Changed Ch. 14

Theo took a deep breath, letting the cool forest air fill his lungs. He was kneeling inside the ancient stone ring where all major pack events took place. He could feel the power radiating from the stones around him, as well as from the pack that has all gathered in the raised benches off to the side. His wolf prowled close to the surface though he doubted that he would have to call on him tonight. Many of the wolves fought in human form. It was such a common occurrence, that many believed it was an unspoken rule to not shift. Still, Nick, the male Beta that challenged him was vicious, and Theo wouldn't be surprised if he did shift. He took another deep breath and a smile wormed its way onto his face. He slowly opened his eyes and turned to look at the benches. There, in the front row, sandwiched between Becca and Cody, was his woman, a smile just for him on her face. She sat with her back straight, and an air of confidence about her. Despite their banter earlier, he knew she believed in him.

His wolf preened under her gaze, and Theo found himself excited for the fights, even if it was only to show off to his mate. He caught his train of thought and slammed the breaks. It would be no good thinking like that. True, he was good, but Bruin was also good. He gave his head a small shake to clear it and went back to focusing on the natural rhythm and power that swirled around this place. He only stirred again, rising to his feet, when he heard Brett begin to speak.

"Tonight, 4 challenges have been issued against Theo, Lead beta and second in command of the Pack. All four will be held tonight, the first up will be Bruin, fourth in command, followed by Wiles an unplaced adult, followed by Nick, ninth in command, and ending with Annie, Lead female beta, tenth in command." Brett then motioned to Bruin who stepped forward, wearing only a pair of old shorts. Theo chuckled and shook his head while Bruin smiled back.

"I'm looking forward to beating your ass, Pup,"

"Bring it on, Old Man," Theo taunted back as they began circling one another waiting for the signal from Brett.

Karen leaned close to Becca as she watched the banter, "How much older is Bruin?" she asked softly, as she eyed the large wolf. Becca snorted and Cody laughed.

"They are only a month apart," he said leaning in close to Karen, "They've been acting like that since they first met,"

"Ah," Karen said with a smile and was about to say something else when suddenly the two wolves converged. The fights had started.

The signal from Brett has been barely visible, but both men saw it and attacked. Bruin got the first hit, a solid jab to the ribs, but it didn't faze Theo in the least. They quickly broke apart and circled again. Theo carefully keeping his eyes open for any weaknesses. Bruin lunged again and Theo dodged to the left, planting a quick jab to Bruins open side. Bruin grunted and turned, staggering to keep his balance. The next one to lunge was Theo, he faked to the left and landed a hard solid blow to Bruins right thigh. Bruin growled softly and attached again. This time it was a fury of fists. Theo dodged what he could and took what he couldn't, throwing his own punches and kicks right back. As the fight progressed, the punches grew harder, and soon the sound of flesh hitting flesh turned into snapping bones.

Karen sat in her seat, awestruck. Theo moved with such grace and fluidity it was hard to seem him as a man. The fight was face-paced and hard, each snap of a bone made her cringe though she never looked away. Her gut clenched on one particularly hard hit from Bruin, which busted Theo's nose and caused blood to flow freely.

"Easy," a gentle voice said in her ear, and she looked up at Cody, who had placed a hand on her shoulder. " They'll be fine, to be honest, they are holding back, this is more like hardcore warm up than anything," he gave her a small smile and she settled back down into her seat, unaware that she had been in the process of rising. "I know it's hard, but you need to remain stoic, unaffected by the injuries Theo sustains. The pack is also watching how you react to the fight as well, if his mate is worried, then they will be worried. Do you see what I mean?"

Karen swallowed and smiled back at him, " Yeah, I do. Thanks, Cody,"

"anytime, and if you need to, you can borrow some of my emotions. I've been to tons of these things,"

Karen started and looked at him in shock, "How did you..." she trailed off

"Theo went and did research on your kind when you first got here. He came back and told us about what he found. He said that not only can you control others emotions, you can also siphon them into yourself,"

Karen simply nodded, unable to form a reply. Part of her was annoyed that Theo discussed her to others, but she also understood why he did. She hadn't been willing to talk to him at all when he got back and he needed to talk to someone. The other part was grateful to Cody, for offering his help. Not many are so free with their emotions. She shot him a small smile. "Thank you, I doubt I will need to, but it is nice to know you're willing to help if I should"

Cody only nodded his focus back on the match. And just as suddenly as it began, it was over. Somehow, Theo had flipped Bruin on the ground and had him pinned, a hand holding his neck to the ground.

