Rejection Denied
Run

Aviry

SPLASH!

I jolted awake, spluttering water. It entered my nose and burned down my throat as I tried to sit up.

“Wha—what the hell!” I coughed.

I wiped the water from my face. My eyesight was still blurry from sleep, but I know I’m not somewhere familiar. It was hot, and the air reeked. The ground was stone. The light fixtures above buzzed.

I rapidly blinked my eyes and surveyed the room. The other champions are here, and they were examining their surroundings as well. We were in a small space, with no windows. There are two doors, one on my left and one in front of me.

“RISE AND SHINE LADIES!!” A male animated voice shouted.

I searched for the voice. I looked to my right and spotted a tall, thin male standing above someone. More water splashed, “TIME TO GET STARTED!” He shouted.

“HELP!!” A female screamed from my left.

“Where are we? Where are our alphas?” I focused on the voice and recognized it as the country champion.

“Who are you?” Another woman desperately asked.

The man dismissed the woman and walked away. “Such typical questions and reactions.”

I feel the same way. It’s not going to make our situation better by screaming for help. I can answer those questions myself. Where are we? Does it really make a difference? Where are the alphas? Somewhere we aren’t. Who is he? A dead man.

Clearly, this bastard doesn’t value his life, so the most critical question to me would be…

“What font style do you want on your obituary?” I inquired, sitting against the wall. “It’s an honest question, and I’ll be sure to make it happen.”

“Well, aren’t you a mouthy bitch. I’m not the one locked in a basement, so I’d be careful—”

“Tyler! Are they awake yet, or are you pissing around again!?” A voice barked from outside the door to my left.

Tyler rolled his eyes and threw his hands up. “Yes, I’m coming, Brent!”

“Ah, I see now. You’re just the errand boy. The rankless fuck that dies in every movie.” I yawned loudly and laid my head back. “Where’s the boss asshole? That’s the next scene, right?”

“The boss will be here soon. And if I were you, I’d keep my mouth shut! For now, get your asses up.” CLANK! He dropped the bucket on the ground left through the door in front.

All eight of us were in a room. None of us were chained or hurt, as far as I could see. I closed my eyes and entered my mind space.

“Mia, are you ok,” I asked. She was lying down and breathing lightly.

“I’m so tired, Aviry…” She whispered. She tried to lift her head but failed. “I think they used…”

“I’m sure they used bane to suppress you and the other wolves. It’s ok. Rest up; I’ll get us out of this.” I placed my head on hers and came back to reality.

“Well, welcome back. I’m sure you’re aware of the wolf situation now.” A testy voice said across from me. The blonde female I recognized as Alpha Kade’s champion. “Now, could you try not to piss off these people? I’m sure the alphas are going to rescue us soon. Without our wolves, we are going to die. But if we do as we’re told—”

“Who the fuck is we? YOU are going to die.” I ridiculed.

“Go ahead and wait to be rescued. But I’m going to kill these shitheads and then beat the shit out of the alphas. Clearly, they have something to do with this.”

“I agree; that’s the only explanation for how we ended up here. How else would eight champions disappear? It’s impossible. This must be the second event.” The country champion added. I want to say, Izzy is her name.

Derricks champion slowly stood. “My alpha would never put us in danger. Alpha Derrick—

“IS A POMPOUS ASS!” I shouted. The girl shrank back at my tone and turned away. “And you’re his fucking toilet seat. He treats you like shit, and you take it in.”

“If we were in danger, I’m sure we would’ve been tied up and separated,” Izzy said, pacing. “Nova, is this something Alpha Kane would allow?”

Nova flicked her blonder hair. “I can survive anything. My alpha knows I’ll win this event.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” A door closed to my left. A man with tan skin and short black hair entered the room without a sound. He wasn’t tall or muscular, but he was still fit.

“In fact, Derrick was the only one aware of your situations.” The man leaned against the door. He was holding a bowl of fruit as he stared at us.

“Who the hell are you.” Nova sneered.

“Oh, I’m Kaan, the leader of this…company. We were hired by Derrick to assist in this event.” He plucked a grape out of the bowl and popped it in his mouth.

“And why is that?” Izzy asked curiously. “And what kind of “company” do you lead?”

“Well, for the why question, we are very skilled at what we do. Hell, we got you all here swiftly, without an incident.” Kaan paused. “As for who I lead, we are a group of mercenaries. We steal, fight, and kill without hesitation.”

