Arena Wars Trilogy

by Hoffman, Samantha

  Standing there in a circle of pale moonlight was Roger and, standing beside him, was Ilene. Quinten and I stopped a few yards in front of them, and I finally noticed that Ilene wasn’t bound or gagged.

  The feeling in my gut was worse than it had ever been before. There was a faint odor that hung thickly over the two of them, and I silently prayed that it wasn’t what I thought it was.

  “Alright, I’m here. Let her go back with Quinten and I’m yours.”

  Roger chuckled darkly. “I was so hoping that you’d bring your blind knight with you.”

  I glared at him. “You said that you’d let Ilene go if I gave myself over to you. That’s what I’m here to do. Now let her go.”

  He never said I had to go peacefully. If I can hold him off long enough for Quinten and Ilene to get away, they might be able to get help somehow…

  He grinned down at Ilene, who looked up adoringly at him. “Are you being held here against your will, my love?” He asked.

  She giggled, leaned up, and pressed her lips to his. She pulled away with a loud smack, and Quinten frowned. “Did she just kiss him?”

  “Yeah, she did,” I said, finally realizing what was happening.

  Of course Roger hadn’t managed to grab Ilene from under our noses. This had been a setup all along.

  Roger smiled. “I told you the other night that we were done. I’ve moved on to a more cunning and heartless woman who–”

  “She’s not a woman. She’s a child!”

  Ilene glared at me. “I am not a child,” she hissed venomously. “You’re just mad because I finally have something in my life that you never will…a decent mate.”

  I looked at the two of them. “You’re already mated?” I asked, trying not to think about his disgusting body on top of hers.

  “Since this morning and, let me tell you Alanna, it was absolutely wonderful,” Ilene purred.

  I tried hard not to gag. “Ilene, there are things you don’t understand.”

  “No, you don’t understand and you couldn’t even if you tried! Everybody loves you so much because you’re just so special. Mom loved you more, Dad loves you more, Jax loves you more, and Quinten loves you more too!”

  I stared at her, in complete shock. “You liked Quinten?” I asked, not bothering to point out that mom had in fact adored Ilene much more than me.

  “Of course I did!” She screeched. “While the two of you were always off in your own little word, I was left alone to daydream about a man that I could never have. Well, I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. I have a much better mate than a blind human boy,” she scorned.

  “Ilene, what happened to you?” I asked.

  “I realized that nobody would ever treat me as anything other than a child. Roger’s different than you guys. He understands me and he understands werewolves. He’s not afraid for the world to know what he is. He actually cares about me, unlike you!”

  I shook my head, completely bewildered. “Ilene, how could you think that? I came here to save you, didn’t I? I was willing to trade my life for yours.”

  Her sneer wavered for a second. I could see the indecision on her face.

  “Ilene, it’s not too late to change all of this. Come home with us, and we’ll talk to Ray and get everything straightened out.”

  She shook her head, the sneer returning. “Daddy loves you more than me, he always has, and he always will. He wouldn’t care that I’m here with Roger right now. He only cares about you. In fact, I think you might be the only thing he has left that he loves more than himself. So I’m gonna take that away from him.”

  “Ilene–”

  “Alanna!”

  I turned, startled at Quinten’s shout. A dart whizzed through the air, burying itself painfully in my back. My eyes became thick and heavy, and I felt myself slowly slipping away. Finally, my eyes closed, and everything around me went dark.

  *****

  It was dark, and everything was silent except for the roar of a truck engine. Quinten groaned next to me and I looked over at him. His hands were tied behind his back with thick cord, just like mine. My wrists were sore and my head was pounding in my ears in time to the beat of my heart.

  I struggled into a sitting position, and took a look around. We were in what looked like the back of a semi-truck. It was completely dark, except for a small window high above our heads that let in a small amount of moonlight.

  I’d never seen a truck with one of those before, and I guessed that it had probably been done especially for this one truck in particular.