"Do you yield?" Theo's voice was strong as it echoed around the gathering. Karen couldn't help the shiver that went down her spine, or the smile that shaped her features as her Spyrim-half practically rolled around in ecstasy.

Bruin smiled and lifted his chin, "I yield,"

Theo quickly jumped off of him and helped him to his feet. "That was fun, we need to spar more often,"

Bruin laughed, which caused him to cough and spit out some blood. "Yeah, though maybe next time you can pull the face shots a little? I'd like to keep all my teeth,"

They both laughed as they made their way over to Becca, who had moved from the stands to the side and set up a medical area. She went to work, quickly looking over Theo.

"Nothing too serious, broken nose but it set wrong. Hold still,"

Theo groaned and glared at Bruin, "Find next time we'll pull the face shots,"

Bruin simply laughed as Theo grunted in pain while Becca re-broke his nose and straightened it out.

"Drink this," she commanded to Theo as she turned her attention to Bruin, who was a little worse for wear.

Theo chugged the foul tasting liquid, as he made his way over to Karen. His heart took a stutter step when she turned to him with a beaming smile.

"You were pretty great out there," she said, immediately leaning on him as he took Becca's empty seat.

"Yeah I know," he said with a cocky grin that turned into a grimace as he finished the drink.

Karen took the cup and sniffed it, immediately holding it away from her and scrunching up her face as both Cody and Theo laughed.

"Good lord!" she exclaimed as she coughed from the smell, "What the hell is that?"

"It's Krocic," Theo said, gently taking the cup away from her and setting in on the ground. "It's a special drink that helps heal internal injuries and restores the drinker back to tip-top fighting shape. It's only given to those who are about to battle or who are fighting for their place in the pack. I get it because it wouldn't be fair to have me slowly worn down over the evening. Then the last person would have the best chance. So they each get me at peak performance, " he ended with wiggling his eyebrows

"Psssh," Karen answered, even though she was deeply intrigued by the drink, "I could restore you back to tip-top shape without some nasty smelling gunk,"

"Oh yeah?" Theo said, his eyes gleaming with mischief,

"Yeah," Karen whispered gently placing her faintly glowing hand on his, but he quickly pulled his hand away.

"You can't sweetest, the others will see it as a form of enhancement, cheating. They could argue that my fight wasn't fair," He said quickly as he cupped her face trying to take the sting out of his words. Luckily, Karen understood and nodded,

"Yeah, I didn't think about that," she said sheepishly though it was quickly covered by a seductive tone, "I'll just have to show you later,"

Theo chuckled and shook his head before kissing her on the forehead. Good lord his woman was going to kill him.

"I look forward to it," he said with a wink before kissing her square on the lips. The kiss was brief, but meaningful and both their breathing was a little off when they broke. "I love you," Theo said quietly with a soft smile.

"I love you too," she responded with a bigger smile as he got up to go meet his second challenger of the night.

Theo stood with his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down the young wolf who had challenged him. He let himself smile slightly as they young one fidgeted across from him. Brett gave the signal, and a soft chuckle broke out in the crowd as neither of the men moved. With a chuckle of his own, Theo held up his hands.

"Wiles, I will give you a chance to yield without the fight," he said kindly. It was obvious that the young wolf had bitten off more than he could chew. "Do you yield?"

The boy swallowed and hesitated before his shoulders slumped down. "I yield," he said quietly.

Theo walked over to him and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You challenging me for my position, while stupid, was also brave. If you'd like, I'll set some time aside and we can spar together, get you in good fighting shape to challenge someone on your own level. How do that sound?"

Wiles nodded but didn't raise his eyes from the forest floor. He quickly gave Theo a shallow bow and rushed out of the ring.

