Smoke and Mirrors (Smoke and Mirrors Series Book 1)

by S. N. Nair

  My father gave me one of the harshest tellings-off I had ever received from him. I was sent, along with Lia, to Ryder’s room and we waited there like good girls before a loud commotion drew as out to the balcony where we saw Alpha Roland shouting at Alpha Edan and my father before shifting along with his men and running into our forest. My father barred me from going into the forest for three weeks as he sent his generals to scour the forest to make sure that Alpha Roland and his men had truly left.

  Apparently, he had tried to get my pack to give up part of their land ten years ago, when Ryder’s father was Alpha, and my father was Head Warrior Comannder, they refused to negotiate with him as they knew of the terrible things he had done to other packs, especially to his mate.

  Valentina Black was her name, she was the only daughter of an Alpha but after Roland claimed her, he slaughtered her family to take over her pack as his own. He forced her to renounce her family name so that in the eyes of others, she was no longer a proper heir. No one ever saw her again.

  I shuddered as I saw their motto on a small gold plaque below the painting. **Imperium Omnium Triumphorum; Power Triumphs All.**

  Walking on, my body stilled as I heard voices coming from the room right in front of me, seeing by the sheer size of the door it had to be the main hall were pack gatherings take place. I knew I should take this chance to escape but I wanted to see the faces of the people who had slaughtered my family, my pack. The last people my family saw before they were plunged into an eternal slumber.

  With a deep breath I pushed the doors open and silence blanketed the room. People lined the walls, their eyes following my every movement as I walked right to the front where Damien Black sat on a throne. I smirked as I saw the new scars that decorated various pack members happy that my pack managed to leave their mark.

  A scoff escaped my lips as I stopped in front of Damien who was lounging on the throne as if he were a king, he had a girl draped over him as if she were a snake, her eyes glared at me as she pressed a kiss to his neck and suddenly I had the urge to relieve my stomach of its contents.

  “Look who finally crawled out of her cage.”

  It was not Damien who spoke to me but rather his little serpent, her remark was met with laughter from the rest of the pack.

  “If I remember correctly, it was I who locked myself in.”

  “Don’t lie, Princess, Damien was just telling us how he had to lock you in because you could not keep your hands to yourself.”

  I could not help but smile, the great Damien Black had to lie to protect his fragile male ego. Poor baby could not take being rejected.

  “But just remember, Princess, Damien is mine, always has been and always will be.”

  Her voice softened at the end, loud with uncertainty. Her eyes shifted to find Damien’s.

  Damien made a sound of agreement before placing a kiss on her neck causing a small moan to fall from her lips, now I really needed to find a bucket. I supposed I should have been a ‘good’ mate and burn with jealousy that my ‘dutiful’ mate was willingly touching another, but I felt nothing, absolutely nothing, no pain, no heartache, nothing.

  “By all means have him.”

  A smile graced my lips as I watched the disbelief on pack members’ faces. The girl’s eyes flooded in relief, while Damien’s flooded with anger. I knew they wanted me to get angry, they wanted to see a horrified love-sick puppy, well guess what, this puppy does not care.

  “Don’t play your tricks on me. You can’t really expect us to believe you would just give him up, can you?”

  Again my ears were met with a voice of uncertainty. What did Damien do to her? She unlatched herself from Damien and walked up right in front of me, her body swaying with a facade of confidence. Now that she stood in front of me, I wanted to laugh, she was a head shorter than me but glared as if she towered over me. I tilted my head downwards to meet her glare.

  She was absolutely breathtaking, her pale, soft heartshaped face was contrasted by her striking hazel eyes and black hair that fell passed her shoulders in ringlets. There was something off about her eyes as they glared at me, it was as if she locked something inside of her, they were filled with fear but dripped with venom.

  “Everyone! Look at the great warrior! Blackwater’s Protector! The great she-wolf who could not even save her own family.”

  She did not shout the last phrase, instead she turned to me with a sneer on her face and whispered it into my ear. She wanted me to get angry and right now, she was succeeding.

  “What do you have left, Nightborne? Oh wait let me count.”

  She proceeded to use a finger to list down.

  “No family, no pack and no mate, that is just sad right?”

  She continued to name my family members as blood filled my mouth as my canines lengthened, you could insult me all you want but leave my pack and family out of it, hearing their names leave her mouth made me want to rip it open. Her eyes widened with fear as I grabbed her hand, the facade gone as I slowly tightened my grip.

  “I find that actions speak louder than words. I, Sapphire Nightborne, challenge you, Damien’s lover, to a Bloodbath.”

  Silence blanketed the room again as the last word left my lips, a Bloodbath was a crude way used by our ancestors to handle disputes, two wolves would enter but only one would leave and this time, I would make sure that I would be the one to leave.

  Chapter Seventeen: Poisoned Dagger

  Sapphire Nightborne

  I sighed as I looked at my reflection in the small dirty mirror that was provided to me. My once full cheeks were now hollowed, and my jawline was more prominent than ever. My eyes that were once so bright now looked so dull and the shadows below them were the darkest they had ever been.

