A minute before midnight, Lucas appeared from the underground chamber on the West side of the sparring ground. He waved to those cheering for him from the tribunes, with a wide, unbothered smile on his face as usual. The last time they saw him on that spot was minutes before he knocked out the previous alpha. It was a chilly November night; a thin layer of snow covered the ground that was soon painted crimson. Not nearly as many spectators were present that time - it was just a brawl between a newbie werewolf no one heard about and an alpha of a minor pack. The word got out, and Lucas became someone all younger wolves talked about overnight. It wasn't long until different rumors started circulating, and it didn't help that his pack was rapidly expanding - sometimes forcefully.
Augustus stood on the opposite side of the field, his stare drilling a hole in Lucas. He knew of Lucas's reputation long before they met - heard of it from no other than Ashley. All the more reasons to get it over with.
The cool light of the waning Moon was disturbed by the warm, bright light coming from lit torches placed on all sides of the sparring ground. Lucas turned into his half-wolf form. His jet black fur reflected the silver light of the Moon and golden blicks of the torch flames. Augustus turned into a large, dark-grey wolf.
They started circling each other, slowly reducing the distance. Both of them kept seemingly calm for a while, maintaining intense eye contact, and the spectators were watching them silently, following every movement with their eyes. The grey wolf stopped and so did Lucas. They stood a few meters away, staring into each other's eyes. Augustus finally let out a low growl and sprinted toward Lucas who jumped out of his way at the last moment.
The grey wolf continued with a series of fierce attacks, his sharp, large fangs barely missing Lucas. The first few shots were targeting his torso and neck but after another dodge Augustus suddenly aimed at Lucas's ankle. The black wolf was quick enough to avoid the direct hit and attempted a counter-attack but the grey one seemed to expect that and jumped at him from the side. Lucas bellowed as the wolf's canines pierced his flank. He grabbed the wolf and tossed him away from himself, tearing the meat apart as he pulled the tightly clenched jaws with force.
Augustus landed on his feet and immediately prepared for the next attack. Lucas was bleeding, blood dripping down his side; yet, he stood tall and didn't seem to bother about that. They both took off at the same time, aiming at each other's throats. The next moment, the black-clawed hand tightened around the grey wolf's neck and swang his body as if he was a little pup, slamming him down to the ground. Augustus switched into the half-wolf form and grabbed Lucas's arm around his neck, kicking the black wolf with his legs and rolling over. He got loose of Lucas's grip and jumped away, dodging the retaliatory blow.
They sprung up on their feet and started circling each other again. All of a sudden, Augustus felt a momentary weakness, slightly shaking. Lucas noticed it immediately but kept his distance instead of attacking first. The grey wolf took a quick moment to gather up for the next move, shaking off instantaneous fatigue. He took a diagonal step back and jumped high in the air the next second, prepared to strike the black wolf with a strong right hook.
Surprisingly, Lucas didn't try to dodge and put his hands up instead, ineffectively shielding himself from the attack. The hard punch came on the left side of his face and he lost balance, almost falling to the ground. Augustus attempted an upper kick right after but Lucas suddenly captured his leg midair and wrestled the grey wolf down. They crashed on the hard sandy surface of the arena with a thud, the black wolf on top. Lucas swang his right arm and his sharp claws left deep cuts on Augustus's chest. Augustus tried to kick him off, but Lucas partially blocked him, and they rolled on the ground, raising dust clouds. No matter how hard he tried, the grey wolf couldn't shake the black one off completely.
A few attempts later, Augustus finally managed to pin Lucas down, but he continued to wrestle, almost breaking free and scratching the grey wolf's left side of the face, missing the eye by a centimeter. Augustus caught his hands, narrowly avoiding another nasty cut, and pressed down on Lucas, biting him on the neck.
The blood burst out of the deep wound, but it was Augustus who was howling. The dark red liquid seemed to burn his mouth and throat; he immediately let go of Lucas who used his last strength to punch the grey wolf one last time and send him flying with a hard kick. Augustus fell to the ground two meters away from Lucas, unable to move, drops of the black wolf's blood dripping down from his mouth.
They were both panting loudly, staring blankly at each other. Lucas was losing a lot of blood from the bites, his wounds didn't seem to heal properly. He heard the hustle around them and saw the judges signaling each other. Once he looked back at Augustus, he saw that the grey wolf passed out. Lucas murmured a short enchantment under his breath, stopping the bleeding, and dove into unconsciousness, following Augustus.
***
Augustus woke up in a dimly lit room that smelled of dried herbs. Though disoriented at first, he quickly realized he was at the private practice of his pack's trusted medical spellcaster - a middle-aged wizard who followed old floral magic practices.
"Feeling better already?"
"Yes," Augustus replied and sat up on the bed and looked at the approaching man. He was back to his human form and no longer wore the ritual robes. Thinking of the ritual, he suddenly remembered the last moments before he lost consciousness.
"It's going to sound strange but was there wolfsbane in my blood?"
"Wolfsbane? No," the wizard looked at Augustus incredulously. "Are you using substances?"
"Substances? Do people use wolfsbane for that?"
"Never heard of werewolves using it but… Well, if you suspect poisoning, it would perhaps explain how you did not sustain any serious injuries," the wizard continued, sitting down next to Augustus's bed and running a scanning spell through his body. "But there was no trace of wolfsbane in your blood."
Augustus did not inquire any further. He was certain Lucas used some kind of trick but could not understand how that would be possible. There were no spellcasters in the arena and he couldn't have avoided the shielding spell to bring in enchanted items. Without enchanted items, he couldn't have taken wolfsbane… unless he could somehow cast magic himself.
'That would be impossible,' Augustus told himself, lost in his thoughts once the wizard finished the examination and left him to rest. 'Werewolves cannot cast magic freely, it is not possible to be both a werewolf and a wizard…"
Werewolves and vampires could not freely control magic as spellcasters could - their powers came from opposite sources. Witches used the so-called life magic that was bound to exterior natural sources such as elements and celestial bodies. Werewolves and vampires, on the other hand, harvested their powers from within their bodies. This was called the dark or death magic before there was peace among magical races, given the often violent reputation of its users. In recent years, those were renamed to unrestricted and restricted magic, and it was widely known that the two could not be practiced simultaneously.
This meant that Lucas could not have taken wolfsbane without a protective spell that would be destroyed by the magic shield once he entered the sparring ground. Augustus could not wrap his head around it but he was convinced it was wolfsbane from Lucas's blood - he would've known the taste and effects of it after so many years in the werewolves community. However, without proof, the council wouldn't take his suspicions into consideration. That left him with two options: let it be or let Lucas believe he could trust him.