“So, your hunters—”

“No, hunters kill whatever they come across for some cause they conjure up. My mercenary group is a mix of humans and supernatural beings. We are hired for jobs and then paid.”

“So what are you?” Jaspers champions asked. “You look human but at the same time—”

“I’m not under a glamour to deceive you.” He shrugged, “I’m a normal human.” Kaan said.

He stood up straight and popped an entire strawberry in his mouth. I jerked my head back, shocked. Like who eats the ENTIRE berry? Not normal humans.

I stood from my spot, “The lies you tell.” I said, shaking my head. “What human eats the leaves of a strawberry?” I slowly walked toward Kaan, looking him up and down.

He finished chewing, “The leaves are just as edible. It’s no different than a salad—”

I crossed my arms. “Tsk. Yeah...ok, well answer this question. When you make a bowl of cereal, what goes in first, the milk or the cereal?”

“The milk, of course—”

“WRONG!!” I shouted.

Kaan huffed and sat the bowl of fruit on the ground. “There is no right or wrong—”

“I bet you sleep with socks on and lick envelopes to close them.” I chuckled and pointed at the psycho. “You are far from normal.”

“We...we are getting off-topic! My whole captor speech is ruined now!” Kaan stated.

“Fuck it. We will start the event now. The goal is to run and survive. During this, my men will be hunting for you. Since you can not shift into your wolves, you may use whatever force necessary to protect yourselves. A life for a life is the only rule I have.” Kaan faced the door.

He reached for the handle but looked back at us. “Although my men know not to kill…mistakes do happen.” Kaan smiled wickedly, and I burst out laughing.

“Ha, ha. Yo was that a part of the speech you planned!?” I bit the inside of my lip to calm my giggles.

“Yes,” he said through clenched teeth. “Time to go.” He swung the door open, a bright light flooded the room, and everyone winced. I rubbed my eyes.

We walked out of the room and stepped into the forest. There were no roads or paths to lead us in a direction. The sun was shining above, and tiny clouds crossed the skies.

“How do we know if we’re going the right way,” Izzy asked.

Kaan shrugged, “You were in the North. We brought you east. Figure it out from there. You’ll know when you’re safe.” He looked at the watch on his wrist. “I’ll give a five-minute head start. Starting…. now!”

I took off in a sprint, having had no idea where to go. My first goal is to distance myself from the mercenaries. Leaves and sticks crunched beneath my bare feet. I veered to the left to avoid a large tree in my path. I looked to my right to see another champion following my path but keeping her distance.

I ran as hard as I could. Time flew by, and I really needed to take a break. I skidded to a stop, gasping for air. My heart was hammering in my chest, and my lungs burned as it took in deep breaths. I placed my hands on my sweaty head and swiveled around, taking in my surroundings.

“Aviry, give me control,” Mia said.

“Oh, well, welcome back,” I snapped. “Did you have a good nap while I ran for our lives? We can’t shift Mia.” I know it wasn’t her fault. But goddamn it, I was hot and irritated.

“We can discuss your bitchy attitude later. Give me control, take a mental break.” She replied.

I closed my eyes and fell into my mind space. Mia took control and took in a big whiff. “My sense of smell is still off; I don’t know which way to go. But I think I can run for a while.”

“Great. I covered a lot of ground, so let’s keep going.” I relaxed into my mind as Mia started jogging.

“I miss Cay and Nix,” Mia said gently. “I bet they’re worried about us.”

“If they cared, they would’ve been here.” I sighed. “I told you we can only rely on ourselves. Stop feeding into this mate bond Mia. It’s all fairytale bullshit. There is no happy ending for us.”

“How can you say that. We already have Cay and Nix. We just have to learn to accept it—”

“I’m not accepting shit, Mia. My life was simple before all of this werewolf bullshit!” I strongly stated. Mia whimpered, slowly decreasing her speed.

“So, I guess you regret accepting me.”

“Shit, Mia, listen. I didn’t mean—”

“No, you meant what you said. You miss your simple life. I was just a voice in your dark ass mind at the time, but I was still me.”

We both became silent. I didn’t mean to hurt Mia. She’s the light in my dark world.

Mia stopped and sighed heavily. “Listen, Aviry, I know you’re upset right now. We can’t turn on each other. I love you. What we have together will not be shaken by this bullshit competition.”

“I’m sorry, Mia. I love you too.”

“Now, Let’s get the fuck out of—”

“HELP!!” A voice shrieked. “PLEASE HELP!!”

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