  The small room I was given to prepare myself for the fight was almost withheld from me even though it was a basic right given to both fighters, however, Chloe Black adamantly pushed for it to be given to me, much to my surprise.

  I let out a contented hum as I ran my fingers across the leathery material that now adorned my torso, a simple jacket of leather with black cotton beneath as well as sturdy pants and boots were good enough for me. This was standard sparring gear and it felt like a second skin on me, comfortable, after all, this was almost all I wore throughout my entire life.

  The siren went off, jolting me from my peaceful musing, it was now or never.

  I winced as I was greeted by the arena’s bright lights, the boos from the spectators filled my ears but I ignored them and walked up to my position, as I stood there I felt droplets of liquid splatter against my face. Did someone actually throw their drink at me? Its sharp smell burnt the insides of my nose, alcohol, they really thought that now was the best time to get drunk.

  After the help of some deep breathing I decided to take a closer look at the arena. It was pretty standard, a five metre deep circular pit with a barbed wire dome to keep anything from getting in or out, almost all packs had one to remind of the days where we suffered under the humans and were used like common dogs to fight against our own brethren in places like this. Most arenas were kept as reminders, but this one did not seem like a friendly heritage site, its walls were stained with dark brown splotches telling me that this arena was pulled out of its retirement a long time ago.

  The second siren wailed, signalling my opponent’s entrance. I could not believe that I was actually going to fight in a Bloodbath, a practice so crude and brutal that it was stopped a hundred years ago but in cases like this one, it was my pleasure to engage in such a disgusting practice.

  My opponent entered, and my jaw hit the ground, she was dressed as if she was going to spend the day at a party. Yes, she wore a leather jacket like mine, but I was sure that her exposed midriff and legs weren’t going to give her much protection and to add to the impracticality of it all, she was wearing heeled leather boots, of all things. She stopped in front of me with a smile on her face as her entrance gained her a loud round of applause and cheers, the cheers
seemed to never end till Damien shouted for his pack to be silent. She was hungrily soaking up the praise she was getting.

  “Black Blood, today we are here to witness the Bloodbath between Sapphire Ragna Nightborne.”

  Cue the jeers.

  “And Karmen Grey.”

  Ah, so that was her name.

  “Remember, this is a strictly hand to hand fight, no weapons allowed. May the strongest win.”

  With that he gestured for the gong to be rung and the fight to begin.

  Barely two seconds after the gong rang, Karmen charged at me like a raging bull, with a yell to match. It was so utterly predictable that I just scoffed and stepped to the side causing her to run into the wall behind, the resultant crack heard caused the corners of my lips to curl upwards. This was met with some snickers that were quickly shushed by Damien.

  Did she not undergo basic training at all? We were told from the first lesson to never just charge into a fight, observe your opponent first, learn how they move so as to deduce how they are going to move. Not learning from her mistakes, Karmen came charging at me again with a fist raised, I calmly raised my leg to my torso area before kicking out with as much force as I could muster, sending her barrelling a few feet back. How could one agree to a Bloodbath with no formal training?

  A whistle from above broke my focus, I stupidly looked up to see Damien blowing a kiss in my direction and so to reward him, I decided to show him my favourite finger, however, those seconds lost allowed Karmen to make a comeback, she in those few seconds managed to run up to me and claw my face.

  “Aww, did I mark that pretty face of yours?”

  Her baby voice caused a growl to leave my lips as the metallic tang from the blood reached my tongue. Gasps filled the air as I used the back of my hand to wipe away the wound, revealing smooth skin with the exception of a faint pink mark. Sometimes you really had to love Lycan blood.

  I turned to Karmen and smiled, if she wants to play with claws let’s, grabbing her wrist I brought down my clawed hand about to repay the favour when the gong rang, signalling the end of the first round… how convenient.

  “Karmen, remember my quarrel is not with you. He is yours to keep, just end this.”

  Her eyes shifted over to where he was standing, he shook his head causing her to turn to me and growl. Well, I guess this fight was not over yet.

  I stepped back to think about a strategy to win when the gong, signalling the start of the second round, sounded out of the blue. There was barely any time for me to register what was happening when Karmen bowled into my side, knocking me over. I tensed my body as I expected to feel the dull pain of hitting the ground, however, what I was not expecting was the sudden sharp pain in my side that was clearly not due to the fall.

  My knees hit the ground as I doubled over in pain, tears started to well up on their own accord, it felt as though someone put a lit torch on my wound. Through my slightly blurred vision I saw Karmen waving a short thin dagger in front of my face, it gleamed brightly against the light and was tinted with purple streaks… oh joy… silver and wolfsbane. The addition of wolfsbane did not phase me but what did, the thing that made me feel as if my heart was in my throat, was the missing point off the weapon that had looked like it had been snapped off.

  My knees buckled as I tried to stand, the fire in my side only intensifying with each movement I made. I tried again only to be met with a kick to the ribs that caused me to fall on my side again like a puppet that had its strings cut off.