  The walls of the truck looked similar to the dungeons beneath Roger’s mansion. They were covered in different types of chains and shackles, and I wondered how many innocent people this truck had transported over the years. Had those people been terrified? Or had they been resigned to their fate? Did they know where they were going?

  Had their families been worried about them?

  I worked at the bonds around my wrists, hoping to loosen them enough to slip them off.

  While working on that, I wondered where we were going. Had Roger set this whole thing up? Had Ilene’s only purpose been to lure us to his place? Or had this all been one giant coincidence?

  “Alanna?” Quinten’s voice was hushed and tired sounding. “Are you there?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Where are we?”

  “It looks like the back of a semi-truck. I can only guess where it’s going though. I guess we’ll find out more when we get there.”

  “Why didn’t Roger just kill us? Why go through all of this?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he had nothing to do with this.”

  Quinten snorted in disbelief.

  “I said maybe. It seems pretty likely this was all his idea though. Because I can’t think of anyone else I’ve pissed off lately.”

  “Yeah, one mortal enemy is enough,” he said dryly.

  I chuckled. Right now, laughing seemed like a better thing to do with my time than crying. “Two, I guess, if you count Ilene.”

  He nodded. “What the hell was that back there?”

  I shrugged. “She was unhappy with the way we all treated her, and she went looking for someone she thinks will do it better.”

  “Are they actually mated?”

  I nodded once. “I could smell it on her.”

  He looked surprised. “You guys can smell sex on someone?”

  “Of course, but that wasn’t what I could smell. When two people are mated, they have a unique smell. It’s nothing sexual, it’s just…there.”

  “What does it smell like?”

  “I’m not sure. It’s a little different for each bonded pair. I could smell it the second I saw them. I was just hoping that I was wrong. But they’ve actually mated. It’s done. She’s no longer my baby sister.”

  “He had sex with a fourteen year old?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, he did.”

  “Perv. That’s disgusting.”

  “I know. She honestly doesn’t see anything wrong with it. She was unhappy being what she thought was second best. He wanted me first, though. She doesn’t realize that she’s still second best.”

  “How long until she figures it out? And then what happens to her when she does? Will she get herself killed trying to leave him?”

  “I don’t know. And to be honest, I don’t really care. She’s not my sister anymore though, she’s Roger’s mate. She’d probably kill me if given the chance. Or if Roger asked her to.

  “You really think so?”

  “Everything that makes Ilene who she was is gone now. She’s just a monster. In her mind, she’s finally number one, and she’s going to do anything it takes to keep it that way.”

  “She really thought that Ray loved you more than he did her?”

  “He does,” I said, hating how true it was. “Jax was right about that. I just didn’t want to believe it.”

  “What did Jax say?”

  “He said that Ray loved Ilene, but that I was his baby girl, and
if anything were to happen to me…”

  “Well, shit just happened to you. Ray’s gonna be worried when he wakes up and you aren’t there. He’ll have lost both Ilene and you.”

  “No, he hasn’t lost me. Not yet at least. I’m going to get back to him if it takes forever. And I know that he’ll never give up either. He’ll be looking for me the second he finds out that I’m gone. He’ll find us.”

  “You seem pretty sure about that.”

  “Ray’s one of those rare people that when they love someone, they give literally everything they have for that person. Jax and I are all that he has left now, and he won’t rest until we’re back together again.”

  “I really hope you’re right.”

  “I am,” I said firmly.

  *****

  In the darkness, it was impossible for us to tell how much time had passed while we were stuck in the back of the truck. We could have been on the road for hours or days. I wasn’t sure. I just hoped that we got wherever we were going soon. I was starving, thirsty, and I had to use the bathroom.

  It took me almost an entire hour to undo the tie around my wrists. I untied Quinten, and the two of us got up to explore our dark little mobile prison. There was only one door and it was locked. I spent the better part of another hour kicking at it repeatedly, hoping that it would burst open and we’d be able to escape.

