The Arena Wars

The Arena Wars

  © 2012 by Samantha Hoffman.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permissions of the author.

  Chapter One

  The dim moonlight illuminating the forest was just bright enough for me to see clearly in. My movements were graceful and never faltered. Each foot was placed carefully one in front of the other, and not a single pebble underneath was disturbed. The slightest sound or vibrations would scare away my prey.

  I padded forward slowly and steadily on my massive paws, grinding my nails into the soft ground of the forest as I prepared my attack. A slight sound made my ears twitch back and forth, and the deer looked up, scanning the clearing that he was nestled so securely in.

  The deer, a large male, looked back down and started to graze again. Slowly I prowled forward, crouched down low for the attack. The taught muscles of my leg bunched up, and the deer looked around at me too late. Springing forward, I darted through the bushes after him, a low snarl tearing from my throat. The deer sprinted off into the trees, but was too slow to stop its fate.

  I landed on its back, which snapped under my massive weight, bringing the frightened deer down in one swift fluid movement. I was careful to avoid the antlers as I dropped to the ground and began to feast. If I was normal, the thought of eating raw deer meat would have been a horrifying one, but I’d been doing it for almost a year, and it came naturally to me now.

  Still, I felt a small twinge of regret as I thought of the fear coursing through it’s mind as the last thing it saw in this life was a massive silvery gray wolf lunging in for the kill.

  Two more wolves slowly appeared from the foggy tree line. The first of them was a large black wolf with a star-shaped patch of fur on its chest. It was a little larger than a normal wolf and stood up to a man’s hip. He looked at me with piercing blue-gray eyes that, even though a somewhat cold color, showed the warmth and affection he had for me; his daughter.

  The smaller of the two pranced over, yipping happily. I snapped at her and she recoiled before settling down. She was smaller than me and was as black as the male. Her eyes were the same color, but different, for they held absolutely no warmth and affection.

  “Ilene, you need to behave and calm down,” the larger black wolf said forcefully.

  She nodded once and, sitting down in the clearing across from me, began to daintily nibble on the deer’s leg. Ray, the larger wolf, walked over and snatched half of the carcass. He dragged it over to the far side of the clearing and began to eat.

  By the time they were both done I’d already finished eating, and had started idly gnawing on a leg bone. Suddenly, I had the feeling that I was being watched. I lifted my head and sniffed the area, searching for anyone or anything that didn’t belong. There was something, but it smelled mostly like the woods; like dirt and fresh pine needles.

  Maybe I was imagining things.

  And maybe there was someone out there, watching three abnormal wolves eat a deer together.

  Ray barked once when he was done, and Ilene and I both got up and followed him out of the clearing. To be honest, I’d be glad to leave the forest behind me.

  Together the three of us ran through the woods, not caring if anyone saw us. We were proud. We were fierce. We were invincible and incredible. Nothing in this entire forest could ever stop us.

  Ray brought us near our closest neighbor’s farm, and I couldn’t help the slight drooling that happened whenever I saw farm animals. They were so weak, stupid, and cowardly; the smell of their fear excited the three of us, and made controlling ourselves harder.

  I was tempted to jump over the wooden fence and tear into the hind flank of the nearest sheep. But, I’d gotten used to the smell of these stupid animals over the last eight months, and I’d just eaten. Now I was able to control my hunger for these animals that flocked together when terrified. Even though it would be easy to tear into them, I didn’t, because it would put my family in danger.

  For a slight moment though, my iron-will wavered, and I walked up to the fence again. my snout touched the hard wood and I sneezed as their fear hit me.

  The larger black wolf with the white star on his chest was keeping a close eye on Ilene. She was visibly shaking; this was her first trip to the farm, and she was having a hard time controlling herself. It wouldn’t be long before she broke free from his control and hopped the fence. I just hoped we would be able to stop her before she did any serious damage.

  The last thing we needed right now was the farmer and his shotgun coming out to investigate any disturbances. I’d never been shot and I was sort of hoping to keep it that way. Even though it would heal, it would be best to just avoid any injury possible.

  I turned to follow them back into the forest, away from the farm. I sidled up next to the larger wolf and rubbed my head affectionately against his shoulder. He licked the side of my face before nudging me away. Leave it to Ray to show his love even in wolf form.

  It was a few minutes later before I finally realized that Ilene wasn’t with us anymore. She’d found a way to sneak off without being noticed.

  I stopped in my tracks, spinning wildly in place to search for her. “She’s gone.”

  The sound of screaming sheep broke through the night air, freezing both of us to the spot. Then we were both off, running back to the farm as fast as we could, hoping we could get to her before the farmer and his gun.

  When I reached the farm, I didn’t hesitate, but leapt straight up over the fence and into the crowd of fleeing sheep. I forced them all aside, trying to reach Ilene. She was crouched down low, gnawing on the throat of a struggling sheep beneath her. Her sharp teeth expertly ripped flesh from the sheep’s carcass.

