The grey wolf was standing in the middle of a narrow field hidden among ash trees surrounding it. Augustus was out of breath, his thick fur standing on end. He took a few deep breaths and waited until his racing heartbeat slowed down a little, then closed his eyes and listened attentively to the sounds of the afternoon forest.
He heard a slight movement coming from his left and jumped out of the way of the attacking wolf just in time. Before the second wolf could dodge, Augustus sprang toward him and knocked him down to the ground. At that moment, another one attacked him from the back, but he quickly regained balance after the collision and charged after the smaller white wolf. After a short wrestle, she was knocked out too.
'That won't do,' Augustus thought, looking around himself. He turned back into a human and helped the two of his packmates to get up.
A few betas and deltas from his pack volunteered to spar with Augustus as part of the preparation for the main fight. Even after continuously losing, they kept enthusiastic about the chance to practice sparring with the alpha – despite it being a popular pass-time entertainment, pack leaders almost never participated, preferring to exercise in private or within close circles. Augustus made an exception today – he wanted to test his limits and needed fresh blood for that.
Betas were the second rank after the alpha in a pack. Most of them were older and more experienced wolves who helped pack leaders with the organization and administration of the pack. They were followed by deltas in the hierarchy – the "middle class" that made up the core of a pack. The newly joined members were given omega rank and would need approval from a beta to progress in the pack ranking.
Currently, there were eight betas and fifty-two deltas under Augustus's leadership, of which seven were present today. They started with one-on-one spars, then proceeded with groups of two or three on one. It did exhaust Augustus, but he constantly felt like it wasn't enough – they weren't quite as persistent, as vicious in their attacks as Lucas would be, but most importantly, no matter how many and how well-hidden they were, he could still sense them.
"Thank all of you for coming," Augustus said when everyone gathered around him after dressing up. "I'm pleased to see so many of you making progress."
Everyone except for him seemed to be in a lifted mood. They didn't see any reason why their leader wouldn't win the alpha brawl – even in groups of three, they struggled to as much as lay a fang on Augustus.
Once they were finished, Augustus headed home – he was awaiting a visit from an old friend who he hoped could shine a light on what happened earlier.
"I'm glad you could make it," he smiled, letting the woman in.
"How could I miss your big, important fight?"
She smiled back and hugged Augustus. He led her into his study where coffee and cake were already served on beige ceramic plates with floral motives. A vase with daisies stood next to them on a coffee table.
"I see that you prepared. Is that a carrot cake?"
"Diary-free," Augustus nodded.
"You know me suspiciously well," she squinted her eyes. They sat down and Augustus poured coffee into two small cups.
Her name was Sophia – they studied together in college and were good friends ever since. Besides that, she was a floral witch.
"Now, tell me what is that bothering you," she poured oat milk into her cup and took a sip.
"Something strange happened today – Lucas showed up in my living room and I couldn't sense his presence there. What do you think it could be?"
"Like, at all? That's weird. It doesn't have anything to do with you being fated mates if that's what you want to know. It would take an experienced spellcaster to hide his presence. Perhaps he knows someone."
"That makes things more complicated," Augustus sighed, taking a piece of cake and putting it on his plate.
***
These two days passed by alarmingly fast. Augustus spent most of them training in the forest, while Lucas seemingly disappeared from all radars. Even his betas didn't know where he was – he just left a few instructions the morning after the mating season closing ceremony and nobody has heard from him again.
Midnight was approaching. Every werewolf in the town was coming to the sparring ground to watch – alpha brawls didn't happen often, especially the ones between leaders of two major packs.
The sparring ground was an enchanted place in the forest with a large open area in the middle, stone tribunes half-circling it, and underground chambers where participants could relax or change. It had a protective spell cast that covered everything within a radius of hundred meters around it. The spell only allowed werewolves to enter the sparring ground and blocked any foreign magic, including artifacts, to prevent contestants from getting help from outside.
Lucas arrived a few minutes prior to the start. His packmates and a few other werewolves cheered when they saw him entering. Augustus was looking at him intensely, hoping to see the protective spell reacting on him, but nothing happened.
Lucas hurried to his chamber and locked the door behind himself. He didn't have much time. He took off his clothes and changed into red ceremonial robes, taking a flask out of his bag before putting it away. This flask contained wolfsbane extract – the flower essence, a few drops of which weakened the werewolf's powers and could be fatal in large amounts. What Lucas had was enough to kill both of them.
He took out a candle, a lighter, a knife, and a small zip bag with short black hair inside. Lucas lit the candle, took the hair out, and muttered an enchantment before burning the hair in the flame. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the next part of the spell, carefully reciting the words in a low voice. The candle went out before it lit up on its own again, the flame getting bigger and changing its color to red. With the last words of the enchantment, Lucas opened his eyes, made a deep cut across his palm, and let the blood drip on the candle, taking the flame out once more.
Now that the spell was sealed, he opened the flask and drank all of the wolfsbane extract.