Theo stayed where he was, waiting for the next challenger to enter the sparring area. There was no point in going over to Becca since he hadn't exerted himself. He did turn towards Karen though and gave her a smile and a small wave. He knew that he was acting like a lovesick teenager, but it didn't bother him. He didn't care what anyone else thought as he gazed at his mate.

Maybe it was a good thing he had been looking at her, maybe not, but the sudden change of her expression, from happy to scared, was his only warning. The breath was knocked from his lungs as he hit the ground face first. The gathered wolves let out a collective gasp as Nick, the third challenger attacked without the go-ahead from Brett. Theo let out a vicious growl and quickly moved to turn them over, ignoring the blows that were raining down on his back and head. Before he could finish the move, Nick was off of him and pacing around him, a snarl on his face. Theo was quick to his feet and followed the same circular pattern as he stared in shock at the wolf before him. Unease filled his stomach as he noted to complete lack of humanity staring out from his opponent's eyes.

"Nick," He growled, his unease growing with each passing moment.

"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM BABY!! YOU GOT THIS!"

Theo's head jerked in the direction of the shout. There, on the sidelines was Annie, an excited, rage filled smile plastered on her face. The distraction was all Nick needed before he attacked again. He landed a few good punches before Theo regained his composure and began to fight back. The men weren't holding their blows, and the sounds of fist hitting flesh echoed through the clearing.

"Something's not right," Becca hissed to Karen and Cody

"Who is that woman?" Karen asked, her own rage surfacing, her eyes were glued to the tall, blonde female at the edge of the area.

"That's Annie," Cody answered softly, scooting closer until his body was touching her's from shoulder to foot. "She's the fourth challenger tonight, a beta, and the 10th in line for the Alphaship. She is also lead bitch, excluding Becca, who gave up the duties to run the hospital."

Karen couldn't stop the growl that built from the back of her throat.

"Karen," Cody said softly, pressing more firmly against her.

Becca caught his tone and looked between the two people seated next to her. Karen wasn't aware of anything but Annie, and Cody was giving her an obvious Help me out look. She also pressed herself against the tiny human, who was practically vibrating with rage.

"Karen," Becca said with a hint of sing-song, desperately trying to discreetly move Karen's attention away from the other female.

"She's egging on the dude who just attacked Theo without warning. What the fuck is her problem?!?"

"Hey!" Cody said a little more forcefully, as Becca looped her arm around Karen's shoulders. " Karen you need to focus on something else,"

She growled softly, not listening. Every instinct in her was telling her to defend her man against this wretched excuse for a female.

"You're glowing," Becca said softly, forcing herself in front of Karen's line of sight. Karen blinked a few times, her gaze of the other female cut off by Becca's concerned face. "Theo will be really upset and lose his concentration if he looks over here and sees you glowing,"

Karen shook her head slightly and took a deep breath. Cody slipped his hand in hers and Becca followed his lead. "What do you need from us? Tell us and you can have it,"

"Calm. I need calm," Karen gritted out as she forced herself to look at the fight, which didn't help. It was obvious that the other wolf was using dirty tactics and it was also obvious that Theo refused to stoop to that level. Her hands clamped down hard like she was holding on for dear life. "I need LOTS of calm,"

Cody and Becca chuckled. While they were both also very upset about what was going on, they also understood the pack better. It was obvious that Annie had a beef with Theo and had managed to convince Nick to do anything he could to win. Still, they buried their feelings and projected a calm that Karen could feed off of. Cody grunted quietly when Karen allowed her powers to seek out the gift he was offering her.

Is she feeding off of you? He sent the thought to his sister.

I don't know. She replied, worry lacing her thoughts.

Oh, you'd know. The feeling is... He paused as he took a deep breath. While there were no sexual feelings or thoughts, the energy racing through him caused his whole body to tighten and strain. Intense. I need you to feed me your calm to feed to her. I don't think I have enough. The rage she's feeling is off the charts.

There must still be some residual uncontrollable feelings from her change. I'm also sure that she's truly feeling the mating bond which is also feeding her rage. Becca thought back to him as she poured all of her calm happy thoughts into her brother, who sighed in relief when the sensation of Karen's power dimmed greatly. A few minutes later, Karen also sighed and all three of them relaxed as her tattoo stopped glowing and her expression evened back out into her normal face.

