to them and ran in a circle around them. They annoyingly stood steadfast. I started doing small attacks, not intended
to do anything but to make them annoyed and unsure. It took me a while before I got the result I wanted. One of them
broke away from the others to lunge at me. I let him almost grab my flag before I ran away. I could hear him following
me. He was fast and by far the target I had most problems keeping at a distance. My wolf enjoyed the challenge and
used her agility to weave around obstacles. I was almost at the spot where I knew Ramses was hidden when I felt my
pursuer’s hand on my flank. He tried grabbing my hip, but missed. I would have no issue shaking his hand off as he
could only grip my fur. I manoeuvred right and felt a sharp pain in my hip as his claws sank into me. I yelped in pain and
felt his claws shred through my skin. The moment after, everything happened at once. I heard him curse and withdraw
both his claws and hand. Ramses materialised between us as I spun around. Somewhere on the other end of the area,
Finlay roared. The speaker announced a disqualification due to use of claws. The offender had to turn his, and all the flags
he had collected, over to the Blue Mountain pack. The man looked defeated as he untied his flag and handed it to
Ramses together with a handful of others.
“I’m sorry. I did not mean to hurt you,” he told me, looking around Ramses. I nodded.
“She accepts the apology. She knows she can be annoying,” Ramses told him, I nodded again.
“Yeah, I lost my temper, I haven’t done that in years,’ the man said he then nodded to me and strolled off.
‘Time to end this and join up with the others,’ Ramses said. I was about to agree as there was no way I could move fast
enough with my injury. Even if it was superficial. The horn sounded, signalling the end of the game.
‘I have your clothes,’ Matilda linked me.
‘You get the flags to Finlay, I will meet up with Matilda and shift back,’ I told Ramses. He nodded. Matilda stood ready
with my clothes in one hand and scissors in the other. She cut the rope with my flag off and I shifted back and got
dressed. Finlay came striding towards us.
“Oh my,” Matilda told me when we saw the look on his face. He looked furious. I took a deep breath and put a smile on
my face.
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“Great job,’” I cheerfully said as he got closer.
“Let me see,” he demanded. I was on the verge of asking what he wanted to see, but changed my mind.
“No.”
“No?” he asked.
“I’m not going to strip down and show you my ass in the middle of everyone,” I insisted.
“She’s right. We don’t want others to know the extent of the injuries,” Jake told Finlay. He looked worried.
“I’m fine,” I told them.
“You are injured, that is not fine,” Finlay told me.
“Fair. But it’s a minor injury. Nothing to fuss about. The healer will look at me when we get back,” I told him.
“I can scent your blood.” I sighed.
“Let’s just go back home and it will straighten itself out. How many flags?” I asked. Finlay was just staring at me, so I
turned to look at Sam. He was frowning.
“Ninety seven plus our five,” Sam told me.
“Nice. Good work everyone,” I said. No one said anything.
“Good try,” Matilda told me as we all walked back towards the buses.