  But, that never happened. The door was stuck tight and we were forced to just sit back and wait for the truck to come to a stop.

  Finally, after what felt like days of nothing but sitting around, the truck came to a stop. Two doors opened and closed, and there was the sound of light footsteps: vampires.

  They stopped near the door and I tensed, ready for a fight. I wasn’t sure how much I could do against a pair of probably armed vampires, but it was either try and fail, or go with them willingly. And there was absolutely no way I was going to go quietly. Quinten wouldn’t be able to fight his way free, so I was going to have to do the fighting for him.

  The door unlocked. It opened painfully slow, and I launched myself at the nearest guard as the back of the truck was flooded with moonlight. Surprised, he fell to the ground with me on top of him. I slammed his head down onto the road, and I heard Quinten grappling with the other guard. I hoped he didn’t get hurt.

  The vampire kicked me up over his head and I landed hard on the roadside. He was on me before I could even regain my breath. I struggled to keep his fangs from my throat; he gave up trying to bite me, and instead grabbed my wrist. He twisted, and I cried out as my wrist snapped.

  “Alanna!”

  There was a sick laugh, and Quinten grunted in pain. I looked over, fending off the vampire one-handed, and saw him face down on the side of the road. Fury boiled up in me and I began to see red.

  Kicking hard, I shoved the vampire off of me. I jumped to my feet and, ignoring my broken wrist, shifted. The pain in my right forearm was almost unbearable; Ray had warned me before to never shift with a broken bone in case something moved around the wrong way and caused some massive internal damage.

  Propped up on three legs, I bared my fangs at the nearest vampire, and snarled menacingly. He crouched down low and hissed at me, flashing fangs of his own. I rushed forward and leapt for his exposed neck.

  My teeth closed around his throat and I squeezed tightly, trying to squeeze the life from him. Of course, he was a vampire, and that alone probably wouldn’t kill him. I’d have to decapitate him completely or find a way to stake him through his un-beating heart.

  His partner rushed to his aid. He rammed his shoulder into my ribs, cracking a few, and sending me flying across the road. I skidded to a shaky stop, and landed in a heap among a pile of kicked up gravel and dirt.

  I was on my feet again in an instant, ready to keep fighting. I ran to Quinten’s side and stood guard over him as the vampire checked on his partner. One of them got too close for comfort, and I snapped at his hand. They backed up and traded quick glances.

  “Go get the tranquilizer gun. We may have to knock her out again.”

  “Do you think the drugs from earlier have worked their way out of her system yet? If not, they might kill her you know.”

  “We’ll have to take that chance. I’m not losing a hand or my life to some jumped up little bitch. Don’t argue with me, just go!” He snapped when his partner hesitated.

  He skirted around the two of us, and headed to the cab of the truck. What was I going to do? I couldn’t take them both on by myself, especially while worrying about Quinten. Never taking my eyes off of the vampire, I leaned down and licked the side of his face.

  He groaned once and I nudged him with my nose until he slowly turned over. “Alanna?”

  I whined, and he groaned and forced himself into a sitting position.

  “The human’s awake!”

  There was a scurrying sound and the other vampire returned with the gun in his hand. Making a quick decision, I threw myself at him, knocking the gun from his hand. It clattered to the ground, and Quinten dove for it.

  Hopefully he’d heard where it landed. I just hoped he knew how to actually shoot a gun. As long as the vampire made noise, Quinten should have been able to hit him.

  The vampire rolled us over and pulled a knife out from his sweater pocket. The blade cut open the skin along my back, and I whimpered in pain. The gun fired once, and I heard Quinten curse.

  “Alanna–”

  Quinten slumped to the ground and the vampire chuckled darkly. “Your boyfriend’s down for the count, bitch. If you want him to stay in one piece, you’ll get into the back of the truck with him.”

  Why did they open the back of the truck, if they were only going to shove both of us back inside? It didn’t make any sense to me.