"Thank you," she said quietly, her muscles quivering slightly from being so tense. "I don't know what I would have done without you guys," She looked between the siblings and her heart swelled. At that moment, she realized that there was more connecting her to this pack than Theo. She smiled softly as their hands relaxed but didn't let go. Having them both with her helped ground her and keep her sane. She turned her attention back to the fight, pride filling her as she saw how bloody the other wolf was.

Theo landed another heavy hit to Nick's rib cage and the other male dropped to his knees, gasping for breath.

"Do you yield?" Theo asked coldly. Nick had been fighting dirty since the start and it was getting on his last nerve.

"SHIFT BABY! YOU CAN BEAT HIM!"

Annie cried from the sidelines again. Theo rolled his eyes and barely glanced her way, keeping most of his focus on the man in front of him.

"No,"

The word was more growl than anything and in a blink Nick shifted. The pack gasped again, and many cried out in outrage.

Shifting to wolf form was rare, and largely frowned upon. Many considered it a break in the rules. Shifting to Hybrid from actually WAS against the rules and was grounds for immediate demotion to the bottom of the pack in the best cases, and dismissal from the pack in the worst.

"Really?" Theo growled, his exasperation evident as he eyes the hybrid standing in front of him. He shot Annie a look that said this is going to get him killed, but the lack of anything other than bloodlust chilled him. There was no way now that he was going to shift, he wasn't going to stoop down to dirty playing, not even in wolf form. He also wasn't going to risk killing Nick because Annie was out to get him.

Man! This is going to hurt. He thought to himself before sending his next thought to Cody and Becca. I'm not shifting. There will be blood. Help Karen in any way you can. She's not going to like this.

Nick let out a roar, and the fight was back on. Karen sat dumbfounded, her hands tightening on Cody and Becca again.

"Why isn't he shifting?" She asked, a tiny note of panic in her voice.

"Because shifting to Hybrid is against the rules and shifting to wolf is mostly frowned on. Even though he could get away with it, he's taking the higher road and is going to remain in human form," Cody said as calmly as he could.

"But...But... He could get killed!" Karen said, her eyes never leaving the fight as more panic crept into her voice.

"Karen," Cody said firmly, squeezing her hand. "Remember what I told you earlier. You need to remain stoic. It's going to be hard, Theo is going to get some nasty injuries, but you need to be strong for him,"

"He's going to be fine Karen," Becca chimed in "I'll be able to patch up any boo-boos and the Krocic will take care of everything else. He'll be good as new,"

Karen just shook her head, her eyes wide as dinner plates. She barely held in a small scream as Nick swiped at Theo, opening a large gash in his shoulder.

"Karen," Cody said, a tiny bit of desperation in his voice. He could feel the crowd torn between watching the fight and watch Karen's reactions. "Open yourself, I'll feed you what I can. You just need to keep a lid on it. You can do..." He ended on a grunt as Karen's power ran through him again. This time it was different, there was no pulling sensation, just raw power. He immediately pushed calm into the power, but it didn't seem to help.

What do I feed her?! He practically shouted to his sister whose eyes were glued on the match. Nick had landed another heavy blow.

I don't know!! What distracts you best?? She replied her voice slightly frantic.

FUCK!! Cody shouted before turning his attention back to Karen. He groaned softly and rolled his eyes. This was going to suck so hard.

He thought of sex and the feelings associated with it. First he tried to send sensuality into the power, but it was largely ignored. Then he tried to convey the feeling of kisses and touches. Those were a little more effective, and Karen blinked slowly, confusion crossing her face briefly before the terrified look returned. Cody sighed, and silently begged for mercy and forgiveness. He gathered up all the need and lust he'd ever felt, which was a hard thing to do with the fight going on, and slammed it into the tiny human beside him.

Karen gasped, and she whipped her head around to face Cody. Her breathing was heavy, as lust and need flowed through her veins. Automatically, she schooled her features into a calm mask, hiding the intense sexual feelings.

"What are you doing?!" She asked breathlessly.

"People always hide their feelings in public when it comes to sex," Cody ground out as he stared at an unmoving spot directly in front of him.

"Tell me how is isn't cheating on Theo," she asked rage warring with the alien need.