  I tried to ignore the puddle of red liquid pooled around her. When I approached, she growled threateningly at me. Her eyes blazed as if on fire, and for a minute, I was almost scared.

  She was no longer my sister. Instead, she was a primal beast, one that would rip out my throat if I got too close. But I had to take that chance; we didn’t have the time for me to be gentle. If we didn’t get out of here now, we’d be in serious trouble.

  I circled her and lunged in, nipping at her hind leg. She turned and snarled at me, baring all of her teeth in a loud warning. The front door of the farmhouse burst open and the farmer stood there in his pajama bottoms. His shotgun was raised to his shoulder.

  The first shot went high and the second wide. I didn’t want to give him a third chance to hit us. I nudged her to her feet, and she finally came to her senses and realized the danger she was in. The two of us ran, and I jumped the fence right behind her, just as the fence post next to my head exploded into splinters. The sound of the shot nearly blasted out my eardrum.

  The three of us ran into the forest and hid in the thick undergrowth, hoping that the farmer wouldn’t be brave enough to come after us. The three of us panted quietly, out of breath from such a quick getaway.

  When he was sure that we were finally alone, Ray turned to Ilene and snarled at her. “What were you thinking? You could have gotten us all killed!”

  She whimpered pitifully and bowed her head. She tucked her tail between her legs and lowered herself to the ground in submission. “I’m sorry, Dad. I couldn’t help myself.”

  His lips pulled back, baring all of his sharp, dangerous fangs. He was angrier than I’d seen him in a long time. “You just fed! There was absolutely no excuse for you to go after the farmer’s flock. You did it for your own selfish reasons. You just wanted to see if you could do it.”

  If she was smart, she would have just kept her mouth shut, but she didn’t. “Alanna go
t to hunt, why can’t I?”

  He growled warningly. “Alanna is older and more experienced than you. And she hunted a wild animal, not somebody’s livestock. Besides, she would have never even considered putting us in danger to satisfy her pride or her curiosity!”

  Ilene looked away, refusing to answer him. I knew that he was right. Ilene had a habit of doing what she wanted when she wanted, without thinking about how it would affect her in the long run, or others for that matter. It was a bad habit that we were trying to break her of.

  With one last disgusted glance at her, Ray turned and started towards home. We followed, and I noticed that Ilene kept her head down the entire way, and I was glad that she wasn’t planning to make anymore trouble for the night. I wasn’t sure how much more of her sullen spoiled attitude I could take.

  Finally, our home came into view. It was a small cabin in the middle of the forest, built away from the most prying of eyes. The siding was a soft blue color that matched the garage, and the shutters were an off-white color. A long winding driveway curved through the trees, reaching the road almost a mile away.

  The cabin had two small bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, Ray’s study, and a small living room. The small front porch that wrapped around the side of the house had been built after Ray bought it, and there was a small porch swing in the corner. This was the house that I’d been born in, and it was my favorite place in the whole world. Really, no other place compared.

  He’d made some major renovations, and now it was a lot nicer than it looked.

  I jumped through the open bedroom window, and Ilene followed closely behind. When I landed, I shifted back until I wasn’t a proud silver gray wolf anymore. Instead, it was as a young woman with shoulder-length dark auburn hair and brilliant blue eyes that were framed by thick black lashes that made Ilene jealous.

  As always, I was naked when I changed back. Ilene was busy changing under the covers, so I walked over to my dresser and slipped into a pair of sweats and an oversized t-shirt. As I dressed, I looked around our small bedroom.

  The four walls were mostly bare but for a few old pictures Ilene had colored with our mom, and they were painted an ugly yellow color that looked like fresh mustard. Little pictures of ocean creatures were painted near the bottom of the walls on Ilene’s side of the room. She’d gone through a creative phase and did it without Ray’s approval. He’d always threatened to paint over it, but he never did.

  Two small twin-sized beds were pressed up against the opposite walls. Ilene’s comforter was bright pink with flowers, and mine was solid and light orange. A dresser with four drawers stood in the corner of the room. It was white with green vines painted across the surface.

  More of Ilene’s handiwork.

  She didn’t use the dresser. Instead, she chose to hang up all of her clothes in our small closet.

  I walked over to my bed, hating that I was still sharing a room with my younger sister. Ray offered to buy a larger house, or build another room onto the place we lived now, but Ilene wouldn’t go for it. For some reason, she liked having someone in the room with her.

  She probably missed mom.

  Ilene poked her head out and looked at me.

  “Be honest Alanna, how much trouble am I in?”

  I glared at her, and she shrank back. “Considering you almost got us all killed, I would say a lot.”

  “Look, I said I’m sorry, alright?”

  “Did you mean it though?” I asked.

  Lately I’d been getting the impression that she was just telling us what we wanted to hear.

  “Of course I meant it,” she scoffed, emerging from under her covers. “Why wouldn’t I?” She asked, not looking at me.

  I didn’t answer.

  “Well, other than the incident with the farmer, that was a lot of fun. You definitely have to take me again.”

