Tiffany stood outside ring three watching him. She was not nervous about his disguise or her ability to get to him if she needed to. She was worried about Alpha Amber tearing all the rings apart to get to him. Others may not know but she understood who this strong yearning was aimed towards and she did not understand how Stefan was resisting the pull.
It was not even aimed toward her and she was finding it hard to resist the pull. She looked over to the Star Fire Alpha and was amazed that she was releasing such a strong pheromone and still could function as if nothing was happening.
Releasing a pheromone was not an easy or casual thing for a shewolf. The gland that released this was attached to the uterus and as the pheromone released into the environment the uterus knotted up and physically twisted. The pain was unbearable to many.
Amber was enduring it as if it were nothing. She watched Stefan intently. This was the werewolf that did not heed her call and walked away from her. Now he was here, in the tournament, as if he had been seeking her out all this time. She saw how composed he was and yet how his eyes trembled,
He was a strong werewolf.
Amber's tongue began to run up and down her long canines as she continued to intently watch Stefan.
That was his name. Adonis had found it as soon as they discovered he was there.
"Stefan" She said it out loud wanting to feel it roll off her tongue. She liked the way it felt. She smiled when he looked up at her. It was only the second time that he had looked at her. He was truly a strong werewolf.
Adonis smirked inwardly at his sister. She was never like this. It was very hard to get her to show any emotion. He felt that her problems would be resolved. Now he just needed to figure out why this Stefan walked away from Amber just to fight for her in the tournament. Adonis narrowed his eyes. There was definitely something dangerous about this Stefan.
The ten rings were all vast and boasted different landscapes.
Ring one was a large lake valley ringed by huge black mountains.
Ring two was a small volcanic island that was more volcano than island with the island sitting in a sea of flowing lava.
Ring three, Stefan's ring, was a vast desert plane.
Ring four was a frozen sea with several glaciers.
Ring five was a vast mountain chain.
Ring six was a large meadow valley surrounded by red mountains.
Ring seven was a wide river with floating docks dotting its surface.
Ring eight was a wide plateau sitting high in the center of a vast ocean.
Ring nine was a vast canopy of massive trees.
Ring ten was a ghost town of narrow streets and abandoned and ruined buildings.
Each ring was domed by a large clear force field and different views of the inner landscape were projected to the crowds that sat before a given ring. Highlights from each ring would be shown high in a central area close to where the Alpha was sitting.
Ten men and women appeared in the air, one above each domed ring. Two men and one woman appeared scattered about the tournament area. It was one of the men from this group of three that explained the rules. His voice projected throughout the rings and the crowds.
"You have all signed the tournament agreement and you know that it is very possible for you to die here during the tournament. We do not want anyone to die so if you quit, yield, or pass, one of the judges will be there to stop the fight "and allow you a chance at survival. What we can not intervene in is an environ choosing to take a participant. This does happen and you should all be acutely aware of your environs. If you are chosen you must save yourself. The Star Fire Pack's agreement with the rings prevents us from intervening but we insisted on a clause stating that the participant would be allowed to live if they escaped."
The man stepped back and the female from the group of three stepped forward and began to speak next. "The tournament rules are pretty straightforward. For this round most rings will have five thousand participants with rings one to three having a bit extra.
"You all will fight until there are only one hundred left in the ring. This is a no holds barred tournament and you can use any methods to fight. You can always yield or simply walk out of the domed area but both actions constitute immediate disqualification from the tournament. The dome will keep track of all the participants and mark them from the list as they are eliminated or disqualified. Once we have our thousand participants we will end for the day."
She moved back and the second male of this group moved forward to speak. "Tomorrow the landscapes of the rings will randomly change. There will be one hundred contestants assigned to each ring and the rules will remain the same with the day ending when there are only ten participants in each ring. The next to the last portion of the tournament will be a bit different so those rules will be discussed on the third day and on the fifth day of the tournament the final participant left standing will fight our Lady, Alpha Amber. If the participant wins he will be our second Alpha. If he loses…" the man shrugged and said nothing more.
Stefan found himself looking at Amber and thinking about what might happen if there was a tie so as the man moved back to his position and the first of the three person judge team moved forward he asked.
"And what happens if your beautiful Alpha and the winner of the tournament tie?"
There was stunned silence but Amber, Adonis, and Tiffany all smiled. Amber spoke up, a broad smile on her face.
"A tie is still a defeat to me, as I am sure it is for you as well."
Stefan smirked even as he nodded.
The first man from the three judge team looked to Adonis for the cue to start. Adonis looked at his sister and, even though her eyes did not leave Stefan's Adonis understood her signal and he gave the signal to begin.
The three judges took random positions and planned to sporadically move over all ten rings throughout the day. The first judge spoke as he arrived to his first position.
"Let the tournament now begin!"
A large light blue werewolf had bee eyeing Stefan hard. Many werewolves had been eyeing him, all with strong killing intent, but this one was probably the strongest intent in ring three.
He walked to Stefan with a smirk on his face.
"You think you are strong. Speaking to her as if you have already won. I will take you out first."
As he spoke he transformed and sprang at Stefan. Stefan did not move and just watched the blue werewolf fly toward him. Just as his hand was in reach Stefan grabbed his wrist twisted hard, a sickening crunch and pop could be heard and then he yanked him from the air and slammed him to the ground.
Stefan was not finished and he wrenched the blue furred werewolf's arm around and another sickening crack and pop was heard as his shoulder dislocated. The blue werewolf never made a sound and simply gritted his teeth through it all. Stefan raised an eyebrow and roughly threw the werewolf's arm down.
'Tris if he will join us recruit him. Heal his arm either way.'
'Yes my Lord.'
When there were less than a thousand participants left in ring three Stefan, who had been standing to the side watching because no one wanted to challenge him, was challenged by three large werewolves. He smirked and walked to them.
The three charged him, full on wolf mode, and still Stefan maintained his fully human form. This infuriated the three. One began to spin in mid air and targeted Stefan's chest while the other two went to slash at Stefan's side.
Stefan stepped toward the Arial werewolf and again easily pulled him from the air as the other two lost balance as they moved behind Stefan and slashed each other. Stefan pursed his lips and sighed as all three moaned and groaned like werewolf cubs.
Just when he was about to break the arm he was holding he quickly looked up and moved several meters away. The moaning trio stayed on the ground writhing. They did not notice the presence quickly rising beneath them. Their eyes went wide as a large, thick, tentacle burst forth from out of the arid sand.
It quickly wrapped itself several times around the three and just as someone thought to help them they were quickly pulled down into the sand. Everyone was quiet for a long moment. Many eyes were transfixed on the spot where the three had just been.
Stefan on the other hand was tracking prey. Suddenly a sword was shoved through a strong opponent's torso. Stefan shook his head internally. That had been a werewolf he would have loved to fight. But if he let someone sneak up on him like that…
Amber and Adonis both frowned. A strong Beta had just been killed. He let his guard down but still. Amber looked at the Beta's Alpha. There was a pained look on his face but he was not upset. She nodded and turned back to the tournament. It had turned out to be far more interesting than she thought it would.