chapter 25. round three, fight

Bradley was on edge. He had to put this mongrel in his place before the kid got too big a head on his shoulders. He didn't understand why, but just being near him set off his animal instincts. He was afraid and angry at the same time. The kid just smelled wrong and it did not make sense. Bradley had never encountered someone whose basic smell set him off like this before. It was a primal, animal-like desire to either fight the kid or run away, and Bradley would never run from a challenge. 

He walked up to him from behind and shoved Gavin forward, watching him stumble a few steps as his friends grabbed Gavin's roommate and held him in a fierce hold. No one would intervene this time. 

"It's time you were taught a lesson you won't soon forget," he called out, his arms already igniting with powerful fire magic. 

Gavin's eyes narrowed as he realized who had attacked him. This was now the third time today that this guy had come at him. He had been peaceful the first time and listened to Erza. The second time, their fight had been interrupted by Principal Shepard. The wolf inside him wanted to beat this punk down. Bradley may have a canine dog inside him, but Gavin was a wolf and outranked him in the animal kingdom. It was long past time for Bradley to understand the difference. 

"Let him go Bradley, and we won't have to fight," Gavin called out, still holding out hope this wouldn't turn into a brawl in the dormitory building. "There are too many students nearby," Gavin said as he attempted to solve this peacefully. He wanted to beat the snot out of Bradley, but he wasn't willing to risk his admittance to the academy to do so right now. 

Bradley shook his head as he took another step forward. "Like I care about that. There is something wrong about you. You are hiding something and I will find out what it is," Bradley said as he held up one of his arms and pointed at Gavin. A stream of fire magic came flying towards Gavin. He knew behind him there were a bunch of students down the hall, so dodging it was out of the question if he wanted to make sure no one got hurt. Gavin gritted his teeth as he summoned a wall of water magic to appear in front of him. He felt the drain on his mana as he did so. But he had to make sure innocents did not get hurt due to this idiot's attacks. 

Screams filled the hallway as other students realized what was going on and scattered out of the way. No one wanted to be caught in the middle of a grudge fight in a narrow, confined space. That was a recipe for disaster. The stream of fire hit Gavin's wall of water and the heat combined with the water created a blanket of steam to fill the space between them. 

"You really shouldn't use powerful spells inside a narrow space dude," Gavin called out in frustration. He had the ability to end this quickly, but it came with a dangerous risk that he did not want to take at that moment. 

Bradley growled softly in surprise as a wall of water filled the space between them, blocking his fire. The heat was intense as the steam blasted around them, seeking escape from the narrow hallway. Nothing could be seen from the wall of steam. Even his sense of smell was almost useless in this situation. He could only focus on his hearing as he stood back away from the black-haired boy. 

Jackson called out, "Gavin!" in fear as the steam blocked his friend and roommate from view. He struggled to break free from the brute of a man holding him tight, but was unable to do so. The grip around his neck from the man's arms was almost crushing in force as he struggled against it. He pushed and tried to worm himself free, but to no avail, as the man tightened his arms around Jackson's neck. He was not letting the blonde-haired kid go free to intervene. Bradley would be serenely angry if they neglected their job to keep people out of this fight. Jackson cried out as the arms tightened and caused him pain. 

A low, deep growl filled the hallway. The sound was deep, reverberating through their bones. Something about it set all the hair on their bodies on edge as they listened. The steam was still thick and obscured the hallway from view as the low growl rumbled. "I will not tell you again. Let him go, and walk away," the voice called out from the other side of the blanket of steam. Bradley wiped his head around and focused down the hallway where the voice and growl originated. His canine was screaming at him to run now. A musky familiar, yet unknown scent filled Bradley's nose as the growl began. 

Bradley gritted his teeth as he fully shifted into his own weredog form. Beautiful golden fur manifested itself over his skin as his teeth elongated, and his ears grew to the size of a golden retriever. He would not run away this time, nor would he allow anyone to intervene. This time he would put the punk in his place. "Come and make me boy," Bradley called out. 

Gavin gritted his teeth in agitation. He did not want to fight. His stomach rumbled and reminded him of his hunger and desire for food before this whole thing began. But by now, he was tired of playing this game with Bradley. If he wanted to dance, Gavin would be his partner for the final time. He would do so without shifting though. He wanted to keep that nugget hidden until it was absolutely necessary.

Gavin ran forward through the wall of steam and fog and quickly encountered the weredog form of Bradley that he had seen earlier that afternoon. He lunged for him, tackling him to the ground as Bradley growled and struggled against Gavin. Both teens were throwing punches at the other while they struggled to maintain control and gain the edge over the other. Bradley knocked Gavin back off of him and rose to his feet. He had a trickle of blood running down from the corner of his mouth. He wiped the blood away and spat a glob of blood from his mouth onto the ground at their feet. 

"For a freshman, you can throw a halfway decent punch," Bradley said begrudgingly as he tested his jaw, relieved to find it wasn't broken. The kid had a mean right hook. 

Gavin grinned as he looked back at the golden fur-covered human. "You're not so bad yourself, man. Now why the hell are we even fighting?" Gavin asked, still hoping for a peaceful way to end this. 

Bradley glared at him. The kid was a decent scrapper, but something about him still set his animal instincts on fire. Demanded he act in response. "Because you aren't right. There is something dangerous about you, and I intend to find out what it is," Bradley said as fire ignited over his arms again. "Maybe I need to find that sweet red piece of meat you had on your arm and ask her..." Bradley meant this to antagonize him into making a mistake. However it had the opposite effect. 

