Chapter 6 - The race

No one moved, waiting for a more official start, some fanfare, something similar to the excitement and grandeur a Luna Trial would usually entail. Women looked to each other, uncertain if the Alpha truly started the competition to find his mate with a simple order to ‘go’ but their confusion didn’t last long.

“I said, go.” Alpha Jason repeated with a growl that showed the women a brief glimpse into what their life as his Luna would be like.

The command rippled through the crowd, jerking everyone to move, but none moved with the intention to win the Trials, Cassy was sure. 

Then, they were running.   

Most of the women raced down the path they had walked up when coming to the packhouse for the opening meeting, whereas the rest turned to the rocky cliffside. Including Cassy. It was a clear divide of those who knew what they were doing and the ones who’d certainly fail. Travelling in a straight line down the mountainside, through the pack town and down the gentle slope, would take over an hour to get to the bottom. There was no chance those women would make it back within the two-hour time limit. 

The rocks were the only way.

Thanking the Moon Goddess that her mum had the foresight to make sure she wore trainers that morning, Cassy took to the rocks and jumped down them in easy, practised bounds that were ingrained in her muscles. The adrenaline flooding her veins was new, but running the rocks? She hadn’t struggled with that since she was a pup. She looked around and saw at least fifty women taking similar paths, but was surprised to see a couple of the guest wolves had taken a gamble to follow them. They were slower, but not by much, relying of the paths forged by the Ash Mount wolves. 

However, Cassy couldn’t focus on them. Running the rocks on the sharp drop to the mountain base was dangerous and any slip of concentration could not only end her place in the competition but her life. She bounded forward, core tense, mind constantly working out her next steps, her breaths heavy but steady. She had her rhythm; all she had to do was keep it. 

They had only been running for twenty minutes or so when a scream to her left jerked her attention, making her stumble on the next rock. Her knee buckled as it lunged forward unbalanced, but her following leg managed to catch her in time before she fell. Only a handful of rocks below, a women splayed on a rock, her arms scuffed and bleeding. Cassy expected it to be a guest who had tripped on the dangerous path, but it wasn’t. It was an Ash Mount wolf. It had been a long time since she had heard of any of the pack wolves falling on the rocks, yet here she was. 

Without thinking, Cassy changed course, making the few leaps to the woman’s side. She was curled in on herself and whimpering, hissing whenever she tried to move her arm. Cassy had witnessed her mother helping patients enough times to know it was probably broken, but she didn’t have her mum’s healing abilities to help. She couldn’t even numb the pain.

“What happened? Did you slip?” She crouched at the woman’s side, assessing the injury.

The woman shook her head, then her eyes flickered over Cassy’s shoulder.

Cassy turned, looking over the rocks she had already passed to see what was wrong. Was there a damp patch, or a branch that had caught her foot? Could one of the rocks broken and... Then, she saw it. Well, she saw her. Katie watched the pair from a distance, surrounded by her followers as always, all of them taking the time to watch the woman’s pain and grin.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Katie pushed you?” 

“Someone did. I felt it.”

“Shame there’s no one here to prove that.” Katie overheard them and answered. She was right. The High Guard and Alpha Jason were still at the start line and all the women running the rocks were far below them now. “They’re not going to take the word of two outsiders over a pure-bred Ash Mount wolf.”

So, that’s her problem. She was trying to stop an ‘outsider’ from continuing in the contest. What a bitch. 

With a laugh, Katie jumped to the next rock, landing with a lithe grace that made Cassy certain she’d make it back to the packhouse in time despite the little detour.

“Make sure you don’t leave her alone, Cass. Wouldn’t want her to bleed out and tarnish the Trials.” 

With time ticking on, Katie and her followers raced on leaving Cassy with the moaning women. She knew she’d have to keep moving if she would have any chance to stay in the competition, but every bone in her body refused to let her leave an injured wolf behind. Especially on the mountain side where she was vulnerable. 

She sighed and turned back to the women. “Look, I want to stay but...”

“Just go.” Tears streamed down her face. “I’ll be fine. You have your mate to think about.”

“What’s your name?”

“Emily.”

“I’m Cassy.”

“I know. Your mum is the doctor.”

“Yeah, she is.” Cassy smiled. “What I was going to say, Emily, is that I want to stay, but with the race, you’re going to need to come with me instead.”

“What... I can’t... I... What are you doing?”

Cassy was already taking off her top as Emily argued, thankful she had a sturdy sports bra on underneath, though the whip of the mountains breeze brought goose bumps to her sweaty skin. The woman stared wide-eyed as Cassy ripped her t-shirt to press against the bleeding gash. She winced at the feel of the forearm’s odd angle and the swelling already hiding the snapped boned. 

“This is going to hurt but do as I say.”

With some gentle manoeuvring, lots of tears and more minutes than Cassy had to spare, Emily’s broken arm was wrapped in a make-shift sling and secured across her chest.

“Ready?” Cassy hated every cry from the woman, but it was the only way to get her some help as soon as possible.

Emily nodded, her teeth gritted.

Hooking an arm behind her neck and one in the crook of her knees, Cassy lifted the woman bridal style, holding her tight against her so the pair could stay balanced. To her credit, Emily smothered her cries and quickly buried her head into Cassy’s shoulder to hide her tears, but she didn’t protest.

“Go.” She said, though the path ahead wouldn’t be easy for either of them. 

Cassy didn’t argue. She needed to get moving. The race wouldn’t stop for her and Emily, and she still had to at least qualify for the next round.

She charged forward, slower than she could’ve alone, but at a pace that had them headed down the mountain side in large leaps caught on the flatter rocks available. Cassy was fortunate that Emily wasn’t a large woman, but that didn’t make the trip any easier. All her years of experience didn’t account for a second weight added to her jumps and landings, and she had to tailor her route to avoid big gaps or large drops. If she lost her balance or dropped Emily one or both of them could die. 

‘Mum, I need you at the base of the mountain as soon as possible.’ Cassy mindlinked her mother.

‘I’m already headed that way. Apparently, a girl fell?’

Either one of the contestants who had witnessed Emily being pushed had called for the doctor or Katie was going on a rampage to get rid of the competition, but Cassy didn’t have the strength to ask which.

‘More like pushed. Broken arm, but I’ve secured it, we’ll be at the base in ten.’ 

Cassy cut off the mindlink and focused on moving. She didn’t know how long had passed since the race had started, but she could already see a couple of figures moving towards her in the distance. The woman who had taken the same path as her had already collected their token and were returning to the packhouse. She was so far behind.