  “Not if you can’t learn to control yourself. You have no idea how close you came to being killed tonight, Ilene. That farmer would have shot you dead and wouldn’t have even cared.”

  She sighed heavily, like she was annoyed with our conversation. “Whatever,” she said, ducking back under her covers.

  Ilene was fourteen years old and she was a pain in the butt. She was the spitting image of our father, whereas I took after our mother completely. I got the feeling that she was always a little jealous of that. Everyone always used to say how strange it was that she looked just like dad, but was mom’s favorite, and how I looked just like mom, but was Ray’s favorite.

  Ilene’s hair was the same strawberry blonde as Ray’s, and it was waist-length, usually kept into a thick braid down her back. She had a strong jaw and straight nose, also from Ray. But her full lips and slender frame came from our mother, which was different from my athletic build. Her eyes were a shade darker than Ray’s, and she was a hand’s width shorter than me.

  Exhausted, I crawled under the covers and turned to face Ilene. She looked at me from across the room. She’d shifted for the first time not even two months ago, and she still had a lot to learn. It was probably not fair to be so harsh on her. After all, I’d had almost nine months to get used to the changes that came with this life, and I still had problems sometimes.

  “Goodnight Alanna,” she said, surprising me.

  I nodded once. “Goodnight Ilene. Try and get some sleep; you have school in the morning.”

  She frowned. “If I’m going to be fourteen for the rest of my life, do I have to keep going to school forever?”

  “Yep,” I nodded, hiding a smile.

  “No way!” She immediately exploded. “I won’t do it. You can’t make me. I’ll protest, or run away, or–” By this point I was snickering to myself, and Ilene stopped to glare at me. “That wasn’t funny.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, it was.”

  She threw a pillow at my head that missed by at least ten whole inches, and she continued to glare at me. She settled back against her bed, staring silently at the ceiling. She didn’t speak, and for a minute I was afraid that I’d actually made her angry.

  Finally, she spoke. “Alanna, what do you think it will be like…living forever?”

  I thought for a moment before answering. Deep down, I had a feeling that this conversation was going to be an important one. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a satisfactory answer that I could give. At least, not one that I could think of at this exact moment.

  “I don’t know, Ilene. I think it’s a little different for everyone.”

  She frowned again. “What do you mean?”

  “Forever is a long time to live, Ilene. There are going to be so many chances to do something bad, something you’ll have to carry with you for a very long time. If you do something bad, I think forever is a long time to live with the guilt of what you’ve done.”

  “So you just don’t do something bad,” she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world to understand.

  “It’s not that easy. Sometimes things aren’t black and white. There’s almost always a shade of gray. You can do the right thing for the wrong reasons, and the other way around.”

  She scrunched up her face, deep in thought, and I realized then how truly young she was. She was fourteen years old, and had just a few weeks ago found out that she was going to live forever. It was a lot to take in and it could scare even the bravest person.

  Immortality wasn’t all that it had cracked up to be.

  Ilene was special.

  Ilene was a werewolf.

  The change from human to werewolf happened at different times for everyone. A human had to be born with the werewolf gene, which surfaced when they were exposed to a vampire. A vampire’s burning venom would begin the transformation from human to werewolf.

  Most werewolves like Ilene, Ray, and I had been attacked by a vampire at one point in time; that’s why we changed at different ages. Ray had been attacked at the age of twenty-nine. I’d been nearly twenty, so he and I could at least blend in with a mostly adult community.

&nbsp
; Ilene would be a child for the rest of her life. She would never be able to stay in one place for long without arousing suspicion. She would never be able to drive a car, or go to college, or have a career that she loved. She would probably end up alone except for her family.

  The only men that she would ever attract her entire long life were the wrong ones. The ones that weren’t worth living. Some people enjoyed pretending to love a child that would never grow up.

  At least she was alive though.

  When we were bitten, instead of turning into a vampire, our bodies fought off the infection the venom brought on. Our temperatures rose up to a hundred degrees, where it stayed, to help burn out the venom in our system. The two different species couldn’t coincide in one body and the dormant werewolf side won the battle.

  Unfortunately, our bodies didn’t always win the fight.

  Many werewolves died after a vampire attack. It was a very common and sad tragedy. I was glad that both Ilene and I had survived our attacks, even if she was having an attitude problem right now.

  I rolled over, trying to find a comfortable position to fall asleep. Ilene lay in the center of her bed, curled up in a tight ball, looking almost like a small child. She looked almost angelic, but I knew that wasn’t the case.

  Even though she’d only been a werewolf for a few weeks, she was faster, stronger, and more graceful than any normal human being. Even grown men wouldn’t be able to match her speed or strength. It was one of the many perks of being a werewolf.

  I sighed; it was always hard for me to sleep during the full moon. Something about its beauty seemed to entrance me. Now it filtered down through my curtains, casting a bright circle of light across my bed. I fidgeted all night, finally getting to sleep around four in the morning.