Xander rushed towards Matteo with the force of a raging bull. The smaller male barely got out of the way as Xander's momentum carried him into the crowd on the other side of the clearing, causing some of them to scatter to avoid being hit. He was on his feet and about-faced almost immediately. The rest of the spectators, some of which were in various stages of change, became even more raucous. For those who were interested in the blood sport aspect of a leader battle, this was shaping to be a great fight.
Matteo's speed proved to be his greatest asset against Xander. As Vivian noticed before, his size was a liability against his opponent's bulk. However, he seemed to have planned on that and managed to stay out of reach of Xander's snapping jaws.
He leapt and hopped, often twisting in mid-air to keep his back from being exposed to Xander. He dodged and parried, darting in and out, landing a well-place bite to Xander's side.
Frustrated, Xander roared and the crowd grew even louder. As Matteo danced away from Xander, he failed to notice Cato, who had changed into his wolf form, slink in behind him, ready to pounce.
"No!" Vivian cried, her voice mingling with the cry of someone else. She glanced across the clearing to see a horror-stricken Sylvie.
However, Vivian was not the only one to see the bout of foul play. Before the word was even out of her mouth, Gabriel had changed partway and was roughly dragging Cato back by the scruff of his neck.
"Fair fight!" Gabriel growled.
Unfortunately, it was enough of a distraction. Matteo's attention was broken and in that brief instant, Xander launched himself into his opponent's leg. His jaws met flesh and he instantly twisted the leg back and out. There was a sickening crunch that mingled with Matteo's howl of pain. His back leg being yanked out from underneath him, Matteo lost his balance and tumbled forward onto his chest. Xander dragged him backwards through the dirt by his broken leg as Matteo struggled helplessly, flailing from side to side as he tried vainly to regain his footing.
The look on Xander's face was one of ferocious malice. His eyes glowed red and had a crazed look to them. With an awful roar, he swung Matteo like a hammer thrower. The smaller male flew through the air across the clearing and hit a tree. He tumbled the length of the tree to the ground and immediately rolled to his feet, his broken leg dangling awkwardly.
Xander advanced, seeming victorious. Matteo was motionless for a moment before feinting left and going right. His speed carried him out of danger moment to moment but Xander kept coming. Desperate, Matteo's left front paw caught a small rock in the sandy dirt. A quick flick and he sent the projectile with a small cloud of dust back at his opponent. The rock struck him in the cheek, just below his eye, making a dull thunk as it collided with his cheekbone. The dust in his face caused him to stop his advance, shaking his head furiously to clear his eyes.
Kyerstin shrieked with outrage, as boos were heard from around the clearing at Matteo's action. Vivian knew they felt it was a cheap shot but in all honestly, wasn't having one of your cronies shanghai your opponent from behind a cheap shot, too?
Matteo launched himself, slightly off his mark due to his mangled leg. But his aim was still true enough. He fastened onto the side of Xander's ruff, twisting as he fell to drag the larger male down. Xander staggered to one side, not down completely, but Matteo was faster and managed to straddle his opponent. He now had the upper hand in the battle. Xander's legs scrabbled against the ground but were of no use; Matteo had enough leverage to keep him down. Matteo kept one paw pressed against Xander's windpipe, choking the oxygen out little by little, the other paw on his cheek, forcing his head to the dirt. Xander's eyes flashed angrily up at his opponent, furious at his helpless position.
Matteo leaned close to Xander's head, his jaw readjusting slightly to accommodate speech. He spoke into his ear but loudly enough for those watching to hear every word.
"Stand down!" he said, his voice one of deadly calm.
"Never!" Xander roared, lifting his head a few inches off the ground. "I will never yield to you."
"There is no need for a death tonight!" Matteo shot back, slamming Xander's head back into the ground with both paws. "We are a family."
"We are NOT a family. I will never live under you," Xander declared but did not try to escape again. He still bared his teeth but no longer growled.
"Then leave."
Matteo stared into Xander's eyes. No one seemed to breathe as Matteo slowly eased off the other wolf. Matteo backed up, never taking his eyes of the defeated male. Xander gathered his legs up under him and rose slowly. He faced Matteo and growled low in his throat, his appearance even more gruesome as it transformed partway back in order to speak.
"I would rather leave than stay here with all of you fools."
He turned stiffly and stalked out of the clearing. Kyerstin immediately broke away from the crowd and followed him, carrying his abandoned clothes pressed against her chest. But Matteo was not yet finished.
"Take your dissenters with you; they are your responsibility now. I will no longer provide refuge for those who harbor ill will towards their own pack members. Anyone else who feels the same as Xander, leave now!"
Xander turned, concealing all but a hint of shock at Matteo's tone.
Indecision filled the air as pack members, stunned by what had just happened, tried to wrap their minds around the ultimatum and make a decision. The battle lines were drawn; it was time to pick sides. Shuffling and nervous moving ensued as several of Xander's "followers" hesitated before breaking rank to go with him. Darius and Lysander pushed others out of the way to flank their fallen leader. Cato, who had before been so eager to cheat for Xander, now paused, glancing nervously between Matteo and the rest of the pack and Xander's retreating form. Xander turned and saw that Cato had not followed.