  “Not. So. Tough. Now. Right?”

  With each word that coward delivered another kick to my ribs, I wanted to retaliate so badly, but each time I moved the fire burned.

  “Everyone look! Some of you might have still believed the bedtime stories of a ‘Beast’ that protected Blackwater so now I give you this so-called ‘Beast’!”

  Her comment was met with cheers and jeers, I was being humiliated. This was worse than the pain I was feeling, I’d rather suffer this pain ten times over than be portrayed as weak by someone like her.

  “The protector that delivered her nephew right into our hands… the protector that left her sister to escape…”

  She went on and on and with every word she spoke, my blood boiled and now, it passed the temperature of the fire in my side, I could not let this slandering continue, I did not come back from the dead to hear all this and anyway… it’s time someone finally shut her up.

  Taking a deep breath, I plunged my fingers into my side, the fire surged to an all-time high as I searched for the small piece of metal that was causing me so much pain, blood filled my mouth as I bit my lip to prevent me from screaming. Blood poured out my side as I used my claws to cut my healing flesh away to dig for the dagger point.

  I had to thank Karmen for taking the attention off me as I searched for the dagger point, I almost cried in relief when I found it. Bracing myself I used a clawed finger to cut it out, prying the wound open as I extracted that accursed piece. Blood still poured out my side in alarming volumes but the fire that was once there cooled down and as I looked up at Karmen, who was still busy with her theatrics, I realised that the fire in my heart still burned just as hot.

  Karmen gasps as she turned around to see me standing, still a bit unbalanced but still standing. She raised her dagger and tried to bring it down once more but was stopped as I grabbed her wrist, breaking it with a flick of my own. There was a clatter as the dagger hit the ground, she let out a snarl as she shifted, I supposed that this was a move to try and intimidate me, but the sight of the wolf caused an involuntary laugh to escape my lips.

  The wolf in front of me was so petite, small and scraggly that I was sure that the young pups in my own pack were larger than her. She lunged at me with teeth bared, a growl left her lips but quickly stopped when I grabbed her scruff, leaving her suspended in mid-air.

  “Remember, I gave you an out.”

  With all the strength I could muster I lifted her up, using my other hand to support her rump, and with one swift movement brought on my knee. The crack filled the arena, as did gasps, as she went limp in my arms, I rid myself of the burden as I threw her onto the ground like a ragdoll, I watched as she slowly shifted back.

  It took only a few seconds for her to get up, this was due to the fact that the wounds we received as wolves do not follow as when we change back to our human forms. With a loud war-cry she lunged at me, again, her fist making contact with my torso and nothing, I did not feel the impact of the punch at all, it might as well be a butterfly landing on my skin.

  “What did you do to me?”

  She looked at her hands and the rest of her body in horror.

  “I crippled your wolf.”

  I smirked as her eyes widened in shock, she knew the consequences.

  “That’s right Karmen. What is a werewolf without her wolf? A sad, powerless normal human.”

  With every step I took towards her she took a step back, we continued this dance till her back hit the wall. She had nowhere to run, helpless, I smiled as I saw the fear in her eyes as I raised a clawed hand, now she would know what my pack members and family felt in the last moments of their lives, her screams filled the air as I brought it down. The smile on my face widened as blood splattered on my face, staining my skin with its crimson droplets. I guess it was true what they say; Revenge truly was sweet.

  Chapter Eighteen: Worthy Beauty

  Damien Black

  I looked on at the scene unfolding below me with an emotionless mask, Sapphire was skilled there was no question about that, she did not rush into it preferring to assess her opponent, she might be worthy to be the Alpha female of my pack after all.

  Speaking of my pack, they were too focused on the fight raging below them, they growled as Sapphire threw Karmen around like a mere ragdoll, her evident lack of skill was a disgrace, she’d better thank the stars that I had given her a means to an end.

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  There was an uproar as Sapphire brought her clawed hand down to slash Karmen’s face, gasps and growls resounded throughout the arena as her body limply slid down the stone wall leaving her mark in blood. I knew that the fact that she was grievously injured was not what garnered such a response from my pack, it was rather the fact that she had allowed an outsider to win on our home ground that angered them. My blood boiled at even the thought of it as this was something that both my father and I assured won’t happen by the use of any means and now after all these years, it had happened.

  Judging by the state of Karmen’s body I had assumed that Sapphire had ended Karmen’s life, but upon a closer look it was clear she did not… although her face was too marred and covered by blood. The falling and rising of her chest, however faint, was still visible. Sapphire’s chest did the same but in a more rapid succession. She breathed heavily due to the exertion, her growls were audible to the whole pack as she paced up and down the arena like a starved animal waiting for someone to walk in, so she could devour them. It was obvious that she was angry and was looking for someone to vent her frustration on. Knowing their entrance would ensue chaos, I waved my hand to signal my men to retrieve Karmen and to restrain Sapphire.