was hard to grip, but not as tricky in my clawed hand as the small knife had been. I lowered the tip to the mat and stepped up to the line of glass, ignoring the jeers for us to start fighting, and the stream of urine that hit the mat, splashing onto my legs. With a precise jerk of my hand, I flicked a large shard of glass towards the fox. He moved exactly as I expected, trying to duck from it, and the next shard impaled him directly under his right eye. He gave a high pitched screech. Again and again, I used my blade to launch the glass. Shards jabbed into his face, and where he tried to protect himself, his hands. Judging the right moment, I flicked a piece into first one eye, then the other. He screamed and dropped the length of heavy chain he’d been given as a weapon. Clawing at his eyes, he yanked out the glass. Blinded by blood, he began flailing his fists, stepping on the remaining slithers of glass, ripping his feet to shreds. He screamed and cried, smearing blood over the mats as he fell against the cage before staggering over more glass, utterly blind.
It took everything in me to remain detached, but there was no room for weakness. I walked around the edge of the mat, prowling behind him. When he had exhausted himself and fallen to his knees, I looked Doherty straight in the eyes and swung at my opponent’s neck. The blade sliced through his flesh, vibrating through my deformed hands and arms as it crunched through his spine. Tensing my muscles, I yanked the sword out. Warm blood shot over me, it’s coppery tang filling my mouth and nose. His corpse fell sideways, his head attached by only a slither of skin and tendons.
“Lose the weapon!” the nearest guard yelled.
I did. This time when the collar burned my skin and I was forced to change back, my clothes were gone. My hair spilled over my shoulders, the ends still blonde. Not willing to cower from those above, I stood with my spine straight and my shoulders back. I tilted my head and glared at the warden, and then Doherty. Doherty lowered his eyes, taking me in, but his eyes remained cold, even when a small satisfied smirk curled his mouth. My wolf snarled, but I merely turned my back on them.
Back in the cage, even Santa Cruz’s lecherous gaze didn’t affect me—because I wasn’t really there. My wolf had yanked my conscience out of her way after I’d questioned whether I should let myself die to save at least one life. She eventually reminded me that all these people would die anyway, whether by my hand or another’s. That my only achievement would be to become a lab rat for the warden and Doherty—and to lose her. My stomach lurched. Her spirit and my life were linked. I could be reborn, but she couldn’t. So I let her killer instincts take over. Otherwise, I wouldn’t survive this bloody nightmare with my mind intact.
I lost count of the amount of fights I had. Even the passage of time escaped me. I limped back to the cage, my adrenaline reserve gone and my whole body shaking. I left a trail of blood behind me from my lacerated feet, my body black and blue and my ribs cracked.
My gut clenched, and I had to stop to lean against the metal cage as I retched up blood, bile and spittle. My throat burned and my eyes watered. Pain assaulted me with each heave, but I wouldn’t crawl for these motherfuckers. My wolf snarled in agreement, urging me to the water fountain. We both needed fluid. I only looked around the cage when I’d drunk my fill, forcing my stomach to accept it.
Santa Cruz stood in front of me. “Looking for your harem buddy?”
His gaze on my blood-soaked body left me utterly cold, and I couldn’t summon the energy to answer.
“He’s fighting. Maybe he’s dead.” He grinned, baring his blood stained teeth.
I lifted my gaze to his, grinding my teeth. I clenched my fists. What would it be like to smash those pearly whites right out of his mouth?
“Damn girl, you get me hard, all covered in blood and guts. Pity I’m going to have to kill you before I can fuck you.”
“Assuming she doesn’t kill you first.” Reed stood right behind Santa Cruz.
With my blood coated fingers, I wiped away