"Cato!" he snapped and the wayward male jumped and skittered into his place. Still in his wolf form, his tail was tucked so far between his legs, it pressed against the underside of his belly, clearly embarrassed.
Xander led a small subset of main group out of the clearing, the beginnings of his own pack. As he passed her, his eyes met and held Ophelia's. She stared back at him, unblinking, before she turned her head away from him with an affronted sniff. She would not join him. Despite all her gusto, all her supposed adoration and admiration, she would stay with the pack. Safety was no longer with him. The social hierarchy had shifted and now safety with the pack; she would not follow him. Disgusted by her unfaithfulness but unperturbed, Xander continued past her without a word. The rest filed past her, ignoring the traitor from their midst.
Xander saw his sister standing at the very edge of the crowd. As he passed her, he growled viciously and snapped his powerful jaws at her bare hand, his razor-sharp teeth grazing the skin.
Sylvie didn't flinch nor did she meet his eyes. Her emerald gaze was fixated on Matteo, who remained motionless in the center of the clearing, flanks heaving as he watched the departure of his opponent.
She withstood the poisoned looks of her former pack members as they moved past her. Kyerstin's face was contorted into one of utmost revulsion but she said nothing as she passed.
After all trace of Xander had left he clearing, Sylvie continued to look at Matteo. He faced her in his fur, the look of restrained pain on his face serving as his punishment to her for her disobedience. His eyes were no longer red with rage nor did they glow the yellow-green of his wolf form. Instead, they were the piercing sapphire blue of his human form. His human eyes sought hers, conveying the pain of what transpired on this night.
Sylvie opened her mouth as if to speak, the barest hint of a whimper staring in her throat. If Vivian had not heard it with her own ears, she wouldn't have believed that sound came from Sylvie; it was the first remotely loup-garou action she had displayed. She moved every so slightly, almost like she was taking a step towards him. But Matteo abruptly broke eye contact and turned his tail towards her. He limped heavily out of the clearing as the rest of his pack parted like the Red Sea, silent as the moon above. He began to exchange his fur for skin, bit by bit: fur receded, limbs shrank, spine straightened, until a man, not a wolf, had reached the edge of the trees. His limp was more pronounced now that he stood on two legs. He walked slowly into the shadows without a backwards glance, his frame erect and regal. But there was no pleasure in his posture, no indication that he was the victor. Instead, he looked like a man who had lost everything.
But Vivian's heart clenched sympathetically at the sight of the forlorn female. She recognized that look of unadulterated anguish - she herself had worn that look once before. Sylvie stared after Matteo, a long-suffering ache gathering in her chest. A suffocating sob rose in her throat.
The pack filed past her silently. No one looked at her as they headed for home. Instead, they moved around her like a river parting around a rock. Sylvie sank to the ground on her knees as the last of her pack moved past. Her face was hidden in her hands as she rocked forward, her forehead touching the dirt. Her chocolate hair spilled silkily over her shoulders and lay motionless on the ground, a limp curtain concealing her from the moon. She sobbed silently, her shuddering shoulders the only indication of the utter despair that wracked her body.
Gabriel put his hand on Vivian's shoulder.
"We should leave," he murmured against her hair. Vivian turned her head to see his face but his expression was unreadable. His ice-blue eyes revealed he neither condoned nor condemned what had just transpired. He merely knew that they did not belong there.
Vivian nodded ever so slightly, a lump mysteriously lodged in her throat. She couldn't bear to look at Sylvie, broken on the ground, but she couldn't look away.
Gabriel took her home. They were silent the entire way. He walked her up to the porch and they stood facing each other in front of her front door. It would have been delightfully awkward, like an adolescent couple on their first date, if they hadn't been so somber. Vivian stepped closer to Gabriel, closing the gap between them. She put her hand on his chest to steady herself as she reached up to kiss him goodnight. His arms shot out and wrapped around her, crushing her against his body as he kissed her fiercely. It was abrupt and rough and unpredicted. He deluged her senses with a frantic desperation, filled her with himself completely. Before Vivian could really comprehend it, Gabriel abruptly broke the kiss and was pulling back. Desire still glittered in his icy-blue eyes but his face was etched in seriousness. He his head, resting his forehead against hers, his eyes closed. Both were panting slightly from the intensity of the kiss, their breaths mingling.
"I love you," he said in a low voice.
Vivian's arms wound up around his neck and she threaded her fingers into his thick hair."I know you do," she whispered, lifting her head to place her lips at his temple.
They held each other in that embrace for a while before Gabriel kissed her once more, this time tenderly and left. After he had left, Vivian stood leaning her back against the front door, hugging her arms around herself. She knew what Gabriel had been thinking; Sylvie's ambiguity concerning her relationship with Matteo had caused a schism within their own family. Though he needn't have worried about it, Gabriel was ensuring the same would not happen to them.
That night, when as Vivian was crawling into bed, she heard a plaintive howl tear into the night. It was so mournful, it seemed it could shatter the hardest of hearts. Vivian own heart felt as if it were breaking into a million little pieces and she blinked her eyes quickly to fend off the prickle of tears. It was a foreign voice, one she had not heard before, but Vivian knew who it was all the same. It was unfamiliar but unmistakable.