The circle closed in around them.
Not tight. Not suffocating.
But deliberate.
No one crossed the invisible boundary. No one spoke. Even the wind seemed to pull back, like it knew better than to interfere.
Scott stood still at the center, shoulders loose, breathing steady.
Across from him, Garrick rolled his shoulders once controlled, experienced, prepared.
This wasn't his first dominance trial.
Not even close.
"Don't mistake this for a challenge of pride," Garrick said quietly. "This is for the pack."
Scott's gaze didn't waver.
"Everything I'm doing is for the pack."
Garrick studied him for a second like he was trying to decide if that was truth or delusion.
Then
He moved.
Fast.
No warning.
Garrick lunged forward, claws aimed straight for Scott's chest.
Scott reacted on instinct.
He sidestepped, barely, the claws grazing his shoulder instead of tearing through it. Pain flared but he didn't stop.
He countered immediately.
A sharp strike to Garrick's side.
Solid. Clean.
But Garrick barely reacted.
He pivoted, drove his elbow into Scott's ribs, forcing the air out of him in a harsh burst.
Scott staggered back a step.
That was all Garrick needed.
He pressed forward relentless, controlled, overwhelming.
Blow after blow.
Not wild. Not reckless.
Precise.
Scott blocked what he could. Took what he couldn't. Gave back just enough to stay standing.
But it wasn't enough.
Not yet.
Garrick was stronger.
More experienced.
More disciplined.
And it showed.
Scott hit the ground hard.
Dust rose around him as the impact knocked the breath from his lungs again.
For a split second
The world narrowed.
Sound dulled.
Vision blurred.
And then
Something inside him stirred.
Low.
Dark.
Waiting.
"Stay down," Garrick said, stepping forward. "You've proven enough."
Scott's fingers curled into the dirt.
Enough?
No.
Not even close.
He pushed up. Slowly.
Unsteady at first. Then firm.
The moment he stood
Something shifted.
Not outside.
Inside.
The air around him felt… heavier.
Thicker.
Like it was reacting to him.
Scott inhaled sharply and it burned.
Not pain.
Power.
Uncontrolled.
Unfiltered.
Garrick noticed.
Of course he did.
His stance adjusted immediately, more cautious now.
"Scott…"
A warning this time.
Not authority.
Concern.
Too late.
Scott moved.
Faster than before.
Not just faster
Wrong.
He closed the distance in a blink, striking with a force that wasn't measured anymore.
Garrick barely blocked it but the impact still sent him sliding back.
A murmur rippled through the pack.
Scott didn't hear it.
Didn't see them.
Didn't feel anything except the surge flooding his system.
More.
He needed more.
Garrick attacked again this time harder, sharper.
Scott met him head-on.
Clash.
The sound cracked through the clearing.
This time, Garrick was the one forced back.
His boots dug into the ground, stopping him but not easily.
His eyes narrowed.
Now he understood.
This wasn't normal.
Scott barely recognized it himself.
Every movement felt… effortless.
Every strike heavier.
Every reaction faster than thought.
And it wasn't slowing down.
It was building.
"Scott, stop."
He didn't.
Couldn't.
The voice barely registered.
Because something else was louder now.
Louder than thought.
Louder than reason.
The same thing that snapped when she got hurt.
The same thing that demanded control.
But now
There was no control left.
He struck again.
Too hard.
Garrick blocked but the force cracked through his defense, sending him down to one knee.
Silence followed.
Shock.
No one had ever seen Garrick drop like that.
Not in a dominance trial.
Not ever.
Scott stepped forward.
Slow.
Deliberate.
His breathing wasn't steady anymore.
It was uneven.
Heavy.
Animal.
"Yield," Scott said.
But it didn't sound like him.
It sounded deeper.
Layered.
Wrong.
Garrick looked up eyes sharp, calculating.
"You don't understand what you're doing," he said.
Scott tilted his head slightly.
"You're losing," he replied.
And for a moment
It looked like Garrick might actually consider it.
Then
He attacked again.
One last push.
One last attempt to end it.
Scott didn't block.
Didn't dodge.
He caught him.
Mid-motion.
Stopped him completely.
A grip on his arm that shouldn't have been possible.
Strength that didn't make sense.
Garrick froze.
Not because he chose to.
Because he couldn't move.
Scott's grip tightened.
And the world went still.
"Scott…"
Her voice again.
Distant.
But there.
"Stop."
The word cut through the noise in his head like a blade.
Not commanding.
Not forcing.
Grounding.
Scott blinked.
Just once.
And suddenly
Everything crashed back in.
The clearing.
The pack.
Garrick still in his grip.
The fear.
Not just from them.
From him.
Scott released him instantly, stepping back like he'd been burned.
Breathing hard.
Heart racing.
The power didn't disappear.
It just… settled.
Like it was waiting.
Watching.
Patient.
The silence that followed was worse than anything before it.
Because now
They had seen it.
All of it.
And there was no explaining it away.
Garrick stood slowly, rubbing his arm once before letting it drop.
He didn't attack again.
Didn't move.
Didn't speak immediately.
He just looked at Scott.
Long.
Hard.
Carefully.
"You win," he said finally.
The words landed but they didn't feel like victory.
Not to Scott.
Not to anyone.
Because this didn't feel like leadership being earned.
It felt like something else entirely.
Something none of them understood.
The circle broke slowly.
No cheers.
No acknowledgment.
Just distance.
More than before.
Scott stood alone again but this time, it wasn't by choice.
No one came closer.
Not even the ones who had stood behind him earlier.
Because now
They weren't just unsure of him.
They were afraid of what he could become.
"You felt that, didn't you?"
Scott didn't turn.
"Yeah."
His best friend stepped beside him again.
Quiet.
Watching.
Always watching.
"That wasn't normal," he said.
Scott let out a dry breath.
"I'm starting to get that."
A pause.
Then
His friend spoke again.
Softer this time.
"But it might be exactly what we need."
Scott finally looked at him.
Something in his chest shifted again.
That same feeling.
That same doubt.
Stronger now.
But still not enough.
Not yet.
At the edge of the clearing
She was still there.
Watching him.
Not afraid.
Not exactly.
But not untouched either.
Because she had felt it too.
And unlike the others
She understood what it meant.
Or at least
What it could become.
That night, Scott didn't sleep.
Not because he couldn't.
Because he didn't trust himself to.
Every time he closed his eyes
He felt it again.
That power.
That pull.
That moment where control stopped mattering.
And something else took over.
Something stronger.
Something dangerous.
Something that didn't care about rules.
Or packs.
Or limits.
Scott stared into the darkness, jaw tight.
Because one thought refused to leave.
One question that wouldn't let him rest.
Not what he was.
But
How long before he stopped being able to hold it back?