Chapter 2 - Baited wolf

Warning; this chapters contains a dogs vs wolfpup fight. Violence occurs.

---Zayne's POV---

I shivered in the wind, the collar heavy on my thin neck as I tried to find a spot that was shielded better against the cold and the wind. The ground was hard, freezing cold nipping at my paw pads as I found a spot that was a bit shielded against the wind and relatively clean.

Settling down, I let out a huff and shivered harder, ignoring the strong scent that lingered in my cage. Jay didn't clean my pen, waste of effort he called it so I was forced to live in my own filth. Luckily I was a lot smarter than the other dogs and only used one corner of my cage, the most exposed one.

Two years.

Two years in this hellhole and the Alpha hasn't come back for me. I didn't know if I should howl in joy or whimper in sadness. My wolf had completely taken over as I rested somewhere in the back of my mind. The wind was bitter cold and a small twirling in the air made me sneeze softly.

Winter. Snow. Cold.

Last winter had been harsher. I remembered Mike sneaking me out of my carrier to tuck me in bed with him, shielding from the cold. Jay had noticed something was going on and had grown suspicious. It was during a snow storm that he caught Mike red-handed with me in his arms, just lifting me out of the carrier.

Jay had ripped me out of Mike's hold, roughly stuffed me pack in the tiny carrier and proceeded to throw me out in the snow, carrier and all. Mike had cried, protesting loudly and pleaded desperately with Jay to let me back inside. It was only after two hours that Jay allowed his sibling to run outside and bring be back to the warmth of their home.

"A lesson hard learned is a lesson you won't forget." He had smirked before going back to his television show and beer. Mike had spent the whole night warming me back up, rubbing my fur try and trying to stop the shaking.

Icy cold landed on my fur, too thin for the winter. I had been tossed out the house after the sleeping incident, because Mike had been caught feeding me in the middle of the night. There was a time where I had started to trust the boy, where I would shiver in anticipation of crawling in his arms and feel wanted.

Loved.

I snorted at that, shaking my head before curling up even tighter. I'm unlovable. My wolf whimpered at that but couldn't find any arguments against my statement, knowing it was true. We really are unlovable.

Our mother gave us up to live a happy life with her mate, our father. He hasn't even acknowledged us. The pack that was supposed to love me had despised me, abused me every single day until they saw the opportunity to get rid of me.

True, I suffered less of the physical abuse here than in the pack, with Jay only having three dogs to train instead of the whole pack using me as a training dummy. But having to live as a dog was degrading, humiliating.

The squeaky backdoor opened, making my ears flatten on instinct. A band of familiar men made their way to the backyard, a few dogs were pulling on their leashes, barking their heads off.

I sighed deeply, already knowing what was going to come. The show would start with those dogs getting their warm up and a taste of my blood. Jay was already walking to the pen, removing the lock off the door and snatched my chain in his skinny hands.

"Get a move on, runt." He growled, kicking at my hips as I quickly stalked past him. A soft whimper slipped past my lips as I warily assessed the other dogs. All of them were bigger than me, obviously, and packed way more muscle. One of the guys actually had to lean back when his dog lurched forward, snarling and snapping at the sight of me.

If that dog gets his jaws around my head, he'll crush my skull with a single snap!

Small movements in my peripheral vision made me glance over my shoulder. The tattered curtains were still moving but nothing else drew my interest.

A yelp escaped my throat as I was tossed in the fighting pen, my chain skittering over the floor as Jay kicked me in and slammed the door shut. My eyes instantly flashed open as I recognized the fighting pit, the memories attached to this location was enough to make me shiver in fear.

Hide. Hide. Hide!

I quickly ran to the back of the pen, circling back and forth as I kept an eye on the owners. Sometimes they would try and catch me using poles with a rope, trapping me against the wall so their dogs good get a good grip on me. I paid more attention on them this time around, almost missing the fact that Jay was reopening the pen before I had to dodge the snapping dog.

No! Get away from me!

Baring my teeth, I gave a pathetic growl of my own as I tried to dodge the dog on steroids, hearing him pant beside my ear as his teeth snapped a few inches away. He was bigger, stronger in every way but I knew that as long I could dodge him, I would be safe.