  I finally saw the reason why. Another truck had pulled up and two more vampires were climbing out of the truck’s cab. They both held massive cattle prods, ones that were large and powerful enough to leave burns on our bodies.

  Still, the animal in me wanted to fight, even though I knew I couldn’t possibly win. The blood was pounding through my veins and I was tempted to fight to the death if I had to. These vampires were not going to get the better of me.

  “Go peacefully, and we’ll let your boyfriend live.”

  “You know we can’t–”

  “Shut up!”

  “We have our orders–”

  “I said, shut up!”

  After a moment, I lowered my ears and tail in a sign of submission, and I limped forward. I couldn’t risk Quinten’s life just to satisfy my pride. It wouldn’t be worth it if I won the fight, but lost him.

  One of the vampires laughed and he pulled the trigger of the gun. The dark embedded itself through the thick fur of my shaggy silver coat, and I slumped to the ground. One of the vampires loaded Quinten into the back of the truck, and I whimpered. They came back for me, and threw me in after him.

  The door closed behind us.

  There was no light in this one; the back was plunged into total darkness. Finally my eyes closed, and once again sleep took me.

  Chapter Ten

  Drip. Drip. Drip.

  What was that noise, and why the hell didn’t it stop?

  Drip. Drip. Drip.

  “Hey. Hey newbie, wake up.”

  I groaned, and forced myself to open my eyes. There was a dim light in the ceiling that flickered, and it burned my eyes after so much continual darkness. I blinked rapidly, hoping to keep the pained tears away.

  “Alanna, are you ok?”

  Quinten was sitting just to my left, waiting for me to give him an answer. I checked my body for injury; my wrist was stiff and sore, but usable, and my throat was dry from lack of water, but otherwise I was just fine.

  “Yeah, I’m alright,” I said, trying not to cough. My throat burned like never before.

  “Hey, one of you dick stains get her something to drink,” A voice snapped. “Sorry about that. You’d think they were raised in a damn barn.”

>   I looked over at the person speaking next to me, and was surprised to find that it was a young boy about fourteen years old. He had short, spiky brown hair, large, dark blue eyes, and a slightly round face. He was of medium height, and he had a very thin build.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “My name is Tyler McCoy. Welcome to the Arena Wars.”

  I rubbed my face tiredly, and accepted a dirty glass filled with water. I grimaced as it touched my tongue, and Tyler chuckled.

  “Sorry sweetheart, but that’s the best we’ve got here. Unless you wanna open your mouth and drink what’s dripping down from the ceiling. But that comes from the bathrooms on the next floor, so I wouldn’t do it if I were you. Anyway, our water’s rationed here, so don’t waste it, ‘cause we won’t be getting anymore.”

  I took another sip and almost gagged. It was practically stagnant, and I half expected to find algae growing on the surface. But, water was water, and I forced myself to swallow a few mouthfuls, before handing the glass over to Quinten. He finished the glass off with a shudder, but didn’t complain about the taste.

  His left eye was black and swollen, and his lip was split. “What happened?” I asked him, reaching over to take his hand.

  He shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. I got a second dart to the side of my neck, and then we were loaded into the back of the second truck. Then I think we rode in that truck for another whole day, and when I woke up, we were in this hellhole.”

  I looked at Tyler to fill in the blanks. “You two got snagged by a pair of Seekers.”

  “What the hell is a Seeker?” I asked, stretching my aching body.

  “Seekers are vampires that go looking for people to drug and abduct. They ship us away, and we always end up here.”

  “Where’s here?” I asked, taking a long look at the room around us.

  It was small, dimly lit, and there were dirty cots that were little more than blankets lining the far wall. There were two small doors, one closed and the other open. The open one revealed a small dirty bathroom with a toilet, but no shower, bath, or sink.

  “Congratulations sweetheart. You two are now participants in the Arena Wars. Here, you’re paired with another contestant, and the two of you fight against another pair, to the death. If you refuse to fight, you and your partner will both be killed on the spot.”