Suddenly, a fierce primal surge of power filled the hallway as Gavin's manaflow was external and chaotic in its release. The swirling force of energy covered Gavin from view as he struggled to contain his rage over the veiled threat. The fool threatened Erza in front of Gavin. Threatened his mate. This can not go unanswered. It will not be unanswered. Gavin's wolf surged to the surface as his body instantly shifted in response to his rage and anger. Midnight black fur manifested over Gavin's body as his body grew in height and muscle mass as a result of his shift. Crimson-blood red eyes glowed brightly in the hallway. The lights in the hallway burst from the ferocity of the mana flowing out of control. His eyes were the only source of light now in the dim hallway. An eerie contrast to the darkened room. 

"Holy gods", Jackson muttered as he witnessed the shift and change in his friend. Gavin threw his head back and let loose a fearsome howl that froze the hearts of everyone nearby. It felt like an oppressive energy gripped him by the throat as Gavin's mana raged out of control. Jackson could feel his rage, hatred and anger as Gavin shifted into a terrifying werewolf form. 

Hunter's howl activated. Veronica's cool, soothing voice filled Gavin's head as he activated one of his powerful skills. He didn't want any witnesses for what was about to happen to this mutt. As the howl filled the hallway and everyone froze what they were doing, silence filled the absence of the movements. Then the students started screaming in absolute terror and ran for the nearest exists. They wanted nothing other than to escape the terrible beast that had appeared in front of them. 

The men that were holding onto Jackson let go and ran out of the hallway in terror as they felt the overwhelming presence of the man in front of them. Jackson stumbled a bit as they suddenly let him go. His restricted airway was no longer restricted and he was able to breathe normally as he faced down Gavin and Bradley. 

"What are you?" Bradley asked as he felt his animal instincts telling him to run away far as he could. Before Bradley could ask anything else or even register that Gavin had moved, the other had run forward at blinding speed and gripped Bradley by the throat and pinned him against the wall behind him. The force of the impact was hard enough to cause the walls to shatter the stone behind them. Bradley coughed up blood from the impact as he stared down into the most terrifying pair of red eyes he had ever seen. 

Gavin snarled in Bradley's face. His teeth were inches from the boy's neck. The veiled threat against Erza was all it took to cause Gavin to lose control over his animal self and shift fully into his werewolf form. His wolf was angry. He demanded blood payment for the disrespect shown to his mate. This could not, and would not go unanswered. He pressed Bradley back into the wall over and over, slamming his body with each attempt. The wall crackled and stone crumpled under the force of the blows. Bradley had never been used as a ragdoll like this before and this action alone terrified the living crap out of him. 

Gavin was determined to make him pay for the disrespect. He felt a compulsion to bathe in his entrails and make a statement. No one disrespected his mate again. He snarled as he glared at Bradley. "No one ever disrepects my mate." His words were gluttural and almost ferral in their ferocity.

Bradley shook all over. From pain or fear he didn't know. He only knew that he was powerless before this black wolf. He felt embarrassed as his bladder emptied itself down his legs as a soft hand appeared to grab Gavin's. "Gavin bro, calm down man. It's okay. Just calm down. You haven't done anything that can't be forgiven yet." Jackson's soft voice called out to Gavin. It somehow got past the animal intensity in his mind that demanded blood from Bradley for the threat. The wolf's head turned to look at Jackson beside him. The boy hadn't run when he used the hunters howl skill. That alone impressed Gavin. The fact he was able to walk over and approach his wolf's form even more so.

"He dared insult and threaten my mate. He must die for the afront," Gavin declared as he tightened his grip around Bradley's throat. Bradley was clutching at Gavin's hand in a futile attempt to break his hold.

"It doesn't matter. Remember why you came to the academy. You won't be able to get stronger for whatever reasons you have, if you kill this idiot now," Jackson said. He kept his voice calm and low as he tried to talk some sense into Gavin. He had to talk him down. Make him see reason or Gavin would be thrown out of the academy.

Gavin locked around and saw the only ones around was Bradley, Jackson and himself. He let out a deep sigh as he closed his eyes and concentrated on his manaflow. It was still running wild and chaotic, he had to regain control of his emotions and calm himself down. He took a few deep breathes as he ended his shift and released his iron grip on Bradley's throat. Bradley dropped to the ground in a painful whimper as blood trickled from the nail marks on his throat.

Jackson let out a sigh of relief as the black wolf vanished and Gavin stood there. "Good on ya mate," he said as he clapped him on the back.

Gavin's eyes were still red as he glanced at Jackson then back to Bradley. "I trust you learned your lesson tonight Bradley," Gavin said softly as he looked at the pitiful student that coward at his feet. Gavin should feel something. Remorse, pity, maybe even regret over going all out. But he didn't. He accepted who and what he was when it came to his wolf. He already had blood on his hands, he doubted that Bradley did as well.

"Yes, I understand. Please forgive my words and actions," Bradley said as he bowed low on the ground. His forehead pressed to the stone floor.

Gavin said nothing as he felt the sudden mana drain from the fight. He turned and headed up the stairs towards his dorm. He needed rest and to calm down fully before he indulged in his inner wolf too much.