It was a tactic that had worked a few times before, my lithe little body helped me squirm away from the muscular, bigger dogs but Jay and his friends had it all figured out. One of the humans suddenly jammed a stick through the pen, tripping me up in a puff of dust.

And then it was all over.

He got my scruff and started biting, yanking me to one side and then the other as I tried to snap at his paws, hoping to force him to release me. Skin tore and blood started trickling through my fur as the dog yanked back, lifting my paws clean off the floor. I yelped in pain as I was suspended on my tearing skin.

My stomach rolled at the violent shaking of the dog while I hung suspended in the air, trying desperately to turn my head far enough so I could catch the dog on the nose. It made the mistake to change its grip, bringing me in range of his face and I instantly snarled, nipping at his cheek.

The dog yelped in surprise before it came back with a vengeance, barking and snarling in my face as I danced and dodged out of his range. My neck was growing sticky, blood tricking down my throat before I caught sight of one of the owners moving towards the door and sighed in relief.

I thought that was it; they were going to retrieve the dog. But when I noticed one of the men giving Jay a hand full of money, I whimpered in fear. Seconds later, two more dogs rushed through the opened door. The first dog took the lead and barreled me over, shoving me on my side before it darted around and reattached to my neck.

Jaws clamped on my vulnerable belly, making me react on instinct as I kicked and tried to push that one dog away from me, winching when the third one caught my tail and yanked viciously.

Jay and his friends were cheering roughly, placing bets and drinking from their beers as they poked the dogs with sticks, trying to get them even more riled up. My mind numbed them all out, more focused to the more obvious threat.

Flesh tore and blood poured freely as I felt myself growing weaker and weaker. The dog that held my scruff refused to let go and I could barely hold off the one on my stomach. My breaths turned into shallow pants, a small sensation of relief poured through me as the dog on my stomach backed off, losing its interest.

The one on my tail spotted its chance and went for the bite just as I tried to kick him away. Howls of pain flooded the shed as it caught me on the tender flesh of my inner thigh, tearing through flesh, sinews and muscle before it broke the bone with a vicious jerk of its head and lunged at the other dog.

It started for a second, opening its jaw on a bark and allowed me to slip out, falling on the floor in a shaking pile. But I didn't get any time to recover as the more vicious and aggressive dog took over, managing to shove me on my back.

Pain erupted in my throat as the dog latched on, snarling and shaking his head. Howls of pain escaped my throat, mingling with the rough cheering from the men. My eyes were wide as I tried to dig my claws into the dog's weaker belly but he only replied by snarling around the mouthful of flesh and got a better grip.

His teeth dug in, my airway slowly being clenched as it clamped its jaws shut. Black spots wriggled their way into my vision as my whimpers sounded choked, my movements slowly stilling. I faintly heard commotion in the background, the sound of doors slamming open and people screaming out loud.

I felt hands latching on the other dog's muzzle, trying to pry his jaws open and get him away from me. Voices cried out above me, more hands reached for my body to keep me still. Finally, it relented and my head dropped on the floor with a dull thud as I shivered and gasped for air. Every inhale was difficult, painful even and I felt blood frothing on my nose and corners of my mouth as I panted.

Dirt and blood stuck on my body as I felt myself going into shock. I had multiple wounds that were weakening me, my blood slowly soaking the dirt underneath my body as I lost control over my shaking limbs.

Let me die. Please, please let me die.

Big, strong hands landed on my body and I widened my eyes in panic. I trashed against the man's hold, my tail automatically tugging in and curled against my belly as I hoped it was enough for the man to see my submission. More hands joined the first pair, grasping my muzzle while another set snatched my paws and held them together.

My ears laid flat against my skull as I panted heavily, my shaking only got worse. Dread crawled like bile through my throat, fear rushing through my brain. How could I show submission if they pinned me down? They're going to punish me! I felt a feint sting in my neck before my limbs slowly sagged down and drowsiness settled in.

Slowly, the pain was pushed to the back of my mind, fear still pouring strongly through my veins. My vision was soon filling back up with those familiar black dots as the hands slowly released me, one gently reaching out to pet my damaged muzzle as another rubbed behind my ear.

With my last strength, I curled my tongue out to gently lap at the human's hand before succumbing to darkness, hopeful that this finally was the end.

Thank you...